Page 42 of Forbidden

Chapter Fourteen

Shane

We drovein silence through the long city blocks. At first I glanced over the papers in the folder, trying to figure out what this was all about, but then I caught myself looking out the window at the changing neighborhoods.

From the falling-apart filth of where my grandmother lived, to the cleaner streets and renovated buildings of Rittenhouse Square, I watched the buildings go by. I was numb. I didn’t know what to expect from this lawyer, but I wished Rosalie was with me. She would be able to make sense of this, and even if she couldn’t, it would have been great just having her here with me.

As tears stung my eyes, I pushed her out of my mind. I was overtired and it was making me into a pussy. I had to focus on whatever was going on here. I could feel sorry for myself later.

Tom pulled into an underground parking garage and handed his key to the attendant. I followed him into an elevator that opened into the third floor of a small office building.

“We’ll go to my office,” he said as he started down the hall.

A thin woman with a short grey bob sat at a desk in front of a closed door with Tom’s name on it. She stood as we approached, her hands wringing nervously.

“I’m so sorry, sir, but Mr. Craven insisted on waiting in your office,” she said.

“That’s fine, Sheila, it doesn’t surprise me. Would you mind getting us some coffee?” Tom smiled at her, and she smiled back before hurrying away.

He leaned closer to me as his hand twisted the doorknob. “I inherited her from a partner who passed away. He was a real son of a bitch to everyone. She’s still recovering from it.”

As we entered the room, a man in a perfectly-fitted charcoal grey suit with short dark hair was seated in one of the seats in front of Tom’s desk. He turned towards us and I stopped walking, surprised by his appearance. He looked like a younger version of my dad, or an older version of me. We even had the same colored eyes, except that his were behind a pair of dark-rimmed glasses.

He stood, and his eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and confusion. I didn’t need anyone to tell me I had the same surprised expression.

Who the hell is this guy?

“What’s going on here, Tom?” he asked, his voice a little gruff. “You brought me here to talk about my father, who’s this?”

“Your father?” I asked before Tom could answer. “I’m here about my grandmother.”

“I’m sorry, but we’re all here to talk about the same thing,” Tom said as he circled around his large desk to a wide-backed black leather chair. “First, let me introduce you to each other.”

I joined them at the desk and stood by an empty chair. I looked from one to the other, and I could tell the other guy had no idea why he was there either.

“Shane Ventana, this is Noah Craven,” Tom said. “You’re brothers, and the only heirs to your grandmother’s estate.”

“You mean…” I couldn’t bring myself to say “my father’s dead?” I was too surprised to learn I had a brother.

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