AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bringing the cup to my lips, I blow the billowing steam and take a small sip. It sours on my tongue, bitter and pungent, before burning a path down my throat.
“Fuck. That’s awful,” I sputter. “How do you stand it?”
Humor assumes him as he turns to leave. “I think you’ll find that, much like this place, you’ll develop a liking for it over time.”
* * *
“A wife?” I ask, completely taken aback.
Cayce cough-chokes on the couch beside me while Patricia pins me with a glare.
“Two percent?” Sam says.
The will executor uncrosses her legs, addressing him curtly. “Mr. Radley divided the shares in his company as he saw fit.”
He moves the box Thomas willed him that’s filled with what remained of his father’s things in the manor to the coffee table.
“You’re saying the estate and a split percentage of the lumber business are mine, so long as I marry a woman within the year?”
“I don’t believe I stuttered, Mr. Kendrick.”
Cayce wasn’t kidding. This woman is a total hardass.
I sit back on the worn blue leather, astonished by this turn of events. “This is ridiculous. Who in their right mind would agree to something like that?”
“Mr. Radley was adamant that the estate goes to someone who would take great care of it. He wanted someone to continue the family line, and while you’re not a Radley by name, you are blood, and you should be grateful for such a tremendous honor.”
“Honor?” I exhale a harsh laugh, floored by her claim. “He didn’t even know me. How could he possibly feel that way?”
“Believe it or not, he’s kept tabs on you and your brothers throughout the years.” She nods toward a stack of magazines beneath the clear glass table, and sure enough, one has Lucas’s face on the cover.
I frown, wondering how I’d missed it before now. How is it that we knew nothing of him, yet he knew about us? What kept him from reaching out before now?
In her stare, I see a flickering war of emotions before she quickly shutters them away. She clears her throat. “Whether I agree with his decision or not, he chose you.”
“Well, he chose wrong.” I stand, but no matter how many times I try to count backward, my frustration won’t subside.
“None of that matters anyway, because Rowan wants to sign the deed over to me,” Sam says tightly. “Isn’t that right, cousin?”
Patricia flicks that steely gaze my way, as if waiting for me to deny his claim.
I nod in agreement, suppressing the protective urge over a home that doesn’t belong to me. “That’s correct.”
Cayce arches a brow at my slight hesitation, but Patricia’s mouth gapes, utterly floored.
“That won’t be possible unless…” Her jaw clenches, as if she doesn’t want to elaborate. “Unless Rowan first acquires the property, then sells the estate of his own accord.”
Sam and I lock gazes while a million thoughts bolt through my mind at once, the loudest of which is, no fucking way.
Then I remember Reginald’s advice, and his take on responsibility. I made a promise to Sam, and keeping my word is the most important thing in this world to me. We were raised with the belief that fulfilling our promises would define the kind of men we’d become one day, and I’m not about to go back on that now.
If what Patricia said is true, and Thomas really wanted someone to take care of this manor and continue the Radley line, Sam is the obvious choice. And regardless of Archer’s feelings on the matter, I think the estate should stay in the family somehow.
The most glaring issue currently is finding a wife on such short notice, and one who’s willing to agree to something as ludicrous as this.
“Is there a divorce clause?” I ask, hoping like hell there isn’t.
The woman’s icy exterior cracks for half a second, and I’m growing curious about her tie to all this. “No.”
