âTHE ANDREAS BROTHERS HAVE ARRIVED.â
As the secretaryâs announcement came through the speaker phone, attorney Whitney Ross turned from the window in her fatherâs law office. The gathering January storm clouds above the New York City skyscrapers concerned her, but the Andreas brothersâ visit would be every bit as tumultuous.
Gerard Ross pressed a button on his phone. âTell them I need five minutes.â
âYouâre enjoying this.â
âNot enjoying exactly.â He grimaced, leaning his round body back in his office chair. He rhythmically tapped the blotter on his cherrywood desk. âHow about if we say Stephone used his will to accomplish a few important things?â
Though Whitney had never met Stephone Andreasâs sons, the man had been a close friend of her fatherâs. Heâd come to dinner at least once a month from the time she was six, and had talked about âhis boysâ incessantly. So she suspected she knew what was going on. The senior Andreas had always believed his three sons needed a kick in the pants and it seemed heâd finally found a way to give them one.
âYou persuaded Stephone to use his will to force them to grow up.â
âThis is about more than growing up. All three are smart. All three are good businessmen. Any one of them could take over the family holdings. But not one of them has a sense of loyalty or family.â
âAnd this is where the will comes in?â
âYes. Stephone made his oldest son, Darius, chairman and CEO and left him the Montauk estate. Whether that divides them for good or forces them to unite all depends on whether Darius takes the reins like a true leader.â
He rose and headed for the black leather sofa in the comfortable meeting area in the corner of his big law office. After he sat, he patted the spot beside him, indicating that it was where Whitney should sit for their upcoming meeting.
âBut before I bring the brothers in, thereâs something you need to know. Missy had something put in her will for you that Stephone agreed would also go into his.â
Whitney took the seat heâd offered. âMissy put something in her will for me?â She wasnât surprised. Missy Harrington had been her roommate from the time they were freshman at university the whole way through law school. With an alcoholic mom and a dad whoâd left when Missy was young, Missy had adopted Whitneyâs family as her own, and they in turn had taken her under their wing. For seven years sheâd shared every holiday and most of her vacations with the Rosses. Whitney had hardly seen Missy since she had introduced her friend to Stephone Andreas, but they had still shared a strong bond.
âShe didnât exactly leave you something. In accordance with Stephoneâs and Missyâs wills, you and Darius got shared custody of their son.â
Whitneyâs stomach squeezed. âWhat?â
âOkay. Look. Itâs been three years since the accident that took Burn and Layla. And though I had never dreamed that Missy and Stephone would die so soon when I let them put this provision in their wills, itâs still time you came back to the land of the living.â Her dad pulled a small envelope from one of the files in the stack on the coffee table. âShe left this note for you.â
Whitney wrapped her hand around the envelope, and she paled.
âIn the unlikely event of their deaths, Stephone wanted Darius to raise their son, but Missy was adamant about you having joint custody. The Andreas brothers are rich and spoiled. And they donât even know their father had another son. Itâs anybodyâs guess how theyâll react when they find out. I believe that Missy made you co-guardian to ensure that Gino was also in the hands of someone she knew could take the reins and care for her baby.â