Free ARROGANT BRIT (A BRITISH BAD BOY ROMANCE) by Nikki Wild Page B

that perseverance
came my life now, with this wonderful woman, a well-paying job, and a son who
has proven me proud.”

 
    “I don’t think I understand where you’re
going with this,” I stated bluntly, taking another deep swig of the whiskey.

 
    Father sighed tiredly. “You’ve always been so
focused on the bloody money. Every
major decision you’ve ever made has included your grandparents. Your entire
life since adolescence has been run by their expectations. Don’t you wish you
had freedom? Don’t you want to know who you are without that in your future?”

 
    “I can have my freedom when it’s mine,” I
grumbled through gritted teeth. “When I can do whatever I want for the rest of
my life.”

 
    “That’s not technically true,” he replied.

 
    “Excuse me?”

 
    My father paused, choosing his words carefully.
“You realize that there are
stipulations, right? Ways to lose access to the Carlyle Fortune?”

 
    I didn’t know that, and my stunned expression
seemed to convey the point.

 
      “What, did you really think that you
could play the game and just wait out the
clock?” He chuckled condescendingly, with a heavy shake of his head. “Don’t
be stupid, boy. The inheritance has passed down the family line for
generations. How, do you think, it has managed to keep itself together, instead
of being completely blown on the first gluttonous maniac to wield it?”

 
    Anger started to boil up inside me.

 
    Why am I hearing about this NOW?

 
    Father watched my reaction for a few seconds
before he continued. “I’m not surprised that they didn’t explain that part to
you. If I’d known, I would have done so years ago… you can’t do whatever you want with the money. That’s
foolhardy, and it compromises the succession. You can only use so much of it a
year, and you have to inject some money back into it. That’s how they’ve held onto it all these years.”

 
    “But what about their extravagant lifestyle?”

 
    “ Extravagant
lifestyle? ” Dad laughed riotously. “You must not know your grandparents
well. They barely spend any of that
godforsaken money. They’re always obsessing over keeping their little dignified
nest egg safe – particularly your grandfather.”

 
    “What about the house? The servants?” I
asked, thinking about the prized Carlyle Manor, high in the hills.

 
    “The house is part of the inheritance, and
the servants are paid out of the interest earned by the family investments,”
Dad shook his head. “I’m quite flabbergasted that you didn’t know all of this.”

 
    “Your parents are somewhat lax on the
details, it would appear,” I bitterly remarked.

 
    This wasn’t part of the plan. I was supposed to just inherit a
vast sum of money and cruise on it for the rest of my days. I wished I had been
allowed to discuss it with my father – he might have   filled me in on some of the details if I
had bothered to ask. However, Raleigh Carlyle was very specific in that I should only talk to them if I wanted to know more… and I hadn’t wanted to come off as
too eager.

 
    They didn’t exactly favor eagerness, when it
came to inheriting their wealth.

 
    “There are responsibilities; inherit the
Carlyle Fortune, and you’ll find yourself caught between the binding chains of
succession. To fail to meet the ongoing criteria is to forfeit the fortune to
the next in succession – and to be legally barred from ever receiving any of
it, unless you want to risk their birthright
to it as well.”

 
    “This is bullshit,” I grumbled furiously.

 
    I’d planned for the contingency, but if what
he was telling me was true… then taking the money was to submit myself to a
lifelong screening beneath their standards.

 
    “Your ancestor, Reginald Carlyle, was very
particular in his wishes,” Dad muttered. “His will was signed by the reigning
King of England, and cannot be overturned by a successive will. His