24. Ryan

CHAPTER 24

Ryan

W hat did I just do?

Did I really just push away the girl I had been waiting for my entire life? Did I snuff out the spark?

I roll my eyes at that thought, then focus on the traffic in front of me.

As I slowly maneuver my car into 6th Avenue traffic, my cell phone starts ringing. I hit the call button on the steering wheel without looking at the name.

"Carina?" I say.

"No, but I'm sure I look and sound exactly like her," Daniel says. "Guessing she's why you're not here yet."

"Where?" I ask.

"The country club. We have a tee-off in twenty minutes. Usually you're here by now."

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry, man. Completely slipped my mind."

"Everything alright? Or did she finally wise up and find someone new?"

"I'm not in the mood, Daniel."

"My bad," he says. "I shouldn't ask this, but do you want to talk about it? I mean only if you really need to. But please don't want to talk about it. You know that's not my thing."

"We had a fight, and I was hoping she was calling to apologize," I say.

"Great, you want to talk about it," he says with an exaggerated sigh. "Oh boy, what did you do?"

"Hey, you asked, and I need to vent."

"Fine, proceed. I'll just have to beat you at golf another day."

"Funny, I just asked myself the same question. What did I do?"

"How about telling me why you're expecting her to apologize?"

"I found her with Alex," I say.

"Alex? Your brother? Found her how? What was she doing? Was she…"

"What are you, a detective now?"

"No, but based on your answers, I can tell you're leaving a lot out."

"I already told you I found her with Alex."

"Yes, I know, you said that. But how did you find her? Were they having sex? Talking?"

"No, she was just there. At his place after leaving me."

"So you followed her?" Daniel asks. "You went full stalker mode, didn't you?"

I grunt, annoyed. "Don't put it like that."

"Don't be an ass then. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. We had a great time at the cabin, and after we got back, she broke up with me for absolutely no reason. A little while after that, I got a text telling me to meet her at an address. I show up at this enormous house, and she opens the door. Ends up it's Alex's house."

"So wait, who'd you get a text from?"

"Her." I pause before speaking again. "At least I thought it was her."

Daniel sighs. "It would've said it was from her," he says. "Is this like you thought she was calling you now?"

"I'm not an idiot," I say angrily. "I know it would say it was her, but since it said to meet her, I thought maybe she borrowed someone else's phone."

"So she was at Alex's, but you didn't catch her with him, right?"

"No, they weren't even in the same room. She was just there." I stop, thinking about my brother. "We haven't spoken in five years."

"I know, but not because you hate each other. And not because you had a fight or anything negative between you two. It's because of your father and that stupid will."

"Yes, but?—"

"But what, Ryan? You're going to let go of the one woman I've seen make you happy because she was at your brother's house? Talk to her. Find out the truth first before you start acting like a dick."

I pull into my building's underground garage and park as I think about what Daniel said.

"You're right. I need to talk to her and find out the truth before deciding anything. I need to talk to Alex, too. It's been way too long."

"Go do that. I'll schedule our tee time for another day."

FIVE YEARS AGO

"Listen, boys," Harold said. "I don't know if your father told you anything about this before he passed, but he didn't say a word to me. We could do this the formal way where I read out everything to you with a lawyer present, but I thought it would be better if we talked about this privately."

"I don't understand. Alex and I are his only heirs, his only family. It should be pretty straightforward," I said.

"It is simple," Harold said. He took a stapled booklet and a padded envelope and pushed them across the table toward Alex and me. Alex grabbed the envelope, which had writing across the front:

DO NOT OPEN UNTIL—

·Ryan's birthday five years after my passing;

·Ryan's wedding;

·Any unforeseen circumstance.

"I see, as usual, it's all about you," Alex said as he smirked.

I pulled the booklet of stapled sheets of paper closer to me. On the top it said Last Will and Testament. I looked up at Harold, and he nodded. I pushed it back across the table towards Harold.

"I don't want this. Why can't you just tell us?" I said.

"You know we don't care for this kind of drama," Alex said.

"But apparently, your father did." Harold pulled the will over to him and flipped through a few pages before opening the will to one specific page. He pointed to a section. "The will is full of generic language that amounts to nothing. The true part of the will is right here in these few lines." Harold tapped on the paper, making a knocking sound that echoed in the room. "He left everything to you, Ryan. Everything."

"What do you mean everything?" I asked.

"Everything. The house, the bank accounts, investments, the business. Everything. It's all yours. With one caveat. You have until your birthday in five years to get married."

"I don't think I heard you right. I have five years to get married? Or what? And what about Alex?"

"That's just ridiculous," Alex said. "I can't believe he's trying to control us from the grave." He sighed deeply. "Actually, I shouldn't be surprised at all."

"In all fairness, Alex, it doesn't seem like he's trying to control you. There is also a line in here, in case it wasn't clear enough, where he states that you get nothing."

"When did he make this will?" Alex asked.

"I wondered the same thing," Harold said. "I know the two of you have not always gotten along. And he has not been the best father to you." Harold paused and gave a sympathetic look at Alex, who shrugged. "But it looks as though he made this will five years ago. So all of this came well after you joined the company. It was created after you convinced him to join me and the Fairfield job. I feel as though this is some kind of retribution for that. Not that your father didn't love being a billionaire, but maybe his relationship with you and your being the reason the company became so successful soured him." Harold shook his head. "I'm just guessing. I really don't know. While he and I were close friends, we never saw eye to eye when it came to how he treated his sons."

"This is bullshit," Alex said. "I spent years building this company, making it and him wealthier than he could ever imagine, and what do I get from it?"

"Nothing," Harold said. "According to this, you are to be removed from the organization, stripped of any benefits you've received, and effectively terminated as of his date of death."

Alex angrily pushed his seat back from the table and walked to the window. He folded his arms over his chest and glared at the view.

"What if I add him to the company myself?" I asked. "Or give him the house or cash? Maybe shares of the company. I can divide everything fairly, the way it should be. If everything belongs to me I should be able to do what I want with it, right?"

"I wish it were that easy. It's all in there. You can't give Alex anything." Silence filled the room as Harold's words hung in the air. "I did find one loophole, though," he said.

Harold opened his briefcase and began digging through a folder before he pulled out a spreadsheet. "This is the list of all your father's assets that aren't related to the house, the business, or any bank accounts. I spoke with an attorney about this before meeting with you, and this is the only loophole we can find. You can give any or all of these things to Alex, and it wouldn't be against the will."

He passed the spreadsheet across the table to Alex, who was still standing. Alex turned back towards the table, took the spreadsheet, and began to look down the list. He stopped at one point and scoffed, then shook his head.

"Unbelievable," he says. "Figures he would forget about all these assets."

He sets the spreadsheet down and slides it across to me with his finger pointing to one of the cells. "I'll take that."

I follow the line to where his finger is and then look up at Harold.

"You're sure all of these are his assets, and I can do anything with them?"

"Yes, every single one of them."

I pushed the spreadsheet over to Alex.

"You should take them all. Every single one of them. This isn't right. We should be sharing everything 50/50, but since we can't, take those. I don't care what they are. Take them all."

Alex's jaw is clenched, and his eyes are narrowed. He looked hurt and wounded, and I'm reminded of when he was a 10-year-old being blamed for our mother's death.

"No. I don't want anything from him except for that one thing on the list. You know what it means to me."

Without looking, I knew exactly which item he was referring to. As I nodded, Alex pushed the spreadsheet back over to me. I turned to Harold.

"Put through the paperwork to make John's Bar and Grille Alex's," I said.

Alex stood and then turned to me.

"Thank you, Ryan, I appreciate it. I guess I'll see you in five years. Unless you get married sooner."

"No, wait, Alex. It doesn't have to be this way. You're my brother."

"That's exactly why it has to be this way. I guess Father is finally getting what he always wanted--one less son."

Alex walked out of the office, and I stood to go after him.

"No, Ryan," Harold said. "You have to let him go. That's in here too."

I hung my head, feeling sorry for my brother and the time we were losing together because of our father.

"I'll continue to look for loopholes, but so far, what your father has done is airtight. He does not want you to have a relationship with your brother. And unless you want to lose everything, I suggest you comply. Now, that also means monthly meetings here with me and the rest of our group as trustees to the will. I will be keeping tabs on you and making sure you are moving forward with getting married."

"This isn't how I want it to be. Not with my brother, not with being forced to get married, none of it."

"I know. I wish there were something I could do. But as of right now, this is how it has to be. So unless there's something in that envelope that changes things, both you and your brother have now lost what was left of your family."