Reunited in Love (23 page)

“But it’s not their job. Dad and Grandpa started the company to make sure everyone would be provided for, no matter what. For that legacy to be in danger like this is difficult for all of us to accept. Frankly, it’s humiliating, which is why some of us are harping on the toys we’ll have to give up.” Meredith shook her head and smiled crookedly. “It sounds so awful to talk about yachts as though they’re necessities.”

“No, I understand. It’s not like you can sell a yacht or a private jet quickly. And every month they’re burning cash, what with all the maintenance and so on.” And that would hurt—having to spend the enormous amount of cash. From what Kerri had seen, Stella didn’t have a spending problem, but some of the others definitely did. She’d caught some whispers about new toys many had bought recently, counting on the dividends from the company. Their banks would work with them, of course, but bankers were patient only when they were certain you could pay them. She’d seen how one of her distant cousins had gone bankrupt and been ruined when Barron had cut her off for having married a man he despised. Financial hardship wasn’t such a big deal to her, but the humiliation had been tough.

“What Jacob did was irresponsible,” Meredith said.

“I’m sure he’ll be back to make things right.”

Meredith snorted. “I don’t know if I’d trust him to do it when we have you. If you hadn’t taken a look at the books…” She shuddered. “You have to be one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. I don’t know anybody who could’ve untangled everything so fast. Ethan and Gavin are capable, but they’re so busy with their own things, you know?”

“I imagine so.”

“I wish I was more like them so I could do my share to help.” Meredith sighed then smiled wistfully. “I never thought I’d have to be more than a socialite, going to parties and sponsoring charities and stuff with the money from the company.”

Kerri chose her words carefully. “Helping the less fortunate is just as important as running a company, if not more so.”

Meredith laughed. “Diplomatic, aren’t you?” Her gaze focused on the French doors. “There’s Ethan heading straight for us. Or more precisely you.” She gave Kerri a quick grin. “I gotta go get my son. Talk to you later.”

She disappeared by the time Ethan reached Kerri. “What were you guys talking about?” he asked.

“A secret plot to take over the world.”

The rest of the party went relatively smoothly. Ethan stayed by her side the entire time, while Gavin stayed away, ignoring both of them. The others in the family seemed to like her, or maybe it was due to Stella’s unspoken order. She oozed graciousness, and treated Kerri as if she were family.

At some point Kerri decided just not to worry about being among the Lloyds. It was only one afternoon, and she would smile and chat with everyone for Ethan, who obviously adored his mother.

When they had some relative privacy, Ethan presented Stella with a certificate for a two-week long, all-expense paid trip to Italy he’d arranged for her. His mother glowed at the gift. “Oh, Ethan. I haven’t been there in
years!
”

“I know. Thought it’d be good for you to get away and enjoy yourself for a while. Things have been stressful recently.” He hugged her, and Stella smiled fondly even as she was being crushed in his embrace.

“You’re the best son a mother could ask for.”

He chuckled. “You only say that because you get my jet for two weeks.”

A vise tightened around Kerri’s chest. How would things have turned out if her family had been the teeniest bit like this one? What if her father and brothers hadn’t died in the crash? If her mother had been able to overcome her grief for her loss? Would Kerri have grown up in a loving home? Would she still have left, turned her back on her family because she couldn’t bear the pain any longer?

For the first time in years, Kerri began to consciously resent the circumstances of her birth. That damned drunk driver! And her family’s attitude! As the Lloyds laughed and chatted, she felt like she was looking at them through an enormously thick window, always outside, always cold and hungry and alone. Ethan seemed so right in the midst of the group, while she stood apart, a dandelion that had somehow sprung up in one lonely corner of a garden full of roses.

I want this. No, I
deserve
this
.

Somebody in my family should’ve been strong for me. For the helpless little girl who had no idea why her mother couldn’t love her the way she wanted to be loved
.

Sudden loud knocks at the door announced another arrival. One of the cousins went out. The door opened and there was moment or two of murmured conversation. Then everyone heard a loud, “Let me in! I’m entitled to be here!”

Ethan tensed immediately. A few people stared at the entryway, their mouths slightly parted. Stella’s face lost all its warmth.

A tall man with dirty brown hair walked in. On his arm was a voluptuous blonde in hooker heels. At least she was decently covered in a pink sleeveless tunic and teal mini skirt. He’d left his shirt unbuttoned all the way to mid-chest, and his dark jeans were stained with something that looked suspiciously like mustard. Despite his unkempt appearance, he was handsome, his features finely carved. The woman with him raised a hand slightly in a tentative wave.

“Jacob, I do not remember inviting you,” Stella said, her voice cold.

So this was the infamous Jacob. Kerri stared at the man. The image she’d had was of someone a little more put-together—and much more contrite. But no. This man was all rebellion and bravado, a brash sneer on his lips.

“Guess my wife—or whatever she is—forgot to tell you I called,” he said. “She canceled all my credit cards.”

“A prudent move, I’m sure,” Stella said. “Thank you for informing everyone. Now you may leave.”

“Why? I’m the head of the family.”

“You’re hardly that. Not since you abdicated your duties to the family and ran off with that” —Stella’s gaze flicked over his companion— “female.”

“She’s a showgirl, Ma, not a stripper. And unlike dear,
dear
Catherine, she never took a penny from the company.”

Now this was interesting. Was he claiming that Catherine had embezzled money? Kerri made a mental note to check further into it.

Stella didn’t acknowledge his correction. “You’ve been irresponsible with the company that’s been entrusted to you. This is neither the place nor the time to discuss the matter.”

“I didn’t do sh—anything to mess it up.” He pointed his finger at Ethan. “It’s him and that Wilson heiress.”

Kerri’s stomach coiled, all the food she’d sampled earlier churning violently. She put a hand over her belly.

Ethan strode forward. “That’s enough.”

“I know what she is.”

Someone said, “What heiress?”

“Wilson. Sterling & frickin’ Wilson!”

Ethan crossed the room and started to pull Jacob away. The older Lloyd struggled, determined to stay and say his piece.

To Kerri’s surprise, Gavin joined Ethan. He unhooked Jacob’s other arm from the woman and helped Ethan drag their derelict brother back through the front door.

Kerri’s fingers shook. She clasped her hands together. How in the world had Jacob found out? She’d been so careful not to speak of her family, to avoid events where she might be photographed or where guests might recognize her. And if Jacob knew, did that mean her grandfather had found her too? She remembered the PIs Justin had hired. They’d said Barron wanted to talk to her, and if she didn’t agree, things would become more difficult for her.

Barron used to gaze at her so dispassionately, like she was a stranger on the street he happened to notice. At times he looked through her, an invisible presence he couldn’t bother with. Kerri couldn’t remember a single time he had smiled at her or hugged her. He’d been warmer and more cordial with colleagues and subordinates.

As she grew older, she told herself it didn’t matter how he treated her. But this sudden interest was alarming. It couldn’t have come out of affection or concern. The last time he’d been this intent on somebody, that person had ended up ruined.

Kerri realized that Stella was standing next to her. “Please accept my apologies. I’m embarrassed for the family and for Jacob. He had no right to speak to you so.”

“It’s all right.” Kerri tucked a curl behind her ear with an unsteady hand. “I know things haven’t been easy for anybody in the family.”

“No, it’s not all right. Don’t ever excuse other people’s obnoxiousness. They are adults. As such, they have the ability to control themselves and behave with dignity and decency.”

Kerri nodded, unwilling to contradict the woman. She felt awful that Stella’s party was ruined because of Jacob. And what if someone took Jacob’s accusation about who she was seriously?

She desperately wanted to leave, but couldn’t until the party was officially over. Ethan wouldn’t want to go until he knew his mother was okay and it was polite to do so.

Meredith came over and offered a drink, which Kerri turned down. The younger woman cringed. “I’m so sorry about that. Jacob’s not the brightest guy in the first place, and when he gets drunk… I can only imagine what you must think of us.”

Kerri forced a smile.
Meredith has no idea what kind of fraud I am
. She should probably tell everyone the truth, but she couldn’t bear to see their faces close off, the finality as they cut her from their midst. She’d experienced that with her own family, and couldn’t bear to repeat it with Ethan’s. “I think you guys are just going through some tough times. Don’t worry about me.”

*

Ethan and Gavin dragged Jacob out of the house. The woman followed them out when the other Lloyds created a hard-faced phalanx around Stella.

Once outside, Ethan pushed Jacob away. His older brother stumbled a couple of paces, regained his balance, then faced Ethan, running a hand through his unkempt hair. “What the fuck, bro? I have every right to be in there. I’m a member of this family too.”

“I’m going to leave you two alone,” Gavin said, taking Jacob’s stripper—or showgirl, whatever—by the arm. “Come on, honey, let’s take a walk.” The woman went with him willingly enough, although she cast a couple of glances back over her shoulder as Gavin led her away.

“What you are is a disgrace,” Ethan bit out. “Haven’t you done enough?”

“What? What did I do?”

“Don’t you know the kind of shape TLD is in? Christ, no wonder you didn’t want us to look at it very closely.”

“Ah, piss off. I provided for the family, while you and Gav went out and did your own thing.”

Ethan could barely control his fury, but he did so for the sake of his family inside. They didn’t need a brawl on top of everything else. “You told us not to interfere with the business, that you had it under control. None of us had any reason to doubt you when you said business was booming and kept depositing money into everyone’s account.”

“So what’s the problem? I worked my ass off to make the payments.”

“No, you worked your ass off to cover up how bad things were. You fucking borrowed money to pay dividends! Who the hell runs a company like that? Why didn’t you say something?”

“And what? Not pay? How would the family have afforded its caviar?” Jacob sneered.

Ethan ground his teeth. “I didn’t need the money. Neither did Gavin. Neither did several others who had their own means.”

“People always need money,” Jacob said stubbornly.

Ethan swore and turned away in disgust. Jacob hadn’t asked for help, not because he thought he was doing well, but because he couldn’t stand the idea of admitting a screw-up. Never mind who got hurt so long as his pride remained intact.

“I’ll tell you something, little brother,” Jacob said to Ethan’s back. “You don’t know jack. You always had it easy. Had things handed to you all your life. Women. Academics. Sports. Now your business success.”

Ethan spun around. “Success is never easy, you idiot! If I make it look easy to you, it’s because I don’t whine every time I have a setback the way you do. And I don’t have to have my name on every project, I don’t need to have a fancy title to make sure everyone knows how special I am. Those are things
you
need. You have to make sure everyone knows how hard you’ve worked, how important and awesome you are every damn second of the day. If you spent even a fraction of that energy on the legacy our father left for you to continue, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now!”

Jacob paled, but Ethan derived zero satisfaction from the psychological nails he knew he’d driven home. How could things have gotten to this point? He wished all he felt for his brother was anger. It’d be easier to deal with than this deep disappointment.

“So what you gonna do? Put
her
in charge of the company?” Jacob grated, his expression cold and hard once again.

“I might. Kerri couldn’t do a worse job than you have.”

“She’s the enemy.”

“I’m really getting sick of people saying that. How about you just think for a minute? If Kerri wanted to hurt this family, the best thing she could’ve done was tell me that everything was fine. I hadn’t had a chance to look at the TLD numbers as carefully as I needed to—too busy having all that undeserved success fall into my lap, you know—and I sincerely doubt Simon would’ve told me anything was wrong. Then you two could have driven TLD right into the ground before anyone knew what was happening.”

“Hey, Simon’s good at his job.”

“All Simon’s good at is kissing his boss’s ass.”

“Why couldn’t you have been more like Meredith?” Jacob’s voice grew louder. “She’s always grateful for whatever crumbs she gets. Unlike you, she knows her place in the family!”

Ethan shook his head, suddenly tired. Jacob would never acknowledge he’d done anything wrong. Ever since they’d been kids, if things went well it was due to his brilliance, and when things soured it was always somebody else’s fault.

“Just…go away, Jacob. You’ve done enough damage, and you’re drunk. And don’t even think about going after Catherine for cutting you off. You’re lucky that’s all she’s done so far.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Seriously? Now you’re defending
Catherine?
She’s probably the one who’s been stealing from us. I know what your girlfriend found out. She thinks somebody might have embezzled funds.”