THE TAYLORS [H.S]

22.

Chairs clinked together as everyone pulled them around in a circle, the sound sending an uncomfortable chill down my spine.

Harry took it upon himself to stand directly behind me, so close that I could feel the material of his shirt brush against my head each time he moved. I was tempted to snap at him to move back, though with Allie's watchful eyes on him, I bit down on my tongue for once.

I still didn't know why her flirtatious gaze was irritating me so much, but I wanted her to build a false reality in her head that something was going on between Harry and I so she would stop staring him at like that.

I told myself that was the reason - that I was just bothered by how open she was staring at another person, though I knew I wasn't being completely honest with myself. I swallowed at the realisation, shaking my head to pull myself away from the oddly intrusive thoughts that threatened to expose themselves.

My brothers, along with a long list of family members soon got comfortable in their chairs, now seated in rows like we were sitting in a church, waiting for the priest to start a prayer. Instead, we were waiting for our family lawyer to get his shit together. Marcus Little had been our family lawyer from before I was even born, and he still looked completely petrified to be in the presence of my family.

He wiped a bead of sweat from his hairline. His dark hair had begun turning white a few years ago, now resembling more of a skinny Santa Claus with an iron deficiency. His boney fingers reached to push his glasses up, cheeks tinting red. I felt pity for him. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Everyone ready?" he asked, looking around the room. No one said anything. He cleared his throat once again. "Right. Well. Let's begin then."

He held up a thick booklet in his, and Johnny whistled lowly besides me. "That's a thick will."

"Can you be a little respectful today?" I scowled, nudging him with my knee. "Be quiet."

He rolled his eyes but listened, slouching back in his chair as he watched on. His arms crossed over his chest, making him look as if he wanted to be anywhere else than here. I felt the same, though at least I did a good job at hiding it.

"This is the last Will and Testament of Robert an Maria Taylor," He began. "As a resident of-"

"Get to the good stuff," Johnny called out, cupping his hands over his mouth to holler out from where he sat. "Some of us have things to do today."

I tightened my jaw, as a few family members murmured in agreement. Trent rose an eyebrow at him, though didn't scold him like I would of liked him too. If he was going to listen to anyone, it was him. Unfortunately, Trent didn't like to scold Johnny in public when he acted like a menace to society.

"This is standard procedure," Marcus said weakly. "I-I have too-"

"On with it, you fool," Uncle Dom grunted from the front. "We know how a Will works. Advise us of who they left what too."

Marcus didn't argue with that. Uncle Dom had a look to him, and if it was enough to scare a Federal Agent, it was enough to scare an already petrified lawyer. Weird how that works though, isn't it?

"Robert and Maria left a the the funds in their joint account to be split between their siblings. The grand total of said bank account can be found within these envelopes, along with the amount that will be distributed to you."

Marcus called out the names listed on said envelopes in a shaky voice, and each sibling of my parents went up one by one to collect them. No one opened it them though. They tucked them out of sight, and waited for Marcus to continue. Whatever the amount that was left, wasn't even going to make a dint in their already large bank accounts, though even if it did, I doubted they would make a show of seeing how much they were given.