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It was clear that Franklin wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Derrick wished that he could wait or have some time to think about it, but he knew deep down that Franklin wasn’t about to let it go. He never would. Derrick’s own father had been in on it, or he wouldn’t have given Derrick’s mother’s wedding ring to Franklin. He knew that the old man was speaking the truth to him. He knew that there really was no option or choice in the matter. He was going to have to do it.
“I guess I’ll do it,” Derrick said with a sigh of resignation, closing the box. “I’ll ask her to marry me.”
“Soon,” Franklin replied pointedly.
“Soon,” Derrick answered, giving him a nod. He meant it. He would call her up and think of something. Perhaps take her out to dinner and propose. It would be for business, not love, and it would be what their parents wanted them to do. Everyone else would be pleased.
Franklin talked with him a while longer about a few other things, and at long last, he finally left. Derrick pocketed the ring box, feeling its weight pulling down on him like a ton of lead. It was as if his entire life had just been mapped out ahead of him, and there was no way out of it—no option, no choice, no place to go but forward, directly into everyone else’s expectations. It wasn’t what he wanted, but he knew that they were right, and he knew that it didn’t matter to any of them that he wasn’t in love with Felicia and that he didn’t really want to spend the rest of his life with her. What mattered was the business and the families, and keeping them all together. There was nothing else.
***
Derrick pressed the lock button on his key fob, and the jaguar behind him beeped at him as the alarm was set. He was meeting Garrett Hawkins for a drink. He needed a drink; it was the only way he was going to get through the conversation he knew he was going to have to have with his best friend.
Garrett already had prime real estate reserved for them at the bar, and he was holding their chairs as Derrick walked in and gave him a nod. They shared a hug and a hearty clap on the shoulder before Derrick took the seat beside his friend and ordered a drink.
Where Derrick was six feet tall and change, with dark brown hair, warm brown eyes, and a solidly muscular frame, his best friend Garrett was about six inches shorter than him, with a wild crop of blond hair and sky blue eyes. His form was a little more lanky than Derrick’s. They could not have been more different on the outside, but they were oftentimes twins as far as thought, manner, and morality was concerned. They could have been natural brothers of the heart and of the mind.
“So, what’s got you down here having a drink tonight? This isn’t a casual beer with me, that I do know,” Garrett started straight in without waiting for any kind of pleasantry.
Derrick sighed heavily and raked his fingers through his dark brown hair. “Franklin Van Buren was over at the house yesterday.”
“That’s not a surprise. He lost his best friend. How’s he doing?” Garrett asked as he tipped his own beer back and took a healthy swig.
“He’s fine. He misses my dad, but he’s doing alright. He’s not so focused on what has happened, though. He’s a lot more focused on what’s coming up.” Derrick swallowed a gulp of his beer and set the mug down, staring into the froth on top of it.
Garrett raised one eyebrow. “Is he? And what’s coming up?”
“I’m not sure you’re going to believe it…” Derrick hesitated. “I don’t believe it, and I have to.” He turned and looked at his friend. “He says that he and my father have both been working on merging their businesses together.”
“Haven’t they already got some of their businesses merged together?” Garrett frowned slightly.
“Yes, but he means all of them. Everything that his family and my family have, into one big corporation.” He looked pointedly at Garrett.
“Why would he do that? He’s a billionaire, you’re a billionaire… what difference does it make if the businesses are together or separate?” Garrett tilted his head questioningly.
Derrick pursed his lips a moment, regretting having to speak the words aloud. “He wants to build a secure dynasty for his daughter when she gets married.”
There was a moment of confused silence as Garrett thought over what he had just heard. “Is Felicia getting married?”
“Not until I ask her, and then yes, she will be getting married.” He sighed again, quieter the second time, looking back down into his beer. No amount of alcohol was going to erase what was coming at him like a freight train.
Garrett blinked several times. “You’re… you’re going to ask Felicia to marry you?”
“Yup.” It was succinct to say the least.
With a doubtful shake of his head, Garrett eyed his friend closely. “Do you want to marry her? I mean, I know you guys have a little history from years ago, but… I tho
ught she was dating some guy from Europe, and you have been on the strictly single but playing list for a long time now. Did I miss something?”
“No, you didn’t miss anything. That’s about the size of where it is right now, but her father wants us to merge the companies, merge the estates, merge his daughter with me…” He rubbed his hands over his face and then dropped them flatly on the surface of the bar. “I guess he says that my father wanted that too, although I can’t remember my father ever really talking about it with me. Maybe he just didn’t get around to it before…” he trailed off and shook his head.
Garrett frowned thoughtfully. “How do you know your dad wanted you to marry Felicia? What if Franklin’s just pulling your leg to get the businesses?”
Derrick looked back over at him. “No, Franklin’s not pulling a fast one. He’s not like that. He has the best interests of his businesses and his daughter at heart, and there’s no doubt in my mind about that. Also, he had my mother’s wedding ring. I guess dad gave it to him to give to me when the time was right. They both expected me to give it to Felicia and marry her. Consolidate everything under the sun. It’s just that dad never said anything about merging business or family, and now I’m looking at doing it alone. It’s… unexpected.”
A dark look came over Garrett’s face. “Well, I think if you do have any doubts about it that you should do whatever it is that you want to do. Do what feels right to you. You shouldn’t have to change your whole life and future just because of some agreement your dad and his best friend had. They aren’t living your life; you should be making your own decisions for yourself about what you want to do. Don’t let them dictate to you.”
Derrick let out another sigh, then finished his drink and set the empty glass back on the bar. The bartender brought him a fresh one. “It’s not really that easy, Gar… it’s just not. I feel like I owe my father everything, and I don’t want to disappoint him. I don’t want to let him down and mess up everything he spent his whole life building, and for that matter, everything that my grandfather and his grandfather spent building. I’m the most recent inheritor of a long line of Madison’s, and I have a duty and an obligation to continue that. I’m a legacy. I need to leave a legacy. I don’t have the luxury and freedom to run off and do whatever I want to. More than all of that, I just can’t let my dad down.”
