Page 91 of Reckless Vengeance

“No one fucks with Josie,” he said seriously, pulling back as the waiter brought us the whiskey and two glasses, pouring us one each before leaving us alone again.

“What else do you own? I should probably know that,” I asked curiously, taking the whiskey and having a sip.

It was so smooth, and I’d hate to know how much it cost.

“I own three restaurants. The Royal Garden and Seaside Oasis here, and The Glass Tower in Kingslake. The Crystal Chandelier hotel in Crestford, and one of the gas stations in Kingslake. Don’t ask what it all cost me, you’d throw up.”

“Do you all own businesses like that? None of you have mentioned it before. I assumed it was investment rental properties.”

“Caden mostly has rental properties. He owns thirty across multiple towns, but he’ll inherit Holloway Industries and a bunch of Josie’s business investments eventually. His trust fund is insane and he isn’t trying to get away from Josie like we’re trying to escape our parents, so he’s pretty safe. Jensen owns two restaurants. Silk in Ashburn, and Douceur in Kingslake. He has the Caelus hotel in Saint Maple too. Luke started smaller, investing in a few rental properties and a car rental place. His mom controls so much, so he didn’t want her to find out about a lot of it. He did end up buying the Sky Lodge in Mount Mercer just before you rolled into town. It’s a pretty cool ski resort right up the mountain. I think he was hoping to get into the hotel industry next. Josie will probably buy him one for his birthday next year. She wants us all set up for our own futures, and Luke really needs to be able to financially separate himself from his mother. It’s bullshit that she has control over everything. His father had all the money, she was a nobody before marrying him. If Luke had been older when he lost his father, he probably would have been in the will and inherited some of his shit.”

“You guys are stupid rich, aren’t you?” I said slowly, always knowing they were loaded, but those restaurants and hotels were famous. Celebrities went there, and the upper class that lived locally loved them too. I’d seen reviews online before.

“Yeah, babe,” he chuckled, turning his attention out the window to the ocean. Waves crashed on the shore, and part of me wanted to walk along it and skip dinner completely.

“We came here when I was younger too. I don’t really remember much, but I know Mom hated it here. No idea why,” I mumbled, my brow creasing as I thought about it. “I think someone that worked here hurt her. She came back from the bathroom with a red cheek once, that much I remember. Max was at the table with me, so I know he didn’t touch her.”

“I can go through employee records. I kept loads of old paperwork,” he offered, and I looked over to find him watching me. “We can talk about it later, if you want?”

I nodded, lost in my thoughts.

Our food arrived soon after and we dug in, the flavors exploding on my tongue. The steak was perfect, and the seafood was so fresh.

“Good?” he teased, telling me I’d made a noise or something.

“So good,” I groaned, letting him feed me a bite of steak. “How dare you not bring me here earlier.”

“I’ve been wanting to but you hate fancy stuff.”

“We could have come after closing with zero dress code,” I deadpanned, sipping my drink.

“We can come here whenever you want as long as you wear that dress,” he replied, surveying the room. “The manager I hired does well here. He’s local, so he’s proud of this place. It probably helps that I pay above the average wage too.”

“Tyler!” someone called out as they ran towards the table, and it took me a second to realize they were waving a camera in our faces. “Will you be joining your father and brother to celebrate Tyson’s debut? Any comment on your parents’ divorce?”

Tyler barely flinched, but I could tell he was caught off guard.

“No comment,” he said smoothly, motioning for security to remove them.

“Is this your girlfriend? How long have you been together? Miss—” he started as he snapped photos of us, but Tyler moved to stand in front of me, blocking his view.

“Get that out of her face. You need to leave.”

The camera clicked more but security appeared and dragged the guy towards the door. Tyler didn’t move until he was gone, turning to check on me.

“You okay?”

“Is that normal? I’ve never seen the paparazzi follow you before,” I asked, hearing him sigh.

“They usually leave me alone. Dad’s announcement of me being in Ashburn has probably made some track me down though, and their affair will cause a huge stir. They’ll want an interview with me. That shit would sell for big bucks.”

“Should we leave?”

“No. Finish eating and we’ll get dessert.”

He dragged his chair around to my side and sat beside me, making sure to block the view of the door in case the guy came back. As much as I wanted to be annoyed that he thought I needed protecting, I melted a little at how easily he did it.

Being important to someone who could have anything or anyone in the world was kind of nice. Especially someone like Tyler, who really didn’t give a shit about many people.