“And if I don’t get married?”
“Then I’ll leave everything to Miles. I’m not joking around, Hayden. I need proof that you will start taking life seriously and aren’t going to gallivant off to Europe the next time your feelings get hurt. I’m not passing this empire to you without your being stable.”
“How exactly does a wife make me more stable?” I asked in the emotionless voice I’d adopted with my father years ago.
“You can’t carry on a legacy without an heir.”
This was really happening. I had to get married or my father would give the inheritance to my younger brother. I didn’t mind Miles getting the money, but Dad wouldn’t give it without conditions and rules. I couldn’t leave this burden to Miles. It was my job to protect him, especially from our father’s controlling nature.
And then there was the matter of what would happen if Miles failed to meet whatever requirements Dad would give him. I had plenty of my own money, but it wasn’t enough to keep my mother in her home indefinitely, and I had no idea how much money she or Miles had of their own that wasn’t connected to Dad.
I nodded stiffly. “I understand.”
I understood that I had no good options. I could either put the burden of taking care of Mom on my twenty-four-year-old brother or I could do the one thing I’d vowed I would never do.
Marriage wasn’t in the cards for me, I’d decided that years ago. The last thing I wanted was a woman I barely knew trying to tell me what to do with my time and money, asking me for things I had no desire to give.
There were only three women in this world I took orders from—my mother, my sister, and Sierra. And before anyone accuses me of being misogynistic, there were even fewer men.
“Is there anything else?” I asked, more than ready to get out of his office.
“Not right now. After your wedding, we can talk about the CEO position.”
“Give it to Miles. I don’t want it.”
“This company is our family’s legacy. I need to know that it will be taken care of when I’m gone. You’re the one I’ve been training for this.”
And there was the emotion I’d been missing. He needed to know thecompanywould be taken care of? Not my mother or siblings but his precious hotels. I hadn’t really expected anything else from him, but I guess a tiny part of me had hoped facing his own mortality might make him rethink things.
“Thecompanywill be fine,” I gritted out.
His eyes narrowed. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“Forget it.” I’d long since given up on talking to myfather. There was no changing his mind or making him see things from a different perspective. And trying just caused me unnecessary frustration and disappointment.
“Hayden.”
“I said forget it. I have work to do.” I stood and walked out of his office without waiting for him to respond.
When I was safely locked away in my own office, I pulled out my cell phone and called my sister.
Maggie answered on the fourth ring. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Dad has cancer. The doctors gave him six months.”
There was a long beat of silence before she spoke. “Does Mom know?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I think he only told me so he could talk about the inheritance.”
“He’s leaving you everything, right?”
I felt a stab of guilt at that. Our father had never tried with Maggie. He didn’t think running a hotel empire was a woman’s job and didn’t consider her an heir despite the fact that she was his first child. Maggie acted like she didn’t care, and maybe she really didn’t. She didn’t need Dad’s money or attention. She had a husband now who thought she walked on water, and she didn’t let our family bullshit drag her down.
“Yeah,” I muttered.
“Good for you.” There wasn’t even a hint of bitterness in her voice. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”
I snorted. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Assuming I actually got married and inherited the fortune.
