It had only been a day since the funeral, and none of the boys wanted to be sitting in this uptight lawyer’s office while he read a stupid will. It wasn’t as if they didn’t know what it was going to say anyway.
Their father, of course, had left his fortune to them; that is, what he hadn’t already given them in their enormous trust funds, and to their mother and his brother, Uncle Sherman. They were the only living relatives—well, the only ones they knew about, at least. So this was a waste of all their time.
“Can you get on with this? I have things to do,” Cooper snapped.
“You will learn some respect by the end of this,” Sherman warned Coop.
“Yeah, I get it,” Coop said. “Can I go now? I don’t want to hear the rest.”
“I think you do,” their mother said.
Her sweet voice instantly calmed the boys. They did love their mother, had a great deal of respect for her, and listened when she spoke. But they had hardened through the years, taking for granted what had been given to them.
That was about to change.
“You won’t receive a dime of your inheritance until you’ve proven that you will actually better not only your lives, but the lives of others.”
Cooper spoke first. “What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” He was up on his feet, his chair flying backward with the momentum. His brothers were right behind him.
The world was suddenly spinning and none of them knew how to deal with this latest news.
“If you will shut up and listen, then you will hear the rest,” Sherman told them.
The four young men were obviously upset, but slowly they resumed their seats, all of them except for Cooper, who stood there with his arms crossed, daggers coming from his eyes.
“You have ten years to turn your lives around. At the end of that ten years, if you haven’t proven yourselves self-sufficient, by working hard, being respectful to your mother and your uncle, and bringing something to the society that you live in, then your inheritance will be donated to charity.”
The attorney paused as if he were reluctant to read whatever else was coming next.
“Get on with it,” Ace growled.
“Your mother and I shared a wonderful, beautiful, exciting life together. A man isn’t meant to be alone. He’s meant to love, to share, to grow with a woman who will help guide him through the hardest parts of his life,” the attorney began.
“What in the world are you speaking about?” Maverick snapped.
“Son, this is in your father’s own words, so I would pay attention,” Uncle Sherman said, his tone sad.
Maverick leaned forward, but he didn’t seem to be hearing anything that was being spoken at that moment.
“Shall I continue?” the attorney asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” Cooper said with a wave of his hand.
“You will receive your full inheritance once you marry.”
Dead silence greeted those words as the boys looked at one another, and then at their mother, who had a serene smile on her face.
Finally, Cooper was the one to speak again. “Mom? What in the hell is going on?”
She gave her son a sad smile. “Your father and I have watched the four of you lose your way these past several years. He knew he was dying and he’d run out of time to guide you, shape you. He didn’t want to lose you forever, as I don’t. So he changed the will.”
The boys waited for her to go on, but she sat there silently.
“We’re rich without his money,” Nick pointed out.
She was quiet for several moments. “Yes, Nick, you are,” she finally said.
“Are you going to take away what we already have?” Maverick asked.
“No, I’m not,” Evelyn Armstrong told them all. “You don’t have to get your inheritance, though it makes your trust funds look like pennies, as you know. But getting the money isn’t the point,” she said with a sigh.
“What is the point?” Cooper asked, trying desperately not to yell, but only because his mother was in the room.
“The point is to grow up. You need to grow up,” Evelyn said as she looked each of the boys in the eyes before turning to Sherman.
“Your father wants you to be good men. He’s asking you to show your mother that you are,” Sherman added.
“So, even in death, Father wants us to jump through hoops?” Ace snapped.
“No, son, even in death your father wants you to grow into the men you are meant to be,” Evelyn told them.
“I don’t need his stupid money. I have plenty of it that he’s already given me and besides that I have my own plans. If he thinks I’m such a screwup, then he can keep it all,” Cooper thundered.
“Agreed,” Nick snapped.
“I’m not doing anything because someone is trying to force it upon me,” Maverick said, joining his brothers.
“If he thinks we’re such screwups, he can go to hell,” Ace said, pushing it a bit too far.
“Ace . . .” Coop whispered.
“Save it, Cooper. You’re always trying to be the leader, but this is crap. Yeah, I’m the baby of the family, but that just means that I’ve had to try to make up for every mistake that you guys have already made. I’m done with it,” Ace bellowed.
“Calm down, son,” Sherman said, rising and resting a hand on Ace’s shoulder.
“No!”
Ace yanked away from Sherman and then moved toward the door.
“I love you all no matter what you choose, but I hope you’ll listen to your father’s last words and know he does this because he loves you,” Evelyn said quietly, stopping Ace for a moment. Then his eyes hardened.
“I’m out of here.”
Ace was the first to leave. He rushed from the attorney’s office, fury heating the very air around him.
Cooper stood there dumfounded. What was happening? They’d not only lost their father, but they’d all just found out that they had never been good enough in his eyes.
“To hell with Dad—and to hell with this place.”
Cooper followed his brother, though Ace was already long gone. It didn’t matter. Cooper would prove himself, but he’d do it because he wanted to. He would never be someone’s puppet—not even his father’s.
CHAPTER ONE
What in the world was he doing at the lavish Anderson wedding of Crew Storm and his bride, Haley?
He didn’t want to be there, didn’t want to be around anyone, actually, but he feared his friends were going to call in the National Guard at any minute if he didn’t come out and at least pretend he was still somewhat normal.
It had only been six months since his father’s passing. There’d been zero word from Ace, and though he talked to his other two brothers, the conversations were short. All of them were dealing with their demons and the final words of their father.
He hadn’t spoken more than a few words to his mother, which he knew was terrible, but he couldn’t see her while he was like this.
“It’s really good to see you out, Coop.”
Mark Anderson stood next to him as they scanned the merry crowd celebrating all around them. Cooper couldn’t even try to smile. His lips just weren’t turning up.