When Empires Fall (49 page)

Charlene gasped, covering her mouth with her hand in shock.

Linc looked alarmed and furious, staring at Grant incredulously. “Is he allowed to do that? Withhold evidence from us?”

“Yes,” Grant replied evenly. “He wanted to find out how much all of us knew before he revealed everything he had to us. Apparently dad’s testimony paired with Wyatt’s corroboration was enough to confirm the murder allegation.”

“Wait, Wyatt knew about the murder, too?” Linc asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Why didn’t he ever say anything to us?”

“He was keeping dad’s secret,” Grant said simply. “The reason he came into the city was to meet with the detective.”

“Why don’t you tell them the rest, darling,” Madison said suddenly, her eyes still scanning the documents carefully as she spoke. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that Rosalie Owens had known about Cyrus’ other crimes, though it only made more sense now why he had killed himself. He hadn’t wanted his family to endure a trial, not when the proof was so substantial.

“What else is there?” Charlene pressed, eyeing Grant apprehensively.

Grant’s jaw clenched as he stared at his family, wishing that he didn’t have to be the one to deliver the bombshell that would destroy everything. But they relied on him and needed him now more than ever. He was, and had always been, a servant to the empire that bore his name.

“There is evidence that Cyrus is responsible for the deaths of his three brothers during the war,” he said evenly, noting the disbelief flash over his uncle’s face. He held Marshall’s eyes then, knowing he would need to hear the news the most. “He drugged them, tied them up, and when the Germans attacked the bunker, he fled with the rest of the men, leaving his brothers to die in the explosion. They found traces of rope around their wrists when they discovered the bodies. There was a subsequent cover up, so an investigation was never conducted. So Cyrus came home a hero, and was suddenly next in line to inherit the New York hotel.”

“No,” Marshall whispered, his face ghostly pale and haunted, memories of his long lost uncles and the grief the family had gone through flashing painfully in his mind. “It’s…it’s outrageous. Sickening. He couldn’t have…”

“He did,” Grant insisted flatly, troubled at having to see his uncle suffer under the heavy weight of the truth.

“Dear God,” Charlene managed, rising to her feet to rush to Marshall, wanting to comfort him. He was too upset to brush her away and instead let her wrap her arm over his shoulders as she sat beside him.

“Great, so now not only do we have to explain away one murder, we have to explain away four.” Linc grimaced, revolted and disturbed. He stared at his brother, shaking his head wearily. “When does it stop, Grant? I seriously can’t take much more of this.”

“None of us can,” Madison put in, shutting the file folder and pushing it across the table to Linc. “Tell them the last part, Grant.”

Linc reached for the file, but didn’t open it. Instead he stared at it numbly as Grant continued.

“Rosalie found out about Cyrus having killed his brothers. She went to Winston and showed him the proof she had uncovered. He was preparing to change his will to write Cyrus out completely. Unfortunately, Cyrus found out about his intentions and killed him before he could. He scared Rosalie out of town, threatened her, and our great-grandmother even gave her money to ensure her silence. The truth was covered up for five decades after that. And now we are left to clean up the mess.”

“Goddamnit,” Linc cursed, mostly without feeling, his heart sinking in his chest. “I’m sorry, guys, but I can’t think of a single positive way to spin this one.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Madison told him, reaching into her purse and pulling out her letter from their grandfather. She waved it carelessly in the air in front of her, eyeing her family with heat in her eyes. “Our grandfather left this letter for me after he died. I think you will find its contents both shocking and comforting.”

Marshall glanced over at his niece, his eyes filled with angry tears. “What does it say, dear?”

She passed him the envelope casually, then confidently eyed her mother and brothers.

“It says that, according to Cyrus’ will, I am now in charge of all of the hotels and the entire family estate.”

“What?” Marshall blinked, bristling as he tore open the letter Madison had passed him and pored over it himself. “You must have misread, my dear, there’s just no way…”

He cut off as he found the will, enclosed in the envelope along with the letter. Madison’s name was at the top, along with the endowment of full control of the business and the estate. Stunned, Marshall slowly turned his head to eye his niece, his lips parted in speechless shock.

She merely turned her attention away from him and focused instead on her brothers. “I know this sounds strange and perhaps unfair, but let me reassure you that I did not have any say in this.”

“Like hell you didn’t,” Linc snapped, rising to his feet angrily. “Jesus, Mads, how could you do this to us?”

She stared at him silently for a moment, slowly digesting his anger with her, knowing it was to be expected. But he was just going to have to get over it, because nothing he said or did would change the fact that she was now in charge.

“It is what it is, Linc.” She turned then to her oldest brother, who was looking at her with narrowed eyes, as if trying to figure out if she was somehow responsible for ensuring he would never have the legacy he had been born to. Linc’s burst of fiery anger was easy enough to deal with, to understand. But Grant’s quiet, stern distrust was burning holes through her very heart. “Read the will yourself, Grant. You’ll see it’s all in order.”

“I intend to,” he replied in a low, dangerous voice. He continued to stare at his own sister as if she were a stranger, and somehow couldn’t help but feel as if she had betrayed him. “If this was the shocking part of the letter, then what was the comforting part?”

“He left me explicit instructions on how to get our family out of this mess. A list, if you will, of actions we...
I
...need to take in order to preserve our family’s reputation.”

“This is outrageous,” Marshall snarled, throwing the letter and its contents across the table towards Grant and rising angrily to his feet. “I need a goddamn drink.”

He stormed out of the room and as Madison watched him go, her heart broke.

One door, closed.

“I have to call Rubenstein again, make sure this will is legit.” Linc glared at Madison as he stood, his eyes filled with disgust. “For all I know, Mads, you’re trying to bypass all of us for a shot at control of the family. Is that what grandpa’s been teaching you all these years? How to get rid of us so you could take over, just like he did?”

Madison’s eyes widened and for the briefest of moments, her horror at his words flashed brilliantly over her face. When he saw it, he despised himself for what he had said. But it was out there and it didn’t change the betrayal he felt.

When he turned and stalked from the room, Madison did her best to clutch her shattered heart together.

Two doors, closed.

“I for one think this is very exciting,” Charlene said, rising to her feet regally. “Though I would have preferred for Grant to have been given this opportunity, at least one of my children will now be in charge.”

With that, she left as well, rushing out to find Marshall in order to make him see reason.

That left Grant, who let out a long, measured sigh, unsure just what to think or say to his sister.

She watched him cautiously, fighting a losing battle to keep the pain from showing in her eyes. She had to be strong, had to show them that this was the way things were and that they would not convince her to back down from it. But seeing Grant look at her with so much distance, so much coldness, was destroying her. He had always been on her side, had always been there for her, a sturdy rock for her to seek support from when she felt weakened. Now she had to wonder if he would ever forgive her.

“I don’t know if you’ve had this planned from the start or if he sprang this on you as suddenly as you have just done to us, but it doesn’t change the fact that this undermines the traditional order of things in this family,” Grant said quietly, his eyes hardening. “I don’t know if I can trust you anymore. We’ve always been close, but this has and will come between us. I think you know that.”

Leaving it at that, he rose to his feet and swept from the room, not even sparing her a look as he left.

Three doors, closed.

She stayed where she was for a long while, adjusting to this newfound feeling of emptiness inside her heart. Never had she felt so alone, so lost, as she did now, knowing that her family was breaking away from her.

But it was her duty to the entire Vasser family to carry out the instructions her grandfather had left her and to ensure that they didn’t lose their foundation.

She would simply have to push aside her own broken heart, her fears and doubts, and focus solely on preserving the empire. Even if it meant a future, for her anyway, that looked like an incredibly long and solitary road.

She opened her
front door cautiously, her pride and defenses primed and ready. But one look at his face had worry and doubt replacing the anger in her eyes.

“Can I come in?” Linc asked, the dim golden light from the hallway of her apartment building casting dark shadows over his face. He held her eyes without wavering, but she could tell he was on the verge of collapsing right there in front of her.

Unsure what to say, Lynette simply backed out of the way and let him wander in, staring after him as he headed straight for her sofa and settled into it, tilting his head back against the cushion and shutting his eyes wearily.

She shut the door and walked over to sit beside him, curling her legs under her. Reaching over, she carefully brushed his chestnut hair from his forehead, her fingertips cruising over his skin lightly. When he let out a long, slow sigh and seemed to relax, she reached out with her other hand and folded it into his, hoping to comfort him.

“I think we’re both sorry for what we said earlier,” she murmured, squeezing his hand gently as she watched him. “Let’s forget it happened.”

He nodded slowly, his eyes opening but only to stare forward blindly. She thought he looked deeply haunted, and a quaking shiver coursed through her at the thought.

“Talk to me, Linc.” She slid closer to him on the sofa, her eyes troubled.

“Your parents are right, Lynette. You shouldn’t associate yourself with me,” he said quietly, flatly, his face expressionless.

“What? Why?” she asked, her brow creased in confusion. “If this is about my ballet master…”

“No.” He shut his eyes again, pain flashing over his face as he fought back the grief, the betrayal, the madness of all he had learned that night. “It’s not just that. Good Lord, Lynette, my grandfather didn’t just kill his father. He killed his three brothers, too. In the war…he made it look like an accident.”

“Oh.” She let out a stunned huff of breath, digesting his words.

“That was why he killed his father…he had found out about the other murders and was going to change his will, cutting my grandfather out completely.”

She said nothing as she stared at him, sorrow for him etched over her face.

“And now he’s left everything to my sister.” Fire flashed through the exhaustion in his eyes as he finally turned to look at her. “He put Madison in charge of the hotels, the estate, everything. He bypassed all of us, and gave it all to her.”

“Oh, Linc,” Lynette managed, watching as he sat up and faced her, misery accompanying the vehemence in his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“I said something despicable to her,” he grimaced, loathing himself. “The look on her face, Lynette, it killed me. I know this isn’t her fault, but, damnit, it pisses me off.”

“I know,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close. “You’ll get through this.”

“Grant’s probably more pissed off than me. He deserves this more than anyone, and now it’s hers. We don’t even have a say in it unless she steps down, which she won’t.”

“Then you accept it and move on with your life,” Lynette said quietly, pressing her lips to his forehead. “Put yourself in her shoes and imagine what she must be dealing with. Her whole family is angry with her for something she presumably didn’t ask for, and now she’s probably looking at the whole situation and preparing herself to face it all alone. She’s going to need all of you supporting her, Linc. And as much as it hurts you to be bypassed like this, part of you must be relieved. Leading the family out of this crisis is not going to be easy. She will be the one facing sleepless nights from now on and she’ll do it for the sake of your family, because it means more to her than anything else in the world.”