Worlds Collide (Fan Service #6)

2. CJ

TWO

CJ

“CJ, this is Shirley Wall. Shirley, this is CJ Sounders.” Harrison introduces me to the queen of finance of... the world, basically.

“Nice to meet you,” I say quietly as I shake her hand.

She nods regally at me, then we both turn to look at Harrison. He seems to get the message and nods as elegantly at us. “I’ll leave you to your chat,” he says with a knowing glint in his eyes. I hate the fact that he knows—like the whole fucking world knows.

Speaking of which, I see the same glint in Shirley’s eyes when I turn back to look at her. “You know, don’t you?”

“Anyone who cares about the stock market knows, Mr. Sounders.”

“Please, call me CJ,” I practically beg her.

She nods. “Twenty-eight years ago we all found out your grandfather was changing the trust so it would all go to your mother instead of your uncle, so yeah, everybody knows you’re inheriting billions in less than a week, and you better believe anyone who writes articles about the financial world is tracking your movements.”

“You know what they’re doing?” I ask through clenched teeth. I don’t have to specify who they are.

“They’ve been in Dallas the past six months.” She nods and looks away, over at the party, then takes a sip of her champagne. “They’re trying to find loopholes, I’m guessing.”

“They won’t find any,” I say with certainty. I know the terms of the trust like the back of my hand. A waste of memory space at this point, but I’ve been working toward this since I was sixteen. I’ve made damn sure that my life—on paper at least—looks exactly like what my grandfather envisioned his heir would be. The most vital clause to the trust is that I have to be married and expecting a child to gain control of the trust unless I became a doctor or a lawyer or was owner of a business that’s valued at more than ten million.

I didn’t choose to become a doctor because of the trust... not really. I had the idea because of it, initially, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it. Adam’s mother, the amazing Diana Darnell is a neurosurgeon, and it’s thanks to her that I discovered my love for biology and science and healing in general. I want her to be proud of me more than I want almost anything in this world since she and Adam’s father, Peter, were more like parents to me than my best friend’s family.

“No. Your grandfather was a lot of things but stupid wasn’t one. He never wanted your mother to have power of the Clemson trust forever, he wanted it all to go to a man. It’s harder for her to get it than for you to lose it. I’m not sure she’d want her brother getting everything instead of you. So in the end you’ll get what your grandfather wanted to give you.”

“Only on his terms,” I mutter and look away. I’ve sacrificed myself in order to get everything my parents covet and the only thing my grandfather—a.k.a. Evil Incarnate—cared about.

Money.

A lot of fucking money.

“You’ve done good, though.” She goes on, completely unfazed about the fact that we’re talking about my family’s not so personal business. “Top of your class at Hopkins, earned yourself a spot in the best surgery residency in the country, no scandals at all. You’re the best behaved socialite in the world, and come July seventh it will all be yours,” she murmurs knowingly. Nice, she knows my birthdate too. Then she turns to look at me with a bright, somewhat fake smile. “I’m assuming you asked for an introduction for a reason.”

“You’re a well of information, Mrs. Wall. Maybe I just wanted to know what you know.” Her only reaction is a raised eyebrow, and I chuckle softly. I did my research, and this conversation tells me I chose well and I did the right thing by accepting Harrison’s invitation to his wedding. I’m still not sure why he invited me. It might be as simple as he knows I’m about to get a golden ticket into the billionaire’s club, or because I’m one of Theo’s few friends who’s not overly excited by these types of secretive events. But it could also be because of something he has up his sleeve and he wants to keep me close.

In any case, I got what I’ve been wanting for the past month—an introduction to the woman who controls the world’s finances or at the very least, the country’s.

She wouldn’t have told me anything if she didn’t think I was looking to become a client, which yeah, is kind of a dead giveaway if you pay any kind of attention to my history as the Clemson heir.

“The Alton’s are already on my retainer.” I confirm her suspicions about my lawyers. “And yes, I’m planning on transferring most of it to your firm as soon as Duke and I get it all figured out. I hope you’re ready, because I have plans.”

She snorts, surprisingly inelegantly. “Those Alton’s and their weird-ass names. Well, I’ll be sure to stay in contact, CJ, and please, call me Shirley. Enjoy the party.” She nods and walks away without a backward glance.

She’s good, I think to myself, knowing exactly when she has the deal in the bag and it’s time to retreat.

Telling her I have plans—that implication—was risky, but if there’s one thing I know without a doubt it’s that there are a lot of people in the world who hate Jerry Clemson as much as I do, even after his death, and some of those are very powerful.

The man made enemies as easily as he made money, and one of those enemies was Mrs. Wall’s grandfather. Wealthy families don’t forget, ever, so I’m hoping she understood what my intentions are and that she keeps them to herself for now. After all, the big day is less than four days away and I can’t let anything stand in my way—I’ve got a lot of scores to settle.

A chuckle bursts out of me at the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Only a few days now and I’ll complete step one of the plan I started putting together when I was seven years old.

Way too young to be thinking about this type of stuff, but my parents never cared about me having a positive view of the world or about protecting my innocence.

From the moment I found out what my name meant—thanks to a nanny who was fired hours after she told me what Jerry Clemson did and what that last name represents in the history of this country—I knew.

I knew I was never anything more than a means to an end to my parents.

They truly believed I would just let them do whatever they wanted with the money once I got the Clemson trust. I burst that delusional bubble for them six months ago—at a charity gala they coerced me into going to—which is apparently when they ran to Dallas where the lawyer in charge of the trust has his law firm.

So they’ve been trying to figure out a way to take the trust from me. I had my suspicions, but knowing how stupid—or desperate—they must be is so fucking baffling to me.

It’s not like my father doesn’t have more than enough money to keep their lifestyle exactly like it has been for the past twenty-eight years. Is it really only for social standing?

Do they really care that much about what their snobby fake friends think?

They have to, I guess.

I don’t know why I’m even surprised.

They only got pregnant so they could name me after my grandfather and assure him that a “respectable” male heir would have control over the family fortune eventually.

What they would’ve done if I’d been born a girl, I’ll never know, but the options are too bleak for me to think about them too deeply.

Just like thinking any more about what will happen on Wednesday is pointless. My parents won’t find any loopholes—because there aren’t any—and everything will go according to plan, so now I should get back to my friends and enjoy the party, just like Shirley said.

Everything inside me lights up in a different way when I notice Wolf Storm standing next to Adam. Just seeing him would be enough to make me feel like I could jump out of my skin at any second, but the fact that my best friend is standing right by him and actively frowning—something he hasn’t done since he met his husband almost six years ago—has me standing on alert .

Adam has a stick up his ass when it comes to Wolf, and that shit has to stop before I get to step three of my plan—a step that I added when I figured out I’m bi at fifteen years old, right before I figured out I would have to keep that part of myself locked tighter than Fort fucking Knox.

Step three is getting it on with the rockstar of my dreams.

Of course, I didn’t specify who I was going to choose as my first male sexual partner until a few months ago when I was formally introduced to Wolf at the Super Bowl, but now it’s set in stone because I know no one else will do.

“Hey doc,” Mike calls out to me and takes me out of my Wolf-induced daydreams.

“How are you, Mike?” I ask as I reach way up and around to give my giant friend a hug.

“It’s all good,” he says with his permanently happy voice. I step back and go straight to his fiancé, Theo. “You know,” Mike says once I’m done with the greetings. I somehow end up standing between Adam and Wolf, and the fucking tension is palpable.

“What?” I ask Mike, trying to sound relaxed and not like I’m about to explode into nervous laughter.

“I’m about to become a married man,” Mike says, completely oblivious to everything going on inside me—good, hopefully I’m fooling everybody.

“Yeah, I know.” I nod and smile over at Theo as Mike throws an arm over his shoulder. Their wedding is in less than a month.

“You’re not still pining after me, are you?”

“What?” I spit out the question, then cough repeatedly. What the hell is he talking about?

“I was just thinking how sad our New Year’s Eve was a few years ago that we had to kiss at midnight.” He points a finger at me then at himself. It takes me a long moment to remember, and when I do, I burst out laughing. “If you want to have one last go at it, this will be your only chance.”

“You kissed CJ?” Theo demands, looking up at Mike with genuine surprise in his tone. My laughter stops abruptly when I realize shit might hit the fan, and even though I’m locked in on their conversation, I feel Wolf leave the circle—of course I do.

Every time Wolf is near I notice everything about him. There haven’t been too many times considering how often I hang out with his brother though, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“He’s stupidly hot, Mike,” Theo says through clenched teeth and I bite my lip to hold in another burst of laughter. Mike’s gonna pay for being a smartass.

“What, and I’m not?” Derek demands from Theo’s other side.

“Yes, of course you’re hot, Derek.” Theo turns and rolls his eyes at the bigger man, sounding exasperated as hell. “But I knew about you before I even met you. I didn’t know about CJ so there better be a good explanation for this.”

I smirk at Mike but stay quiet, and reach over for a glass of champagne when a waiter passes by.

Mike’s face is getting more flushed by the second. “It was only a New Year’s kiss, Teddy,” he whines as his shoulders hunch.

“Wait, are you telling me you kissed him at my dad’s party? The one he throws for the team every year?”

Mike’s eyes are downcast so he can’t see the way Theo’s mouth twitches like he desperately wants to laugh.

I relax even further and settle in to see the show. I love it when Theo gets feisty. It happens so rarely, and it’s really a treat.

But even as I hear Mike try to explain something so harmless to Theo, I can’t help but be aware of Wolf, walking through the guests of the party to the other side of the tent .

I wish I could go to him and ask what’s wrong or tell him to come back and hang out with us, but I can’t. It’s a self-preservation thing.

Soon though.

Sooner than I’m actually ready for, I’ll get my chance.

Four Days Later—Dallas

Duke Alton, my distinguished, fifty-something-year-old lawyer, opens the glass door to the big-ass conference room for me.

Smith & Green is the second oldest law firm in the state of Texas. The only firm with more seniority is the Alton one, which means we both have something to feel smug about as we join my parents and the trustee, Mr. Green—an eighty-year-old man who probably shouldn’t be practicing law.

“Good afternoon,” Mr. Green tells me with a tight smile as he stands and reaches to shake my hand. I do it just to keep the peace and because despite my parent’s best efforts, I do have some manners behind closed doors.

The lawyers greet each other and I ignore my parents as I circle the conference table and sit opposite them.

I don’t even look their way.

Today they lose whatever rights they thought they had over me, and that means I can finally cut them off from my life. Completely and for good.

If everything goes to plan, today, twenty-eight years after I entered their lives, is the last time I ever have to see them.

I can tell from my peripheral vision that they barely spare me a glance too, so they probably know what’s going to happen after today.

“You ready?” Mr. Green asks me with the fakest smile I’ve seen in a while. He’s probably hoping I’ll keep him as trustee and on retainer after today. Fat chance of that happening. I’m not going to have someone my grandfather hand-picked holding the reins of all this. I only nod at him and settle back in my chair. I know this is going to take a long time.

The next two hours are full of signature after signature and all of us listening to the details of the trust.

Most of the properties—seriously, who the fuck needs twenty houses?—including the San Francisco house I grew up in will be sold immediately. That house is the coldest place on the planet as far as I’m concerned, so never going back there is something to celebrate, not mourn.

Everything that’s in the stock market, which amounts to a total of twenty-two billion, one hundred and sixteen thousand, eight hundred and ninety-six dollars as of July seventh of the current year— seriously can this go any slower?

Then come the cars—so many fucking cars.

The art—which will all be donated immediately to wherever Carter tells me it should go and some sculptures that will be in Sebas’ capable hands and in his gallery—which is getting a security upgrade at his insistence.

Then it’s Grandma’s jewelry—going to an auction house.

The plane—because of fucking course there’s a plane—will be sold.

Three yachts—all in different parts of the world, California, St. Johns, and Italy—that will be on the market too before the day is over.

Once it’s all said and done, Mr. Green asks if there will be anything else, and I nod at him but look over at my parents.

“You can go.”

I make sure to speak mildly, they don’t even deserve the effort of sounding cold, and I see how hard they have to work at keeping their expressions passive, but they leave without a word.

I curse myself for expecting them to say something . Of course they won’t say anything.

That’s what they’ve been my whole damn life—not even a hello on my birthday. I wish it didn’t make me feel anything, but I still have some pity left in me for the little kid who only wanted his parents to love him, and he still lives inside me, so I swallow quickly to get over the bout of sadness.

Carl Sounders and Mary Anne Clemson-Sounders have no use for me now. My existence only bought them twenty-eight years, so why would they pay me any more attention now than they ever have?

Why would they wish me a happy birthday when they never have?

Of course they won’t.

Duke passes Mr. Green a single sheet of paper which states that he’s done being the trustee and the Alton firm is taking over.

He signs it with a deep sigh then leaves the room, clearly resigned to losing the account—maybe he’ll finally retire.

Duke and I don’t speak as we get all the papers inside a locked briefcase and leave the firm, and I tell myself to let go of any feelings for my parents—even the bad ones.

I can’t let them cast a shadow over another second of my life because now I need to do the most important thing for myself.

The most important step.

Time to become CJ .

I’m waiting for the plane to leave the gate when I finally give in. I need to hear their voices. I need to hear them tell me I’m doing the right thing and that I’m not a horrible person.

I press the phone to my ear and close my eyes while the call rings.

“How are you, son?” Peter Darnell asks me in that quintessential fatherly voice. “Diana come here,” I hear him call out from afar. He clearly pulled the phone away from his mouth.

“Hey.” Dad , I want to add, though I don’t. As much as I’ve wished for it, Peter and Diana Darnell are not my parents. Adam, Kevin, and Elliott aren’t my brothers.

They all treat me like I’m as much a part of their family as any of them are—including Peter’s extended family—and I’ll be forever grateful that they do, but I’m not really.

“CJ?” Peter asks softly. I didn’t answer his question because I don’t know. But because it’s Peter, and because I hear Diana’s footsteps, I know I can tell them.

“I don’t know,” I whisper.

“Where are you, baby?” she asks me, and my heart melts.

“I’m on the plane already, just waiting for everyone to get in so we can take off.”

“That’s good, son. Will you be staying with Adam?”

“No.” I shake my head though they can’t see me. “I’m staying at the brownstone, which is one of the houses I’m thinking of keeping, so I’ll probably need to do a lot of work on it. I don’t want to impose and I...” How can I explain it to them?

“You only want to tell him once it’s all done?” Diana’s voice is gentle.

“Yes,” I answer, relieved. I let my head fall back against the seat and close my eyes. “Sebas knows only a little bit, and of course Adam knows most of it, but not everything. I just want to get it all sorted without having to give any explanations.” God, I sound like a brat.

“That’s perfectly understandable. You know the kids are going to have only a few weeks off, and we were planning on going to New York to spend some time with Adam and Sebas next week. Kevin needs to come back for summer training and Elliott needs to get back too since he’s starting grad school, but we can stay a couple of weeks with you, baby. Help out however we can.”

“Yes, we absolutely can,” Peter agrees easily.

I swallow hard.

I will not cry on this plane. I will not cry on this plane.

“Thank you,” I whisper when I know the tears won’t come through in my words. “If you can, and I mean it, Diana. If you need to go back to work, I get it. I was damn lucky that my boss allowed me to take all this time off when I only started my residency a couple of months ago, and you are way more vital to the hospital. If you can’t get the time?—”

“Oh shush, child. I’m the boss. I can do whatever I want.” I hear the smile in her voice and smile too just picturing her. She can’t actually do whatever she wants, she’s essential to the hospital she works at in San Francisco, but it’s true that she is the boss.

“In that case, I would love it if you guys stayed and helped me with... God, it’s so much.”

“I know, son, but we’ll help you figure it all out. You’re not alone in this.”

The baseball-sized knot in my throat makes it impossible for me to tell them how much it means to me, to have them in my life, to feel their love, so I just hum into the phone. Lame as hell, but it’s all I’m capable of.

“We’ll let you know when we have our tickets and the dates and all that, okay baby? Oh, and don’t be a fool, go see Adam and Sebas. They love you and if you just tell them you’ll explain when you can, they’ll drop it.”

“Okay,” I say with a chuckle. I very much doubt that Sebas can control his curious mind, but I also know he’s a good person and he understands boundaries, so maybe I can drop by a few times to have dinner with them. And I’m definitely going to invite Carter over, he’s going to love the brownstone. “Okay,” I repeat. “See you soon,” I murmur when I see the flight attendant give me a significant look.

“We love you, son.” Peter sounds so casual and honest. Fuck, my emotions really are all over the place. I need to get a hold of myself.

“Love you too,” I say with more strength in my voice than I feel.

Okay, now it’s time to become CJ.