Chapter Seven
Ayden
In the back of my mind, I knew it was insane but that voice of reason was way too quiet. I was standing in the hallway outside of Jace's master suite where I had caught sight of his portrait. Jace had millions of fans and he loved fan art. It was a perfect likeness of him, smiling a huge smile and holding his arms out in his signature gesture that was both a welcoming hug and a mischievous shrug.
"And that's why I can't yell at your face, you asshole! You were always a push over. I should have gone to that meeting for you. I should have shoved that little shit David out of the way and handled it. Then you'd be here."
I figured if he were here, that would mean I was dead, but I was okay with that. Jace made something of his life. He meant something to a lot of people. He was the one they wanted, and I did not want to make them try to settle for me.
"I know you were just shielding me from some Ivy League snobs talking down to me at the meeting, but that is bullshit. I would have handled it, and you would still be here." I ran out of steam and whispered, "Dammit."
The voice of reason was finally loud enough for me to realize what a scene I was making. My only consolation was no one was around until I heard the clattering crash.
"Autumn?" I marched into Jace's master suite.
"Yeah, sorry, just trying to find a few missing pieces of paperwork." Her cheeks had a rosy glow.
"And I was just telling Jace what an asshole he was," I said.
Autumn cracked a smile. "I wasn't trying to listen in, but I think I might have caught that bit. Are you okay?"
She stood behind a large mahogany desk, the old fashioned kind as big as a ship and full of drawers. Just the sight of it was enough to launch another explosion of swearing.
Then I took a breath, "I should have known he had another office in the house. It was all just a trick to get me to accept his charity. Well, this is what I think of your bullshit charity, Jace!"
I charged back into the hallway with my fist raised. Autumn dodged in front of me right before I could punch Jace's smiling brushstroked jaw. She had to stop doing that before she got hurt.
"It wasn't charity and you know it. Just like you know that was the only way he could ask you for help." Autumn reached a hand out to my shoulder.
I collapsed into her embrace; it was impossible to pull away. I needed her arms around me, the soothing shush she whispered, and her hand smoothing my hair. It felt like a door opened inside and all the things I promised myself I did not really need came flooding out. The comfort of a woman's touch, not just any woman's, but hers. The thought made me dizzy and she held me tighter.
My mind tracked back to the last time I had felt such tenderness, and even though I tried to bury the thought, it broke to the surface. My mother. She had passed away when I was younger, right around the time Jace truly became my family, and I had tried hard not to think about her for years.
Inside it had been too much. The longing for a light, soft touch full of understanding. So I had put aside the feeling for fifteen long years.
Autumn's touch was different. An electric current hummed underneath her soft hand, and her heart clamored against mine even as her voice was low and calm. Just acknowledging her pulse was enough to spark heat all over my body.
It took everything I had to push away from her. "Speaking of charity, that's what I want to do. I'll use all the resources I can to double Jace's charity work, make him a legendary philanthropist, if only. . ."
My throat went too dry to continue. There was no end to that grief-stricken thought. No bargaining would ever bring back my best friend, the only family I really ever had.
"We'll do all those things and more," Autumn declared.
"What? Double his charities? Yeah, David will love that. Just throwing away all of Jace's money in the exact way Jace would have wanted it spent. Hell, David would probably try to call me a thief and send me back to prison if I tried."
"He might not get a say in the matter. We don't know yet. In the meantime, we can set up charitable funds in memoriam and let everyone donate. We'll talk it up everywhere, and David won't be able to shout it down. It will be like Jace is here. Everywhere. Loud as ever."
The thought made me smile, but it still hurt, so I changed the subject. "Need help looking for something?"
"No thanks, but you should see his desk." Autumn lead the way into Jace's rooms.
The master suite was a series of four interconnected rooms. The first was a wide sitting room that featured a sleek, modern gas fireplace. It was easy to imagine Jace lounging in front of it on the dark red couch. He probably had a remote tucked between the cushions that controlled the lights, the music, and the temperature.
The second room was part trophy room, part office. It was definitely inner sanctuary. All the framed articles were from his early days when he played hard and fought even harder to boost his staying power. Jace took his position as NFL running back like an honor he would soon have to pass to another. That's why he worked so hard to build up his fortunes and invest. And that is why everywhere I turned, I could see his young, fresh face. Jace must have gotten up everyday, seen his past glory, and walked right by it.
Only Jace could do that with a smile and find his way to bigger and better things.
I marveled at a few of his stats, laughed at some of the candid poses he struck with famous people, and then my heart fell to my shoes. The photographs surrounding his desk and in frames on his desk were all from Texas. And my face smiled out of almost every one.
I did not know Autumn had disappeared until she returned. An hour had passed with me just staring at Jace and I as young, smiling kids. Autumn tried to peek in the door, but her long blonde hair betrayed her.
She tucked it neatly behind her ear and cleared her throat. "Sorry, but I thought you might want a ride to the lawyer's office."
My stomach dropped out. The last thing I wanted to do was hear one more thing that Jace had done for me without my permission. "I'm sure it’s all just business stuff, right? Maybe I should pass. You know, keep the peace with David."
Autumn shook her head and led the way downstairs. "The family dispensations have already been made so this is the final will and testament. The lawyer requested you be present."
An hour later, I tried to excuse myself again. The lawyer's assistant had seated us in comfortable leather chairs and given us coffee in fancy mugs. We were told we were just waiting for David.
"My assistant just called to confirm, and David Rooke is in the parking garage. He'll be right up. Hello, I'm Bryon Shelton, Mr. Knight's personal lawyer." He took off his silver-rimmed glasses and gave me a firm handshake.
"And I was just leaving; sorry to intrude," I said.
"No, Ayden, wait--"
Bryon Shelton cut Autumn off with a sharp look. "Ayden King? I'm glad you could make it. Please have a seat." He gave a pointed cough and looked at the leather armchair I had just vacated.
I sat back down and blinked. Jace had chosen wisely. Bryon Shelton was a shark dressed in the dapper suit with the silver hair of a wealthy retiree. As we waited for David, I imagined Shelton tearing apart the small county prosecutor that pushed to get me a maximum sentence. It was relaxing to imagine him clouding the water with her frigid blood.
The daydream vanished when the office door flew open, and David Rooke rushed in. "I do apologize for being late. I'm sure you know how it is with an estate as large as Jace Knight's. I've spent all day chasing down every last one of his accounts to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands."
I felt his beady eyes sweep over me; an inference Shelton's razor sharp gaze did not miss. "May we begin?" he asked, not impressed.
"Of course, yes." David pulled a third leather chair up closer to the desk, so Autumn and I were almost sitting behind him. He opened his briefcase, shuffled a bunch of unrelated papers, and then pulled out a digital recorder. "Whenever you're ready, Mr. Shelton."
Shelton held David in a steady gaze just long enough to make the short man sweat. "There are, of course, many details but the general dispensation is easily explained in two words: Ayden King."
David made a strangled sound but managed to say, "Do go on."
"Business interests, properties, assets, bank accounts, and personal belongings not otherwise mentioned in the family will are all to go to Ayden King." Shelton pulled his glasses down and swept a steely look over each one of us. "With a small token of Mr. Knight’s gratitude to both his executive assistant and his business manager."
The silence was deafening, or maybe it was just the locomotive roar of blood pounding in my ears.
David cleared his throat, almost choked, and tried again before he said, "Mr. Shelton, I'm announcing that I want to contest the will--"
"Let me just stop you right there, Mr. Rooke, was it? Your employer made sure that anyone who benefits from the will may not contest it without forfeiting their dispensation." He slipped two pieces of paper neatly from a large pile and handed them to David and Autumn.
I could tell by David's silent gulping that the amount bequeathed to him was enough to make him think twice. While he fought against himself, he gaped and gulped like a fish on dry land. I caught the ghost of a rye smile on Bryon Shelton's face before I looked at Autumn.
She would hate me. I appeared out of nowhere. No, worse, I had walked out of prison and snatched away all of her hard work. I thought about the long hours, the outlandish ideas, and the nearly indecipherable plans she had suffered through working for Jace. I imagined the next time I saw her beautiful brown eyes they would be as jagged as broken bottles and screaming for my blood.
"Mr. Shelton, I know you have just met Ayden King, but I can assure you this is great news. There is much more to him than even Jace knew," Autumn said. She smiled at me. Her eyes warm like chocolate.
"What I heard from Mr. Knight himself was quite enough in my opinion," Shelton said. "Now, understand that the board will decide the best CEO for Knight Holdings. Mr. King is the owner, but we did not know at the time of the will's creation, if he would be available for the position of CEO."
David stood up and fumbled to push his chair back. "Your opinion? I didn't think lawyers were allowed to have opinions about their client’s decisions. Or maybe you do and you just don't want to say, but I will. Jace made a mistake willing his legacy to this no-account loser who has spent the last decade and a half of his life rotting in prison. The board of Knight Holdings will never stand for it."
Before Bryon Shelton could retort, David gathered up his briefcase in both arms and stormed from the office.
During the echo of the door slam, the silver-haired lawyer removed his glasses, polished them, and then met my eyes. "Any questions?"
* * * * *
The lawyer's smile appeared again as I faced him speechless. "Take your time."
He selected a large folder from his paper tray and opened it in the center of his desk. The first piece of paper he picked up was a sealed letter. As my brain was spinning uselessly instead of processing, I watched his practiced motions. Shelton opened a desk drawer, removed a silver letter opener, and sliced open the envelope in one neat flick of the wrist.
I was the owner of Knight Holdings. The sentence finally formed in my head, but it did not make any sense. It was almost as bad as the football jargon nonsense that Jace used to yell at me just to irritate me.
Still annoying me from beyond the grave, I thought. Somewhere Jace was laughing.
I shook off the thoughts and kept my eyes on the lawyer. He scanned the missive with quick, sharp eyes, and then paused. Something was wrong. His edge disappeared. I saw him work to swallow. Then he folded up the letter, slipped it back inside the envelope, and buried it at the bottom of a different pile.
The lawyer sat back in his office chair, looking pale.
"You weren't just pulling a prank on David?" I croaked. My voice just did not want to work right, same as my brain. "I mean, that would be great, but I feel like you punked me in the process."
"I assure you, Mr. King, no one has punked you. Jace thought very highly of you, and this was his intention."
Autumn agreed with the lawyer. "Jace wanted it this way. Anyone can tell you that. David is a minority of one."
I thought of all the people at Jace's funeral, his vast empire of fans, employees, and friends. My heart stumbled around in my chest, and I felt light-headed.
"I should contest the will. That would mean I forfeit my portion. Jace thought he was making this all airtight, but that's the loophole, isn't it?" I gave Shelton a hopeful look.
He laughed in my face without a hint of malice. "Sorry, Mr. King, but Jace knew you very well. He put an addendum in the will that means nothing you can do will forfeit your inheritance."
"Yeah, no problem. A few more minutes and I can easily plead insanity. That should get me out of it," I muttered.
"You're just overwhelmed," Autumn said. "Your day to day will be the same as it was, well, with only the one difference."
A shared sense of empathy filled the office. Bryon Shelton eyed the buried letter and tightened the corners of his mouth. Then he sighed. "Jace and I discussed it at length, and he was concerned about the overwhelming nature of what he was doing to you. I had to remind him that you have help. Autumn is one of the most efficient and organized executive assistants I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. And David Rooke is, ah, he has a great head for figures."
"If it hasn't exploded by now," I said.
Shelton chuckled. "Jace always delighted in yanking David's chain, and I have to confess I enjoyed the announcement more than is professional."
"I heard he did the same to you," Autumn chided.
"Ah, yes, there were many times when Jace would call with some outlandish problem or plan. It was always just believable enough that I would take him seriously." Shelton shook his head with a slow smile. "I once spent an entire day studying the laws of buying and selling human body parts because Jace convinced me he had found a mummy he wanted to purchase."
"You don't strike me as someone easy to fool," I said.
"No, but Jace has, I mean, had a way of sweeping people along with him. He ended the prank by bringing in a faux mummy and laying it out on my desk."
Autumn laughed. "Then Jace made a sizable donation in your name to the museum of natural history's mummy collection."
The lawyer smiled at the memory, then his eyes grazed the letter again and he grew serious. "I'm afraid we have some more business details to cover before we continue reminiscing."
Shelton handed over a thick financial report bound with clear plastic covers. I tried my best to concentrate on the numbers, but all I could do was hear Jace's laughter. I knew bequeathing Knight Holdings was his ultimate way of saying thank you, but I could not help thinking he had more in mind than repaying a childhood debt.
Just hearing the quick rundown from the highly efficient Bryon Shelton was exhausting. Jace wanted me to know he had not wasted a second of his time out in the world. He had worked every day to create an empire to be proud of.
I was still deep in thought about Jace's hard work when the words 'federal investigation' rang through. "I'm sorry, did you say 'federal investigation?'"
"Please understand there is nothing to be concerned about. I have already met with the federal agents on Jace's behalf. They are simply interested in some of the investments Knight Holdings has made. A very small portion, but you will still come under some scrutiny," Shelton said.
I held up both hands. "You could have told me that Jace was a vampire overlord, and it was my duty to find blood for his thirty masses. I would have been game, but I'm sorry, now I'm out for sure. I'm not going anywhere near anything that is under scrutiny from the feds."
"I understand your hesitation, Mr. King." Shelton adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses and sat forward. His eyes strayed to the tucked-away letter again and for a moment I thought he was finally going to tell me about it. "Please understand it is strictly Knight Holdings, primarily a few investments, that is under scrutiny. The agents are fully aware of you, your past, and even what was said at your trial."
"So what stinks about Knight Holdings so bad that the big dogs are coming around?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
Autumn shifted in her leather armchair and turned to face me directly. "In large, multi-faceted companies like Knight Holdings, there tend to be a few loose ends. Sometimes business deals fall through but stay on the books. Sometimes our business partners change company names before the papers are drawn up."
Shelton nodded. "In this case, there are a few nonsense business deals that we are having trouble tracing. It will just take some time, but until we can answer questions to the federal agent's satisfaction, they will be around."
"You mean they are going to come and question me. Aren't I just the perfect patsy?"
"No, Ayden, come on. Jace would never do that to you," Autumn gripped the arm of her chair. "This is completely separate. It was going on long before you, ah, joined our team."
"In light of that and your, shall we say mistrust of federal agents, I would like to offer my services," Shelton said. "I will gladly represent you, and I will be available to you 24/7. When they come calling, have them call me."
"Thank you, but in my experience, a lot of guilty people lawyer up. I should be able to answer a few questions truthfully without letting one gaze from them turn me to stone." I ran a hand through my hair and resisted the urge to pull some out.
"Well, I've had the pleasure of meeting these particular agents, and I can assure you there is nothing remotely Medusa-like about them," Shelton said.
"A pair of them, huh?" I asked.
"Agent William Bentley and Agent Tracy Swanson. Or, as my assistant calls them, Chalk and Cheese." Shelton leaned back in his chair, his hands folded on top of the closed folder. He was glad to be moving on to a lighter subject.
"Good cop, bad cop?"
"Not quite. Agent William Bentley is Chalk. Rigid, always looks like he might be too stiff to actually sit in a chair. He's ex-military, Army tough, and constantly thinks about conversations as maneuvers. Then there's Agent Tracy Swanson."
"The Cheese." I could picture her already.
Shelton confirmed my ideas. "She is Ivy League, intelligent, and highly conservative. She likes to appear willing to bend the rules, but you know for damn sure she has them all memorized."
"Yeah, they're going to love me. An ex-con millionaire." I pinched the bridge of my nose where my head throbbed.
Shelton chuckled. "Multi-millionaire. And, don't worry. Like I said, when they call, tell them to call me. I'm available any hour of the day."
I knew he did not do that for his regular clients, and then it dawned on me Jace might have been his only client. With everything I had seen in the financial overview and the outline of Knight Holdings, it was more than enough to keep a lawyer busy full time. The idea was the final crack in my already leaking dam.
Jace was dead. I was his multi-millionaire dollar heir. And now, for the second time in my unremarkable life, I was the subject of a federal investigation. It had been wrong to joke about David's head exploding because now I was certain it was going to be me.
Autumn stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. "You probably could have saved the whole 'under federal scrutiny' conversation for another time."
Shelton shrugged. "They called this morning. I did not want them to surprise him."
"Yeah, thanks, not up to any more surprises," I said. For one wild, desperate moment, I longed to be back in prison where everything was routine, the pecking order was clear, and all I had to do was survive the day to day.
Now I was facing a financial windfall past anyone's overactive imagination. Plus the looming judgment of the board, the certain enmity of my business manager, and the overzealous interest of federal agents. If it hadn't been for Autumn's hand on my shoulder, I would have run out the door and car-jacked the first vehicle I saw in the hopes of heading back to the relative peace of prison.