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I was over my guilt about becoming a billionaire. I was more interested in figuring out how I could make a difference with my wealth.
At some point over the last several weeks, I’d changed. I’d stopped being the shy student, and had decided to be the best person I could be.
Eli had helped me get there, so I didn’t regret the time I’d spent with him.
What I really felt devastated over was the fact that Eli hadn’t returned my feelings, and I wasn’t so sure I was ever going to feel the same way about a man again.
I stopped changing channels when I got to Shark Tank, and tossed the remote back on the coffee table. I could listen to the show while I was answering my emails.
I opened my laptop and started deleting all the junk mail I got on a daily basis. It seemed like I unsubscribed from a million places, but I still had more ads in my box the next day.
I clicked on a notice from the DNA site I’d used when I’d discovered that Evan was my half brother. I went to delete it because I got ads or notifications almost every day, but I hesitated when I saw the first line.
I have a new match?
I clicked to the site and looked at the current entry. I scanned with a little more interest when I saw that I had a new relative match.
Relationship—Niece.
“What the hell?” I mumbled. “How is that possible?”
I was a scientist. And DNA didn’t lie.
My mind raced as I stared at the notification. There was no half designation, so the logical conclusion was that one of my brothers had fathered a child. But none of them were old enough to have a grown daughter.
“It wasn’t Brooke,” I said aloud. “It has to be one of my brothers.”
I couldn’t imagine any of my siblings walking away from their own daughter, but there was a possibility they’d never known that they had impregnated a woman they had dated. None of my brothers had lacked female attention, and they’d all had girlfriends. But the whole thing wasn’t sitting right with me.
How could they not know?
And which one of them had a child they didn’t know existed?
There was no real information about who my niece might be, but I could write to the relative through the site.
I wrote a few lines, introducing myself and letting them know that they’d matched to me.
I still had to wonder if the information was somehow incorrect.
I’d just reached for my cell to call Brooke when the doorbell rang.
Probably Aiden or Seth.
I got my rear off the couch and headed toward the door. I wasn’t exactly dressed for visitors, but it wasn’t like my brothers hadn’t seen me in my pajama shorts and a sweatshirt before.
I opened the door, startled at first because no one was standing there.
Then I heard a yelp of excitement.
“Charlie?” I opened the screen door and let the canine in, and then reached down to pet him. “What are you doing here?”
I frowned as I noticed something attached to his collar.
There was an envelope that said Read me first and a small box that said Keep me.
Both were lightly attached, so I pulled them off Charlie’s collar, sat down on the floor to cuddle with the canine I’d come to adore, and opened the envelope.
If Charlie is here, I know Eli isn’t very far away.
My heart stuttered at the thought that Eli was probably close by. What was he up to?
The big, gaping wound I’d opened when I’d confronted Eli this morning was still raw, and I wasn’t sure I could bear to see him so soon.
I pulled out the papers that were in the envelope, my hands shaking with emotion.
“Oh, Eli, what did you do?” I whispered as I looked at the quitclaim deed.
He’d deeded the Lucifer’s Canyon property to me.
I dropped the paper in my lap and wrapped my arms around Charlie as tears flowed down my cheeks.
I was pretty sure it meant that the property didn’t have a hold on Eli anymore. And if he was finally free of his demons, I was happy for him.
“It’s really hell when I have to be jealous of my mutt,” I heard Eli’s baritone say hoarsely from the door.
I got up, and picked up the box and the deed. “What are you doing here? And why did you do this?” I motioned to the paper.
He opened the screen door and stepped in. “Because I want you to have it. There’s no strings attached, no matter what you say about what’s in the box.”
“I haven’t opened it yet.”
“Don’t,” he requested. “Not yet.”
He took my hand and led me into the small living room. I grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. “I was just . . . eating,” I said as I grabbed the container of ice cream, took it to the kitchen, and tossed it in the freezer. Since it was a tiny house, I was back in seconds.
I stopped in front of him, my chest aching because he looked so damn good in a pair of jeans and a sweater. “Eli, I—”
He put his fingers on my lips. “No. Don’t talk. I have some things I want to say before you run away again.”
I nodded, and he started to use his thumb to wipe the tears from my face.
“I want to thank you for helping me get my head straight. I buried everything about my brother for way too long. So long that I guess I wasn’t sure what was me and what was Austin anymore. Because of you, I think I have everything figured out now.”
“So what was you?” I asked.
“When I started doing the things Austin did, I did it on my own terms. He did crazy things just because he wanted to do them. I did them to make money for my charities. So I guess some of it was always me. And there are a few things I actually do like to do for me, like the mountain climbing and the car racing. But I can do without the useless things. So I’ll do what I want and dump the others. I don’t have a death wish like Austin did.”
“And the tats?”
“Done to honor my brother. I don’t regret it.”
I didn’t think he needed to be remorseful about anything, but I didn’t speak because I wanted him to keep talking.
He added, “I framed all the pictures that Joel gave me. I realized that I can’t keep hating him for what my brother did to himself. My mother said that Joel cleaned up his act after Austin died, so one good thing came out of my brother’s death. And I think it’s time for me to remember the good things about my twin and not try to completely forget the past.”
“Do you regret that you gave up your own dreams to take over your dad’s interests?” I asked.
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t. It turns out that I can do both. I’m pretty involved in my aerospace company, and there’s a certain satisfaction in taking over companies and making them better than they were before.”
“What about your dad?” I questioned gently.
“I loved him. And I know he’d be proud that his company is thriving. But I just can’t grieve anymore. Even my mom has moved on. And she lost a son and a husband she loved. I need to enjoy the time I spend with her. She wants me to be happy.”
Eli’s mother was an incredible person, and I knew what he was saying was true.
“But there’s a problem,” he said.
“What?”
“I can’t be happy without you, Butterfly.”
