Bending the Rules: Breaking the Rules #2 (24 page)

Drake

Waking up next to my beautiful wife who is carrying our
child, in a bed that we can finally call ours, is better than a dream come
true. Today is going to be a shitty day as I deal with my father’s death and
make plans for the fallout that accompanies it. It’s going to be difficult
dealing with lawyers, and Gloria, and everyone else telling me how sorry they
are and offering unsolicited advice as to what I need to do next.

I’m not sorry my dad is dead. I think maybe deep inside I
feel like I should be, but I’m not. I also don’t need anyone’s advice. I know
what needs to be done. I know how I want to live the rest of my life, and I
also have a much better handle on the needs of my father’s business than he did
leading up to his death. I just need to get through the funeral and the reading
of his will to see what kind of future I’ll have with his company. Currently
I’m unemployed as he fired me when I was in Zurich, but I’m hoping he left the
company to me and not some dipshit that has no idea how to keep it afloat.

Knowing I’ll have Morgan by my side as I deal with
everything that comes my way over the next few days then weeks and months as
everything settles means the world to me. She gives me more peace and optimism
than I’ve ever felt. She is my breath and my calm, my light and my life, and
having her with me now was worth every day I spent away from her while in
Zurich.

I lie here in bed with my head propped up on my hand,
Morgan’s naked body pressed gently against mine, and I can’t help but touch
her. She starts to stir as I glide my hands down her ribs, over her belly and
back to her hips, down her leg to her knees and back again. I see her gorgeous
full lips turn up into a small smile, and I brush a few locks of her strawberry
blonde hair off her shoulders before pressing soft kisses down her shoulder
towards her neck, landing on my favorite spot at the base of her neck just
above her collar bone.

“Mmm, good morning, husband,” Morgan says with her soft,
croaky, morning voice.

“Good morning, wife. How did you sleep?”

“Better than I have in ages. I love sleeping in our bed
together. My body feels so relaxed.”

“I’m glad to hear that, my love. Shall I bring you some
breakfast before we start this shit storm of a day?”

“Yes please. Do you have any food here?”

“Garrett stocked us with a few essentials, but we’ll have to
go shopping later. I know I had some tea in the cupboard and I’m sure they
brought eggs, how does that sound?”

“Nothing sounds more perfect,” Morgan says, and I give her a
small kiss as she rolls onto her back, stretching like a cat in the sunshine
before getting out of bed and heading to the shower.

****

My mind is racing on our drive over to my Dad’s house. I feel
so much anger towards the man and I’m trying to process it quickly and let it
go, but I can’t seem to shake it. I’m mad that he was always such an asshole to
me, I’m mad that he was never around, I’m mad that although I was busting my
ass to prove my worth to him he banished me to the other side of the world then
fired me with absolutely no regard to the fact that I’m his son, and if I’m
going to be honest with myself, I think I really am mad that he’s gone. It’s
too late for shoulda woulda coulda. I will never make amends with him and even
though he was such an asshole, he was still my dad, and I was still doing my
best to make him proud.

Sensing my pain, Morgan reaches over and grabs my hand to
comfort me. I briefly glance over and am so thankful that she is not giving me
a look of pity like I’m sure I’ll see a million times today, but just a simple
look of reassurance.

“You know I’m here for you too, Drake.”

“Hmm?” not sure where her left field comment is coming from.

“Last night you said you are here for me if I need anything
and that me and the baby are your top priorities, but I want to let you know
that I’m here for you as well. You are my top priority and you will always have
someone in your corner, especially as you go through this hell with your dad.”

I reach the hand up that is holding mine and kiss her
knuckles gently before glancing over at her again. “Thank you, my love. That
means a lot to me. You’ve already given me so much more than you’ll ever know
and I’m happy to have you by my side.”

We pull into the driveway and I’m surprised that my code
still works for the gate. It wouldn’t have shocked me if the old man changed it
and I’d have to call Gloria to help me out. When we reach the house, everything
seems a little too quiet. I expected to see a few of the lawyers cars in the
driveway, friends of Gloria’s bringing food or offering their support, but
there isn’t any of that. Just a quiet house that looks like it’s going about
its day as though its owner hadn’t just died.

“What’s going through your mind?” Morgan asks.

“I just thought there would be people here. You know,
lawyers, friends, florists bringing flowers. It just seems so quiet,” I say
with a shrug as I unbuckle my seatbelt and move around the car to get Morgan’s
door and help her out. She seems to be thinking about what I said as we
approach the front door.

“You know what, you’re right…were you supposed to meet
Gloria at the funeral home?”

“No, she said she would have the funeral home collect my
Dad’s body from the hospital and that we would meet at the house to start
making arrangements,” I say as I unlock the front door and walk in. The house
is so big and the front door is always locked, so I’ve just always let myself
in because they wouldn’t have heard me knocking anyway and my mom disabled the
doorbell when I was a little kid during one of her many lows and they never got
it fixed.

“Gloria,” I call out to her when I don’t hear any movement
in the house as we enter. “Huh, I doubt she’s still sleeping,” I say as I begin
to wander around the downstairs with Morgan keeping in step at my side.

We walk upstairs and check the bedrooms and baths, but she
doesn’t seem to be anywhere. I check the garage and find her car is there but
my one of my dad’s Jaguars is gone.

“This is kind of creeping me out, Drake. If Gloria is
expecting us, why isn’t she here?” Morgan says, practically reading my mind.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure there is a reasonable excuse.
Maybe she ran out of milk or cream and ran to the store to get some. Let’s go
to the kitchen and make some coffee and wait for her to get back. I’m sure
she’ll be here any moment. She’s probably just as anxious to get this all over
with as I am.”

We walk into the kitchen and as I go to the freezer to get
the beans out I see an envelope taped to the fridge with my name on it. “Well
this ought to be good…” I say as I start opening the envelope.

“What is it, Drake?” Morgan asks.

“I’m not sure, but we’re about to find out,” I answer as
pull the note out and start reading it.

Dear Drake,

Let’s not make this whole ordeal more awkward than it needs
to be. We’ve never gotten along and we don’t need to pretend to as a few
hundred of our not so nearest and dearest sob over what an amazing man Drake
Sr. was, when we both know that’s a pile of horse shit.

Your father left the company to you and everything else to
me. I’m not about to spend one more moment in this awful place, so I’ve drained
the accounts and met with my lawyer this morning to sign the rest of the estate
over to you. It was always about the money for me anyway, I think we all knew
that, but now that he’s gone we can say it out loud. I’m finally off to warmer
climes to live the life I’ve always wanted.

Enjoy your life, Drake.

Gloria

“Drake, what is it?” Morgan asks again, and I lift my eyes from
the note that has rendered me speechless.

“She’s gone….Gloria…she took all of the money and left. My
Dad left me the company after all.”

“Holy shit, Drake, what are you going to do?” Morgan asks as
she reaches out for my hand.

“I’m going to bury my father, sell off his entire estate,
and I’m going to put the proceeds into rebuilding Baylor Industries into the
company it has the potential to be. It’s my turn to make the rules.”

Thank You.

I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my husband,
Bradford; my family and friends for their support and encouragement. Thank you
to Heather, Steve, Meredith, and everyone else that contributed important
content and ideas for Bending the Rules. Thank you to my beta readers Brittney,
Rachel, and Holly, I love you girls!

Lastly, but most certainly not least… thank you to the
bloggers, everyone who read my book and spread the word to other friends,
Twitter, Facebook, etc. It means the world to me that you loved the book and
shared it with others.

Please leave a rating and/or review on the website you
purchased this e-book from and don’t hesitate to spread the word to your
friends, enemies, loved ones, co-workers, pets (only if they’re avid readers),
Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, etc. It may seem silly to ask this of
you, but it makes a big difference to self-published writers like me!

This series will culminate with the next and final
installment called “Making the Rules”, which I hope to have out by late
spring/early summer. For more information on this book and many others to come
by me, follow me on Twitter @LKLewisAuthor and like my LK Lewis Facebook page.

About LK Lewis

LK
Lewis lives in Northern Michigan with her husband and three-year-old son.

Born
and raised in Michigan, LK spent her early twenties chasing the man of her
dreams (now husband of eight years) around the country, residing in both New
York, and Portland, Oregon. While living in Portland, LK attended East West
College of the Healing Arts, and is now a massage therapist, makeup artist, and
spa/boutique owner.

When
LK isn’t working, writing, or chasing her son around, she enjoys boat days,
playing in the sunshine, and giggling with her husband. You may also find her
on Twitter most days, especially live-Tweeting when The Bachelor/Bachelorette,
Sons of Anarchy or The Walking Dead is on. Check her out, you may enjoy her
colorful commentary!

Author
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