Chapter 50 Lennox
LENNOX
A few days later, we pull ourselves out of the haze of good sex and being together and decide to take action. There’s one more thing left unfinished, and it’s a loose end we can’t allow to keep hanging around.
So we march into the building where Violet had her bakery, determined and ready to end this.
Isabelle is there, leaning on the counter that Violet used to sell pastries behind, watching something on her phone. She’s tanned from her honeymoon with Andrew, and looks like she doesn’t have a care in the world.
As soon as we step inside, she looks up, surprised.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, glancing around at my brothers, me, and Violet. “I thought you all went home once the truth came out.”
She sounds so smug, and we’re not having it.
“The only truth you managed to make come out was how selfish and underhanded you are,” I tell her, sounding bored.
“Why would we leave?” Sawyer adds. “We love Violet, and we want to be where she is.”
Rhett takes a step forward, folding his arms. “And we’re not going to just sit by and watch her get treated like shit because you think it’s funny or because you think you deserve more than her. So get used to seeing us around.”
Sawyer grins, nudging me in the side. “Do you think part of the reason she’s so jealous is because she’s realized she married the boring brother?”
I shrug. “Maybe. Or she’s so obsessed with ruining Violet’s relationships because she’s realized her marriage to Andrew is so empty it may as well be fake.”
Isabelle narrows her eyes, but doesn’t rise to the bait. Her jaw is clenched though, so it’s clear the barbs hit the target. “None of you are funny,” she says. “And you should leave. I have potential buyers coming by any minute.”
Violet doesn’t say anything to that, but her posture goes tense. I can tell she’s keeping her eyes forward, trying not to look around and the place that once made her so happy now that it’s not hers anymore.
It gives me great pleasure to smile in Isabelle’s face and burst her bubble. “No, you don’t.”
“Excuse me?” she replies. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you fucked up,” Sawyer says.
I touch his arm and continue. “It didn’t sit right with us that you did this.
So we decided to do something about it. We used some of our resources to make sure you don’t get to keep this building.
As it turns out, Eleanor was pretty sentimental about this place, so she put a clause in her will that says the building can’t be used for certain things. Or sold to certain parties.”
“You know, like corporate developers, chain businesses, and non-local buyers. It seems like Eleanor at least knew the value of community and keeping something treasured in the family,” Sawyer chimes in.
“You were going to sell it to someone like that?” Violet asks, speaking up for the first time.
Isabelle shrugs. “So what? It’s mine to do what I want with it. We’re starting a family soon, and I don’t expect you to know what you need to make that happen, but the extra money would come in handy.”
“Yeah, you know all about family,” Rhett rumbles, staring her down.
I get us back on track by clearing my throat. “The point, Isabelle, is that by trying to sell to a corporate developer, especially one trying to break into the small town market and remove all the charm of this place, you’re in violation of your grandmother’s will.”
Of course, she doesn’t seem bothered by that at all. “That doesn’t matter,” she says. “It’s just a small detail.”
“And you being the one named on the deed when Eleanor wanted this place to go to Violet is a small detail too. You know what she wanted, you’re just being a spoiled brat about it.” Sawyer steps closer to the counter. “So if you want to play that game, we can play it.”
“What are you going to do?” she asks, glancing between the three of us.
“Have our lawyers come after you for violating the terms of the inheritance,” I say simply.
Isabelle narrows her eyes. “You’re bluffing.”
Violet laughs a little, amused. “You think so? Do you not know that these three are multimillionaires who ran their own company? Do you think they don’t have a team of lawyers ready to take on whatever fight they tell them to?”
“I’ll make it simple for you, Isabelle,” I tell her. “Sell the building back to Violet, or get ready for a lengthy legal battle. You might need to put family planning aside for a bit so you can save up for a lawyer of your own if you want to fuck with us.”
Isabelle’s face goes red, but I can tell from the look in her eyes that she knows she’s been backed into a corner.
Usually horrible people get even more foul when they’re cornered, but Isabelle is running out of tricks now.
Andrew won’t stand with her against us, not in any way that matters, so all she has is whatever she can pull out of her ass.
“Fine,” she snaps. “We can negotiate.” She pulls out a piece of paper and writes a number down, pushing it across the counter toward us.
I glance at it and laugh in her face. “I think you’re forgetting you don’t hold the cards here. If you think we’re going to pay that much for a property you stole in the first place, you’re sadly mistaken.”
I write another number down, much, much less than the building is worth, and pass that over. “That’s our final offer. Take it, or we’ll see you in court.”
“That’s robbery!” she insists, glaring. “It’s insulting. You can’t expect—” She meets my eyes, and I let her see how little I care about whatever she has to say.
“Take it, or we’ll see you in court,” I tell her again.
Next to me, Violet holds her breath.
Isabelle wavers, looking between all of us before finally crumbling. “Fine, whatever. But I want the money in my account tomorrow.”
Sawyer snorts. “You’ll get it when you get it. Now sign this.”
“We’d take it on faith,” Rhett adds. “But we have no reason to trust you.”
Isabelle scrawls her signature on the contract we had drawn up and then grabs her stuff. She storms out of the bakery with one final glare at Violet, letting the door slam closed behind her.
“Can you believe she’s our sister in law now?” Sawyer asks, shuddering. “I thought Andrew had more sense than that.”
“She’s going to eat him alive,” Rhett replies. “And he’ll only have himself to blame.”
Violet is standing there, looking shocked at what just happened, and I touch her shoulder lightly. “Are you okay?”
She blinks, shaking herself. “I’m just—trying to wrap my mind around what happened. How… how did you do that?”
Sawyer shrugs. “We’re good at picking through contracts and reading legalese. We knew there was a good chance your grandmother had done something to keep this kind of thing from happening, we just had to figure out what it was.”
“We thought about buying you a different building,” I say. “We could have bought you a hundred buildings, started a franchise. But we knew you wanted this one, so we wanted to make sure you had it.”
“And that Isabelle got a taste of her own medicine,” Rhett adds.
“That too.”
Violet finally smiles, looking around the space. “It’s really mine again.”
“It really is. It should have never stopped being yours, but now you can get back to doing what you do best.”
Before she can say anything else, her phone rings. She pulls it out and grimaces slightly when she sees that it’s her mother calling.
“Of course Isabelle called her to tattle on me,” she mutters. “I’m sure I’m going to get an earful for this.”
“You know what?” I say. “No. Not this time.” I take her phone from her and answer it. As soon as the call connects, her mother is already going off.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Violet,” she says. “First you skip your sister’s wedding, and now this? Are you so jealous that you just don’t want her to be happy?”
I snort. “Jealous of what? That Isabelle is a spoiled brat, who’s never had to work for anything a day in her life? Because you’re all so determined to coddle her with your favoritism that you don’t even see your other daughter?”
“What?” Violet’s mother says. “Who is this?”
“This is Lennox Sullivan,” I tell her. “One of the men who has the privilege of loving your daughter. One of the people who makes sure to see her and take care of her, and I know that I’m lucky to get the chance, unlike you and your family.
Violet has worked so hard to get to where she is now, and she’s done it on her own because none of you take her seriously.
None of you see how wonderful she is, and she’s done everything in spite of that.
You could be proud of her, but instead you spend all your time tearing her down while still expecting her to carry the weight of your expectations and being her sister’s punching bag.
Well that’s over. What happened just now with Isabelle is just the beginning. ”
“How dare you?” her mother screeches. “Let me talk to my daughter.”
“It’s okay, Lennox,” Violet says. “Give me the phone.”
I hand it over reluctantly, watching as Violet puts it up to her ear. She seems steadier than she usually does when talking to her family, like something has shifted in the last few days.
“Hi, Mom,” she says. “No. I know that. No, I’m not going to.
Listen, okay? I know I’m not what you wanted in a daughter.
I know you prefer Isabelle because she’s basically a carbon copy of you, and I’m not, so I’m the disappointment.
But I want you to know that I’m proud of myself and of who I am.
Your disapproval can’t change that. I’m going to keep being proud and keep living my life the way I want to, whether you like it or not. ”
She doesn’t let her mom get another word in, hanging up the phone as soon as she’s said her piece.
Pride for her strength and love for who she is fill me, and I pull her into my arms and kiss her.
Violet laughs. “What was that for?”
“Because I’m proud of you.”
Sawyer and Rhett move in close, surrounding her. “You’re such a badass when you want to be, Peaches,” Sawyer says.
At this moment, everything I need is within arm’s reach. For a while, I thought I was broken and that everything had fallen apart. But right now, everything feels right. Just the way it’s supposed to be.
“I love you,” I tell Violet, looking down at her.
“I love you too,” she says, still breathless to say it. I kiss her again, until Rhett and Sawyer butt in, wanting their own kisses.
Violet gives them both what they want, then takes us around the building, talking about the plans she has for the future.
I know my brothers and I are all so fucking happy to be a part of it.