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“The entire family does. His father is the man who monitors all of the family company’s investment accounts,” Hunter said.
“Are you serious?” I asked.
“Yeah. That’s probably why this is important to Mom and Dad. They probably feel if they marry you to him, then once he hands the investment company to his son, he’ll cut them some kind of deal or work extra hard on their accou
nts or something,” Hunter said.
“I’m nothing but a business transaction to them,” I said.
“Don’t worry. We’ve got your back,” Finn said.
“We’ll talk to Mom and Dad,” Lorenzo said. “We’re not going to let them marry you off to someone you don’t want to be married to.”
“They won’t listen to you guys,” I said.
“Ava, you’re our baby sister,” Hunter said. “And it’s our job to protect you. Even if that protection means bucking up against Mom and Dad. What they’re doing is wrong, and you know we’ve always been behind you on this.”
“Yeah. When we went to bed last night and you didn’t come home, we know what you had done,” Finn said.
“And quite frankly, I was hoping you would make it this time,” Lorenzo said.
“I can’t marry that man, you guys. I can’t stay here,” I said.
“Just stay put for now. If you try to leave again, it’s going to throw up flags. Let us talk to Mom and Dad. I’m sure with enough digging and enough prodding, we can get them to drop this idiotic decision,” Finn said.
“Yeah. Just give us some time and you just lay low,” Hunter said.
I was thankful for their help and support, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. My father was dead set in marrying me off, so if this fell through, he would just find someone else. There was no amount of arguing, debating, or reasoning that would ever make my parents see that I was just as capable as my brothers. I was their little princess, but in the Lucas family that came with a price.
And it was a price I was going to pay no matter what.
Whenever I decided to make my leave again, I had to make sure it was foolproof. Because when I left again, I couldn’t ever come back. Not for my brothers, not for my family, and not for Cassie.
I had to leave all of it behind for good.
Eight
Travis
I needed some things from town after the shit with the storm cleared out. I was out of almost everything, especially since I wasn’t prepared for the next storm that came barreling behind it. I grabbed my keys and cranked up my truck, sighing as it sputtered to life. This thing was beat up and old, and I knew at any moment it would stop working on me.
This truck had been my life support going through the transition with my ex. After she left me at the altar, I made the decision that the family business was not for me. After jetting around the world and treating her to all of the decadence this planet had to afford, I was ready to settle down and go nowhere. I wanted nothing to do with the family business because I wanted nothing to do with the money that woman drained me of. I took the trust fund that opened up for me when I turned 30 and invested it wisely. Now, I lived off the quarterly dividends as well as the interest that was building as my money continue to accumulate.
I knew that at any moment my father would accept me back into the family company fold. I kept my eyes peeled for people who scouted the mountains when they didn’t need to be here, just to make sure no one would try to blindside us again. It was how I continue to repay my father for the graciousness he afforded me after my heart had been broken.
Even after I had worked to pay off the cabin he had built for me.
Now, the mountain life was all I knew. I hunted down my own meat, I grew my own vegetables when I could, and I fixed up old cars and machinery to turn around and sell for a little bit of money. Fixing things was more of a stress release for me than it was a blossoming company. I knew that when my parents passed, I would have to step up alongside my twin brothers in order to take it over. Which meant it wasn’t wise to get myself into anything that would tie me down after they passed.
I could already identify a few problems I needed to fix with the truck as I drove down the mountain. The steering wheel shook a bit and the brakes didn’t have as much traction as they needed to have. Plus, there was a roaring sound coming from the back of my tires as they hit the highway. Which meant that the wheel bearings need to be checked.
It sounded like I was going to have to make a stop at a junkyard before I made my way back home.
After scouring through a junkyard and finding a few things, I headed to the grocery store. One of the things about heavy rain storms like the ones we were getting was that it washed away the seeds I planted. I knew I was going to have to start over with the little garden I planted in the back of my cabin, which meant I needed fresh vegetables until I could sprout my own.
I walked through the grocery store and grabbed a few items. Things like toilet paper and cleaning supplies. Kleenexes and paper plates. I didn’t have a lot of proper dishware in my cabin because the only person eating it was me. Paper plates, napkins, and plastic silverware just made things easier for me. I walked through the produce section and pick out a few things I knew I could use. Nice red peppers and some spaghetti squash as well as some vegetables that were already chunked up so I could make a nice stir fry. I ran down some recipes through my mind as I walked up and down the aisles, grabbing snacks I didn’t need and a case of beer just to help the time fly by.
But when I turn down the spice aisle to pick up some things for dinner, I saw a very familiar face.
