Mr. Sloane laughed. “Well, if you knew your father like I knew him, it wasn’t much of a surprise. He wanted to have you kids remember him as a fun and loving father.”
“I do remember him that way, Mr. Sloane,” I said. “Dad and I grew very close in the past couple of years.”
“That is good,” Mr. Sloane said. “Now, Ms. Crawford…she has a very important role to play in all this, don’t you think?”
“That’s a given,” I said.
“But whether or not she would be playing a larger role for you, Sebastian, or Ash…is the real question,” Sloane said.
Chapter 5
Kaley
As I walked up to Sloane and Thomas, I felt Thomas’ eyes on me like laser beams examining me from head to toe. I felt all the desire, the angst deep in Thomas as he hungered for me.
I wanted to run to him, to jump into his arms and wrap my legs around his waist while he kissed me.
I never forgot how he showed up in the fields like a knight in shining armor at the right time, saving me from Sutton. Had he not shown up, what would have happened?
“Ms. Crawford,” Sloane said, patting my shoulders, “seeing me off?”
“Of course,” I said, walking side by side with Mr. Sloane.
Thomas nodded, and said, “I’ll let Kaley walk you to your car.” He shook Mr. Sloane’s hand and said, “Glad you made it out here after all, Mr. Sloane.”
“Well, it took a while, but now that it’s started, I hope to see you all again for the second part of the reading of the Will,” Mr. Sloane said. “Hopefully soon, because guys, the first part is just the appetizer.” Mr. Sloane grinned, nodded at me, and said, “Don’t forget the advice I gave you about your majors. It’s a bright one.”
“That’s good to know,” I said walking Sloane to his car while Thomas waited at the door.
When we reached Sloane’s car, I said, “I didn’t expect the Will to be like that.”
Sloane chuckled. “The man did love his games.”
“I know but what if I fall for any one of the Keystone sons? What if I fall for all of them?”
Sloane raised an eyebrow, “That is the question, Ms. Crawford. If that happens, what would you do? What would your lover do? Is the love you have for them or them for you worth losing all of Mr. Keystone’s fortune for? Would it be worth losing the house for? Mr. Keystone’s legacy?”
Chapter 6
Kaley
After sending Mr. Sloane safely off, I walked back into the House for the third time in two years, but with Thomas waiting for me at the door.
“Why so glum?” Thomas asked.
“Just thinking,” I said. “Why would Mr. Keystone stipulate that I can’t be with any of you guys or you will forfeit your inheritance?”
“That’s our father just being cruel,” Seb’s deep voice said from behind me.
I turned around to see Seb leaning against the wall, casually, with a scowl on his face. With his dark hair fallen over half of his face, he was devastatingly handsome. His full lips twitched as he muttered, “Always with his games…always with that power he had to wield over everyone’s lives. What did he care who we can love and who we can fuck?”
“I’m just as angry as you, big brother. Angrier!” Ash said, coming into the foyer. “At least you got to kiss her before coming into the house for the reading of the Will. And Thomas…you had your time with Kaley when you brought her back from that sleaze Sutton. But me, I didn’t even get the chance to have my way with Kaley at all…before the harsh law of the Will came down on us.”
“I thought you were still mad at me,” I said to Ash.
Ash’s face went from angry to surprised as fast as lightning. “No, baby,” he said coming over to me and holding me in his arms. “I was never angry at you, sweetheart. Never. Even through those two awful years. I always loved you, then, as I do now.”
Seb said, “Ash heard about what happened with the footage you received about Sutton and us. He already knows it was a set up. That you and your mother were never involved with our father.”
Ash was angry again. “Whoever made those incriminating videos with someone who looked like you and dad doing it, is going to get harsh payback.” He punched the air, “God, I can’t believe we fell for those videos thinking they were truthful.”
“Never again,” Thomas said.
“Never again,” Seb said.
I wanted to kiss all of them. But I couldn’t.
“So, we’re friends again?” I asked.
They all looked at me with a scowl.
“Friends is not the word we wanted to hear,” Thomas said.
“I know,” I said. “Just trying to make the situation better.”
Thomas came over and put his arm around me, holding me close. “I know, Love,” he said. “I know.” He patted my back. Then he leaned in to smell my hair. “It feels so good to hold you in my arms again, Kaley,” he said.
Ash came up to put his long arms over Thomas and me, hugging both of us. “Welcome back into Keystone Manor, Kaley…our dear sweet and beautiful friend.”
Seb joined us, putting his arms over Thomas and Ash and me. “Welcome back Kaley, Seb, and Thomas. For this week, we will not only be back as friends, but family.”
“Yes,” Thomas said solemnly. “Dad would’ve like that.”
“That’s why he made his Will this way,” Ash said, wiser than he had ever seemed.
Thomas pushed Ash playfully in the shoulders and said, “When did you get suddenly so smart?”
Ash said, “I’ve always been, but next to you two, I will always seem like the dimwitted one.”
“Not true,” I said, kissing his forehead. “You’ve always had it in you, Ash. I saw through your act of the dumb rock star when I tutored you. You were always correct with your answers, quick, and right on point. But you tried to act dumb on purpose.”
“So you would tutor me,” Ash grinned.
Seb laughed. “Yeah, that would be a smart move.”
“But you and Thomas got Kaley first,” Ash said woefully.
Thomas and Seb looked at each other and said, “Guess so, but in the end, Kaley was all ours.”
“Yes,” Ash said. “All ours.”
“If we can last an entire week,” Thomas said. “Kaley will be all ours again soon.”
I looked at my guys and nodded. “Well, guys,” I smiled. “Where there’s a will…there’s a way.”
Chapter 7
Kaley
I walked over to the desk where Sloane had left Mr. Keystone’s Will and read the clue.
“The first puzzle to solve involves one of my favorite childhood memories. I wish for all of you to get a taste of what it is. Solving this first puzzle will bring you to the next.”