Page 50 of Doc Rock
Donnie was so silent that Mai worried for a moment that he'd hung up, and was about to say something else when he finally said.
“We would have been your family.”His words were quiet.
Mai’s tears spilt. “I know that now.”
Sheheardhim sniff on the other end of the phone, then clear his throat. “Anyway. Thanks. I’ve got some business to discuss with you.”
“Okay,” Mai said hesitantly.
“Ford told you that you’ve got a lot of royalties from the songs.”Donnie was always straight to the point.
Mai mopped at her tears and nose before she spoke.“Yes.”
“I hired a financial adviser to look after your interests. I’ll ask them to contact you directly. But they’ve grown your portfolio significantly.”
“I have a portfolio?”Mai said in surprise. She thought they would have chucked the money in the bank and forgotten about it.
“Of course you do. You may not have beenthere, but I wasn’t going to let that money not work for you.”Donnie sounded offended.
He had always been an excellent manager, looking out for the welfare of every artist under his umbrella.
She’d read over the years about his management company and how the artists he took on didn’t end up broke in the gutter. And shesawmore than a few photos of Donnie personally escorting people to rehab.
“You were gone, but until Isawa death certificate, I was going to ensure your money worked for you.”
Mai didn’tknowwhat to say, so she whispered,“Thanks, Donnie.”
“The exact figures are with your financial adviser, who has requested an email address as we’ll need a fair bit of legal identification togetthis all sorted.”
“Of course.” Mai nodded, even though he couldn’t see her.
“Great. They’ve given me some rough figures. Including all your investments and assets, they’re estimating your net wealth to be about one hundred and ten million dollars.”
Mai swallowed air and began to choke. Moving the phone away from her mouth, she coughed until shecouldbreathe again.
“What?” she whispered.
“It’s only an estimate at the moment.It willlikely be, give or take, a few million. But that’s ballpark,”Donnie said briskly, as if announcing she was worth over one hundred million dollars was a normal occurrence.
Although maybeit waswhen you were the manager of the most successful band in the world.
She covered her face with her hand.One hundred million dollars.
“I’m going to Hamilton Island on holiday,”she blurted out.
Donnie chuckled quietly.“That is a very modest aim for someone with as much money as you have.”
“I’ve always wanted to go. It looks lovely.”She'd seen pictures of the Australian island but never been able to justify the expense of going alone.
Maybe Ford would?—
She cut that ridiculous thought off. He would not be going anywhere with her.
He probably wouldn’t ever speak to her again. She rubbed at her chest above her heart as it clenched.
He still hated her.
“We went thirteen years ago.”Donnie pulled her out of her musing.
