A Brother's Honor (5 page)

Chapter Six

S
utton Hills.

Jace stepped out on the porch in the early morning with a cup of coffee in his hand and glanced around. Although he wished he could deny it, it felt good to be back at Sutton Hills. However, he would be the first to admit it felt strange without the presence of his grandfather. The adjustment would be hard, just as it had been when he had to make peace with the loss of his parents. One through death and the other through incarceration. It hadn’t been easy during his teen years without them, and it wouldn’t be easy without the old man.

Sutton Hills encompassed over two hundred acres near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A thirty-minute ride from Charlottesville, the area consisted of the most beautiful land anywhere. The sunrises and sunsets were spectacular and could honestly take your breath away.

Located at the main entrance to Sutton Hills was the equestrian center where the horses were kept. His father’s and grandfather’s pride and joy. Even now, Sutton Hills was considered a horse ranch because of the beautiful Thoroughbreds here.

The acreage was divided into four major plots. First, there was the main house where his grandparents had lived, a mile down from the equestrian center and sitting on fifty acres of land. The two-story structure was an architectural masterpiece and backed up against Mammoth Lake.

To the east of that was what had been his parents’ homestead and where he had lived for the first sixteen years of his life. His grandfather had closed up the house after his father had been convicted. After the trial had ended, they had gone back just long enough to pack up their things to move to the main house with their grandfather.

Jace looked to the west to where the boathouse was located along with the entertainment center where his parents had hosted most of their parties. But his gaze stayed fixed on the boathouse because it was there, one noonday in late October, that his mother had been found dead. Shot to death. And according to the authorities, their father’s fingerprints had been on the murder weapon.

“Hannah still makes the best coffee,” Dalton said, opening the door to join Jace on the porch.

Jace turned, grateful for the interruption. He was about to travel too far down memory lane to suit him. “See what you were missing all those years you refused to come back here?”

“Yeah, I see.” Dalton got quiet, and Jace figured he was thinking, about the past, about the present and now the future. Jace pondered the future. They had made promises, but none of them had talked about those promises since making them at their grandfather’s deathbed.

Their grandfather had flatlined immediately after his last words to them, and they’d finally had to accept that Richard Granger was now gone from their lives. It had been hard going to Sutton Hills to deliver the news to Hannah and even harder to notify his father and make funeral arrangements without him.

Yesterday’s memorial services had brought out people Jace hadn’t seen in years, trickling in to pay their last respects to a man a few might have feared, others respected and some would have envied. What others thought of him didn’t matter to Jace. To him, Richard Granger was a man to be admired. A man who didn’t take crap from anyone, and he had raised his son the same way. Except that Sheppard had a softer side that he’d inherited from his mother.

One or two mourners who’d attended had asked about Jace’s father, but most made solicitous statements about the old man and avoided the topic of Sheppard Granger altogether. The services were short. That’s the way Richard would have wanted it. It was over, but the grief was still there for Jace. Every room in the house held memories.

“I wondered where you two had gone off to,” Caden said, stepping out on the porch, as well.

“Where were you?” Dalton asked, deciding to ease down to sit on a nearby step.

“Talking to my manager. I’m supposed to be in New York for two concerts in a couple of weeks.”

When his brothers just stared at him without saying anything, Caden said, “And no, I didn’t forget the promise. However, I made a commitment that the band and I need to keep. I do have a life.”

“You’re not the only one,” Dalton mumbled. “I can’t believe we made that promise. Shit, I haven’t done this kind of work in years.”

“You mean prostituting yourself to the oldest bidder wasn’t real work?” Caden sneered. “Being a boy toy has it benefits, evidently.” He had met Dalton’s lovers on two occasions, and both had been old enough to be his mother. Caden really shouldn’t be surprised. Dalton was thought of as the extremely handsome Granger with looks that could turn heads no matter the age. And because of those looks, women had always been his baby brother’s weakness.

“Hey, don’t hate me. And didn’t you hear what Granddad said before he died? He was proud of me because I had made something of myself.”

“Evidently, he knew something that we don’t,” Jace said, rubbing his chin as he gazed at Dalton. He had wondered about the old man’s words, but he’d been too occupied to dwell on them until now.

Dalton met his brothers’ gazes, smiled and then bragged, “I’m a billionaire.”

It seemed the air vibrated under Dalton’s words. Jace heard Caden’s chuckle of disbelief. But for some reason, Jace believed Dalton. “And how did you manage that?” he asked. “Did your duchess die and leave you a few castles, a number of pubs and a boatload of expensive jewelry?”

What Jace thought of as a devilish grin tugged at Dalton’s lips before he said, “Victoria’s not a duchess, she’s a lady—of English nobility—and she’s very much alive.” He took a sip of his coffee and then asked, “Have you ever heard of Stuart Hunter, Earl of Falmouth?”

Jace raised a brow at the name and before he could respond, Caden piped in and said, “If Jace hasn’t, I have. He’s a well-known English investor. Filthy rich. Invests in a lot of Hollywood movies as well as space travel.” Caden stared at his brother. “Why?”

“I met him while in England at a party. We hit it off. He became my mentor. He’s also Victoria’s father.”

When neither Jace nor Caden said anything, Dalton added, “So with Stuart’s help, I made a lot of nice financial moves that paid off. And for the record, Victoria and I are nothing more than friends with benefits.”

“How did Granddad know? About you being successful—not about Victoria and you being friends with benefits,” Caden clarified.

“Wouldn’t surprise me if the old man didn’t know that, as well. And I don’t know how he knew. He must have kept up with what I was doing,” Dalton said, staring down into his coffee as if analyzing the dark liquid. Had he been spied on when he hadn’t known it? And the sad thing was that he couldn’t be mad at his grandfather because that meant he cared. He then glanced up at his brothers. “How do the two of you feel about making those promises?”

Jace shrugged. “We made them, so there’s nothing we can do about it. We gave him our word on his deathbed.”

Dalton took another sip of coffee. “That might be true, but I don’t know a damn thing about running Granger Aeronautics.”

Caden rolled his eyes, knowing Dalton was about to start whining. “You worked there during the summers like the rest of us. Your mind should have been focused on the job instead of on every woman with big boobs who passed you in the hallway.”

Dalton smiled. “Okay, I admit I wasn’t focused.”

“At least not on work,” Jace said, brushing a fallen leaf off his shirt.

Dalton smiled and glanced over at Caden. “I saw Shiloh yesterday at the services. I checked her out for a good five minutes before figuring out who she was. Boy, she looked good. Who would have thought she would have filled out like that?”

Caden frowned over at his brother. “If you got something to say, then say it.”

Dalton chuckled. “I just did. And since I got a rise out of your ass, I guess that means you liked what you saw, as well. She was always your—”

“Best friend and nothing more,” Caden cut in, glaring at Dalton. “And that was ages ago.”

“And she defected like everybody else when the going got rough,” Dalton said, his voice tinged with anger and bitterness. “I want to know why half the people who came to the services yesterday were there. They acted as if the Grangers had HIV when Dad was sent to prison. You don’t know how close I came to telling a few of them yesterday to kiss my ass with their condolences. And it really pissed me off when a few approached me with that lie about how good it was to see me again.”

Jace didn’t say anything as he leaned back on his elbows. He momentarily tuned out Dalton’s angry ramblings and fixed his gaze on Caden, who’d seemed to tune Dalton out, as well. Instead, Caden was standing with his back to a post, sipping his coffee and looking as if his thoughts were a million miles away. He wondered what was on his brother’s mind. Had Dalton hit a nerve by bringing up Shiloh?

“Joe Crowder is supposed to be here at eleven,” Dalton said, reclaiming Jace’s attention.

Joe was the family attorney. Their grandfather’s will was to be read today. Vidal Duncan, the company attorney, was scheduled to meet with them, as well, after the reading. As expected, Titus Freeman had attended the funeral services. If he was aware of the promise the brothers had made to their grandfather, he hadn’t let on. Just as well, since Jace had no idea how the man felt about being ousted from such a high-level position.

Dalton stood to stretch his legs and, as if pulled by a magnet, his gaze moved across the pastures in the direction of the home where he had lived as a child. “Has anyone gone back there since the day we left?” he asked.

Jace and Caden followed his gaze. It was Caden who answered first. “I haven’t. Haven’t wanted to.”

“Neither have I,” Jace said, finishing off the last of his coffee.

Dalton nodded, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans while he continued to scan the area. “Just wondering.”

* * *

There were no surprises with the reading of the will. Everything Richard owned he bequeathed to his son, Sheppard. However, Jace, Caden and Dalton shared the handling of those properties and shared the inheritance in case of Sheppard’s death. Since Jace was the oldest, he received a higher percentage than the others, which everyone thought was fair.

Hannah received the deed to her small cottage on Sutton Hills as well as papers to the car she was driving and a horse she’d grown fond of over the years. And she got a very generous monetary gift that would take care of her for life should she choose never to work again. No one said anything while Joe read through Richard’s requests. On occasion, the sound of Hannah’s sniffing was heard. Richard had been generous to his favorite charities, including the wing at the hospital that bore his deceased wife’s name.

Joe had barely left when Vidal arrived. The two men were different in looks and stature, but both were born to be attorneys. They had that
“this is the way Richard wanted it, so this is the way it is going to be”
air about them.

“So, as you can see from the way your grandfather set things up, Freeman is to step down as vice president the moment you arrive in the office tomorrow.”

Jace jerked his head around. “Tomorrow?”

“Yes, the sooner you take over the better.”

Jace lifted a brow. “What’s the hurry? The company isn’t going anywhere, is it?”

“No, but it needs your leadership. Granger Aeronautics has been operating in the red over the past year.”

Jace frowned. His grandfather hadn’t mentioned anything like that to him. “Red? But why?”

“Richard didn’t know why,” Vidal said, shaking his head. “He wasn’t getting contracts like he used to and was being outbid on a number of projects.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Caden said. “I’m no business brain, but I would think someone as astute as Granddad would have found the problem and—”

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Dalton said, leaning closer to the table where they were sitting. “Are you saying that Granger Aeronautics is going under?”

“It’s headed that way unless the three of you can find a way to stop it from happening.”

Caden looked pissed. “And how are we supposed to do that?”

Jace heard the anger in his brother’s voice. Although they hadn’t said it, they were wondering the same thing. Had their grandfather made them promise to try to achieve the impossible? Try to save a company that was already failing?

“I say the three of us vote to get rid of it. Stuart may know someone who might be interested in a merger and—”

“No!” Jace said, turning on Dalton, with nostrils flaring and his gaze resembling a glacier. “Damn it, we gave our word, and we’re going to keep it.”

“By doing what?” Dalton stormed back. “Making things worse? What did a few summers teach us at that place? Not jack shit.”

Dalton drew in a deep breath and made an attempt to cool his anger before adding, “You’re talking about a corporation with close to a thousand employees, Jace. Last I heard, Granger Aeronautics was the fourth leading employer in Charlottesville. We owe it to those employees to do right by them and not screw up any pensions they have coming. If we don’t make things right, they lose it all. Do you want that?”

No, that wasn’t what Jace wanted, but he couldn’t understand how easily Dalton could give up without trying. “Granddad was right about you, Dalton. Things did come too easy for you, and you do act entitled. Now you’ve made your billions, but even with that, you didn’t work hard. It was through investments. I think you’re afraid of a little hard work.”

Dalton was out of his chair in a flash, knocking it over in the process. He got in Jace’s face. “I happen to believe in working smarter, not harder.”

Vidal moved forward to intervene before words were replaced with fists. However, Caden touched Vidal’s arm and shook his head. As far as Caden was concerned, if it came to Jace knocking some sense into their baby brother, then so be it. It was probably about time someone did. Apparently, Dalton’s billions had gone to his damn head.

“For once, will you think of someone other than yourself?” Jace asked. He was so angry he felt fury race through his bloodstream.

“And just who are you thinking about, Jace?” Dalton snapped. “Clearly not Granger’s employees. Maybe you see this as your break to finally leave that pissy job you hate back in California. Well, fine, you do that and move your ass back here. But how can you expect to run a company when you couldn’t even keep your marriage together?”