–Emmett: How about Ken Hayashi? He works for Barron and Justin Sterling, and you know they don’t hire idiots.
–Me: Tried him too. There’s no way out of this contract without handing over thirty percent of Sebastian Jewelry.
I’m bitter as I send the text to my brothers. I’ve consulted one high-priced lawyer after another. And I have nothing to show for it.
–Huxley: I’m sorry.
He feels bad because his mom represented Lucienne in this deal, which explains the lack of loopholes. But it isn’t his fault his mom’s so good at her job. It’s my family’s fault for agreeing to this infernal deal in the first place.
–Noah: You gonna hand over the shares?
–Griffin: You don’t need Sebastian Jewelry or the money from it. Fuck them.
–Nicholas: I still can’t believe your family screwed you over. What the hell happened to family loyalty? You certainly deserve it after what you’ve done for them.
–Grant: It’s gotta be criminal. You gotta show them they can’t fuck you over like this and get away with it.
My brothers are just as outraged as I am about the situation. We only have each other, and we always watch our backs. An attack against one of us is an attack against all of us.
It was the only way we could cope with and survive our childhood as Ted Lasker’s seven sons. He never wanted children or a family. He got stuck because his vasectomy failed and he managed to impregnate seven women before he discovered that fact. We were born within four months of each other, and since he’s never given a damn about us, he named us after our moms and shipped us off to European boarding schools when we were old enough to walk.
Actually, I can’t even claim I was named after my mom, Marie Comtois. Dad named me after our family business. He probably didn’t even get Mom’s name before…the deed.Ugh.I need to quit thinking about that. Otherwise, I’m going to puke in my office, and our janitors shouldn’t have to suffer because my dad is a shitty human being. These days, only thing Dad wants from us is to make him look good. It confuses him that we aren’t interested. In his world, everyone wants what he wants.
–Me: I’m pissed off too, but I’m not giving Lucienne that much control over the company. It’s outrageous. Peery is our rival.
For all I know, she approached my family with these seemingly too-good-to-be-true terms purely with the intent to get the shares. After all, she didn’t even want anybody specific. Agreeing to take Preston is setting the bar low, and that should’ve set off my family’s collective alarmhard.
–Nicholas: Which dumbass reviewed the contract for your family? So I can avoid using them.
–Me: You won’t be able to use them even if you want to because I already filed complaints. I’m going to have the motherfucker disbarred!
–Grant: Good plan. Let me know if I can help.
Grant is eager. His motto in life is “Nobody fucks me over and gets away with it.” He almost lost his wife Aspen because of that, but he still kept the rule. Apparently, she’s the only exception.
To be honest, most of us are kind of control freaks. And more than a little vindictive. We’ve worked hard to ensure we have our own money and success, so nobody can run our lives. Having Ted as our father did a number on us. It doesn’t help that some of our mothers are also self-absorbed, although nothing compared to Ted.
–Me: Thanks, I will.
I looked Lucienne Peery up after Mom left to get a more complete picture of who she is. Calling her history “colorful” is like calling Leonardo da Vinci “a decent artist.” She beats my dad hollow in the Scandal Olympics. She even kicked a dog a few years ago, according to one grainy video I found online. What kind of heartless psycho does that? Not even my dad’s ever done that—although it wouldn’t shock me if he did.
When he noticed I was morose about all the crap I’d unearthed about Lucienne, Noah mentioned that gossip sites never tell the full truth. I appreciated the gesture, but of course I already knew. Dad’s scandals are alwaysmuchworse than what’s reported. Lucienne probably kicks kittens as well.
–Noah: Do you think it’s possible she just wants a husband to have a baby? Like, her biological clock’s ticking? Because if that’s the case, you could just donate some sperm and be done with it.
–Me: No. The contract has almost nothing on children, just details on the division of assets in case the marriage doesn’t work out after five years.
–Huxley: Why five?
–Me: I don’t know, but she wants us to be married for at least that long. Unless she wants to end it early.
–Nicholas: She could just want the semblance of a family for five years for some reason.
–Griffin: No “for some reason” about it. She probably wants to have a husband for the same reason Dad wants a grandkid.
–Huxley: So she can out-brag Josh Singer?
–Me: Don’t be idiots.
