Page 2 of Sebastian's Secret

‘He doesn’t want to give up the money,’ Draco sneered. ‘That’s what his problem is.’

“That’s. Not. It!” Sebastian punctuated each word into the air with a fiery snarl, but Draco only laughed, the sound bouncing off the nearby mountains. Fury furled inside Sebastian at his brother’s contempt, the worst of it was knowing that Draco might even be right. Why should Sebastian give up what was rightfully his—and a quarter of Michael Vaughn’s wealth was his—but equally, why should his father get to dictate that he wed from beyond the grave? The quandary was infuriating and had hounded Sebastian for weeks, but the time was coming where he would be forced to resolve it once and for all. ‘I don’t want to be forced to marry.’

It wasn’t right in their day and age.

‘He’s not choosing who you marry.’ Cole edged toward Sebastian. ‘Only that if you want to inherit your share of his money, then you choose someone—eventually.’

Cole had a gift for making everything sound reasonable, but it didn’t extinguish Sebastian’s outrage. Their father had no right to ask this of him, nor any of the four of them.

‘I don’t like it,’ Sebastian grumbled, acknowledging how petulant he sounded. It occurred to him that even though he was older, he wasn’t behaving that way. ‘And I told Father how I felt.’

Glancing away, Sebastian recalled the volatile conversation. Apparently, his derision had come as a surprise to their father, Michael. Apparently, Sebastian should have known better.

‘How did that go?’ Cole’s tone was knowing.

‘About as well as you’re probably imagining.’ Sebastian answered. ‘It seems I inherited my stubbornness from Dad.’

Though that might be the only thing he inherited if he didn’t cede to Michael’s will.

‘Just sign it,’ Draco growled, rolling his eyes. ‘The contract doesn’t even come into effect until Dad dies, and even then, who’s going to know if you break the terms?’

Now, that was more like the conniving Draco that Sebastian knew so well.

‘Erm, you will,’ Sebastian reminded them, swishing his turquoise tail across the foothill. ‘As will Father’s legal team.’

‘Screw ‘em.’ Fire danced in Draco’s eyes.

‘No.’ Sebastian’s voice echoed with resolve. ‘If I sign, then I’m bound to its terms.’

‘You make everything sound so dramatic.’ Draco’s chuckle goaded. ‘Agree now and then drag your heels.’ Smirking, he edged closer. ‘Maybe you don’t meet the right person for decades… What then? The contract can’t force you to choose.’

Sebastian rolled his eyes, imagining what Balthazar would say if he was present at their impromptu meeting.

‘There’s a clause for that.’ Cole’s voice broke through the intensity, and turning, Sebastian met his eyes.

‘Which clause?’ Sebastian thought he’d studied the papers in detail, but seemingly not as well as his youngest sibling.

‘Clause 8.8,’ Cole replied. ‘Buried right at the end of the information.’

Sebastian’s nostrils flared. Trust their father to hide the devil in the details. Perhaps he had been hoping they wouldn’t notice.

“What does it say?” Sebastian asked aloud, his whirling frustration making it difficult to direct his telepathy.

‘That we each have to marry by the age of forty-five, and if we don’t…’ Cole’s voice was lost to the mountain wind as his words trailed away.

‘If we don’t, then what?’ Draco barked, evidently concerned that his original plan for denial of the contractual terms might be doomed to disaster.

‘If we don’t, then we lose our claim to the Vaughn legacy.’ Cole’s head lowered as though he was somehow responsible. ‘No money, no properties, and no access to other assets.’

“Nothing?” The word echoed around Sebastian, whipping from his left to his right until it was trapped in the spaces between them. “We either sign, or he leaves us with nothing?”

‘Yes.’ Cole’s gaze met Sebastian’s. ‘That’s about the size of it. It seems this is pretty important to Dad.’

‘So important that it’s worth losing us over?’ Sebastian inhaled as he sent the question to his brothers. He couldn’t imagine walking away from his father, his family, and from everything he’d ever known, but then he’d never felt as strongly about anything before.

‘I agree it’s bananas,’ Draco replied. ‘But let’s not lose perspective, Seb. You’re great with women and you always said that you wanted to settle down, didn’t you?’

Sebastian had said that. Even as a small child he had envisaged what his future bride would be like. ‘Yeah,’ he admitted. ‘I thought I wanted that.’

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