Page 1 of Reckless Vow

Chapter1

Brook

“It’s not like we need her money.”

I cross my arms and glare at the man who has just read Roberta Montgomery’s will to me and my sisters.

He looks down his nose at me from behind his mahogany desk, his expression pleasant but stern. Like he’s summoning all the patience he can to let me—us—voice our opinions but he doesn’t consider them pertinent.

Rupert Montgomery, Grandmother’s younger brother and her will executor, seems like an asshole. Not the obvious kind, but one who hides behind a carefully maintained smile—a creepy smile.

“It can do a lot of good,” London points out.

Of course, my older sister who runs a gazillion charitable endeavors would see the silver lining in all of this. Besides, her happily-in-a-relationship status doesn’t make it hard to comply with Roberta’s conditions.

Not the same case for me. But as I pointed out, I don’t need her money. None of us do, so what was Granny Dearest thinking?

“She didn’t even know us.” London’s twin, my other sister Paris, rubs her very pregnant belly.

“She did follow your life closely.” Rupert takes off his glasses and puts them down on the thick binder with my grandmother’s will.

The reading of the will took about forty minutes. Whatever can be in all those appendices is beyond me. Thank God we’re not expected to sit through every single detail.

Or are we? Shit.

I fidget in my chair and reach into my jeans pocket to pull my phone out. It’s an impulse to distract myself from the bizarre situation happening here. Or from life in general.

I stop myself and wipe my palms on the sides of my thighs as if they were sweaty. Maybe they are.

In the absence of my phone, my right thumb comes to my lips and I graze my teeth over my raw cuticle.

Sydney, my oldest sister, gives me an admonishing look like I’m one of her pupils in school. My sister is a teacher.

While I know my habit of manicure by tooth isn’t healthy, I don’t appreciate being scolded for it—or anything—by my siblings.

But that has always been the dynamic. I’m their baby sister. Never mature enough. Never organized enough. Failing the whole adulting gig at the age of almost twenty-seven.

That’s why I stayed away for so long. To gain my independence.

Okay, I stayed away primarily for another reason, but being off the hook from my sisters’ well-meant but unsolicited support had been an appreciated side-benefit.

I glare at Syd but drop my hand and almost sit on it. I don’t. I’m not going to behave like a fidgeting child to give her the satisfaction.

She smiles at me with her teacher’s patience and turns to Rupert. “What do you mean she followed our lives? We’ve never met her.”

Our mommy chose our dad. An heiress fell for a blue-collar worker. Her mother severed any contact with her in return. End of story.

Mommy kept her sizable trust fund and after she passed, Dad invested it smartly and got us all a healthy start in life. A blue-collar worker wasn’t such a poor match, after all. Not that Roberta Montgomery ever acknowledged that. Or us.

All four of us, perched on heavy brocade-clad chairs, turn to Rupert, who clears his throat and puts his glasses back on.

“Look, girls, I told her on many occasions she should reach out and get to know you, but Roberta was a stubborn woman. She lost her daughter—that’s how she perceived it—when your mother married your father. And shortly after, she lost her husband. The grief left her somewhat bitter. And after your mother died, well… the grief overcame her.”

He pauses, looking at his hands. Sadness and a ghost of some other emotion linger on his face. If I’m not mistaken, a memory passed through his mind.

The situation is quite surreal. Out of the five people in this opulent office in my great grandmother’s mansion, he is the only one grieving.

Yet here we are, trying to comprehend why our estranged grandmother left us a fortune. With the weirdest condition ever.

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