Chapter 44
TRISTAN
“Ineed the ring.” The double doors to Grandfather’s office at the Crownhaven stillhouse make decidedly unsatisfying thuds, the weight of the oak and the oiled brass hinges meaning they lose momentum and only barely glance off the walls after I shove them open on Sunday afternoon.
Grandfather frowns at me.
My heart is doing double time in my chest, ratcheting up exponentially as he stares at me. It feels like it’s doubling every second, and surely there’s a limit, because I—
“What ring?”
I force myself to take a seat in front of him and adopt a casual pose. Power recognizes power.
“The one you promised me for my wife.”
His bushy white brows lower. The heirloom has been in our family for five generations.
It’s a massive diamond that started life as a necklace in an era where rings weren’t as large, and it was reset into a single, stunning engagement ring.
He’s promised me that my wife will have it, and I don’t intend for it to go to anyone but Katie.
He reaches into his drawer and sets a small black box on the desk. Just far enough away that I can’t lunge for it.
“So you’ve found someone, then?”
“I have.”
He looks viciously satisfied for a second before his eyes narrow. “Who?”
It’s the question I expected, and I’m ready to respond, but I still feel like I’m suspended in that moment after I dive from the old dock and before I hit the water.
Am I really willing to give this up? I’m not Aiden, not the Heir.
In my heart of hearts, I know Grandfather is offering me a poisoned apple of things I’ve always wanted.
If I just say yes, I can be the head of the family, the chosen one.
He will love me. At age eight, I would have been elated about a future in which Grandfather loved me more than Aiden.
I straighten my shoulders. “Katie.”
“No.”
“Stop me, then.” My hands shake. I don’t do this. Direct confrontation is not my style. I’m the one in my family who spent years desperately trying to be liked. I’m the easy one. The one who makes people laugh.
My eyes stray to the ring box.
“You are not marrying your bodyguard,” he growls. He covers the box with his palm. “I knew she was a problem. I knew it. All those years you spent running wild with her. She is not part of our world, Tristan. She didn’t even go to college.”
Rage spirals hot and tight up my throat. I force it down. Grandfather doesn’t respect emotion, which is why he has always disliked me and preferred Aiden. “I don’t care.”
“She will never be accepted.”
“Then I’ll deal with it.” I push back from the desk. I’m done here. “You reacted exactly how I thought you would.”
His lips flatten at the edges.
My nose feels hot, and fuck it. I’ll let him see the emotions. It’s not going to change anything. I’m me, and for once in my damn life I’m going to lead with my heart, like Katie always tells me to.
“If you gave her a chance, you’d see how wonderful she is.
She puts her life on the line for this family.
She loves Crownhaven. You know she runs the perimeter every morning?
She checks for threats, but she also checks to see if the gardens look good and whether the walls need repairs and if the lamps are working.
” I swallow thickly. “She loves Crownhaven as much as any Prince, and she deserves to be here just as much as any of us.”
He looks briefly stunned, before his face hardens. “One week, Tristan. I will give you one week to come to your senses.”
“Or what?” I shove my hands into my pockets so they don’t betray me. “You won’t pick me? You won’t love me? You have never picked me.” My voice comes out more bitter than I intend.
His eyes narrow. “Is that what you think? I have always wanted what’s best for you.
Your father is the one who decided to raise Aiden as the Heir and you as the spare.
I would never have done that. I’ve seen the potential in you from day one, but you don’t want it, Tristan.
Not the way I need you to. At least now you’re standing up for something.
At least you’re taking a risk. The wrong kind, but the point stands. ”
I back out of his office, feeling sick to my stomach.
“One week,” he shouts from behind me. “Or I’m kicking you out of the company.”
I’m halfway to my house when Mac calls.
My greeting is cut off by his ominous, “Tristan, we have a problem.”
My stomach sinks. “Why are you calling me about it and not Aiden? Or Charles?”
He snorts into the phone. “You’re going to be CEO, right? You talked about it that night when we were out at the bar.”
I grimace. Loose lips sink ships and all that, but damn, Mac is like a father figure to me, and I was so proud at the time to be taking over Prince Bourbon.
“I shouldn’t have said anything. It might not be me.” It almost certainly won’t be after today.
“That’s why I’m calling.” There’s a sound of conversation behind him and then a door shutting.
The voices are gone. “It has to be you, Tristan. People here, well, there are rumblings that the Prince family doesn’t have a direction for the company.
The senior distillers are talking about quitting.
Especially now that I’m retiring. Amanda’s been interviewing with a competitor.
Shit, Tristan, I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but you spent months with us.
You know how much we care. I know how much you care too. ”
My stomach rolls. The senior distillers each have over twenty years of experience.
Amanda, Mac’s daughter, started making whiskey at fifteen.
She’s the one who helps me with new yeast strains.
Her knowledge is invaluable to us, which means it is doubly so to a competitor.
I lean weakly against the low wall at the entrance to the formal garden.
I spent months with the senior distillers.
I met their families. I spoke to every employee, from the security guards and the cleaning crew to the interns.
“What can I do?”
“You can start by announcing that you’re taking over.
People here need to see some leadership.
There’s been too much upheaval between your father, god rest his soul, and then the mess with the Hart’s Hill distillery and the Old Kingdom bottles.
” His voice is urgent. I’ve never heard Mac speak so quickly.
He’s thoughtful and steady. Quiet, even.
He doesn’t panic, but he’s panicking now, which means things are even worse than he’s letting on.
“They need to feel like they’re part of something.
And even then, hell, Tristan, I don’t know. ”
“Even then what?”
“Even then, it might not be enough to keep people from leaving when I do.”
“If they leave, we have nothing. Prince Bourbon is nothing without the people.”
He sighs into the phone. “Exactly.”
We hang up, and I start the long walk back, thoughts swirling. I have to fix this. I have to get Katie to fall in love with me and I have to keep my family company from failing. And I have one week to do it.