At that, the screen went black.
Chapter Four
Hope
So, what’s the stinger?” Griffen’s brother Royal cut into the babble of voices, getting right to the point.
Stinger.
I didn’t like the sound of that. I’d known Prentice Sawyer my entire life. He hadn’t left Griffen everything as a reward, as some kind of recompense for kicking him out years before. No, this was just another punishment, a final stab in the back from beyond the grave.
Sitting in silence beside Griffen, I wanted to disappear. I wanted to get up and walk out, to get in my car and drive until I hit the ocean.
I needed to stay exactly where I was. Griffen’s siblings looked at him with suspicion and dislike. They were strangers, and Griffen hadn’t asked for any of this. He wasn’t my biggest fan—for good reason—but I was the only one here who was on his side.
Harvey rolled his shoulders, and the entire room braced.
“There are conditions,” he began. “You have until Tuesday to relocate to Heartstone Manor. You may leave for a total of fourteen days every quarter, but your primary residence must be Heartstone for the next five years.”
“And if we don’t?” Royal asked.
“If you don’t, your trust will be dissolved, the balance added to the Heartstone Manor trust, and you’ll be barred from family property. Including your place of employment, if applicable.”
Royal sat back and let out a low whistle. “He’s got us over a barrel.”
“Fuck that,” Sterling said, throwing out a hand that almost smacked Quinn in the face. “We’ll just do that thing. What’s it called? Protest it! We’ll protest the will.”
“Contest it, you mean,” Brax corrected with a withering glare at his sister.
“Whatever,” Sterling mumbled, looking balefully into the open mouth of her empty flask.
“Can we?” Quinn asked after sending Sterling a worried look.
Harvey slowly shook his head. “I don’t recommend it. If you choose to contest the will, the will as written is void, and everything—the trusts, the house, the various entities owned by Sawyer Enterprises—all go to your cousin Bryce.”
Bryce. I slumped back into my chair. Prentice was a bastard, but he knew his children. He might have spent most of their lives playing them against each other, but they were united in their hatred of their cousin Bryce.
For good reason. Bryce was spoiled, selfish, and mean. He’d been a nasty little boy and from what I’d seen he hadn’t improved with age. The idea of Bryce walking away with the Sawyer fortune made me a little sick. I wasn’t the only one. The faces around the conference table all looked faintly green.
“I guess I’m moving back home,” Finn said under his breath, with a sidelong glance at Royal and another at Tenn.
“Make whatever arrangements are necessary and be prepared to move into Heartstone by Tuesday at midnight,” Harvey finished, checking his watch.
“Does it really matter?” Sterling shot out. “Griffen’s going to loot our trusts anyway.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Griffen across the table. Griffen stared back at her, his face hard as stone.
Quinn wrapped her hand around her younger sister’s arm and pulled her to her feet. “I guess we’re just going to have to take that risk, huh?”
She gave Griffen an appraising look before she turned to leave. Over her shoulder, she met Harvey’s eye. “That’s it? We’re free to go? And we get our money in five years if we behave and Griffen doesn’t spend it all on hookers and blow?”
“That’s about it,” Harvey agreed.
“See y’all on Tuesday then,” she said and pulled Sterling from the room.
I watched in silence as the rest of Griffen’s siblings trickled out, grumbling to themselves. Royal paused at the door, looking back at Griffen as if he wanted to say something. Tenn came up behind him, shoving at his shoulder to move him through the doorway. Royal shook his head and went.
In a low voice only Griffen and I could hear, Harvey said, “You two stay put. We’re not done.”
Beside me, Griffen didn’t say a word. Was he in shock, or did he still hate us all this much? I didn’t have time to think about it. When the room was empty of everyone but the three of us, Harvey walked to the door and leaned out. He said something to the receptionist before closing the door and flipping the lock.
Pushing the cart with the screen away from the table, he sat, flattening his palms on the shiny surface. He appeared to be lost in thought. I wondered what was left—paperwork probably—when Griffen cut into the quiet.
“The thing with Bryce wasn’t the stinger, was it?”
Harvey shook his head. Not in denial. In remorse. “You always were a sharp one, Griffen.”
“So?” Griffen prompted.
Harvey sucked in a breath and let it out slowly before he dropped the ax. “To fulfill the requirements of the will you and Hope have to get married. It has to be a real marriage, and it has to last at least five years. If either of you refuses, the will as I explained it to you earlier is void and everything goes to Bryce.”