Crushed (42 page)

"Hey, you busy right now?" He asked softly.

"Um...no?" Sophie raised her eyebrow, surprised at the mood change.

She turned to look at him, and examined his expression.

"Oh." She said as the pieces clicked together.

He was ready to tell her.

She could see it in the determined look in his eyes. His mouth was set in a firm line, and his eyebrows were knit together.

"More bad news to tell me?" She tried to joke playfully.

"This is less like news, and more like a story. A very boring, depressing story without a happily ever after."

"Good. I never really bought into those anyway."

"Liar." He accused.

"You got me." She smiled, but stared at him seriously. "Are you sure you're ready to tell me?"

"More ready than I'll ever be. Better to tell you now before you go off misunderstanding me again."

"Hey, I didn't misunderstand you last time. I got the facts about your past...which does not constitute a misunderstanding."

"You did not fully grasp my motives." He continued, sounding exhausted by their argument.

"So, this story will prove that you're a good guy?"

"No, I'm still the villain. Just not he kind of bad guy you thought I was." He grinned as he looked up at the sky. "If you're going to hate me, it should be for the things that I've done. Not some silly manufactured story."

"Well, now I'm curious." She lifted her finger to her lips. "I'm a good listener, so you can start when you feel like it."

Robert cleared his throat, and winked down at her slyly.

"Well, once upon a time..."

She scowled, but he continued anyway.

"There was a boy named Tristan. He happened to one of the wealthiest little boys in the world. He was born on..."

Sophie nudged him, and they laughed together. He was being difficult on purpose, and she knew it.

"Okay, how about I start at the important part?"

"That would be nice." She replied, rolling her eyes.

Robert began speaking again, but his smile faded as his true story began. It would not return for the duration of the evening.

CHAPTER TWENTY

I thought I'd been working towards a beautiful dream, but Robert's purpose was so much more important.

For Tristan Fallbrook, the world was literally his playground.

Ever since the day he was born, there were endless opportunities ahead of him.

He lived a charmed life. He was rich, attractive, and loved by those in his circle. Whether it was his influence or personality that drew others in, it didn't matter.

He was on top of the world and he knew it.

Tristan didn't have to be told he was blessed. He'd never experienced hardships, and didn't have to worry about anything in life.

Boredom was his only challenge, and he'd found ways to overcome even that. Skydiving, cliff-diving, free climbing cliffs, and his new obsession, base jumping, kept his adrenaline levels high.

He'd tackled all kinds of extreme sports when he was old enough to know what they were. When he was only fifteen he'd gone skydiving for the first time, after persuading his older friends to take him with them.

Now that he was eighteen, he had a number of extreme sports behind him. It wasn't hard to grow bored with doing the same thing over and over, and with his expanse of free time he was able to quickly move from one activity to the next.

He'd surrounded himself with thrill-seekers like himself. Rich young kids who had years to burn before their parents forced them into doing something productive with their lives.

His life was defined by wasting time, but he didn't care. He made sure to spend every last moment living life to the fullest, knowing it was only a matter of time until he became like his father, or the rest of his family.

The Fallbrook clan was large, and had ruled the banking industry for near a century. Tristan's father had inherited the role of the family head when Tristan had only been an infant. His whole life had been spent knowing he was a prince, and he was treated as such.

Tristan's family was ruthless when it came to power and greed. They expanded their empire into a number of different industries, dominating in each area they chose. While he was an only child, Tristan was constantly thrown together with cousins and second cousins who held almost as much influence as himself.

As the youngest member of the clan, Tristan was able to watch his cousins step into their roles as Fallbrook heirs. One by one they began working, and even those most desperate to break free of the family's influence succumbed eventually.

The record for remaining normal was one year. It was held by Tristan's cousin and close friend Nick Fallbrook. Nick was the second youngest of the clan, and four years older than Tristan. He'd been set on leaving the family and finding his own way of life, and despite having heard the same thing from other cousins, Tristan only believed him.

When his first year passed, Nick was already tamed by the family. He lasted longer than the others by far, but his willpower was still not good enough. Now, he spent every day of the year working relentlessly as the head CEO of a finance company. Nick had virtually no free time, and was no longer the passionate youth he'd once been.

It was the fate of everyone born into the Fallbrook family. The other heirs in their circle could spend their lives never once knowing what it meant to work, but the Fallbrooks were different. They had a strict code of work ethic, and the wealth they had amassed thus-far was never enough. It was expected of all family members to work.

There no exceptions, and Tristan had already accepted his fate.

Twenty was the age chosen for the heirs to begin. College was optional after eighteen, but few chose that route. Those who chose to enter straight into their companies were trained for five years. At twenty-five they would take over a leadership position in whatever profession they had chosen.

This was the point in which Fallbrooks would either sink or swim. If by thirty they hadn't accomplished enough to rise to true power in their companies, they were deemed failures. Only a handful exceeded the expectations of the family, and gained important roles.

To date, there were fifty members of the Fallbrook clan. More than half were over sixty, leaving only ten members below the age of thirty-five.

Of these ten, Tristan was the youngest. He was also the one most likely to inherit his father's position in the banking industry. Even before he'd begun his training, his path was already set before him.

"Endless opportunities." Eighteen year old Tristan whispered, and he examined the invitation in his hand. "It doesn't seem that way from where I stand."

He tossed the wedding invite on the floor, staring at it like it was a snake.

He reached for his phone, and quickly dialed Nick's number.

Tristan scowled when the call went to voicemail. Nick didn't have time to speak to him these days. He'd only been working for two years, but he'd already become the business oriented robot that every other member of the clan became.

"Married?" Tristan shouted into the phone. "So much for breaking free, huh? You're doing a hell of a job following their schedule. Begin training at twenty, married by twenty-three, and kids before thirty. Congrats, I'm sure your parents are thrilled." He couldn't disguise his disgust. "I honestly hope she's as robotic as the others. It's what you get for being a hypocrite."

He threw the phone across the room in frustration.

Tristan didn't have a reason to be angry. If he had to name the emotion boiling within him, it was disappointment. More than just losing his skydiving partner, he'd lost his best friend.

He shouldn't be this upset. Tristan tried to remind himself how blessed he was to be given this life. Yes, he was expected to work for his family, but it wasn't that bad. Other families couldn't afford to feed themselves, so he couldn't complain.

It just felt suffocating, the fate laid out before him. He'd first seen the plan for his life when he was ten years old. That had been the moment when he'd truly known was helplessness was.

Even before he was old enough to understand, they'd outlined his life. It was so easy for them to copy his grandfather's life on a piece of paper, and force the rest of the family to abide by the formula.

The plan was how they made millionaires out of their children. It was how they'd kept their influence strong throughout the last century.

If Tristan hadn't gotten close to Nick, he would've mindlessly followed the plan too. He respected his father, who he only saw occasionally during major events. His mother was a strong woman as well, and she'd instilled in him the knowledge to be grateful for what he'd been given. Tristan knew his days of wasting time by jumping off cliffs or out of planes was going to end eventually. He'd just never considered that there was another way of life.

Nick had been considering dropping the family. It wouldn't be hard...all he had to do was mess up. Running away would only be temporary, but once a black sheep, he would never be bothered again. The mistake had to be big...it would have to be something that would ruin the clan's powerful image.

Tristan had never considered shaming his family, but the future Nick talked about was enticing.

The thought of having no plan, of being able to choose his own life was addictive.

So addictive, it had remained in the back of Tristan's mind during the two years he watched Nick waste away while working.

"Something bothering the prince?" A smooth voice asked from behind him.

Tristan smiled as soft arms wrapped around his waist.

"Only the usual." He motioned to the bowl of fruit he had lying on the table. "They gave me grapes when I specifically requested apples."

"Poor baby." Alyssa Ellison replied from behind him.

He turned and smiled at her. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, though with longer hair. He'd last seen her two years ago when he'd been snowboarding in Alaska, but she'd since moved to Europe with her family.

"What brings you back to the USA?" He asked, genuinely pleased to see her. She belonged to the small group of friends he had remaining that were interested in extreme sports. She was refreshingly down to earth despite her family's wealth. She kept him grounded and humble, and they had a running joke about who was more spoiled.

"I missed you." She lifted herself onto his table, and dropped her feet in his lap. Her blonde hair was now long enough to tie into a ponytail. The last time he'd seen her, she'd cropped her hair boyishly short to rebel against her parents.

Her hair wasn't the only thing that had changed. She was dressed up in a skirt and blouse, which the Alyssa he'd known would've thrown a fit about.

The only thing that hadn't changed were her blue-gray eyes, which were just as serious as he remembered them to be.

"Liar." He accused. "If that was the truth, it wouldn't have taken you two years to come find me again."

They'd known each other since they were seven, and had been dating since they were thirteen. Their relationship was complicated, mostly due to the long distance. He wasn't surprised that she showed up at his place out of the blue. Alyssa was known for doing what she wanted, when she wanted. He understood her personality better than anyone.

She leaned down to kiss him. He was only momentarily surprised. He loved when she did things he didn't expect. It was part of the reason he continued to kiss her back, despite having noticed the ring on her finger.

"Something to tell me?" He asked when she pulled away.

"What, you're honestly surprised?" Alyssa flashed her hand before him, showing off her diamond ring. "Don't play stupid. We both knew this was going to happen."

Alyssa's family was focused in the hotel industry. A marriage between her family and Tristan's wasn't profitable for either side, so they both knew it wasn't going to happen. That hadn't stopped them from being together in the past, and it wouldn't stop them from being together in the future.

Marriages for family's on their level were purely for images. As long as the marriage looked flawless on the outside, no one really cared what happened in reality.

"Is he attractive?" Tristan asked while laughing. He knew without having to ask that she'd already have her fiancé wrapped around her finger.

"He's average."

"So, you're saying he's boring." Tristan nodded. "Not everyone can be as interesting as me."

"I wish I could say that's not true." She touched his face with her hand, her eyes sparkling. "Come to Brazil with me this weekend. Some friends are going base jumping, and I thought you'd be interested."

"You could have just called." He reminded her, shaking his head. "You didn't have to come all the way here."

"Well, that would've been practical." She stuck out her tongue. "Being practical is no fun."

He laughed as he took her in his arms.

"Is this a yes?" She asked eagerly.

"We'll see. We have some catching up to do before I can decide to forgive you or not." He reached down to slip the ring off her finger, before kissing her softly.

"Like you even have a choice." She replied as she kissed him back.

*  *  *

"You're not going?" Alyssa asked over the phone, her voice high-pitched.

Three months had passed since their trip to Brazil, and Tristan hadn't spoken to her since then.

In the past he wouldn't have felt so agitated at her disappearing and reappearing again, but his stress was growing daily.

"Nick's wedding is next week. I can't skip it." His voice was tired.

"I have something important to tell you." Alyssa's voice dropped. She sounded upset, which was unusual but nothing to be worried about. He rarely canceled on her, so she was probably just surprised. "It's something big. Something I should have told you months ago."

"It'll have to wait. You know my family. I'm dead if I don't show up." He clenched the phone tightly in his hand. With all the pressure he was receiving from his family, a weekend away with Alyssa was just what he needed. Going to Nick's wedding would just be another reminder of how little time he had left.

"Where are you right now?" She asked, sounding as if she was trying to stay calm. "I visited your place, but you weren't there."