11. Declan
DECLAN
"Thanks for doing this, " Luke told me and Sam when we arrived. We’d come with Luke’s car.
Travis recently bought a helicopter, but he was actually using it today, so he couldn’t lend it to us.
The property was two hours away from Chicago.
Luke had bought it a couple years ago, and I remembered being surprised when he did.
He usually stayed within city limits. He hadn’t done anything with it, and now he wanted to lease it to a couple who planned to use it as a vegetable farm.
He’d asked me to come with him to meet the couple as well as go over the lease, and Sam decided to tag along since he was in town a few more days.
“Why did you buy this at all? And why are you leasing it?” Sam asked.
Luke shrugged, but by his body language, I could tell there was a story behind it. When it came to business, he didn’t decide based on gut instincts.
“I want your opinions on the couple, if they seem trustworthy to you and so on. And my lawyers already vetted the contract, but I want your opinion on that too.”
“Sure,” I said. Sam nodded.
“I know it’s short notice, so thanks again for coming with me,” Luke said.
I had no problem with it. “I don't have court today, and I can rearrange almost everything except court dates.” Reviewing leasing contracts wasn't something I usually did, but I was a jack of all trades for the family.
Whenever they needed someone they could trust, I stepped up.
Why have them talk to strangers when I could do it?
Once we got out of the car, I fought the urge to check my phone again. I’d looked at that picture Liz sent me every half hour and broken into laughter every time. My brothers thought I was nuts. But now I needed my focus fully on business.
"This isn’t a bad spot,” Sam said. It was at least ten acres, surrounded by tall trees. The forest stretched farther out behind it.
“We need to talk about our strategy. Declan, you play bad cop," Luke said as we started walking.
"What are you talking about?" When it came to business, Luke was a take-no-prisoners kind of guy. He was completely different than how he was with family. "You've got that role down to a T.”
He patted my shoulder. "But you're extra observant and may see something I don’t."
“What about me? Just the sidekick who’s here for entertainment value?” Sam asked.
“No, I want your opinion too. You’ve got mad people skills,” Luke pointed out.
“That I do.”
There was a small building on the property. I wasn't an expert, but it seemed like a teardown. It was old.
A woman stood in front of it, waving at us.
“Damn, she’s hot,” Sam said.
I whipped my head in Sam’s direction. “And married. Luke told you that five minutes ago.”
Sam cleared his throat. “My bad. Completely slipped my mind.” He held up his hands as I continued to glare at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not gonna flirt with a married woman.”
“Declan, chill,” Luke said, shaking his head. “Dude, I forget you’re always so damn intense.”
I didn’t reply because we’d arrived in front of the woman. Her husband stepped around the corner of the building a few seconds later.
“Hey, I was just looking around,” he said. “I’m Colin.”
“And I’m Nikki,” the woman added.
“Welcome,” Luke said. “These are my brothers. Declan is a lawyer. He’ll look over the contract. And this is Sam. Let’s go inside.”
Luke gave us all the tour of the building. It had five different rooms. The furniture in it was old as fuck, but overall it looked better on the inside than the outside. Once we’d finished, we gathered around the wooden table in what used to be a living room.
Colin took out a stack of papers from his backpack as we sat down.
“I printed out the contract,” he said, handing it to me.
As I went through the paperwork, Luke asked them why they wanted to run a farm and if they planned to make any changes to the building.
“No, not at all,” Colin said. “It serves our purpose just the way it is. We’re going to get new furniture though, if that’s okay with you.”
“Yeah. Feel free to get rid of all the junk inside,” Luke replied.
Sam was silent. Gran used to say he was an expert at reading the room. I didn’t fully understand what she meant by that until I became a lawyer. My brother would have made a great businessman or lawyer, but he was an extraordinary doctor, and I respected him for his choice.
An hour later, we stepped out of the building.
"That went well," I said.
"Yeah, if the goal was intimidating them, you were 100 percent successful.” Luke’s tone bothered me.
I frowned. "You said I should play my part. I did."
"Fair enough. I forgot how extra thorough you can be. So, what did you think about the contract?"
"It's solid. And they seem like decent people.”
“I agree,” Sam said as we climbed in Luke’s car.
"You know, I’d like to see you actually face a real hardass once. Come on, I'll buy you both a beer. I saw a bar on the way here. I think it’s the only one in town."
My thoughts went to Malcolm as Luke drove down the street. He’d certainly been a pain in all our asses.
As I looked around, I saw how tiny this town really was. I wasn't exactly sure what my brother planned on building here. The population was small, only five thousand people.
The local bar came into view after the next turn. The parking lot was pretty full, but we nabbed a spot way in the back.
I straightened my cuff links as I stepped out of the car, deciding that this was as good a time as any to bring up Malcolm.
"Speaking of assholes, I received some troublesome news about Malcolm."
"What do you mean?" Luke asked. Sam frowned.
"I found out that Malcolm lawyered up with an asshole."
Luke stared at me. "You think he wants to come after us because of the stunt we pulled with the Halsey Group?"
" I pulled," I emphasized.
"Don't take all the credit, brother," Luke said, but there wasn't much humor in his voice.
"Wait, what?” Sam asked. “What stunt? They fired him, didn’t they?”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah. I had a long chat with them and convinced them to do it.”
“You mean you blackmailed them?”
“Of course not. I convinced them.”
“Did you have a personality switch while I was gone?” Sam asked in a bewildered tone. “Whatever happened to taking the high road? You only lectured us on it a million times as kids.”
“He hurt Reese,” I said through gritted teeth. “And he got Tyler benched. He deserved what he got.”
“You’ve got a vengeful side. I’m so proud of you,” Sam said. “Why was he still working with the Halsey Group? He and Reese were going to open the spa together, right?”
“Yeah, but he was acting as an employee of the Halsey Group. They were supposed to invest in the spa too. Reese was adamant they go into it fifty-fifty. He didn’t have any capital for investing, so he acted through the group.
Technically, Reese would have gone into business with the Halsey Group,” I explained as we stepped inside.
"Let's get a booth. The bar is full," Luke said.
"It is." It seemed like the entire population of five thousand was crammed into the place.
We sat down by the window. The waiter immediately came up to us, and we ordered two beers, soda for Luke, because he was driving, and their ribs entree, one for each of us. He returned with the beers and water almost immediately.
"So let me get this straight. You think he's going to come after you?" Luke asked.
"I don't know. I've got him under surveillance."
"You sound like a mafia boss when you say that. What do you mean by that? You've got someone watching him? Wait, do I even want to know?"
"Chill, Luke. My assistant knows someone who knows someone in the office of the lawyer he’s hired. I’ve got some feelers out, that’s all."
"Oh, so you've got someone else doing the dirty work for you. Very smart,” Sam said.
“It gets the job done."
Luke narrowed his eyes. "Part of me says maybe we shouldn't have gone as far as to pull the strings with the Halsey Group, but I can't bring myself to regret it. The asshole deserved it."
I raised my beer at my brother. "Cheers to being a Maxwell through and through.
" I had zero regrets too, even if it might come back to bite us in the ass.
Luke was the one who had introduced me to the Halsey Group.
He'd worked with them on a project two years before, and I figured we'd have a better shot at convincing them to do what we wanted.
"Does Reese know?" Sam asked.
"Know what?" I replied.
"Oh, we’re playing that game again."
"It's no game, but there is no actual news."
"Then why did you tell me and Luke?"
"Because I wanted to share it with someone, and Luke was my partner in crime."
"Fair enough,” Luke said.
The waiter brought our ribs. I was impressed with the speed of service, given the number of customers.
"What’s family for if not for this?" Luke said. "Sticking together through highs and lows, giving each other advice.”
“Exacting revenge on asshole exes," Sam added. He was usually an upbeat person, but he turned sore the second the subject of Malcolm came up.
We dug into our meal, and the food was surprisingly good. I hadn’t had high expectations of this place.
"Luke, I didn't actually tell you just because I wanted to share it with someone,” I said after enjoying the ribs for a couple minutes. “Watch your back. Malcolm knows of your ties with the Halsey Group."
"Understood. Are you watching yours?" he asked.
"Always. That's what I do."
"I know," he said, "but sometimes you turn a blind eye when it comes to family. We're your weak spot."
"Meaning?"
"We knew it was a risk.”
“It was my idea. I wanted to see it through."
"I know, but you stand to lose a lot. More than me."
"I didn't break the law. That's what makes me a very good lawyer."
Luke snorted. "I stand corrected. That annoying self-confidence will be your undoing, not the family.”
I rolled my eyes. “I didn't tell you so you could get on my case."
"Fine."