Epilogue
THREE MONTHS LATER
Istood in front of the brick and mortar building staring up at the name plate for Pepper Hamilton LP, Attorneys at Law.
I’d flown in from Dublin the afternoon before and had barely had time to do much else other than arrive here.
I knew what this was all about. These attorneys were the ones who had been handling my grandfather’s estate.
I doubted there would be anything for me as Kingston had already fulfilled the terms of the amendment he’d had put in place.
My cousin had not only married but had produced a male heir.
I’d gotten married and produced an heir, only the child had been a girl.
Neither of those would net me anything, not that I wanted anything from him.
The last few months, I’d been happier than I’d ever been in my entire life.
For the first time since I’d first laid eyes on my Anamchara, we did not need to hide and could openly show our love.
We also didn’t have to worry about his recrimination or fear for Reagan’s safety.
Or Ciara’s. Or mine. That was plenty gift enough.
Still, I’d been presented with a summons to appear in front of our family attorney in Manhattan, so here I was. Grabbing the door handle, I stepped inside and strode to the elevator that'd take me to the legal office. Once there, I saw my cousin stand up.
“Hey, Cillian. I’m glad you made it across the pond safely,” he said to me.
“Yeah, there was a weather delay in Ireland, but I’m here now. I hope I’m not late.”
“Absolutely not. You’re actually right on time. Let’s go inside.”
I followed my cousin into the room, and once we were both seated, I turned toward him. “I hardly see why my presence was needed here. After all, you met the terms of—”
“Thank you both for your prompt arrivals. As you know, my name’s Eric Hamilton, and this is my partner, George Pepper. As executors of Ronan Brannington’s estate, we've summoned you here to read his last will and testament. Are there any questions before we begin?”
I looked over at my cousin, who made a sweeping motion with his hand as if to tell them to continue. This was simply some formality, so I relaxed in my seat. Staying silent, I decided to let this play out before making assumptions or asking any unnecessary questions.
I sucked in a deep breath and held it as Eric began to read the will.
“I, Ronan James Brannington, of Dublin, Ireland, declare this to be my last will and testament. I declare that I am widowed and have no current spouse.” Eric then went on to talk about the allocation of his debts and which funds should be used to settle them, before he paused and looked at my cousin and me.
“Article One - Last wishes - I declare that my body be cremated and my ashes spread on the grounds of my current property in Dublin.”
I hated that home with a burning passion.
It was where we’d been raised after the deaths of our own parents, and it had been the place where he’d kept me prisoner alongside those traitors and others he’d imprisoned before death.
Like those other men, I too had been tortured and beaten.
I wanted to set the whole damn place on fire and watch it burn.
I could even picture Reagan, Ciara, and me toasting s’mores on the embers of that place.
“Article Two - Disposition of Property. To my first grandson, Kingston Brannington, I leave half of my business to him. The other half will then be split between my other grandson, Cillian Brannington, and my great-grandson, Zarren Brannington...”
At the mention of the last name, the entire room went silent, and I turned to Kingston, who looked to be just as blindsided as me.
“Who the hell is Zarren?” Kingston asked, saving me from having to ask myself.
Kingston had no other sons other than the one he shared with Ekaterina Kotov, and I had no child other than Ciara. “Answer him,” I said when the men hesitated.
“For several years now, Ronan has been caring for a child...an heir...and he wanted to make—”
“Whose child is it?” I asked him.
Eric said nothing as George rose to his feet and walked over to my cousin and me. In his hand, he held a manila folder with a hastily scribbled name written across it.
Zarren Duke Brannington.
“This young child was sired by Princeton.”
“What!?” Kingston said as he bolted to his feet. “My brother has been dead for ten years, so there has to be a mistake.”
“There is no mistake,” Eric said to him. I felt my cousin’s gaze burn my flesh as he turned accusatory eyes at me.
I’d been in Ireland most of my adult life, but this was the first I was hearing of another potential heir. “I had no idea,” I said to him before he could even ask the question. I turned to the attorney. “How in the hell did this happen?”
“Sit down,” Eric said to my cousin, and as soon as he did, George handed us both a stack of paperwork.
There were pages upon pages of ledgers with funds paid out for this minor child, and they were paid to a boarding school much like the one that he’d forced all of us into at a similar age.
“After young Princeton’s untimely death, Ronan was alerted to a woman claiming that the child she was carrying had been his.
He’d naturally kept tabs on the woman, then had the child’s DNA tested afterward to see if her word held up.
Once it did, he made an agreement with the girl, then took possession of the child. ”
“He knew the entire time?” I asked.
The betrayal I felt stung, and more than it should have. While I’d had secrets of my own, it only stood to reason that someone as powerful and ruthless as my grandfather would’ve had ones of his own. Only this was too much. And not just for me.
I could see the pain on Kingston’s face.
While Princeton had been my cousin, he’d been the younger sibling to my other cousin, and I’d known even back then how much his kid brother’s death had affected him.
He’d become a shell of himself after losing his brother, just as I had when I’d lost Reagan.
The hate for my grandfather resurfaced, and not just for what he had done to me, but now what he had done to Kingston as well.
“This is ludicrous,” Kingston said. “How could he keep this from me...From us...”
“I refuse to get into the morality of the situation. Ronan knows this to be another heir, and one rightfully entitled to a portion of the estate. And before either of you tries to attest a single portion of this will and testament, just know that if you both do not fulfill his final wishes, the estate will be sold off to a panel of predetermined buyers and the profits will be split off between the charities Ronan supported.”
“Like hell,” Kingston said. “Where is this nephew of mine located exactly?”
“The address is in the papers,” George said, before adding.
“Ronan expected you to fetch young Zarren from his schooling and take him in as one of your own. He wants him to learn the ropes of the family business, and upon his twenty-fifth birthday, he will inherit his quarter of the family fortune.”
I scrubbed my hands down my face. Like Zarren, I had also been bequeathed a quarter of the family fortune, which was a hundred percent more than I thought I’d get.
Since our grandfather’s passing, I had been handling business in Ireland while Kingston had done the same here in New York City.
And now that we had heard the terms of the will, it appeared that arrangement would continue.
“I have some final matters to discuss,” Eric then said, and we turned our attention back to him.
The spiel was basically his wishes for the two of us to carry on as we currently were.
There were other possessions such as artwork, jewelry, vehicles, properties, and stocks that would be split 50-25-25 amongst us.
“And are there any other questions, gentlemen? I know it was hard to hear about Zarren, but Ronan was always so proud of the young man he is becoming.”
“I don’t have anything,” I said, and Kingston basically said the same. The two men left, and I watched my cousin open back up the folder and pull out a picture. The child definitely had a lot of his father’s features. “Damn!”
“I can’t believe there was a part of Princeton out there, and if Daideó hadn’t died, we never would’ve known.”
“I suspected when I got the summons that there might be some surprise or shock thrown into it. It wouldn’t have been our grandfather without it.”
Kingston smirked at that before turning the photograph over in his hand. “I would like for you to accompany me to Switzerland to get Zarren,” he said to me.
“Of course,” I responded. “Anything that you need.”
“I need you,” he said to me.
“You’ve got me,” I assured him.
“Daideó might’ve intended for this to be 50-25, but I want to give you what is rightfully yours.”
“The ultimatum—”
“Was as ridiculous then as it is now. I need you to help me keep this organization afloat. You’ve always done a damn good job, and I know Daideó, as well as your own parents, would be proud of the man you’ve become.”
“Thanks! That means a lot to me, King.”
“We both already have a child of our own, and now we’ll need to work together to raise Princeton’s as well.”
“I want to do it the right way,” I said to him, and as he looked at me and his expression softened, I knew he knew what I was talking about.
“I never knew he was that hard on you,” my cousin said.
“No pain, no gain, I suppose. Are you ready to leave?” I asked him as I stood up.
“Yes, we have an empire to run, and now another Brannington to bring up within it.”
“Lord, help us all,” I said before chuckling.
Kingston and I left the attorney’s office, and after spending a night at my cousin’s place, I took the first flight back to Ireland to the place that had always been home to me.
And to the woman who’d always been home to me.
And as soon as I entered my penthouse, I took my soon-to-be-again wife into my arms.
“Is tú mo ghrá, Anamchara,” I rasped moments before fusing my mouth to hers.
When I did finally come up for air, I sat her down to explain what had happened.
She didn’t question the news, or anything else.
Once I was finished, she crawled into my lap.
With Ciara off at school, we spent what was left of the afternoon in each other’s arms. By the time our daughter came through the door, all the tension I’d felt earlier had disappeared.
It would be some time before I told her about Zarren, so we instead spent time together as a family.
This was all I had ever wanted in life. And now, I had it all.
Or at least, I had all that mattered to me.