CHAPTER 1
GRIFFIN
“Uncle Griffin, your house is awesome,”my nephew, Jeremy, said.
“Glad you think so.”
He’d asked for another tour of my place after I’d already given one to the family. I was happy to spend the extra time with him as we walked together down the main hall.
“You can visit me anytime you want, even for a sleepover,” I said.
I used to live in a bachelor condo before, which wasn’t really suitable for sleepovers. It was basically one huge room with no privacy. Now, I had a luxury villa in the Wooded Area neighborhood within Point Loma.
Jeremy and my brother Duncan, along with his fiancée, Riley, lived closer to downtown. My brother was damn lucky. He’d done a great job as a single dad, but there was no denying that both he and Jeremy were happier now that Riley was part of their life.
We went downstairs to the living room, where the rest of my family was. The view through the floor-to-ceiling windows was amazing. There were many pine and fir trees surrounding theproperty, shielding my house from my neighbors. Everyone was milling around, conversing among themselves, while Mom inspected the fireplace. It was never warm enough to actually need a fire in San Diego, but I liked the optics of it.
Dad came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Son, you’ve got a nice house. Congrats.”
“Thanks,” I said. Hearing that from him made me proud.
Mom, who was now looking at some photos above the fireplace, smiled at me. “I’m so happy you’ve still got this picture. I don’t think I have a copy.”
“I can make you one,” I offered.
It was of all of us as kids before they divorced. We’d been on a trip with the tent. Most of us still had a camping bug, except Duncan. He hated it. Whenever Jeremy wanted to go, our youngest brothers Knox and Finn usually took him.
“Griffin, I’m jealous of this place,” Hannah said. She was my brother Chase’s fiancée and one of my favorite people in the world.
“You’re welcome here anytime,” I assured her. They lived nearby, so it was convenient for them to visit.
Glancing behind her, I noticed Chase and Wyatt helping themselves to my bar.
“How come you asked us to come over today instead of tomorrow?” Wyatt asked loudly as he poured himself a scotch. We’d originally planned my housewarming for tomorrow, but business calls.
“Because I’ve got a meeting later tonight for a potential business deal tomorrow, and I didn’t want to have to cancel on you if need be. I’ll throw another housewarming party some other time, though.” Since I’d moved the get-together to today, Knox, Finn, and Riley couldn’t join us, so I would definitely have another one soon.
“A business deal?” Duncan asked.
That got everyone’s attention. My brothers and I had set upSterling Investments years ago. It was one of the biggest companies offering financial advice in the country, and it had made us very rich. But now only Chase and Duncan were running it full-time, while the rest of us worked on an as-needed basis. We had a weekly strategy meeting but didn’t deal with the day-to-day operations. We’d each set up our own individual companies to run instead.
Wyatt raised a brow at me. “Is it with that Carson guy?” I’d mentioned it to him a while ago.
I nodded, focusing on the rest of the family. “Yes. Jude Carson owns a huge dating website, and I want to invest in it.”
“That’s interesting. What gave you the idea?” Chase asked.
“It’s a booming market. People nowadays all seem to prefer meeting people online.” That wasn’t my thing, although Ihadsigned up on Jude’s website because I didn’t want to invest in something I had no knowledge about.
“It’s definitely a growing market,” Duncan said.
I liked sharing business ideas with my brothers. They were among the smartest people I knew.
“They want to expand, and they’re looking for investors. I have money.” I shrugged. I also thought it might be fun too.
“Darling, you look concerned,” Mom said. How did she pick up on that?
“The guy wasn’t excited when I first set up the meeting,” I admitted.
