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“Mom, he can't be serious.”
“Oh, but he is, Malcolm,” she said. “He's wanted grandchildren forever, but we figured he had plenty of time. Shows what we know. This diagnosis obviously changes everything.”
Granted, I'd always wanted children of my own. Someday. I'd assumed that one day, Danielle and I would get married and have a bunch of kids. That dream had come crashing down in a flaming heap around me though. There was no way I would ever produce a child with her after what she'd done. Not even if she begged me to take her back. Never again.
“Did you read the rest of the contract?” Adam said. “If we don't give the old man what he wants, we forfeit our right to any inheritance. And if one of us succeeds, the winner gets it all. The whole shebang.”
“But if you both succeed,” mom countered, glaring at Adam with open hostility, “you split everything fifty-fifty, with Malcolm getting ownership of Crane Enterprises, and Adam enough shares to be a controlling member.”
That was it. I slammed my fists down on the desk, anger and outrage coursing through me.
“You mean, I have to get a girl knocked up to take control of the company I've been working for my entire life?” I asked.
“Hush, we'll talk later,” mom said.
I opened my mouth to argue, but she stepped around the desk and took my hands in hers. She met my eyes and I knew she was trying to tell me something. Hell, she didn't even have to say the words, I knew what she was telling me.
I needed to do this. I needed to be the head of the company. It couldn't go into Adam's scheming little hands, not if we wanted my father's legacy to live on. If the company went to Adam, he'd destroy it. Piece by piece, he'd run the company my father built with his own two hands into the ground.
“There are other ways to have a child, one that doesn't involve love and marriage, Malcolm.”
Her voice was low and careful, her gaze steady on mine. Adam wasn't paying attention to us. He was reading the will, no doubt going through a mental list of names of women he could knock up. My mom cut a quick glance at him and then turned back to me, careful to keep her voice low.
“The woman does not need to be part of the family, Malcolm,” she said. “So, you can – ”
“Knock some girl up you meet in the bar,” Adam said, leaning against Dad's desk casually. “Easy peasy if you ask me. I should have an ankle biter running around for the old man in no time.”
I cringed, and my mom scowled, a look of pure hatred on her face when she looked at Adam. But, I had to give her credit – she stayed quiet. She didn't counter Adam's obnoxiousness in the least and bit back the scathing replies I knew were on the tip of her tongue.
Instead of lashing out at him, she continued speaking to me, “Surrogacy is also an option. Your father just wants grandchildren to carry on his name and legacy,” she said. “We can look into agencies for you.”
I nodded, but my insides were churning, and I felt like they were eating me alive. I was going to be a father, sooner than I'd ever imagined. Sooner than I wanted. By surrogacy or some other method, I was going to have a baby.
There was no way I could let my legacy, my company – everything I worked my ass off for all these years – to fall into the hands of another. Especially somebody so reckless and irresponsible as my brother; somebody who didn't know the company the way I did. Somebody who didn't care about it the way I did.
He might have been my brother, and he was owed his inheritance by right of his birth, but I'd worked for my father since I was fifteen years old, sacrificing so much, so that I could stand at the head of this company. There was no way in hell I was going to let someone take that away from me just because he could impregnate some random woman.
“I got this, mom,” I said.
My voice sounded calmer than I felt. I gave her hand a quick squeeze before picking up the documents, and ushered her out of the room, leaving me alone with Adam. He seemed smug, arrogant, and overly confident. He was smirking as we left my dad's office. Danielle stood up as we walked down the hall and stepped into the parlor, and she walked over to me.
I walked by her, not even listening to what she had to say. My mother fell into step beside me, leaving Danielle in the parlor with Adam.
CHAPTER TWO
CASEY
“Yo, Casey, can you hand me that glass over there?” Tommy called out from behind the bar. “Guess someone forgot to wash it last night.”
“Sorry, we were here late,” I called. “What do ya want from us?”
My eyes were heavy with sleep and my body ached in places I'd forgotten it could ache. It felt like I'd just gotten off my last shift, and there I was again. The money was good, but the hours sucked. My feet hurt like hell and my shift was just beginning. Yeah, this was going to be one fun night.
“Chill, darling,” he said, grinning at me, holding his hands up in surrender. “Didn't mean it that way.”
“Yeah, well, I'm exhausted,” I said. “Sorry if I'm a little bitchy tonight.”
I handed him the glass and his fingers touched mine as he reached out to take it, sending a little electric charge through my body. Tommy must've felt it too because he winked at me. Being the son of the owner came with major benefits – like working only when you wanted to, not to mention getting breaks and shit the rest of us didn't get.
