14. Every Possibility

14

EVERY POSSIBILITY

" V an. Van. Come here."

Van turned his head. What the fuck? It was his mother. How the hell was that possible?

"You're not real," he said.

"I'm as real as you," she said, laughing.

He looked down and saw he was dressed for his academy graduation ceremony. His mother was in a pretty blue dress she'd bought just for this occasion.

He rarely saw her dressed up, but she was so proud of him.

He was damn proud of himself too.

"Mom," he said, his hand reaching out.

"Life is full of change, Van. Remember I've said that to you before?"

"Yeah," he said. He felt his throat starting to close up on him.

"Open your eyes to every possibility," she said. "That includes forgiveness."

"Wait," he said. "Don't go." She was fading away from him.

"I'll be back," she said. "Don't worry."

"Van." It was a man's voice this time. "I've waited so long for this day. Maybe that was the problem."

He blinked a few times and tried to clear his vision, but it was hard. The person was too far away yet his voice was almost in his ear.

"Who are you?"

"You know who I am," the man said. "Just like your mother said. Open your eyes. Believe in forgiveness. You were given a second chance for a reason. Believe in that also."

"I'll believe in what I want to. If you can't show your face it's meaningless."

"You're not ready to see my face yet. When you are, you'll understand. Don't worry, I'll be back."

Van sat up with a start and looked around his room. It was still dark out. Earlier than he normally got up.

He turned and grabbed his phone from the bedside table and saw it was just after four.

He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was still in his bed on Amore Island and not in some crazy fucked up dream again.

Just to be safe, he grabbed his gun and got out of bed, moved out of the room quietly and made his way through the whole house.

When he was done, he felt like a lunatic.

Returning the gun to its place, he pulled some workout clothes from his dresser and went into the bathroom.

He pissed, brushed his teeth, then showered quickly before taking off for his run. He needed the cold water to wake his ass up when he normally showered after.

By the time he was at the end of the street, the sun was making its way up over the horizon.

He pushed himself harder than normal, running past Kelsey's house. No lights on yet and he didn't think there would be any.

It was probably for the best. If he saw a sign of life moving around he might have been tempted to knock to see if he was still dreaming or not.

When he returned home, he felt his mind was as clear as it was going to get. He knew he was dreaming. Nothing more than that.

Just a crazy realistic one that he'd never had before.

Jesus, his mother was so close to him. So lifelike.

But it was only a memory of her. One of the better times in his life.

He didn't want to say there were no good times in his life. That'd be a lie.

His father was a dick. He always knew that but let it go most times.

If Adam Harlowe was getting on his mother's case or talking down to her, he'd jump in and defend the woman who loved him unconditionally.

The one thing he'd hated about moving out of his parents' house was that he wouldn't be able to do that for her.

And when his mother got sick, his father had stepped up, letting him know that the man might have been a jerk at times, but he did love his wife and could be depended on.

Which only showed Van what a horrible judge of character he was to later find out about the affair his father had been having.

That had been the beginning of the end of their father-son relationship.

Things only got worse to the point they hadn't talked much in years.

When he'd woken up in the hospital, his father was there by his side and he thought, okay, he could step up and they could make amends.

The first words out of his father's mouth were that he never should have been on the force. He'd told his mother she was stupid for encouraging it and that Van wasn't smart enough to get out of harm's way and not get himself killed.

He didn't hear much more after the insult to his mother and told his father to get the fuck out of his room.

Here he dreamed of his mother and it felt good and now the rest of his morning was turning to crap thinking of his father.

The man who didn't know he'd moved thousands of miles away and most likely wouldn't give a shit either.

He made some breakfast, looking around the house that was his now.

Talk about something out of a dream.

It should have been his mother living here.

Which just pissed him off more than made him calm.

That her life was gone.

She never got to experience any of this pampering. As if it was withheld from her by the man who just handed it over so freely to him.

His mother told him to have an open mind and that was what he'd do when he met with Kyle Raymond this morning to go over the hotels.

He felt as if he were in school again and studying. Only this was real life and had a huge price tag attached to it.

When it was time to leave, he grabbed his keys and went out the door, setting the alarm and pulling out of the garage.

"He's in his office," the woman at the front desk said. "You can go right in. I'm Rosalind, by the way. Not sure if you heard that last time."

"I did," he said, shaking her hand. "Sorry I left so abruptly."

"It's fine," Rosalind said. "Your grandfather was a funny man, but he could be moody at times too. More so when he was under pressure or stress."

Van just nodded. It's not like he could agree with an assessment of a man he didn't remember meeting or knew nothing about.

"Morning," Kyle said. "There is coffee over there if you need some. Food too."

He turned his head and saw the one-cup coffee maker and made his way over. Might as well. The single cup of caffeine hadn't jolted him enough at home.

"I think I'll get myself another cup," Kyle said. "My wife isn't here to lecture me. Just like she can't say anything about me eating this Danish. I hope you have one so I'm not left to eat them all. I don't need the sugar rush or my wife to be poking at me."

He snorted. "Guess I know where Kelsey gets it from."

"You don't know the half of it," Kyle said.

This was the first time he was seeing Kyle again after he'd dropped the bombshell that he'd had two dates with the guy's daughter.

In the past two weeks he'd just been shooting emails back and forth with Kyle and admitted that Kelsey explained a few things to him.

"You're okay with this?" he asked.

"With what?" Kyle asked, popping his cup under the coffee maker when Van took his out. He grabbed a muffin that was sitting there and then moved to the small table in the corner that Kyle nodded him to.

"Me dating your daughter?"

Kyle laughed. "You haven't dated her long enough to know that I've got no say in it."

"I'm learning," he said.

"Am I worried this is a conflict?" Kyle asked. "Not really. What you've got with Kelsey is between you two. What you have in terms of business is between us. If you mix them together and it gets messy, I just hope you've got a lot of towels to clean up. You'll need them with her."

"So noted," he said.

"I will say one thing. I feel I have to as a father."

Here it comes . "Go on."

"Mess her up and you'll have nowhere to hide on this island."

"Is that a threat?" he asked, sipping his coffee.

"It's a fact. Trust me. You don't want to find out."

"Those resources of yours?" he asked. He'd heard a bit about how Griffin Zale was the one who had told Kyle he was on the island.

The man was head of security for the casino and did a lot of work for most of the Bond businesses. Including Kyle's and setting up the cameras for security in Van's three hotels.

Since Griffin was married to Penelope Rauch, Van also knew that it was the same branch as Kelsey and closer than others.

He quickly learned who and where things were on this island and how they might affect him.

"Something like that," Kyle said. "How do you want to start this? Do you just want to fire questions at me? Want me to explain in detail what was in those summaries? Maybe just tackle one hotel at a time. They all have different features, but the services offered are close to the same."

"We can do each hotel at a time. I'll ask questions if you don't mind me interrupting and taking notes."

He'd brought a notebook with him. Just like school.

"Not at all," Kyle said.

Hours later his head was spinning and his fingers were cramped.

He got the basics and it helped a ton.

"What about the security?" he finally asked. "Are there issues with it? I know the cameras were set up and are monitored by staff."

"Griffin set them up," Kyle said. "But he doesn't monitor them. If we need to hire security guards, it's done at the hotel level."

"What kind of check are you doing on the staff?" he asked.

He took notes on the firm that was hired and used. "Is this something you can do or want to get involved in?" Kyle asked. "I guess I'm curious if you plan on taking a role or just want to find out what is going on and sit back?"

"I haven't fully decided," he said. "I don't plan on sitting back, but I don't want to step on toes either."

"My daughter might have mentioned she'd like to see me slow down," Kyle said. "Am I wrong?"

"No," he said. "But that won't sway my decision either."

"Good," Kyle said. "Security is a weak spot of mine. I hire out for it or lean on Griffin, which I hate to do. But that is for my business. He's got his hands full with the casino and a small part of Atlantic Rise since it's his wife's hotel. The three hotels with you are overseen by someone else."

"I can take a look at things," he said. "I won't say security is my strong suit, but I'm not unfamiliar with it. I'm used to solving things and piecing stuff together."

But he'd know more about security than he would anything else when it came to the hotels.

"Do that at your own pace," he said. "And if you'd like to meet with Griffin or our personnel at each hotel, we can easily arrange that."

He read between the lines that Kyle might want to pass that buck, but he wasn't going to take anything on without having a full understanding of it.

"What was my grandfather's role here?" he asked. "I know you said he cut back over the past few years, but prior to that?"

"Barry liked to be on site more. He always felt making an appearance helps keep people honest."

"Was there theft or dishonesty?" he asked.

"Nothing more than normal. I've got so many businesses and properties that I can't be everywhere at once. I've got staff under me that I trust to do those things. I've got a Director of Operations that focuses on the hotels and properties that I own. The day-to-day issues. They normally end up on my desk at some point, but it's nice when that can be prevented."

"You've got a lot more ventures than these three hotels," he said. "You'd like to not run them, right?"

Kyle laughed. "It was nice sharing that duty with Barry. He did more of the work than me for a long time."

Van leaned back and crossed his arms to get comfortable. "You were a silent investor making decisions behind the scenes?"

"I was," Kyle said. "In the beginning. Everything was working and running smoothly and Barry kept it going. As I said, he was getting on in years and his health wasn't the greatest. We hired a Director of Operations solely for those three hotels that Barry vetted out more than me. It was to take the load off of Barry in the past few years. His name is Christian Cromer."

"When do I get to meet him?" he asked.

"I can arrange it anytime you want," Kyle said. "He's not aware you are on this island."

"What?" he asked. "Why is that?"

"Let's say that Christian does a good job—I'm not complaining about that—but he was close enough to Barry that I believe he felt he might have been left something. Not sure."

"He knows it was all left to me?" he asked.

"Of course. There have been whispers that Christian is fine with you not being here."

"Because if I take an interest he might lose his job?" he asked. Just what he didn't want to deal with.

"Could be," he said. "But until I know your intentions, I haven't said a word. You living here didn't mean you were going to take an interest in the hotels. You could easily learn what you want, then collect your income, and live the rest of your life the way you are."

"It's not what you want though, is it?" he asked.

"This isn't about what I want," Kyle said.

"I'm asking you though. I'd like to know," he said. "We are partners and I should know that."

Kyle smiled. "I'm happy to hear you say that. For me, selfishly, I'd like you to take an active interest. It'd take a weight off my shoulders that I'd gladly continue to carry, but would allow me to focus on other ventures if it wasn't there. Second of all, I think you need it in your life. Not just something to take up your time but to help you heal and accept things."

He grunted. "Accept what?"

"That your grandfather isn't the villain in this."

He let out a sigh. "Who is?"

"I'm not sure you're ready to hear it. Have you opened that envelope yet?"

"No," he said.

"Let me know when you do and we'll talk some more. But one isn't tied to the other. Meaning you opening that isn't tied to you learning the ropes of this business."

"That is personal and this isn't?" he asked.

"I think so, but you'll have to figure that out yourself."

There was no reason to argue any of this since he didn't know.

He looked at his watch and saw it was past lunch and he'd taken up a lot of Kyle's day. The computer had been softly dinging every minute, with emails he was sure.

The phone rang a few times, but he didn't answer. Even Kyle's cell phone had vibrated more than he'd ever heard someone's go off before.

Not once had the guy stopped to check anything.

"Can I ask why you haven't gotten up once to see what was going on with all the calls and emails? What if it was an emergency?"

"The only true emergencies in my life are my family. If Karen, Duke, or Kelsey needed me and I didn't respond, they'd go to Rosalind and she'd open the door to get me. Everything else can wait a few hours unless it involves police or fire. Again, I've got staff to hunt me down fast enough."

"Rosalind?" he asked of the older woman at the front desk.

"One of many. You can trust her. She got along great with your grandfather."

"She said he was funny but moody," he said.

"Do you want to know a little about Barry?" Kyle asked.

"Sure," he said.

"He was honest. He was loyal. He also wasn't without faults and guilt."

"I hope to hell you aren't going to tell me my mother was the villain," he said firmly.

"Never," Kyle said. "Don't think that. Ever. Your grandfather loved his only child. But he knew he'd made mistakes early on in her life. At one point I think he thought maybe they could work it out after you were born, but it didn't happen."

"Do you know why?" he asked.

"It's that villain thing again."

"My father?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"I don't want to talk ill of someone in your life."

"He's not in my life," he said. "Guess you don't know as much as you thought you did."

Kyle grinned. "Maybe not. Is that something you want to talk about?"

"No," he said. "Your daughter should know first and she doesn't."

Kyle nodded. "In a roundabout way, you've told me what I need to know as a father. Twice now you've wanted Kelsey to know before me when it was personal. I like you, Van. Just know that will take priority over any business. Whether we agree or not in this office is separate from my daughter and whatever relationship you may have with her."

"Thanks," he said. "I think I've taken up a lot of your time and I appreciate that. I've got things to think about. If you want to send me over the information on the security that you've got, I'd appreciate it."

"I can do that," Kyle said, standing up when he did. "Don't hesitate to reach out at any time. I mean that. I know you work on Sundays but have Saturdays off. My wife would like to meet you. Maybe we can have you over for dinner on a personal level soon."

"We can do that," he said. "Tomorrow I get to meet your son on his grounds."

Kyle laughed. "Kelsey is a sneaky one doing that at the restaurant. She knows Duke will behave. Those two are very close."

"So I gathered."

Van left after that and went home to try to absorb all he learned. The hardest was the personal information about his grandfather and father, but he wasn't shocked either.