Chapter 2
RAIDEN
“One two,” Julian says, holding up the boxing pads.
I slam a quick jab and cross into the pads. My cousin–smaller than me but strong in his own right–grunts as the gloves connect.
“One, two, three,” he says, and I slam another combo into the pads.
We move around the ring, sweat dripping down both of us, making my shirt stick to me. My heart is pounding hard. It’s better than thinking about the crap I’ve been thinking about for the past two weeks, though. Better than thinking about killing someone.
As the workout nears its end, I up the tempo. There’s a fire in me I can normally keep under control, but now I punch like each strike is a bullet fired from my service rifle. This is my rifle. There are many like it…
“Goddamn,” Julian says once we’re done. We sit at the edge of the gym, one of many my cousin owns, drinking water and toweling ourselves off. “You’ve got a fire in you today.”
“Ooh rah,” I grunt.
Julian rubs a towel over his curly black hair. He’s in his mid-thirties, a few years older than me, but from certain angles, he seems boyish. Wiry frame, soft cheekbones, bright eyes.
“The more pissed you get, the more the Marine comes out.”
I raise my water bottle as though it’s a glass of champagne. “Here’s to losing everything I’ve worked for.”
Julian frowns. “I’m sorry, Raiden.”
“Stop taking the blame. You lost money in that deal too. It’s not your fault your contact turned out to be a snake.”
When I sold all my real estate, real estate I used my own savings from the Marines to buy, my goal was to invest in a rehab knee brace. It’s an emerging market and already doing very well. I was going to make a smash. Until the prick turned into a ghost and took everything with him.
“There’s still a chance to invest, isn’t there?” Julian says.
“I’m broke,” I tell him.
“You’re never broke.”
I grind my teeth. “Our family is richer than God, I’ll give you that. I’ve never wanted to be one of those men.”
Plus, I’ve still got one hundred thousand in savings, separate from my real estate business, but that’s not enough to make the investment I had planned.
Julian frowns. “Those men?”
“I don’t judge you for taking the family’s money to get your businesses started, Julian, but doesn’t it leave a bitter taste in your mouth?”
“The way I see it, we’ve been lucky in some ways and unlucky in others. Might as well take what good we can get. No point having a family curse if we don’t get a few blessings too.”
“There’s some sense in that,” I admit.
Having both of us lost our parents young, and our grandfather, it almost seems like a curse follows us.
Evangeline, the matriarch of the Blackwell empire, and the nannies raised us.
“You should talk to Grandma,” Julian says.
“I’m sure she’d be willing to lend you the cash. Maybe even give it to you.”
“It’d have to be a loan,” I tell him.
“If I had your pride, I’d be living on the street.”
I laugh gruffly. “Pretty soon, I might be anyway.”
“Talk to her about a loan. Use the profits to pay her back. You’re a Blackwell, Raiden. You shouldn’t beat yourself up about it.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I sigh. “I’m seeing her for lunch.”
I stretch and then fold my leg inward, feeling the slight pulsing in my knee from an old injury. Nothing serious. Nothing as bad as others have. But enough to make me research knee rehab and want to invest. To risk it all.
After leaving the gym, I drive through Cedar Rock, rain blanketing the landscape, the forest burning orange and red with maples despite the weather. Grandma’s estate sits upon a hill that overlooks the town and has views of the Blackwell private island on a clear day.
The butler leads me to the dining room, where Grandma is waiting for me.
Sebastian has been my grandmother’s butler since his eighteenth birthday. Something about him has often seemed odd to me. Tall. Pale to the point of sickliness. Stares too much and isn’t big on manners.
Some people have gossiped that Sebastian and my grandmother are an item. I doubt that.
Evangeline wears a periwinkle suit and a pearl necklace elegantly, as always. Her long silver hair twisted into a loose chignon.
I lean down and kiss her on the cheek. “Afternoon, beautiful lady.”
She smiles. “Always a charmer, Raiden.”
“It’s all superficial,” I say ironically, winking at her. “All a big game to hide my psychopathy.”
She tsks as I take a seat.
“Before we get started with lunch, I have something serious to discuss with you.”
“Sure.”
“It’s about your inheritance.”
“Luckily, we won’t have to worry about that for a long, long time.”
“I hope you’re right,” Grandma says with a smile. “This is important, however.”
I wait for her to go on.
“I miss my sons,” she says. “And my husband. I miss them all so much.”
“I miss my father and uncle too,” I tell her, taking her hand. “I miss Grandfather.”
“I’d hoped to see you settled by now,” she replies. “A nice girlfriend: maybe even a wife. Thirty isn’t old, but it’s not young either. You need to start thinking about children.”
“What does that have to do with my inheritance?” I ask.
“Don’t you want children?” She says, ignoring my question.
“Maybe one day, Grandma. The same goes for a wife. I haven’t thought about it much. I’ve been busy.”
Making money, losing money, running away from nightmares. Eating expensive meals. Occasional dates.
She sighs. “Perhaps I should just come out with it.”
“That might be for the best.”
“Before I do, however, I want you to know I’m saying this because I want the best for you. This isn’t just for me. It’s for the whole family.” She waits to see if I’ll say anything else. When I don’t, she goes on, “I want to see you settled and happy at the next Annual Grand Masquerade Retreat.”
It takes me a moment to register what she’s saying. “You want to see me settled and happy, whatever that means, in a week’s time?”
“Please don’t get sarcastic, Raiden.”
“If I don’t do this, you’ll cut me out of the will, I assume?”
“I’ve already provisionally removed your name from the will,” she says firmly. “If you prove you’re willing to cooperate, I’ll put you back in.”
I shake my head, chuckling without humor. “I’ve never danced for my supper, Grandma. I don’t plan on starting now.”
“You’re going to have to try.”
“I can’t just magically find a woman and fall in love.”
“You’re going to have to try that too.”
For all my talk of standing on my own two feet–and I have, dammit, even when the bullets were flying–this stings.
“I’ve lost my appetite,” I say, standing.
I get to the door before Grandma speaks again. The pain in her voice makes me turn back.
“If you can’t do it for your inheritance, do it for me. I want to see you happy.”
“I can’t make any promises,” I say, leaving the room, walking down the hallway.
Sebastian walks at my side like a ghost. He opens the door and looks straight at me with none of the tact a butler should possess. “I’m sorry, sir,” he says.
“What’ve you got to be sorry about?” I grunt.
“Evangeline mentioned her plan to me. I was the one who suggested that she go all the way and remove you from the will to prove that she was serious. I hope I haven’t caused any discomfort.”
It’d be interesting to grab his shirt, give him a shake, hear his teeth rattle and see if he’s still got that mocking glint in his eyes when I finally put him down.
Instead, I just smile. “Don’t sweat it. I never wanted that money anyway.”
He frowns. Like he’s disappointed. Like he was expecting to gett a rise out of me.
I walk down the wide stone stairs, pass the frozen fountain, and climb into my car. When the butterfly door falls closed, I slam my hand against the steering wheel.
I’ve never wanted to be the entitled rich jerk, but I’m part of the Blackwell legacy. It’s more than that. I thought Grandmother cared about me.
I shake my head. I sound like a child.
Fuck this.
Starting the car, I let my tires burn and smoke for a second before snarling out of the drive.