The room was packed, but that didn’t surprise me. Grandfather had been well-known and well-liked. Well, maybe more like well-respected rather than well-liked. He’d never been the sort of man people talked about liking, but people did always want him around, and it looked like everyone had come out of the woodwork to pay their respects.

“Jax, I haven’t seen you in a dog’s age.”

The old man extending a hand to me looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him. I wasn’t about to let him know that though. I owed it to Grandfather to maintain the family name, especially since I was going to be the face of the company now.

“Thanks for coming,” I said. “Grandfather would have appreciated it.”

“He was a great man,” he said as he shook my hand enthusiastically. “He’ll be missed.”

I thanked him and then turned to the next person in line, listening to the same platitudes, the same compliments. I recognized maybe two out of ten, and all of them were from the business world. We were an hour into the calling hours we were holding before the afternoon’s service, and I hadn’t seen anyone I would’ve considered a friend. The only family I had left was standing in the receiving line next to me.

We’d ended up standing in birth order completely by chance, which meant I was standing next to Cai, and I supposed that was a good thing since it meant that people didn’t get two reticent Hunter brothers in a row since I was used to talking to people I didn’t know. Slade would hold his own, and Blake was behaving himself. Ms. K had refused to stand with us, saying it wasn’t her place. I hadn’t wanted to press the issue, knowing it would only embarrass her to have that personal side of their relationship brought out.

So, she was standing off to one side, out of the way, and trying not to look like she’d been crying. I’d already put a reminder in my phone to send her a huge thank you gift tomorrow. She’d said that she couldn’t take credit for the service because Grandfather had planned for everything except the date, and that hadn’t taken any skill on her part, but I knew she’d put her heart into this. It was everything Grandfather would have wanted.

“Do you actually know any of these people?” Cai asked quietly.

“Some of them,” I admitted.

“If you don’t know them, why the hell are they here?”

I glared at Blake as his voice carried. “Because it’s not all about us.”

“Right.” He shrugged. “Why should it be about us? We’re only the grandsons he raised after our parents died. Why should that make us any more special than someone he met once at a business conference?”

I stepped behind Cai to put me closer to our youngest brother. “This isn’t the time or place, Blake. Pull yourself together.”

“Let me guess,” he sneered, “’we have a reputation to uphold.’”

The muscle popped in my jaw. “The family name might not mean much to you, but it does to me. And I don’t have the luxury of running off to another life when this is all over. I live here, I work here. Maybe you could at least try to not act like a total asshole.”

“Me?” Blake snapped. “I’m not the one who’s been bitching all morning about every little thing.”

“I think this is the sort of conversation we could have later,” Slade said. “Perhaps when we’re not supposed to be grieving for our dead grandfather.”

Slade’s words had the sobering effect he most likely intended, and we returned to our places in line, polite plastic smiles in place.

Everything began to blur as one hour turned into two, and then we were sitting in strangely comfortable chairs as people took turns talking about what a great man Grandfather was, and how he’d made a difference in so many people’s lives. Then it was my turn, and I read a passage Grandfather had pre-selected, and then gave a short speech that he would’ve approved of. Personal, but unsentimental.

Then, suddenly, it was all over, and the only thing left to do was put Grandfather’s ashes in the family crypt. Grandfather had instructed that only us four attend the interment, and as soon as we reached the cemetery, I knew I wasn’t the only one who breathed a sigh of relief that we were alone.

“I’m glad that’s over,” Slade said as he squinted up at the sun. “It was getting tense in there.”

“So, what are we going to do about those asinine restrictions to Grandfather’s will?” Blake asked. “You think Ms. K will notice if we pretend to play nice?”

“We’re brothers.” I lifted a shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with how we act with each other. It’s okay that we aren’t best friends. Like I said before, not all siblings are.”

“Do you really think that our relationships are fine?” Slade rolled his eyes. “Come on, you and Blake nearly came to blows at our grandfather’s funeral.”

“Because he was being an ass,” I said. “He’s always an ass. Why is that my fault? Why do I get fucked over because he can’t act like a fucking human being at a fucking funeral?”

“Whoa.” Blake held up his hands. “What crawled up your ass?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, our grandfather is dead, and some stupid stipulations he set up might put me out of a job and our family’s legacy in the hands of some outsider.”

Slade shook his head. “No, that’s not it. Something’s up with you.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Nothing’s up with me. I just have a lot going on.”

“And does that particular ‘a lot’ have a name?” Slade asked with that obnoxious grin of his.

“I can’t believe you’re asking me that here, now.” I shook my head.

“I think Grandfather would approve,” Slade said. “He’s the one who wanted us to reconcile our differences. I think a good place to start would be for you to tell us why you’re acting like this.”

“Sure, I’m having a problem with this woman, okay? It’s nothing important. She’s nothing important.” I ground my teeth together as I thought about how she kicked me out of her bar a few nights ago after accusing me of just being after the property. “Someone I met when I was scoping out this property. Grandfather had heard that the prices in the area were going up, and I decided this bar would be the perfect place to start a club. I went there to make an offer, and this woman, Syll, she tells me she’s not interested. She drives me nuts.”

“You’re acting like this because of a girl?” Blake started laughing. “That was the last thing I expected to hear.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to think about her. In fact, I’ll talk about anything except Syll.”

“All right,” Slade said. “Why don’t you tell us why you want to start a club? Hunter Enterprises isn’t exactly in the business-building business. And definitely not building a dance club.”

“I didn’t say it was a dance club.”

“What kind of club then?” Slade asked, then his brows drew together as he considered the options. “Like some sort of gentlemen’s club?”

I considered my brothers for a moment, and then decided I might as well tell them. Maybe it’d get us to some place where we could convince Ms. K that we were doing what Grandfather wanted and we could get this all taken care of.

“A sex club.”

Well, that silenced them. All three stared at me.

“Not a strip club or something like that. Specifically, a BDSM club,” I said. “I saw one in New York and thought that something similar would work well here.”

“What club in New York?” Cai asked.

“Club Privé.”

Slade grinned. “You’re shitting me. You went to Club Privé?” He glanced at the other two. “I think we’ve finally found something we have in common.”