His Ultimatum

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

ANABELLE

Irip down the paper pinned to the front door of my family estate. The paper shakes in my hands as my eyes scan the printed words. At first, I’m confused, but then it registers, and my stomach pitches, my heart stutters, and my knees wobble.

NOTICE TO QUIT FOR NON-PAYMENT

I keep reading, glancing over the words for the pertinent details.

…we have not received your payment…

…your account is in arrears…

…you are hereby given ten days to vacate the property…

What the hell? This must be a mistake. Oak Haven Estate has been in my family for over a century. There’s no mortgage on the property and no bank to make payments to, so how could we possibly be in arrears?

My assumption is that when all the paperwork to settle my father’s estate was being done months ago, something got messed up, and this has been sent here in error.

The thought of my beloved father sends a pang through my chest, and I look at the column on my left, my favorite place to hide behind when I was young, and we’d play hide and seek. He’d pretend he couldn’t find me as I circled around it, trying to avoid detection.

I cut off those memories. There’s no time to wallow in grief right now. I’ve had no time to grieve since I got the phone call that he’d been found dead, attacked by some animal on an adjoining estate.

Swallowing hard at the image that haunts me, I scan the remainder of the notice, which is filled with legal bullshit, until I reach the end and see who it’s signed by.

A chill rushes over me, causing the hair on my neck to prickle.

My mother always said that means someone is walking over your grave, but a quick glance at the family plot off in the distance tells me no one is over there.

I try to shake off the ominous feeling, but when I look at the name printed in the deepest black ink against the starkest of white paper, the feeling washes over me a second time.

Asher Voss, CEO of Voss Enterprises

Feeling less certain now that this is a mistake, I push open the door and head inside, panic taking hold. Don’t freak out, this may still be a mistake.

Even though I’m sure the Voss family rarely makes mistakes.

My fist squeezes so hard the paper crumples in my palm.

Everyone is situated in the dining room having breakfast as expected.

Grandma Boudreaux, my father’s mother, with her perfectly curled short hair, is dressed with a minimal amount of makeup.

Seated to her right at the head of the table is my mother, Frances.

Her face is drawn, the same dark circles under her eyes she’s had every day since my father’s untimely death.

But at least she’s out of bed today. That’s a win.

I hate to think of what this will do to her if the paper I’m holding in my hand is true. She’s been walking a tightrope between despair and sanity, and on any day, I’m unsure which side she might fall on.

It’s the only reason I’m still in my hometown of Magnolia Bend after three months and haven’t returned to Nashville, where I intern at a small publishing house.

Thankfully, being an intern is the only reason they gave me such a long leave of absence.

They aren’t paying me anyway. Since I graduated, I’ve been surviving on a monthly stipend I receive from my family. A stipend I’m now thinking is drained.

Luke, my younger brother by two years, sits next to my mom. Now, at only twenty years old, he has to take over running the ranch, including the cotton and soybean farming and the bourbon distillery my father started a few years ago.

My grandmother notices me in the doorway. “What were you doing out so early?”

I want to tell her that doesn’t matter, but I would never disrespect my grandmother, the matriarch of our family—especially now with my mom being so checked out. “I went for a run before breakfast.”

I went for a run first thing this morning to listen to my audiobook.

My book was getting to a good part—my favorite part in any book—when the hero is about to proclaim his love for the heroine.

Though I hate running, I love listening to audiobooks, and I find that pairing something I hate with something I love allows me to listen while I exercise.

I need something to help me stay sane while I’m back home.

Though I grew up here, I’ve always been anxious about what lies outside the village limits.

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to leave here to explore the world.

College gave me the excuse I needed, and though I always want to return home to visit my family and spend time on the estate, there is still a part of me that wants to explore more of what the world has to offer.

I swallow hard before stepping into the dining room, tempering my panic, not wanting to alarm my mother if this is some big misunderstanding. However, the more I think about it, the more doubtful I am. “There was something posted on the front door when I returned.”

Luke sits taller in his seat, reading my energy.

“What is it, dear?” my grandmother asks.

My mom is listlessly moving her eggs around her plate. I don’t know if she’s even registering the conversation right now.

I pass my grandmother the crumpled notice, and her age-spotted hands with swollen knuckles smooth the paper out on the table next to her plate.

She holds it at arm’s length because she doesn’t have her reading glasses.

She must be at the part that says we have to vacate the premises because she glances at me, unable to disguise her alarm.

When she finishes reading, she puts a hand to her chest and sets the crumpled paper on the table saying nothing.

“What is it?” Luke asks. When neither of us answers, he pushes his chair out and leans across the table to grab the paper.

“It’s a mistake, right?” I ask my grandmother while Luke reads. Even though I’m sure the Voss family doesn’t make errors, especially the eldest of the four Voss brothers.

“I can’t be sure.” Her voice is smaller than I’ve ever heard.

“What the fuck!” The paper slips from Luke’s grip, dropping to the table.

“Watch your mouth,” my grandmother says, regaining some of her elegant composure.

“Apologies.” He lets his head dip. “Anabelle’s right, this is just some mix-up or a prank.”

“The Voss family aren’t known for being pranksters,” my grandmother says.

That’s putting it mildly. The four brothers who live high on the hill in Midnight Manor are known for a lot of things—being billionaires and untouchable, mysterious deaths, the vast number of unmarked vehicles that roll onto their property once a month—but definitely not their sense of humor.

“It has to be a mistake. This property has been in our family for well over a hundred years. There’s no way Dad would have taken a loan and risked Oak Haven, especially with the Vosses no less.”

“Frances,” my grandmother says gently.

For once, my mom acknowledges her name. “Yes?”

“When the lawyer gave you everything for the estate, did you see anything about the Voss family?”

My mother’s eyes gloss over. “Do you know when Heath will be home?”

A pained sound, similar to a wounded animal, escapes my throat.

This isn’t the first time since my father’s death she’s asked about him as though he’s still among the living. I don’t know whether she’s losing her mind entirely or if her confusion is a by-product of the medication her doctor put her on after my father’s death to help her through the process.

“Safe to say she’s not going to be any help,” my brother sneers.

I glare at my brother. He’s taken my mother’s new mindset personally. I understand his anger. Our mother was always alive and vivacious, so full of love for her family. I’m sure it’s horrible trying to carry on without our father, but she has to try.

My grandmother pushes away from the table. “I’ll get the papers from the lawyer and see what I can find.”

I snatch the paper off the table. “I’m not waiting. I’m going directly to the source.”

My brother’s chair legs screech along the floor, and he stomps around the table until he’s standing in front of me. He places his hands on my shoulders and dips his head so we’re at eye level. “You’re not going to Midnight Manor, Belle.”

My chest squeezes from him using the nickname my dad had for me. “It’s the fastest way to get answers, and if this is true, it’s the only way to find out what we can do to keep the estate.”

Luke shakes his head. “No way. We can figure something else out. That place…”

He doesn’t finish his sentence. He doesn’t have to. Midnight Manor is where our father died.

“I have to. If there’s any chance of us losing our ancestral home, I have to see if there’s a way to stop it. It’s what Dad would have wanted.”

His lips press into a thin line, and his jaw clenches because we both know I’m right. “Then I’ll go.”

“Not happening, little brother. You stay here and help Grandmother search through the lawyer’s papers. Look after Mom.”

He looks relieved, and I can’t blame him. Midnight Manor is not a place I want to go either, but this is too important to wait.

Luke nods. “Be careful.”

“I will. Now I have to go shower and change before I head out.” There’s no way I’m showing up at that place looking like roadkill.

Grandmother walks over and places her hand on the small of my back. “You get in and out of there and tread lightly with Asher Voss. You don’t want to anger him.”

The band around my chest tightens. “I know.”

Without another word, paper in hand, I leave the dining room and head to the staircase, my ire growing with every step.

Being faced with the prospect of never being able to return to Oak Haven Estate, I realize how important my childhood home is in my life.

I want to be out in the world exploring, yes, but I also want to know that I can return to the safety of my childhood home and a place that holds so many warm memories.

Memories of my beloved father and the last place I saw him alive.

Luke has been groomed his entire life to run this place.

He has no other qualifications, and if he found something else, who would take care of my mother and grandmother?

If Voss has anything to do with this, he’s mistaken if he thinks Oak Haven Estate can be ripped away from us as easily as tearing a sheet of paper in half.

Oak Haven Estate will remain in the Boudreaux family.

It has to.

And I’m going to do whatever I need to in order to ensure that happens.