Page 8 of Impossible Rapids
Catherine had tortured and manipulated Quaid his entire life and might have killed him if they hadn’t intervened. And Shawn thought his mom was awful. Catherine Oliver made his mom’s mental abuse and neglect look like good parenting.
Even though Catherine was in prison, her daughter Elizabeth and her puppet of a husband were still free. Lucas and Arianna Belle supported the Olivers, and with Catherine’s legal fortune in limbo, the group needed funds to propel Elizabeth into the next presidential election. That made his stomach curdle. That was only one of the awful things Lucas and Arianna would do with all that money.
Shawn didn’t have blood relations. His mom might still be alive, but she’d probably overdosed years ago. Thank heavens for Mama T’s intervention, or he would’ve been a ward of the state. He’d always longed for a family of his own, but he’d learned sometimes family was rough.
Better to choose his family. He’d chosen Grayson, Mama T, Mercedes, Franz, Jagger, and Hays. He’d sworn to Grayson he’d take care of Mama T, Mercedes, and Franz if something ever happened to his best friend.
As cocky eighteen-year-olds, he’d thought Grayson was teasing him. His best friend had made the dirt-poor Shawn Holister with no connections and no family worth mentioning, swear an oath to take care of regal and charitable Mama T, the billionaire Franz Belle, and his already famous and gorgeous half-sister, Mercedes Belle. Back then, Shawn couldn’t manage more than one-word answers or hardly meet Mercedes or Franz’s gazes. Now they were his family, and he’d do what was needed to honor his oath to Grayson for these people he loved so much.
“Please.” The slick lawyer, Brandon Wallace, pulled Shawn’s attention from talking to Cash and sneaking glances at Julie. “Can you all sit?”
He gestured at the five chairs arranged in a semi-circle facing the large cherry wood desk. A video monitor sat on top.
Julie, Franz, Cash, Brylee, and Shawn each took a seat. It didn’t matter, but it would’ve helped settle his nerves if he could’ve sat by Julie. He would’ve loved to lean toward her and smell her lilac scent as she said funny things in an undertone and he tried not to laugh out loud. That probably wasn’t appropriate on this day of all days, so he stayed seated on the edge of the circle next to Brylee, opposite of Julie.
He glanced at Cash and Brylee to his left so he wouldn’t gape at Julie as she sat in her beautifully-fitted black dress and crossed her legs. She had very, very lean legs. Not that he’d studied them. Too often.
Thankfully, Cash and Brylee had graciously forgiven him for giving them a hard time when they filmed their show on a tropical island. Mercedes had begged him to play the ‘jerk’ for the initial shows to bring more drama. By the last few episodes, they’d both decided there was more drama than they’d bargained for and he could stop making enemies of the participants.
Brandon Wallace turned away from the group and dramatically closed the double doors. Shawn wasn’t sure why he was so annoyed with the guy. Every time they met, Wallace had always come across as pompous and acted like he was smarter than everybody else in the room, but truthfully, the research he’d done and the plan he’d put in place showed he was smarter than most people.
It wasn’t until Wallace checked out Julie and flirted with her that Shawn’s hackles rose and he found himself wanting to see if the preppy lawyer would meet him to spar at the gym first thing in the morning. The guy wouldn’t stand a chance.
Returning to stand beside the desk, Wallace surveyed their group. “As you all know Mercedes well, you can imagine she left me ‘very strict instructions’ that I’d ‘better not dare mess up.’” He gave a brief smile.
Even Shawn had to smile at that. Mercedes and her plotting and planning. He imagined Julie knew most of what Mercedes had planned after she died and for the final reality TV episode.
He’d been focused on dealing with the transfer of inheritance details, working with Franz’s security team to keep Franz and Mercedes safe, being there for them both emotionally, and trying to help with the reality shows when he could. Thankfully, Jagger and Hays had been able to wrap up the last show on Kauai, “Impossible Chase,” before they left on their SEAL assignment. Mercedes had agreed with him and Julie to delay the filming of the final episode for at least a few weeks. Everybody involved was understanding and told them to take their time.
“Not even Miss Pandoran knows about this part of Mercedes’s ‘manipulation from beyond the grave.’” Wallace smiled smugly.
Shawn almost laughed at the telling Mercedes quote, but he didn’t like Wallace’s smug smile. What had the lawyer and Mercedes cooked up? Shawn was almost always with Mercedes, but sometimes she’d shoo him out of the room. Jagger had told Mercedes she was a beautiful and manipulative angel the last time Mercedes was strong enough to talk to their friend. Shawn wondered what had happened between Jagger and his long-lost love, Belinda Ralphs, but Jagger and Hays had been sent on their SEAL mission before he’d had a chance to talk it out with his friend.
“This isn’t truly a reading of the will,” Wallace continued. “If any of you don’t know, Mr. Shawn Holister is being gifted one point six billion dollars from the Belle Family Legacy and will soon be the owner of a multitude of companies, foundations, and real estate.”
“Blimey,” Brylee muttered.
Shawn shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want to meet any of their eyes, especially Julie’s. He wasn’t billionaire material and feared he would see that and more in her brown eyes.
“Don’t spend it all in one place, buddy,” Cash muttered to him.
Shawn, Julie, and Brylee all cracked up at that. Even Franz smiled. That was a relief. Shawn hadn’t seen Franz smile since Mercedes had told him to ‘lighten up’ the day before she died.
“Shawn is like a son to me, and you all know how much my Mercedes loved him,” Franz proclaimed, as if hoping the people in this room would go spread that word so no relatives tried to question the transfer of funds.
It scared him that Franz was so insistent on him being the sole recipient of all that money. The family fortune he’d transferred to Mercedes several years ago should’ve transferred back to Franz. The way the trusts were set up, it had to be a blood relative who inherited. Wallace had found a loophole, and they’d finalized the paperwork a few days before Mercedes died. The money and everything else were already technically in his name. As soon as the judge signed off on everything with the trust, Lucas and Arianna shouldn’t have any recourse or reason to kill Shawn. The Belle family legacy and foundations would permanently be transferred to the Holister name and his children, if he ever had them, would be the legal heirs.
Shawn would’ve happily given it back to Franz, except he didn’t want the target on Franz’s back. Franz was only sixty-one; could he have had a premonition like Grayson seemed to years ago? Could Franz be committing Shawn to take care of his family legacy and fortune because he knew he’d die? What was Shawn supposed to do with all that money? How was an uneducated and unloved whelp supposed to keep up with all the businesses and administration details, the charitable foundations and lunches and mind games of the wealthy?
After he knew Franz wasn’t in danger of being hurt by anyone or hurting himself, Shawn could focus on dealing with everything, learning all he could, and becoming the man Franz thought he was.
It sounded lonely. What he wouldn’t do to escape to the ocean, a river, a lake, even a creek or pond would do.
If only Mercedes’s assistant could come with him; if only she’d agree to never leave his side.
Shawn finally let himself look at Julie. She was staring openly at him, and he wasn’t certain if she was stunned he would be an official billionaire soon, or if she was saying she would hold his hand and help and support him. What emotion was filling her brown eyes? Why did she look sad?
“What nobody but Shawn and Mr. Wallace know…” Franz paused to make certain he had their attention.