Riley nodded, downed a second whiskey, then followed Mr. Benton out. Ben followed close behind, the files and his friend’s jacket in hand. Susie was busy typing at her computer when they approached her desk.
“Gentlemen, I think I have some choice sites that you might want to investigate,” she said and turned her monitor for them to see. “All you have to do, Mr. Marston, is create a profile and start looking through them.”
“Online dating. Damn,” Riley muttered, wishing he could feel even a bit excited. All he felt was numb and trapped.
“Never thought you’d be on it, did you?” Ben said, patting him on the back. “Don’t worry, we’ll find someone for you. Can you e-mail these links to me, Susie?”
“Of course.”
Riley shrugged back into his jacket and checked his watch. “Ben, we need to make calls for funeral homes and be sure everything is taken care of.”
“Actually, sir, that has already been taken care of,” Mr. Benton told him. “Your grandfather had all the arrangements ready to go for the day he finally left us. The information is in the back of the file. I believe the wake is tomorrow—here, of course. He wanted to be buried next to his son.”
“Good,” Riley whispered, throat suddenly tight. His parents’ graves. He hadn’t been there in years. Not since he buried someone else so close to his heart. “Good, then. Thank you, Mr. Benton, for everything.”
“Of course. Just do me one favor before you attend his funeral?”
Riley grinned, already knowing what it would be. “Don’t worry, I’ll appear a total gentlemen for him. The hair will get cut.”
Mr. Benton’s lips turned upward in a gentle smile of approval. “Good. Then call me if you have any questions. I will be at the funeral to send him off.”
Riley thanked him and Susie again then headed back to the elevator that would take them to the roof. Ben flipped through the file as they rode up, though Riley wasn’t sure what he was hoping to find in the pages. But his friend was always better at the legal end of things. That was why he’d hired him as his assistant. Ben could’ve gone on to be a lawyer for Fortune 500 companies or even the government, but instead, he’d stayed by his friend’s side through everything. One day, he’d have to do something nice for him.
Maybe after the wedding.
A wedding. Riley was getting married. The clock was ticking on him to find a wife. Where the hell was he going to start?
“So I guess after your meeting this morning with the board members to announce your grandfather’s death, we’ll start the wife hunt,” Ben said as they boarded the helicopter.
Riley cursed. He’d completely forgotten about telling everyone else the news. It was going to be a somber few days at the company. He’d have to make sure everyone took the time they needed to grieve their founder’s loss. Riley Marston the first had touched many lives. He’d been generous in his days as CEO and passed those morals down to his grandson. Now, Riley really had big shoes to fill. He was officially on his own.
“Let’s get this over with,” he said, and they flew back to Cyber Vault, Inc. where he called the staff together and informed them of his grandfather’s death. There were many sad faces and tears, shaking of hands and hugs. Riley had a hard time keeping it together until he made it back to the sanctuary of his office. He told Ben he needed a few minutes, closed the door, then sat down in his chair and cried like a little kid.
Chapter 3
A very well-groomed Riley with short, gelled hair stepped out of the town car at the funeral home in the suburbs of New York. Riley had spent all last night sifting through images of women who were looking for a quick marriage, just as he was. A quick way to get hitched. He’d skimmed through so many profiles that he’d lost track of who was who. Ben had tried to be helpful, but how was he supposed to pick the person he'd spend the rest of his life with? And in one night?
Ben had read through every fine-print detail of the will. It even said that Riley could not get divorced for at least five years or the entire marriage would be null and void. Which meant Ms. Chandler would once again be in line to get everything.
That woman…She irritated Riley more than she should, but after what Ben had said about her, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about why she really wanted the company so badly. She had no ties to Cyber Vault, Inc., or at least none Riley could find. Ben had promised to do more digging that night while Riley attended the wake. He’d wanted his friend by his side, but they needed the information more. His great aunts had come, at least, and stayed close as he entered the room and saw his grandfather’s dead body for the first time.