Marsden (Wilkerson Dynasty Book 1)

by Kathi S. Barton

  Abby looked at them again. Shawn didn’t know what was going through her head, but if the tears were any indication, she was either pissed off or touched by what Mars was asking her.

  “What do you guys think of us marrying? I mean, when I say yes, that will mean that I’m your sister too. Because as of the moment you told me that you were going to protect me, I counted you as the brothers that I never had. Will you, when I say yes to Mars, be my family as well?” The room erupted in noise, all of them telling Abby that not only did they love her as well, but they each loved her like a sister. Then she looked at Shawn. “You’re the most quiet person in this group, Shawn. It would be a great honor to me if you were to be my man of honor. You and Holly had the best relationship, and through her, I know that you’re the most amazing tenderhearted man there is.”

  “Will I have to wear a dress?” She told him if it floated his boat, then to go for it. “Then, yes, I will be your man of honor. It would be all of our greatest pleasure, I think, to have you be a part of this fucked up family.”

  Abby looked at Mars, still down on his knee with the ring poised right at her fingertip. “Yes, I will marry you, Mars. But I want you all to know that I’m not a pushover.”

  “I think we all knew that already, love.” He pushed the ring up over her knuckle, and Shawn wasn’t the least bit surprised that it fit her like it had been sized for her. “I love you, Abby. And I will make you as happy as I can so that you don’t beat me with a wet noodle.”

  “You goof.” After they kissed, each of them got up to hug the happy couple. Shawn thought of what his mother would say and realized that he just didn’t care.

  When Abby showed them the ring, he thought that like her, all the women that might come to them would be able to wear the rings without any trouble. He had no idea why, but Shawn thought that it was only a matter of time before each of them had not only a wife but a family of their own as well.

  They’d not opened their envelopes by the time that Mr. Sandow had returned. But he had brought them all bottles of water and seemed to be in a much better mood. As he read the rest of the will, mostly leaving each of them a condo, he thought it was wonderful of her, as well as Mars, getting the estate.

  “There are lands and homes that your mother purchased without your knowledge, Mars. A great deal of them, as a matter of fact. You now are the owner of not just one, but two vineyards that are a very good label and sought after. There is an estate in Ireland, as well as France, that are solely yours.” There was more mentioned, homes that would pay him rent monthly. There were other businesses that they’d owned jointly that were now Mars’s. “Your mother was a savvy investment person. I even used a few of her ideas, with her permission, of course. You are, as of yesterday, when I checked the stocks and other items listed here, worth just over sixty billion dollars and some change.”

  “Yes, we don’t want to forget the change.” Abby looked at Mars. “Surely, he meant six billion. I mean, that’s still a shit load of money, but not sixty. Right?”

  “I said sixty, Abby.” Abby glared at the attorney, and he smiled at them. “I’m so happy that I could be the one to tell you that. It does my heart good to see someone making it good when others thought them to be nothing more than a— Well, let us not go into the words used outside of my office today.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” Mars looked at each of them before grinning. “Do you guys need anything? I think I can afford to spot you a few million if you want it. Christ, my mom set me up forever. And in turn, you guys as well.”

  “What do you mean, Mars?” Mr. Sandow was smiling, a smile that said that he knew something great and they didn’t. “Will you be willing to share with your cousins? Will you help them out of any jam they find themselves in? Your mother wanted me to ask that.”

  “Of course, I would. They’re my family. We might be only cousins, but these men have been like brothers to me since the first time I met them. We’ve played together. Hell, we’ve done everything together. There isn’t anything that they could do or say that would change that either. I’d die for each of them if it came to that.”

  “I’m so very glad to hear that.” Mr. Sandow looked at Abby. “Honey, you might want to hold onto Mars for this. As of your statement of helping your cousins out, your estate has doubled. I don’t think she ever doubted that you would help them out, but she didn’t know what might happen in the years she thought that she had left to live. Poor Miss Holly. But because you have a heart of gold, she states here that all the monies she had earmarked for other charities are now yours. You now have a gross wealth of just over one hundred and thirty billion dollars.”

  Shawn, sitting the closest to Abby and Mars, was able to catch not her but him when he fell back. The rest of them sat in stunned silence for several seconds until he asked them to help with holding their cousin up. Mars had fainted. And Shawn had a feeling that he was never going to live it down.

  ~*~

  They weren’t going to make it to the last calling hours, but Clayton thought that this was so much more important right now. The information that he’d finally gotten from his investigator blew him away. Sharing it with his brothers seemed the most important thing he could do for each of them. As the waitress left the room that he’d asked for, he looked around the table. Each of them looked like they were feeling the grief over the death of their sister, or what they’d been able to find out on their own was taking its toll on them.

  “First of all, I want to thank you all for coming here today. I know that our wives, at least mine, have been manipulating us for some time now. Especially about Holly. Christ, when I think of all the things that she said to me about her, I want to find her and knock her out. And you know me well enough to know that I’m not a violent man.” They nodded. Then Josiah stood up and asked to speak freely. “Whatever you have to add to this meeting is just between us. I will tell you right now that I’ve taken measures to have Eita out of my life. The things that I’ve found out are horrific.”

  “I have, as well. About Christa. I asked her, just as you asked us to, about Holly and the kidnapping. She told me that since it didn’t matter anymore now that Holly was finally—she did say finally—out of our lives, that yes, she did help with the arrangement of Holly being taken and then raped by no less than seven men. There are other things as well that she admitted to me. Like she was with the other women when they went to talk to Father about Holly. I have a feeling that he didn’t know the entire truth of it either. Only enough to have had her disowned and erased from our lives.” Wesley said that he didn’t think that made it right for their father. “I don’t either. I think, but this is just me, that he should have taken better care to find out about what happened. Also, I’m saying that we should have too. However, I can see that we’d had no reason whatsoever not to trust our wives. We did, and look what has happened. I have to tell you guys, I find myself hurting for Holly in ways that I never did before.”

  “I did the same thing. Asked Penelope about it. And got much the same answer that Josiah did. That she was happy to tell me now that Holly was finally gone, and that she’d do it again if she had to. They’re planning…. She told me that they’re going to take care of Marsden as well. She made it sound as if he was nothing to this family. Nothing to us. She’s also still looking into having his name changed to one of the men that they hired to take Holly. So that he’s no longer a Wilkerson.”

  Clayton wasn’t surprised by the information that they all had. What did surprise him was the amount of hatred that they each had for Mars.

  “I spoke to Shawn a little bit at the funeral home. You have no idea how it hurt me to find out that not only has he been spending time with Mars and Holly when he could, but he’d come home on some of his vacation time that he told us, his parents, that he’d not be able to do. I don’t begrudge him that. I’m so very happy that he did get to know her. But I have a fee
ling, like the rest of us, our sons know so much more than we do. Even now.” Clayton asked him if he said why he went to stay with Holly. “He said that he wanted to be someplace that made him feel loved.” Hank shook his head, tears evident in his eyes. “He told me that Penelope has beaten him. Not only when he was a child, but even as old as twenty-five. That’s another reason that he won’t come home anymore.”

  “I’ve asked my staff to help with the removal of all of North’s things from the house. Of course, they have to sneak around about it, but they’re doing it. I’d also suggest to your own staff members to do the same with your sons. There isn’t any reason for them not to have things that they want.” Aidan said that his staff was doing the same thing as they spoke so that Salma wouldn’t know about it. “After Holly is laid to rest tomorrow, I’m going to take steps to divorce Eita and have her arrested. I’ve found things about her that can only be called criminal. She’s gone to great lengths to alienate everyone, not just in town against us, but our own sons. Holly was more of a victim of her malicious evilness than anyone could have ever imagined.”

  Clayton stood up and let the investigating officer in that he’d hired, who explained to the rest of them how it was only surface things that he’d found out right now, but he was still on the job. Nodding at Ben Jules, he told him that he could proceed anytime he was ready.

  “Holly was a very smart woman. I’m sure you knew that, but she had a head for numbers as well as smarts in life. She not only finished her high school education while raising her son, but she also continued her education to become a registered nurse. After that, after teaching Marsden how studying made things open up for a person, Marsden went on to college to become a chemical engineer. He’s been working with the worldwide company that makes colored acrylic since he graduated number one in his class.” Clayton had only just found this out not an hour ago and was glad to see that his brothers were just as impressed. “Holly and Mars made good money. Just before her death, Holly was promoted to the head nurse of surgery. Also, she worked at the university level at the college here to help with teaching the nursing staff. For now, gentlemen, that’s all I can find on their financial records. But on a personal note, not only was Holly a good woman to her son, but from all accounts, she was also the one person that all the cousins would go to when they were hurt. I’m still looking into where their wounds were gotten too. Her home was a safe place for them. I heard from one of the neighbors that when there was trouble around the area, she’d be the first one on duty to help out with it. She would bring the cousins with her when they were at home, and people found it hard to believe that she was only an aunt to them and not their biological mother.”

  After Jules left them there, leaving them with all the paperwork that he’d been able to gather, Clayton watched his brothers. He was still coming to terms with what had happened to Holly. He couldn’t imagine how difficult a time they were having just hearing this.

  “There is no doubt that we should all be horsewhipped, in my opinion, for what we’ve done to our only sister and her son.” Clayton agreed with Wesley. “There has to be something that we can do. It’s too late for us to tell Holly how sorry we are. Even saying that aloud seems hollow and underwhelming to me. There is a great deal more at stake here than just Mars and our loss of our sister. We have been manipulated by women that we should have been able to trust. If you ask me, they’re just as responsible for killing her as if they were driving the car that hit her. We have to be able to do something.”

  “I’ve been working out something since I started seeing things around my home. My wife for one. How she treats people too. I’m going to take her share of what we were left from our father’s estate and put it into a fund that will offer help to unwed mothers. Education. Whatever they might need to make it work when they have no one else.” Aidan didn’t hesitate when he told Clayton he wanted to do that as well. “Thank you. Anything that we can do will make it better for others. It will never be the same for myself, I’m afraid. I failed her. I failed not just my baby sister, but also my nephew when they needed me. When I think of all the things that Eita told me about Holly, I’m ashamed that I ever thought that any of it was true.”

  They talked to each other, and it occurred to him that he’d not seen his brothers without their wives in a very long time. They were forever with them, even when they had decided about ten years ago to take a fishing trip together. Not only had the wives insisted that they would be going, but they also had everything lined up for them to do so that they didn’t get to fish a single time. He wanted that more as well.

  Other things occurred to him. Things like his wife telling everyone that she was a Wilkerson and that whatever she was into was because of who she was. Like the birthday party that came to mind. The way that she put down Holly. Accusing her of stealing jewels from the house.

  Clayton began writing things down as he thought of a random thought. He didn’t think he’d get any answers for her behavior, but he would be able to see how much of a fool he’d been. And he had been. He knew that now. Being a fool had nearly lost him his son, as well as his nephews.

  “I’ve been thinking.” He and the rest of them looked at Josiah when he spoke up. “We need to plan a time where we take all the boys, including Mars, someplace, where we can get to know each other. It doesn’t have to be a trip. Even a nice dinner so we can sit around and talk to each other. This right here, I’ve missed this. I didn’t even realize it until we all started talking again. We need to be who we want to be, and not who our wives have made us into.”

  “I’m going to ask if I may be a pallbearer.” The others agreed with Hank, telling him they would as well. “If we can do this last little thing for Holly, then go on to make up to Mars as best we can, I’ll feel that some of my heart can be mended.”

  “Let me call North. I don’t know if he’ll answer or not, but it’s worth a shot.” The phone was ringing, then went to voice mail. Clayton wanted to think that his son was on the other line or whatever, and simply not taking his call. He looked around the table, barely able to keep his emotions under control. “I’m going to keep calling him, and if we can’t get in touch with him this way, I’ll go to the condo and talk to them all.”

  “We’ve really fucked up, haven’t we?” Clayton could only nod at his brother, Hank. They really had. “I don’t know what I’m going to do to make this right with my son, but I’m going to go to my grave trying to figure it out. We lost our sister. I’ll be damned if I lose my son too.”

  “What do we do about our wives, Clayton? You know as well as I do that they’re not going to let us do this. I don’t mean not let us, but they will try and stop us from having a good solid relationship with Holly’s son. And I find that I want to. More than I want to please my wife by giving into whatever she wants.” Clayton told Aidan that he was divorcing Eita. “You think that will be all it takes? I don’t. I’m actually a little afraid of what Salma might try and do to stop this. I’m beginning to believe that any one or all of them would just as soon see us dead rather than us having anything to do with Mars.”

  “I believe you might be right, Hank.” Clayton waited on Wesley to continue his thought. “But the thing is, I’ll be damned if I’m going to give up on this plan. I want to know him so that I can somehow feel closer to Holly.”

  Josiah laughed, and Clayton asked him what was so funny. “I was just thinking of Holly and what she’d say to all this.” They all laughed then and asked Josiah what he thought. “She’d tell us to get our balls back and do it. And she’d be right. We need more than anything to get our shit together right now, today, or we’ll live to regret it. Just like our lives without our sister.”

  They were done in plenty enough time to make it to the last of the calling hours. Clayton was going to speak to Mars if he’d let him, or at the very least, his son. Clayton had booked a room at a hotel for the night so he could get a good night’s rest
before tomorrow. It was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever done to put his sister to rest.

  Driving to the funeral home, he noticed things on the ride over about the town that he’d not seen in years. It dismayed him that the local soda shop was gone. In its place, it looked like a pizza shop had also failed. He could see the cemetery, the one that his father and mother were buried in, was in good repair, but it could use some tweaking.

  Clayton decided that he was going to spend more time around the town that he’d grown up in. To get to know the people there. Shop in the shops that he’d never set foot in since he’d gotten married. Yes, he thought. A lot of things were going to change now, and he was going to make himself into a better person. Not just a better man, but a person that his son could and would be proud of.

  Chapter 8

  Mars didn’t know what to think when the meeting he was to have with Oliver was becoming loud. He’d not expected Chris to be there, and he was reasonably sure that Oliver hadn’t either. But the man was getting louder and louder with each word he said, and it was making Mars mad. When Abby finally stood up as if to leave, he was ready to follow her anywhere.

  “Shut the fuck up.” The entire restaurant stopped speaking when Abby spoke. As soon as she sat back down, people started applauding her. Waving them off, she looked at Chris. “You mother fucking dick shit. You need to keep your fucking mouth closed before I knock every one of those capped teeth you have in your head out. Now, you’ll listen to what is being said, or so help me, I’ll gladly go to prison for hurting you.”

  “Thank you, Abby. I do appreciate a woman that gets the job done.” Oliver looked at him. “If you don’t marry her soon, Mars, I think I might just have to.”

  “I plan on doing just that, sir.” Oliver nodded. “I’ve been trying to tell you that I’m no longer interested in coming back to work. Not just for you and your company, but in general. I have been thinking of this for a very long time, and I’m in a position to open up a compound pharmacy. I think that there would be less in the way of children getting overdosed on prescription medication if we could adapt medication to their age and weight. The same with older people.”