I nod.
Soon, Aiden and Emory will be gone on their year-long sailing trip. Sienna will be in her residency somewhere. Whit just got a new contract, and he’ll have no reason to come back, and Tristan will be married and CEO of Prince Bourbon.
I don’t handle change well, which is ironic, given thatI’ve had to go through so much of it. I spend my life planning for every eventuality and choosing the safest path. Tristan is the opposite. He thrives on uncertainty. He lives to mold the future. The world experiences Tristan Prince, not the other way around.
“We can do a lot with a year,” I say lightly. I don’t want to think about Tristan’s marriage, because it’s an end for me, not a beginning. A catastrophe. A train going off the rails, and I’m certain to be collateral damage.
“Right.” He blows out a breath.
“Tristan.”
We both turn. Aiden, his older brother, is panting and leaning against the house. His bow tie is loose around his neck and his hair is rumpled. Emory, his wife, appears behind him, straightening her dress. I give her a small smile, and she bites her lip and shrugs. The twins arrive last, first Whit, then Sienna.
“What’s going on?” Tristan looks among his siblings.
“Grandfather is talking about marrying you off.”
Tristan relaxes. “I know,” he says. “We agreed on it. We’re announcing it next week.”
Aiden gives a short shake of his head. “No. He wants to announce tonight. And he wants you engaged by the end of the summer.”
2
TRISTAN
Part of me isn’t surprised. Discussions with Grandfather about succession have been more like hostile takeover negotiations than I expected.
But still, an engagement by the end of the summer?
That’s three hundred days earlier than I wanted, give or take. My siblings are looking at me, waiting for a reaction.
“I’ll handle it.” I hop off the wall and Katie follows.
“You don’t have to, Tris.” Aiden’s voice is grave.
Marriage, he means.
“I actually do. No marriage means no shares from the trust. No shares means I can’t be CEO. What’s a few months?” I shrug. I’ve known for years that marriage was coming for me, like a truck barreling full speed ahead.
Aiden’s expression darkens. I can practically see his older-brother protective instincts firing, like he’s going to step in front of a bully or take the fall for me after crashing Dad’s favorite car. If I express even an ounce of doubt, Aiden will step in.
I can’t let him do that. A year ago, my siblings and I sat down and decided that Aiden wouldn’t be the only one toabide by the trust terms and run the family. We would all marry. We’d all inherit our shares of the company and our piece of the estate. And Aiden would get to enjoy his life instead of pretending to be the parent we didn’t have.
“We all agreed,” Whit says, clearly thinking what I’m thinking.
Sienna nods. “Nothing has changed since last year, Aiden. You’re not the only one who has to lead the family.”
“It was a huge burden marrying me, I know.” Emory’s voice is teasing and Aiden gives his wife a smile. She reaches over and squeezes his hand.
My chest pinches in response.Thisis what our family needs more of. Aiden deserves happiness. He deserves a full life and the kids he used to claim he didn’t want. I hear him and Emory whispering about it now. I see the faraway look he gets when she talks about the future, when he tucks her close and murmurs in her ear. He wants it.
I want it for him. All he wants is to make whiskey and have a family. He’s not interested in running Prince Bourbon, but I am.
“I’ll handle it,” I say firmly. I straighten. “You still want me to be CEO, right?”
Aiden nods, a faint smile on his face. I look at my siblings. They’re nodding too. Katie has a funny look on her face, her eyes brimming with an emotion I can’t name.
I might be fucking terrified of being CEO, but this feels right. Being the one to finally do something for my family feels good. I’m not the spare or the fuckup right now. Aiden isn’t taking the heat for me, and I’m the one protecting my siblings. They deserve this.
