I may as well have tripped over a headstone and landed flat on the ground–the level of surprise would be the same. “They named me as guardian?”
“You’re their trustee as well as Vivian’s legal guardian.”
“Oh. Yes, I suppose she is still a child.” I’ll have to hire a nanny and–
“No. She’s 18, but the will makes clear that you are to remain her guardian until she turns 21. The trust documents are set up in a clever fashion that leave the trust in your total discretion until she’s 21, at which time she can make her own decisions. It also requires that she live with you and that you keep her under your wing, so to speak. Apparently, they didn’t think Charles could handle the responsibility of watching out for Vivian, especially since she’s been very sheltered at an all-girls boarding school her entire life.”
“But they think I can watch out for her?” Didn’t they know me at all? I have zero interest in babysitting their child. My mind is devoted to business, to conquest, to destroying any companies that even think of setting foot on my turf.
“Ah, here she is now.” Frank steps back.
“Who?” I ask.
“Hi. I’m Vivian. You worked with my parents?” The curvy beauty from earlier offers me her hand, her big eyes looking up at me with trust and curiosity.
I’m powerless. Unable to do anything except take her hand in mine and hope that I can do right by her as her parents intended. Though, the more I look at her angelic face and downright sinful body, I don’t know how long my good intentions will last, if at all.
2
VIVIAN
“Yes, I’ve worked with both of them for many years. I’m sorry for your loss.” His deep voice rolls through my body.
I tilt my head to stare up into his dark, cold eyes. Throughout the whole funeral, I never saw his face show any other expression except for annoyance when Linn spoke to him. It made me wonder what she said. She’s always been so sweet to me over the years when I spoke with her. Not that it was often.
I drop my gaze from his when I feel his thumb start to drift across the inside of my wrist. A warm tingle forms there. My body is having a reaction that I don’t understand. I suppose I haven't understood any of the feelings I’ve been having since I spotted him.
Griffin’s giant hand makes mine look so delicate and tiny with his wrapped around it. I jerk my gaze back up to his handsome face. An unexpected rush of heat swirls in the pit of my stomach, causing my breath to catch.
All of Griffin's focus is on me now. Through most of the funeral, he could barely pull his attention away from his phone while all my attention had been on him. I had a feeling he was Griffin Friarlane from the moment I spotted him.
I finally had a face to put with the name. He is nothing like what I was expecting. Sure, he’s cold and brooding. I noticed people were giving him a wide berth. What surprised me was that no one mentioned how handsome he is. I’ve heard him described as ruthless many times. In fact, I’ve heard some rather terrible stories about how cutthroat he could be when it came to business. It often made me question why my parents would want to leave me in his care. Then again, I question a lot of the choices they made in their lives.
I suppose the upside to someone who is ruthless about money is that they will make sure mine is well taken care of. But I think what has thrown me for a loop is the fact that I have to live with this man. The thought of staying under the same roof as him causes the swirl of heat in my stomach to grow.
“Thank you,” I finally say when I realize I haven't spoken, the silence having stretched around us. Griffin still has my hand in his. His thumb continues to stroke back and forth.
“Did you want to go back to your home and go over things?” Frank asks, bringing me back to reality.
“You’re not going back to her home,” Griffin snaps, surprising me. I take a startled step back but don’t get anywhere. He gives a tug on my hand, pulling me back to where I was. I can feel people start to stare our way. I drop my head forward, letting my hair fall to cover my face, not used to all the attention on me.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” Frank rushes to say. “She doesn’t know you, and I thought we should—”
“What is there to really go over?” I ask, cutting in. “I think it’s been made clear I have no choice in any of this.”
“For now.” Frank nods in agreement. We’d already been over everything a few times now. There’s no reason for us to do it again.
No one wasted any time with getting things into place. My bedroom has already been partially packed up. Not that there had been a ton to do. I haven’t had enough time to accumulate a lot of things. I’ve only returned to my parents’ house after recently graduating from boarding school. A graduation that my parents had missed because they wanted to climb a stupid mountain. I grab hold of that anger like it’s a life raft. It’s better than sadness. Or that’s what I’m telling myself, at least.
“For now?” Griffin questions.
“Charles isn’t too happy about it. He thinks Vivian should be with him.”
“That’s too bad,” Griffin snaps again, and I wonder if this is the way he speaks normally or if he’s actually getting mad. You’d think he’d be happy to get rid of me. I tug on my hand, trying to get free, but all it does is drag his attention back to it.
“I need that.” I wiggle my fingers. He lets go, but again annoyance shows on his handsome face. “Is Charles taking over my parents' home?”
“That will be up to Griffin,” Frank answers.