by Brooke Page
Truth be told, it didn’t matter anymore. I had Becca. She was my love, who I would gladly escape with to a deserted island.
The next piece of paper literally brought tears to my eyes. It was a letter from my grandfather. God, how I missed that man. I wondered how he would deal with all of this. I’m sure losing a son would be excruciating, but RJ and my grandfather butted heads like no other.
Robbie-
The day will come when I won't be on this earth anymore, and I needed you to know I loved you so much more than I might have shown throughout the years.
The day you were born, my life felt complete. I had your beautiful mother, my parents, and the beginning of a company that would grow to be so much more than I could have ever imagined. I have never been more proud of how you have grown with the business. Your maturity and seriousness with your work is truly astounding. I know you will take care of this company and make it your life. For that I am grateful.
But don’t forget about what really matters. We never had the normal father-son relationship, and I know that might hurt me more than it hurts you. I tried my hardest, but I created a working machine. As I said, I am beyond proud of all you have accomplished, but there is so much more to life than money and business.
Which brings me to the nitty gritty.
Your family.
Cherish them.
Mary loves you and respects you more than she acts. All she wants is your attention. Give it to her. It’s impossible to find a good woman who will put up with our busy lifestyles. Like your mother, Mary understands. Don’t lose her, and if you aren’t willing to realize this, let her go. She isn’t a trophy for you to display at company parties. She’s the mother of your amazing boys. Be faithful to her, love her, and respect her. You’d be surprised the kind of affection and love you will receive in return if you give her what she deserves.
Work on your relationship with your boys. We both turned them into business monsters like ourselves. They all look up to you and want you in their lives. Please Robbie; give them more than two minutes of office time. Spend more than holidays and business functions with them. Like Mary, they deserve more. It’s never too late to fix a broken relationship.
I love you son. Don’t make the same mistake we did with our relationship with your boys. Your memories with them shouldn’t be work related but focused on life and love.
Love always,
Dad
Rubbing my palms against both of my eyes, I tried to contain the tears and emotion I felt from the letter. I missed my grandfather, and I was angry RJ treated him so poorly. Reading my grandfather’s words on that paper only brought me more confusion. When did RJ see this? Did it affect him? Was he trying to change?
The positive thought quickly left my mind.
No. He was trying to use me for the Chino deal.
Wiping my eyes one more time, I pulled out another piece of paper, but this one was more formatted and looked to be a legal document. Squinting my eyes, I read across the top—Put Option Agreement.
I hadn’t dealt with these types of documents very often. To my knowledge, a Put Option agreement is when a purchaser is bound to complete a sale under the owner’s wishes.
But this document didn’t involve the Conklin Company and had two very familiar names.
Lee Chino’s name was the Offeree, while to my horror, Robert Conklin Senior was the Offeror.
My eyes became wider and wider with each sentence I read.
The Offeror is the registered holder of ordinary shares in the company.
In consideration of the undertakings of the Offeror and of the Offeree under this Agreement the Offeror has the right at any time to require the Offeree to acquire the option shares (choice narcotic) for a purchase price of 12% over market cost per Ordinary Share.
The Put Option shall be excerisable by notice in writing service upon the Offeree.
Could this be possible? Did this really mean my grandfather was buying drugs from Chino? Not only was he buying them, they had a “legal agreement.”
My grandfather, the man who valued morals and family, who cared about ethics in the business world, and refused to take the easy way out of any situation, because that wasn’t how the world worked. The world didn’t give out handouts, and he pushed for us to thrive to succeed on ethics and integrity.
My grandfather.
The well respected businessman.
The loving husband, father, and grandfather.
The morally-correct Christian.
My grandfather, the drug dealer.
I couldn’t breathe. The only man I trusted and looked to for advice and counsel was a fake. He was a hypocrite, and I didn’t want to believe it.
What hurt the most was the guilt in my gut as I read the large stamp over the contract that said VOID in red ink, followed by RJ’s signature.
RJ had put a stop to the direct sales between Conklin blood and that sleezeball Chino. If my stomach could sink any lower, it would be in the pits of hell.
My chest felt like it was going to cave in as I tried to catch my breath, grasping the edge of RJ’s desk making my knuckles white. I’m sure my face was just as pale as I threw up in the trash can underneath his desk.
The awful feeling was still there after I disposed of whatever was inside of my stomach. I couldn’t see straight; I couldn’t think straight. The only horrid thought running through my mind was that my entire life had been a lie, and I had no idea who the hell to believe. The worst part was, I couldn’t confront them. They were both dead, and I had never had more of a conflicted love-hate feeling for anyone as I had for RJ and my grandfather.
I had approximately 45 minutes before meeting with the lawyers to go over RJ’s will, and I had to get my shit together. I grabbed the three other envelopes from the RJ brick and left RJ’s office without looking back.
I kept my head down as I power walked passed Cooper. Thankfully, he hadn’t looked up from his screen to notice my frazzled state. I think I paced my office windows at least 15 times before Becca entered.
I never wanted her to see me so exposed and confused, so anxious and on the verge of losing my sanity. But there was no way I could hide it now. I was too wired and upset. The look on her face when she saw me gutted me even more. I couldn’t bear the look of sympathy in her loving eyes. How could she love me? This giant asshole who disrespected the one man who was trying to keep our noses clean. I should have noticed. There had to have been signs while I worked so closely with my grandfather. How did I not see that he was a lying, good-for-nothing drug dealer?
Then she touched me, and I fell into my old miserable habit. She wanted to comfort me, and I used her like I had used every other poor girl that came in my direction when I was feeling lost and pissed off at the world.
I was a sick bastard and needed to completely disregard these feelings so I wouldn’t touch my Becca like that again. I left marks on the one woman I loved and cherished. Even though I was mad as hell at my grandfather for being a lying son of a bitch, I would take the advice he gave RJ—cherish them. If by keeping my hands off Becca for a few weeks until I could get my head on straight was what I needed to do, then by God I wouldn’t come within a hundred mile radius of her.
I darted to the bathroom, showering as quickly as I could. The throbbing in my head was getting worse by the beating of the water on the tile. I was going to need to give up drinking for a few weeks until I could control this awful pull in my chest. No more opportunities to be weak, and alcohol made me do exactly that. No one could know about this, at least not yet. Not Nathan, Mitch, or my mother. I had to wrap my head around all of it and try and figure out what the hell Chino was plotting.
I dressed quickly, brushing my teeth rapidly and as quietly as possible. I didn’t want to wake Becca and face her. Thankfully, she was a hard sleeper and half the time didn’t notice when I would get ready and leave.
Walking out of the closet, my heart tugged out of my chest as I saw her laying on my side o
f the bed, squeezing my pillow to her chest. Her hair was fanned out across the other pillow, and her mouth was slightly open. Her chest gently rose with the calmness of the room. I couldn’t help but be drawn to come and look at her more closely.
She left her camisole on, and I cringed when I saw the faint teeth mark I left on her shoulder. My heart nearly stopped as my eyes wandered down her body, terrified I might find more bruises on her thighs from gripping them so hard when I used her.
Letting out a shallow breath of relief, I was happy there weren’t any other visible bruises on her body from me. The urge to lay down and snuggle her was torture, but I couldn’t be tempted. Knowing my Becs, she would wiggle her ass, and I would turn into a frenzied, leg humping disappointment.
Before giving in to my urge, I rushed out of the room, leaving Becca sleeping peacefully. She would understand my casual absence and blame it on work while I figured out these stupid mixed emotions.
The work wouldn’t be such a lie. Nathan and I had to figure out how we were going to manage the company. RJ rightfully left the company equally to the three of us, providing we distributed the income properly between ourselves and our mother.
Mom might be crazy, but she would get her cut. She did put up with RJ and his unfaithfulness their entire marriage. It was the least the asshole could give her.
I sighed as I pulled out of the driveway, fighting the inner battle in my heart. Who to believe and who to trust.
***
“If you want to stay and manage this office the rest of the week, that’s fine. I can handle bouncing from Cleveland to Chicago,” Nathan said as he opened his portfolio of paperwork.
Reaching for my iPad, I shook my head. “Let me cover Chicago.”
When I finally looked in Nathan’s direction because of the silence, he was staring at me. “You can stay with Becca, Tyler. Really. I think you need to spend time with her.”
I gulped, hiding any expression from my face. “She’s busy with the Arena project. They’re supposed to start the remodel in July and work through September.”
“Don’t the two of you have a wedding to plan?” he asked, leaning back in his chair.
My head started to pound again. “She doesn’t need me to make decisions. I really don’t care as long as Becca gets whatever she wants.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said, scratching his chin. “But I would think Becca wouldn’t mind having you around for your opinion. She’s one to please.”
“She knows all I care about is unzipping her white wedding dress at the end of the night,” I said with a crooked grin.
Only if that were true. I fantasized about seeing her at the end of the aisle as the large church doors opened. She would be standing there, looking shy, but soft and vulnerable. Her blue eyes sparkling back at me, ignoring everyone else in each pew. I wanted to see Becca in that white wedding dress as much as I wanted to see her out of it.
“You’re such a horny asshole,” Nathan laughed, flipping through paperwork.
I laughed under my breath. That was true, but I had to keep it in my pants until I could control my strength and focus on lovemaking, not fucking.
“Gentlemen, glad to see we are both back in the office,” Lee Chino said as he pushed open the door to Nathan’s office. Nathan and I glanced at each other then back to Chino.
My pulse raced when Mitch followed behind him, dressed in his typical work jeans and boots. I clenched my teeth as they both stood casually in front of the desk Nathan and I were sitting at.
“Take a seat Mitch,” Chino said while staring me down. Mitch obeyed, sitting next to Nathan, his eyes on the ground.
“I think it’s time we discuss where this company is going,” Chino said, putting his hands in his pockets. His eyes were serious, not matching his casual stance. “RJ agreed to become business partners. I think we need to continue in that direction.”
Nathan stood tall from his chair. “RJ is no longer the owner of this company. We are, and our ideas for the future of this company are very different than RJ’s.”
A devilish grin spread across Chino’s face. “Not too long ago you felt the same way, Nathan.” His eyes moved from Nathan to me. “Tyler, have you had a change of heart? Or do you still not want this company to make billions?”
I stood along with Nathan, the testosterone thick in the air. I was a good five inches taller than Nathan and another two from Chino. My chest was puffed along with Nathan’s while Mitch still sat in the seat between us. “I think you better be begging for us to keep any of your business, Lee. We are finally clean again. We’re not about to go back to what you had with Robert Senior.”
Mitch looked up towards me in confusion while Nathan didn’t move a muscle. Right then I knew Nathan had known about our grandfather’s dirty little secret with Lee Chino. I had a moment of stupidity from being blind as to what was going on right in front of me.
“Finally figured it out, did you Tyler?” Chino said with a sphinx-like smile. “Your grandfather and I had one hell of a business going.”
I swallowed hard; paranoid I would start sweating bullets.
“He built this company for more than your drug money,” Nathan said, interrupting our stare down. “I know you didn’t like RJ voiding your deal, but that’s where this company is going to stand. We’ll keep contracting your subdivisions, but no other side deals. Our businesses WILL stay separate.”
Chino began to laugh and not a small, under his breath laugh of frustration, but a full belly outburst. Nathan and I swapped a nervous glance. What the hell was so funny? He was damn near laughing into hysterics.
His lips finally met again, his mouth forming into a thin line. He took a large step towards me, his height having no influence on his confidence.
“You think RJ really cleaned this company up? You think he really stopped anything? He was going to sign that paperwork again. He just wanted to make sure those damn detectives wouldn’t find anything.”
My eyes found the floor. Fuck. If only I knew what to believe.
Nathan moved from around the table to the other side of Chino. “I don’t believe he was going to sign. I think you are full of shit. ”
Chino’s eyes grew hard. “You have no idea who you are dealing with. There are more of your employees working for me than you realize. I get what I want, and I suggest you step over the line to my side.” Chino’s eyes darted to mine. “Both of you. You. Can’t. Survive. Without me. This company will run into the ground without my subdivisions. And Tyler knows that. You both do. So I suggest you cooperate.”
“You’re bluffing,” Nathan said, leaning back on the table, his hands firmly on each side. How he managed to stay calm and collected in times like this was beyond me. I was about twenty seconds from putting my fist through this asshole’s skull.
“RJ was never going to sign that paperwork. You just sent that email to get us riled. Riled for our business meeting.”
“Wouldn’t riling you for your business meeting make him not sign the papers?” Chino grinned smugly. “After all, supposedly you were all on the same page.”
Nathan smiled to the ground then stood tall from the table. “I think you were just trying to get RJ and Tyler to argue because you know when that happens, stupid decisions are made because they like to piss each other off. I hate to break it to you, but RJ wouldn’t stoop that low just to get under Tyler’s skin.”
Was it that obvious?
Chino’s lip quirked as he thought. “RJ is no longer in this equation. If I wanted to rile Tyler, I would go meet with Becca about my warehouses.”
It felt like a mass of tiny bugs were crawling under my skin, trying to break through and tackle Chino to the ground. I hated Becca’s name being in his mouth.
“The warehouses are to be dealt with Will, not Becca. She’s busy with the Arena remodel. We haven’t signed anything yet, so watch your tone,” Nathan said, his demeanor changing from content to acid. “You don’t run this business, I do.”
I huffed under my breath. We both were handling this company just fine. If only our idiot kid brother could help us pick up the slack. Instead, he sat there with a confused expression on his face the entire time.
“This isn’t over,” Chino said in a threatening tone. He stepped backwards. “I’ll be speaking with you soon, Mitch,” he said giving Mitch a nod. Both Nathan and my eyes darted to Mitch.
Chino’s pompousness rang loud and clear as he walked out the door.
“Oh, and Tyler, Becca was lovely this morning when we spoke.”
Nathan stepped in front of me before I could move. Chino laughed, his satanic sound mocking us throughout the halls.
Once we no longer could hear Chino’s voice, Nathan paced to the door, slamming it shut. Mitch started to stand, but Nathan held an arm up to him.
“Oh no you don’t. Your ass is sitting back down and telling me exactly what you have going on with Chino.”
Mitch rolled his eyes. “It’s nothing bad. He wouldn’t jeopardize our business,” Mitch sighed.
“Did you hear him? He’s a fucking lunatic. He’s unpredictable and dangerous. Whatever you are doing with him has to stop, NOW,” I spat.
“Get off your high horse, Tyler. You don’t tell me what to do,” Mitch snapped. “Besides, the cops won’t ever be able to find it.”
Both Nathan’s and I arched our brows. “So they are hidden? In the RJ bricks? Just like what you did at my house? How many places and where?” I shouted.
“That’s not what I said,” Mitch back peddled.
“Mitch, I want you to think long and hard. We have to get this shit off the properties,” Nathan said, trying to stay calm. “RJ would have wanted that.”
“RJ killed himself. He didn’t give a crap about any of us,” Mitch yelled. “At least Chino wants us to be a part of something.”
