“Open up,” I shout. I knock on Aiden’s door again, shifting from foot to foot. Dusty is barking, then comes bounding around the side of the house. He runs like it’s his first time ever running, and he nearly knocks me over when he skids to a stop. I crouch to scratch his fuzzy head.
“No wonder you’re so uncoordinated.” He licks my collarbone as I push his hair back. “You have too much hair. You can’t even see.”
“Apparently he can. Emory tells me the hair doesn’t get in the way.”
I look up to see my older brother leaning against the doorjamb. He’s in a t-shirt, of all things, and his hair is ruffled. His puppy, Charlie, noses between his legs.
“Am I interrupting?”
He looks down at her and sighs. “No. I suppose not. Come in. I saw your messages.” I follow him into the living room, where I see he’s already had catering drop off everybreakfast food on the menu. Cut fruit is arranged in spirals on a platter next to breakfast tacos and green juice, then tiny pastries and carafes of coffee.
Emory wanders in, yawning and tying her robe around her waist. I raise my brows at my brother. It’s noon and they both clearly just came from bed. Emory smiles sleepily and gives me a long hug that I don’t really understand, but then again, she is all about hidden softness and big emotions under her prickly façade.
“Food. Bless you.” She sinks into the couch. “Better not get used to it.” She gives Aiden an amused look. “You’ll be on a hardtack and water diet soon enough.”
His eyes simmer as he passes her a cup of tea. “Yes, luxury yachting to the Caribbean is terrible, or so I hear.”
They share a small, secret smile and my chest throbs. They’re so painfully happy, so deeply themselves, and somehowmorewhen they’re together, like they’re in on a secret the rest of us can only guess at.
Sienna bursts in, her purse slung over her shoulder, complaining about some assignment she has to complete and then moaning with happiness when she sees the food.
“You,” she says, grabbing my face and planting kisses on my cheeks until I shove her off me. “You’re the best brother a girl could ever hope for.”
“Last week you told me you wanted to flat iron my thumbs.”
She sinks onto the floor next to the coffee table, where she prefers to eat, and starts grabbing breakfast tacos. “Theesh chaish,” she says around a massive bite of egg soufflé, which I take to meanthings change.
“Missed you too, sis.”
“So what’s the news?” Aiden is sipping a coffee and Emory is tucked against his side.
I slip my phone out of my pocket and dial Whit, who answers, blinking sleepily into the camera, then scrubbing at his face.
“Napping, old man?” Sienna taunts. Whit is four minutes older than her.
“Big game tonight.” He yawns, then sits all the way up. “I’m here. What’d I miss?”
“Tristan was about to tell us something important.”
Emory squeezes Aiden’s hand, then gives me a smile. “I’ll let you have sibling time. I’ll be upstairs when you’re done.” She disappears, the dogs bounding after her.
All heads swing my way. Whit’s dark gaze is trained on my face, his lips quirked like he knows what’s about to happen. The blood rushes in my ears. I’m about to fuck things up. For good. They may never forgive me for this.
“I’m not marrying a stranger.”
There’s stunned silence from my siblings, then everyone speaks at once.
“Oh my god,” Sienna is saying. “Grandfather is gonna freak.”
“He’s going to exile you,” Whit agrees, not sounding mad about it.
“He might,” I agree through a tight throat.
Aiden gazes steadily at me, his eyes shimmering with the same thoughts I’ve had—that I can’t be CEO without the shares. That it will be on Aiden again.
And then thoughts I know he hasn’t had, because he’s too good, and against all odds, he believes in me—I ruin everything. If I don’t find a way to fix things, it will all be my fault. Again.
I’ve been here before.
