The Rivals Read online

  The Rivals

  Dylan Allen

  Contents

  Welcome to Rivers Wilde

  Also by Dylan Allen

  The Legacy

  Introduction

  1. Prologue

  Part I

  HELLO

  GOLD DIGGER

  DOLCE VITA

  THE LEDGE

  TURD BLOSSOM

  LOVERS

  ANDIAMO

  SURE THING

  WILD RIVER

  THE RIVERS RECKONING

  FLOOD

  NEED

  LET THEM EAT CAKE

  PRIDE

  Part II

  THE RETURN

  KINGS MEET

  TWIST

  NAKED

  EXPERT

  SETTLING

  UNEXPECTED

  KNEEL

  BIASED

  SWEET AND LOW

  LAID BARE

  THUNDER

  SURPRISE

  DISTRACTED

  HELPLESS

  WOUNDED

  TRUTH

  HISTORY

  JUDGEMENT

  EPILOGUE 1

  EPILOGUE 2

  Also by Dylan Allen

  The Legend

  Prologue

  1. SMOKE AND MIRRORS

  I. The Start

  1. LEGENDS AND LIES

  2. BAE WATCH

  3. TO BE READ

  4. THE LEGEND

  5. SQUARE

  6. GO AHEAD AND TOUCH

  7. BITTER HIGH

  8. FOOL FOR YOU

  9. CASA

  10. EVERYTHING

  11. FIRSTS

  12. PARTY

  13. MIDNIGHT

  14. GONE

  II. The In Between

  15. DONE

  16. SURPRISE

  17. WINDFALL

  18. CHANGES

  19. THE WEDDING

  20. TRY

  21. ECLIPSE

  III. Again

  22. CONCRETE JUNGLE

  23. MISSING

  24. FOUND

  25. I REMEMBER

  26. BURNING

  27. CATCHING UP

  28. COMPLICATIONS

  29. TIME

  30. GROWN

  31. FIND ME

  32. YOURS

  33. SURPRISE

  34. JOHN DOE

  35. BROTHERS

  36. THREE CONVERSATIONS AND A FUCK UP

  37. THE TRUTH

  38. CERTAIN

  39. ALL LEGENDS ARE LIES

  40. NOT ENOUGH

  41. DECIDE

  42. WHITE KNIGHT

  43. CHARMED

  44. LOVE ME LIKE THAT

  45. EPILOGUE

  Also by Dylan Allen

  The Jezebel

  Present Day

  The Jezebel’s Undoing

  18 years AGO

  1. No Right or Wrong

  2. I Want To Fight

  3. Alchemy

  4. Just My Imagination

  5. Do You Love Him?

  One Year Later

  6. Palestine

  Six Years Later

  7. Sos

  One Week Later

  8. Anything

  Two Years Later

  9. An Echo In Time

  8 Years Later

  10. Femme Fatale

  11. Drunk Man Di Talk Truth

  12. Chasing Venus

  13. Head Start

  14. I Want More

  15. Can I Kiss You?

  16. Breaking

  17. Come With Me

  18. Social Butterfly

  19. I Remember Everything

  20. A Cult

  21. Transformed

  22. Jealous

  23. Venus And Mars

  24. Friends

  25. Everything

  26. Adieu

  27. Crash Landing

  28. Oh, Brother

  29. I Need Her

  30. Hot Stone

  31. Making an Entrance

  32. Goodbye

  Three Months Later

  33. The Prodigal Returns

  34. Opportunity

  35. Walls Come Tumbling Down

  36. Of Omelettes And Eggs

  37. A Surprise Dollop of Cream

  38. One Month Later

  39. Freedom

  40. Present Day

  41. One More Day

  2 Weeks Later

  42. Fuck The High Road

  2 Months Later

  43. Move

  44. No

  45. Home

  46. Always Be Unfinished Business

  47. Out Of My System

  48. The Jezebel

  49. Venus Rising

  50. I Want What Can't Be Mine

  51. Flat on my Face

  52. Memory Lane

  53. Bleeding Love

  54. Drunk In Love

  17 Years Earlier

  55. He called it revenge

  56. Trust

  57. So Domestic

  58. Make it Official

  59. Make Them Stop

  60. At Last

  61. Scarlet

  62. Mine

  63. Victory

  6 months later

  64. Home Base

  65. Finally

  Love Of My Life

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Dylan Allen

  The Gathering

  1. Remi

  2. Kal

  THREE MONTHS LATER

  3. Confidence

  4. Remi

  5. Stone

  6. Kal

  7. Regan

  8. Tina

  9. Hayes

  10. Tyson Wilde

  11. Kal

  12. Remi

  Also by Dylan Allen

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2020 by Dylan Allen

  * * *

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  For William Turner. The best uncle, friend, and confidante a girl could ask for. I will miss you always, Uncle Bill. XO

  * * *

  WELCOME TO RIVERS WILDE

  Praise for Rivers Wilde

  “You can tell Allen poured herself into this story completely because it exudes everything that is her. Brilliance, awe inspiring, riveting, captivating, emotional, inspirational, unexpected and spectacular!” -- @4_the_love_of_books

  * * *

  “From the cover, to the characters, to the intricate plot and interesting secondary characters, it just worked and I loved everything about it. Highly recommended!” --Book Twins Reviews

  * * *

  “Epic Love...they had it in spades!!! Remi’s story was a roller coaster of emotions...a ride I never wanted to end!” --Keri Loves Books

  * * *

  “...I love Dylan Allen's writing so freaking much! Just Get this book as soon as it comes out and do yourself a favour.” --The E-Book Addict

  * * *

  “The drama, the mystery, the intrigue and the love...all the love. It's like the tv show Dynasty and The Notebook had a love child...and it's beautiful!!” --Bibliophile Chloe

  * * *

  “It's an angst fueled roller coaster. Buckle up, and enjoy the ride.”--The Romance Rebel

  * * *
<
br />   “The Legend by Dylan Allen gripped my heart from the beginning and stole my breath away completely. This story was simply mind blowing and captivating. This beautifully written epic saga of timeless love is full of angst, drama, heartbreak, passion and every delicious feeling.” --PP’s Bookshelf

  Also by Dylan Allen

  Rivers Wilde Series of Standalones:

  The Legacy

  The Legend

  The Gathering

  The Daredevil - A 1001 Nights Novella

  Complete Standalones:

  The Sun and Her Star

  Thicker Than Water

  The Sound of Temptation (Coming January 2021)

  Symbols of Love Series of Standalones:

  Rise

  Remember

  Release

  I love to hear from readers! email me at [email protected]

  Are you on Facebook? Come join my private reader group, Dylan’s Day Dreamer. It’s where I spend most of my time online and it’s a lot of fun! Click here.

  The Legacy

  Introduction

  The Legacy is Book 1 in the Rivers Wilde series of stand alone love stories.

  Located in the dynamic city of Houston, TX, The fictional world of Rivers Wilde is an enclave carved into a parcel of the most valuable and coveted land in all of South East Texas.

  It’s home to the two families that it’s named after.

  The Rivers are old, Texas money. Sugar, oil, and natural gas is how they made their fortune. And with that bounty, they helped found the city of Houston.

  The Wildes are the new money; the bourgeoisie. They built their wealth in food service, retail, and real estate. They have made a fortune that casts the old money into the shade.

  In the 1980s, the oil markets were crashing and the Rivers found themselves hard up for cash. With no other viable options, they sold part of their precious land to the usurpers they’d previously refused to even acknowledge.

  Seeds of resentment burrowed deep into the fertile soil of their dislike and grew tenacious roots. Thirty years later, the rivalry continues. Even though, now, no one remembers what started it and just why the blood between the families is so bad.

  Today in Rivers Wilde, a new generation is coming to the helm of power in both families.

  Will they put the past behind them and usher in a new era of cooperation between the two ruling families in Houston? Or will the sins of their fathers continue to cast a shadow over them?

  I hope you enjoy finding out!

  Welcome to Rivers Wilde.

  Chapter 1

  Prologue

  THE LEGACY

  * * *

  HAYES

  * * *

  I hear the crunch of footsteps behind me, but I don’t turn around. I know I’m not supposed to be here. It should worry me that I’ve been discovered. I’ve been warned repeatedly that this part of our property is off limits.

  But I’m not worried.

  Not today.

  Maybe not ever again.

  What could possibly happen to me that’s worse than my father dying? The worst day of my life has already come and gone. The boulder of pain that has lodged itself into my chest is heavy and no other emotion has been able to find a foothold in it for weeks. With each day that’s passed since my father died, I’ve become more convinced that what I’m feeling is something bigger, less definable than simple pain.

  Pain is a basic, localized thing.

  What I feel is sophisticated, all-encompassing.

  Pain has a remedy.

  There’s no cure for what has taken root inside of me.

  “Yo! What are you doing here?” a man’s voice calls out from the clearing behind me. I’d been expecting Swish to come looking for me. I did bail on my father’s funeral, after all. But that deep, loose, and jaunty voice is definitely not Swish.

  When I turn around, a tall, young, dark-haired man I’ve never seen before is watching me with a wary look on his face. Like I’m the intruder. Yes, I’m breaking a rule by being here, but this is still my family’s property.

  I stand up slowly and face him. “Who the fuck are you?” I ask with as much aggression as I can manage.

  “Remington Wilde.” He says his name like it’s a title. Like he expects it to mean something to me. And, it does. Even though I’ve never laid eyes on him before. His last name was among some of the very first words I ever learned.

  Remington Wilde is the oldest son of my family’s biggest rival.

  His family’s heir in training.

  Just like me.

  I’ve been raised to think of him as my nemesis.

  I don’t know what I expected him to look like. Certainly not so… normal. He could be any other teenager at my high school. Like me, he’s taller and broader than average. He’s got a basketball tucked under one of his arms and is dressed like he’s been playing.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he says just as combatively.

  “Hayes Rivers,” I answer and straighten my spine. The same surprise I felt flickers in his eyes for just a fraction of a second before he schools his expression—but I don’t miss it.

  Then, he starts dribbling the ball. His hand meets it every time it springs off the ground, but his eyes never stray from me. I’d heard he was a major basketball talent. But he attended the public high school, Lamar, and I attend the private Strake Jesuit. Our teams have never played each other. But if his playing is anything like his skillful but absentminded dribble, he was clearly born to hold a basketball.

  “You’re not supposed to be here,” he says and draws my eyes back to his.

  “Neither are you,” I shoot back.

  We stare each other down. The longer I look at him, the more I’m sure I’ve seen him before.

  He narrows his eyes at me, crosses his arms over his chest and curls his lip. “I came to get a ball that came over the wall. But you look like you’ve been making yourself comfortable back here.” He nods at the sleeping bag that’s stretched across the huge boulder in the center of the clearing. I’ve been coming here since the day my father died. It’s been my escape from an endless stream of people who have been at our house to pay their respects.

  “So?” I respond with a defensive shrug. I nod at his arm. “Looks like you got your ball. Why are you still here?” I ask.

  His eyes narrow briefly, but his expression stays neutral.

  “I thought your old man’s funeral was today,” he says casually, quietly. And yet, the reproach in his tone hits me like he yelled them inches away from my face. A flush of shame washes over me.

  Of course, he knows. Everyone does. His mother, the widely-respected Tina Wilde, sent flowers. Eliza hurled the vase against the wall when she read the card, and they were not invited to the funeral. But I know their family must be watching ours closely to see how things change now that my father is gone. I wonder, too. He looks nothing like the mythical foe I’d imagined he would. But, our families have shared nothing more than the wall that divides our properties for the last—nearly—fifteen years.

  He glances at his watch, frowns at it and then looks back at me. “It can’t be over already? At nine o’clock in the morning?”

  I imagine St. John’s United Methodist Church packed to the rafters with people, pretending to care that my father is dead, mingling with the handful that really do. I’ve been handed so many business cards this week by people hoping that the Riverses will continue to be customers.