Page 11 of Love to Hate You

“What did I miss?” Sawyer asks.

“Nothing. Ethan is waiting for everyone to arrive before he starts.”

“Well, I’d imagine,” Sawyer replies smoothly. “You try to get a sneak peek at the will before we got here?”

My eyes narrow. “You really think there’s something in there for you?”

He shrugs a broad shoulder. “Probably not since he told me ten different times at the top of his lungs that he’d cut my ass out. But we definitely know good ol’ Dad left his billion-dollar company to his precious Nash.”

My blood heats up. “For your information, we had a falling out. I haven’t spoken to the man in two years.”

It’s clear my admission catches them all by surprise.

“What happened?” Sierra asks, concern furrowing her brow.

“Nothing we all weren’t already familiar with. I’d had enough of his heavy-handedness and left TB Tech.”

Sawyer’s mouth edges up and he scrapes a hand through the scruff on his lower face. “In other words, Daddy pissed you off?”

I grit my teeth, trying not to let him get under my skin because if there’s one thing that Sawyer does well it’s pushing my buttons. “He was a domineering asshole. We all know that.”

The smirk on Sawyer’s mouth makes me want to punch his smug face and Tanner steps in, trying to ease the tension. “None of us got along with him. Hell, we barely get along with each other.”

“That’s not true,” Sierra exclaims. “I love you stubborn jerks, but you’re all so damn proud and difficult.”

None of us says anything. We have never been the best at communicating and it's probably why our sibling relationship is in tatters. Then Sawyer clears his throat. “Where’s your other half?”

“Crew is running a little late,” she says with a vague wave of her hand.

“Shocker,” I mumble. Our youngest brother and Sierra’s twin is Crew. Another pain in my ass. He’s irresponsible and a total screw-up. None of us take him very seriously and the last thing I heard, he was off romping through the French Riviera, galavanting around with some Sugar Momma. When it comes to the real world, Crew is completely clueless, and I don’t think he’s ever had a real job a day in his life.

“Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late.”

Speak of the devil.I look up and see my little brother. Wearing jeans, a t-shirt and leather jacket, he cradles a helmet under his arm. He has dark smudges under his bright blue eyes and runs a hand through the bleached tips of his messy hair.

“What did I miss?” Crew asks with a non-repentant grin, sounding just like Sawyer.

“Nothing,” I say. “I’ll get Ethan.”

“Who the hell is Ethan?” Sawyer asks.

“The lawyer,” I clarify, struggling not to roll my eyes.

When we’re all finally seated in the large conference room, I look over at Ethan Goldman as he welcomes us and then expresses his sympathy for our loss. “Let’s begin,” Ethan says and adjusts his glasses, looking down at the paperwork in front of him. “I, Thomas Morgan Beckett, residing at…”

I lean back, hands clasped on the table, glance down at my watch, and just want to get this over with. I’m certain that it’s going to prove to be an absolute waste of time. As Ethan’s monotone voice drags on, certain phrases and keywords stick out.

“...being of sound mind, of legal age, not acting under duress or undue influence, and fully understanding the nature and extent of all my property…I hereby nominate, constitute and appoint Nash Morgan Beckett as Executor of this Will…”

What?My heads snaps up.Interesting.Although I suppose that I shouldn’t be too surprised since who the hell else would do it? I’m the oldest and, other than Tanner, the most responsible one of us. Basically, I’m now in charge of his estate and making sure his final wishes in the will are carried out.

Across the table, Sawyer snorts and I fight back a nasty retort, ignore him, and turn my full attention to the lawyer. The third part of the will mentions “Debts and Expenses”, and no one really cares. But part four is “Bequests” and snags everyone’s interest. Not because we think he’s going to leave us anything– hell, he flat out told us that he’d written us all out of his will at one point or another– but more so because we’re all damn curious to see who he chose to leave his billions.Probably some charity,I think.

“I bequeath unto the persons named below, if he or she survives me by 30 days, the following property…”

You could hear a pin drop and my gaze wanders over my siblings.

“Nash Morgan Beckett, Tanner Morgan Beckett, Sawyer Morgan Beckett, Crew Morgan Beckett and Sierra Morgan Beckett, I leave you TB Technology and all of my personal property to be divided equally. Please, see individual letters and clauses.”

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