Page 31 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

“You weren’t even two,” Kyle said. “Barry met with your mother to meet his first grandchild. He hadn’t known you existed for a good year. There is a lot you don’t know and I’ll tell you when you’re ready. I don’t think you are yet. But Barry asked me to give you a year. If you hadn’t reached out by then, for me to do it. I’d always honor that.”

This was too much to process. “No one ever told me I met my grandfather.”

“Are you ready to know more about the situation? I want to say it’s one-sided, but nothing in life really is.”

“I’ve got no one to confirm or deny anything you say,” he said, crossing his arms.

“You’d be surprised what your grandfather left behind for you to know the truth,” Kyle said. “But when you're ready.” Kyle moved to a picture on the wall and took it down. Van saw the safe in the wall and then the code punched in. When it was opened, he saw lots of papers in there and some cash. A man like Kyle probably had safes and cash in multiple locations. A big envelope was dropped on the desk. “For you to take your time looking through. It’s from Barry.”

He picked it up and saw his name on it. Donovan Harlowe. He put it down. He wasn’t ready to open it just yet.

“Everything in there is supposed to make me believe things I never knew?” he asked lifting his eyebrow.

“No,” Kyle said. “It’s just the start.”

This was all too much for him to take in.

“I’m not sure what I expected. I thought I’d come here to talk about business. I’ll be honest and say I don’t know the first thing about running a hotel.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kyle said. “We’ve got employees for that. Lots of employees.” Kyle was laughing. “I’m not hiding anything from you and wouldn’t. I had a great deal of respect for your grandfather. Do you want to talk about business now and put the personal stuff aside?”

“Sure,” he said. He’d have to start somewhere. “How did you end up partners with him?”

“Your grandfather owned these three properties himself. About twenty-five years ago he’d fallen on to hard times. Some poor investments. Things happened. Nothing unheard of. He was looking for investors to help renovate to make his hotels more attractive and competitive. You’ve got to spend money to make money. He knew that.”

“But he didn’t have it?” he asked.

“No. I was slowly building my portfolio. I’ve got my fingers in a lot of pies, you could say.”

“I’m sure, along with a trust fund being from the Bond family,” he said.

“Definitely,” Kyle said, lifting his eyebrows. “There were businesses handed down to me over the years. Some I’ve sold, others I’ve kept. Times change and you need to be ahead of the curve. Your grandfather knew that.”

“Did he approach you?” he asked.

“He did. He was smart enough to know my name and family background carried a lot of weight. I bought into the three hotels and maintained forty-nine percent of the shares. I offered to buy him out the past few years when he was cutting back.”

“I bet,” he said.

Kyle smiled again. A smirk almost like Kelsey’s. “He always had the same answer. Want to know what it was?”

“You’re going to tell me,” he said.

Kyle laughed this time. Van knew he was being more of a hard ass as if he were interrogating someone. It was difficult to get his law enforcement past out of his blood, but he wasn’t showing his cards either.

That he was so emotionally messed up over this.

“He wanted to leave his legacy behind for his grandson. You’re the last of his blood. It would have gone to your mother had she’d lived, though Barry would have put clauses in there that your father could never touch it.”

“He didn’t care for my father?” he asked.

“I’m not sure you’re ready for all of that,” Kyle said. “But the simple answer is no. He felt Adam brainwashed your mother and stole her away. Maybe Barry was harsh early on, cutting her off, but when he found out about you, he wanted to make amends.”

“It obviously didn’t happen,” Van said drily.

“I believe your mother wanted to try, but your father was against it. The two of them never got along.”

“My father would have wanted the money that came with it,” he said. “I’m almost positive.”

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