More Than Rivals...
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Susannah Erwin
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16
Prologue
Keith Lochlainn could no longer deny reality.
He was dying.
Oh, not today. Probably not even this year.
But the doctor’s report clutched in his hand—the fifth doctor he had consulted—confirmed what he had already been told: his heart had a looming expiration date and he was out of options to push the day back. No medical procedure would save him from the inevitable.
And it was inevitable, wasn’t it? This wasn’t news to him. All living things had a finite amount of time.
But he’d thought he would have more time to put his affairs in order. More opportunities to arrange who would succeed him at the helm of the Lochlainn Company, the multinational media conglomerate started by his father, Archibald. Control of the company still stayed within the family, with most of the shares still held by Keith. After he died, however...
Keith crumpled the sheets of paper into a ball. This was why he preferred paper to computer files; paper was far easier to destroy. Easier to pretend he’d never read the contents in the first place.
He’d planned to leave the company to his only child, Jamie. The regret of his life was that he hadn’t sired more children, followed by the regret that his desire to do so had driven Jamie away as a teenager when Keith had divorced his mother, Diana, to marry a younger woman. For decades, Keith had feared he would have no heir, as wife number two through wife number five produced no offspring and Jamie rebuffed all attempts at contact, refusing any and all financial support offered by Keith.
Then, seven years ago, his son had returned to him. Smart, driven, and ambitious, Jamie had built a famed name for himself as an investigative journalist, using an old family name on his mother’s side to avoid being connected to his father. But then Jamie had met someone and, although the relationship fizzled, he’d decided the globe-trotting life wasn’t conducive to eventually raising a family. He’d contacted Keith about working for the Lochlainn Company and was welcomed back with open arms, any past grievances forgiven and forgotten.
But their reconciliation had been too good to be true.
Keith sighed, his shoulders slumping. He still had energy. He could and did run rings around the arrogant MBAs who ran the various divisions of the Lochlainn Company, who believed they could steer the organization better than he could. He’d be damned if he allowed his family’s legacy to pass to that bunch of hyenas after his death.
A knock at the door caused Keith to snap his head up. His current wife, Catalina, entered the library, carrying a tray heaped with plates and glasses. Didn’t see a coffee mug on the tray, damn it. No more caffeine for him. He stared at a generous arrangement of imported cheeses. She intercepted his look and brought him a salad.
“Chef made this for you.” She placed a bowl filled with leafy greens on the table in front of his wing chair. “The rest of the food is for your one o’clock meeting.”
Keith nodded and took a bite, chewing the spinach leaves methodically. Catalina settled into the chair next to him and fixed him with her dark gaze. “You’re thinking about Jamie again,” she said softly.
“You think you can read me so well? Bah.” Keith stabbed a cherry tomato with his fork.
“I know what today is. It’s hard to believe it’s been seven years since...well. Since.”
Keith put his fork down. If his wife wanted to poke the bear, he would oblige. “Seven years of idiotic bureaucratic tangling with the French authorities. Seven years of wasted investigations.” He pointed at her. “I didn’t want him declared dead. You pushed me into it.”
She smiled sadly at him. “Keith, he was gone immediately. He couldn’t have survived the explosion. The yacht was nothing but matchsticks. And even if he did, he would have drowned in the aftermath. Everyone agrees.”
“You want to move on,” Keith muttered. “You wanted Jamie declared dead, so you have unfettered claim to my money when I’m gone.”
“You know that’s not true. I’m not entitled to anything from you. Nor do I want your money.” She placed a glass of water on the table and portioned out three pills from a plastic box, handing the first one to him. “But it was fun playing this game with you. Never gets old.”
“Bah,” Keith said again, and swallowed the pill. “Where’s Bingham?”
Another knock sounded. Catalina rose and opened the door, and then turned back to Keith. “He’s right on time.”
Bingham Lockwood brushed past Catalina and planted himself in front of Keith, remaining standing.
Keith looked up at him. “Well?” he barked.
Bingham slid his gaze over to Catalina, who had followed him back into the library, and raised his eyebrows. She shook her head slightly.
“Speak,” Keith snapped. “I can handle it. Don’t pay attention to her.”
After another exchange of glances with Catalina, Bingham handed a manila folder thick with printouts to Keith. He took it with trembling hands and placed it on the table next to his abandoned lunch. He couldn’t make himself open it. “Just give me the news.”
“There are two confirmed living results,” Bingham said. “We’re searching for more, but the records indicate this might be all.”
Two. Keith exhaled. “Names? Ages? Genders?”
“Wait.” Catalina picked up the folder. “You’re sure?”
Bingham nodded. “We received much cooperation from former staff at the fertility clinic. The Lochlainn name goes a long way.”
“And the Lochlainn checkbook, no doubt,” Catalina said under her breath. “Please tell me you didn’t violate any privacy or HIPAA laws.”
Bingham kept his gaze focused on Keith. “Per Jamie’s college roommate, Jamie supplemented his ability to pay for his university tuition by making sperm deposits at the fertility clinic in exchange for payment. There were two successful pregnancies attached to his identity number. We have ascertained the names and locations of the resulting children.”
“I don’t think—” Catalina started, but Keith spoke over her.
“Tell me everything about them,” he demanded. “Now.”
Keith was dying, true. But now he had heirs. And he’d be damned if he died before seeing one of them succeed him at the helm of the Lochlainn Company.
The only question was which heir should he choose?
