The survival of the ranch. It’s up to you, Aiden.

Raising my brothers without our increasingly absent father. It’s up to you, Aiden.

It’s a family company. We need to keep it that way. It’s up to you, Aiden.

It’s up to you, Aiden.

Fuuuuck.

If I didn’t get married, my entire family would be pissed at me. I’d be pissed at me. Danny Cartwright didn’t deserve the mud in his driveway, much less one hundred fucking million dollars. He was the reason we’d lost Mama and had to deal with this trust in the first place.

And if I married? If I married just for the money, would that be what my brothers did? Would they sacrifice their own happiness and find someone who’d say I do for millions of dollars? Worse, what if the public learned of this trust? My brothers would be pursued by all sorts of gold diggers. It was hard enough to find meaningful relationships as a King.

It’s up to you, Aiden.

“I’ll take care of it.” It was what I did. All three heads swiveled toward me. I lifted a shoulder. “That money’s ours. I’ll make sure it stays in the family.” And I’d make sure news of the trust stayed within the family too.

“I can’t imagine this is what Sarah wanted.” Dad’s tone oozed disappointment.

But it was. Ellis had the signed proof of it. And Dad was leaving the decision up to me—because I always made the right one. I came through. It was what I did. I was the oldest; I had to set the example.

My chest tightened. “Mama made the trust for a reason. She had to know that if something happened to her and she couldn’t give us the money, we’d do everything possible to keep Danny from getting it.” Mama had been softer toward our troubled neighbor than any of us, but she hadn’t been blind. “I’m not going to let her down.”

Mama had been taken away from us and it had nearly destroyed our family. I wasn’t going to let this trust destroy my brothers’ chance at happiness.

Kate

Two months later…

His voice left me breathless, like I’d run three miles instead of walking from the parking lot to the conference room where our King Oil tour group was being greeted.

I didn’t run. I liked a brisk walk, but if anyone saw me running, they’d better sprint because something was on fire or chasing me. Yet my heart hammered worse than any sprinter’s.

Had Aiden King always had that deep of a voice? Had I ever heard the CFO of King Oil talk before? He’d murmured “good match” to my brother during wrestling matches in high school, but he’d never been the center of attention.