The Wedding Wager
THE WEDDING WAGER
by
Regina Duke
The Wedding Wager
Copyright © 2012 Linda White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from Regina Duke.
www.ReginaDuke.com
Published by Amazon KDP
Seattle, WA
Electronic KDP Edition: August 2012
This book is a work of fiction and all characters exist solely in the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any references to places, events or locales are used in a fictitious manner.
Digital ISBN 978-0-9858482-0-0
This book was formatted for Kindle and Nook by Sandra Edwards
www.SandraWrites.com
Cover design by Sandra Edwards
Cover photo from Fotolia
Kevin Wake hates being rich. He despises everything his father stands for, but he can’t abandon his kid sister and baby brother. Their future is tied to his own. When his father threatens to rob them all of their mother’s legacy, Kevin takes bold action to protect what should be theirs.
Megan Mully is out of the hospital at last. But she’s homeless, jobless, broke and alone. Love is the last thing on her mind. Kevin is just a means to an end. She never expected him to steal her heart!
CHAPTER ONE
June 1
“THAT’S INSANE! He can’t do that.”
Krystal Fineman Wake clutched the handset of her bedside phone until her knuckles whitened and slumped against her pillows. The outburst had cost her. For a moment, she concentrated on breathing. Then she continued.
“That property came down from my great-grandfather.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” said Zach, “but as ranch foreman I figured it was my duty to let you know the scuttlebutt, even if it was bad news.”
Krystal knew that in this day and age, Colorado was not that far from New York, but her old phone made him sound like he was calling from a different planet instead of a different state.
“Thank you, Zach. My husband seems determined to squander my legacy and deprive my children of their rightful due.” She paused again for breath.
Zach broke the awkward silence. “I hope you feel better soon, ma’am.”
“Me, too. Meanwhile, get the house ready. I’m bringing the children out right away. I’ve had enough of New York City. It breeds deception.”
“Yes, ma’am. Everyone here will be happy to know you’re coming. Er, all of’em? Even Kevin?”
“I’m not sure how, but yes, even Kevin. Especially Kevin. The only way to save the ranch is to have my children fall in love with it, so we’d better act fast. I always suspected that if I died before him, my husband intended to sell it. But I had an ace in the hole. Or I thought I did.”
“You mean the trust?”
“Yes. In the early 1900s, young men routinely married early, and the requirement that the male heir be wed before inheriting on his twenty-fifth birthday was not considered a hardship. I’m sure my parents never expected the day would come when a young man would prefer to live single. If he did, then he was clearly, in their minds, not responsible enough to manage the family fortune.” Her voice turned bitter. “They meddled in my personal life, too. And look who I ended up with.” She paused again to breathe. “Sorry, Zach. I’m rambling. You get the house ready. I have some phone calls to make.”
****
Kevin Wake rolled his six foot four inch frame out of bed and onto the cold linoleum floor of his boarding house room. His single luxury, his iPhone, was ringing. He’d set it on the dresser so he would be forced to get up when the alarm sounded.
He stumbled across the room and grabbed the phone. It wasn’t the alarm. He had a call. He stared at the number and fought a wave of panic. There was only one reason his mother’s lawyers would call him, and he feared the worst. He answered cautiously.
“Hello?”
“It’s your mother,” said Krystal.
His panic subsided. “Mom? Why are you calling from Ratigan and Sons?”
“Something is going on behind your back and I want you to have a fighting chance.”
Kevin glanced at the clock. “Talk fast, mom. I’ll be late for class.”
“Stop with the graduate school bull crap, Kevin. I know you’re not in the MBA program. I keep sending your allowance because you have a right to it.”
Kevin unplugged the iPhone from its charger and checked the mini fridge for a soda. He popped the lid and sat on the single chair in the corner.
“And I keep putting it in the bank, in case you need it back some day. You know I want to make it on my own.”
“Let’s not fight,” said Krystal. “I don’t have the energy for it. Besides, your father is the enemy, not me.”
“All right,” said Kevin. “What’s the old man done this time?”
“He has wagered your future away.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he intends to enforce the letter of the trust. It means he will not back down. He wants to control my wealth completely and in order to do that he must wrangle the last hope for your inheritance from your grasp. He has gone so far as to wager that you will fail to meet the terms and allow him to gain complete control. He and his Wall Street buddies are having a gay old time, making book on your eventual misfortune.”
“Look, mom, I know he can be a bastard when it comes to money, but Nicholas Ratigan promised us he could get those terms altered in court.”
“Your father has his own lawyers, Kevin, and they have countered Ratigan’s request. I overheard a conversation he was having with them—”
Kevin interjected, “You mean, you eavesdropped.”
“My children’s future is at stake. I do what I must. Your father’s lawyers will see to it that the requirements of the trust are met to the letter of the law. If you are not legally married by your twenty-fifth birthday, it will all come to me. You know I’m not strong, and my health is not improving. Failure to thrive, they say, which means they have no answers. You must be in a position to take over the inheritance, because if it comes to me, Douglas will find a way to rip it away, and believe me, Kevin, there will be nothing left by the time your brother and sister are of age.”
Kevin felt like he’d been hit with a hammer. “I was counting on the Ratigans.”
“I know. And I was counting on your father still having a shred of decency left.”
“But my birthday is only a month away!”
“I guess you better get busy,” said Krystal. “I’m taking Karla and Keegan to the ranch for the summer, and there will be a wedding on June 29th, the day before your birthday. You be there with your bride. And remember it has to be legal and believable. If there is a hint of suspicion, if your father’s lawyers get a toehold, they’ll hang this up in the courts for years. I have to go.” Her voice softened. “I love you, Kevin.”
Kevin hung up and began to pace. Ever since he was old enough to know the difference between rich and poor, he’d felt guilty for being a member of the privileged class. His mother came from old money, earned the hard way, but his dad’s wealth came from the worst kind of capitalism and Kevin wanted nothing to do with it. When he told his father how he felt, Douglas Wake’s rage turned physical, and when Kevin left for college, he never expected to return.
That’s why he lived the way he did, in a one-room convenience apartment. He rode a bicycle to work. He’d made a vow to himself that every penny of the allowance his mother sent him would go into a savings account. He needed to know how to make it on his own. And it had not been easy. Many times he’d been tempted to raid that savings account. He only succumbed once, to pay for his iPhone, his connection to the world.