AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But the little boy she’s holding? Green eyes.
“The kid is my brother, too?” Xavian’s jaw falls open.
“Yes, I’m Amanda. And this little guy is my son, Oliver,” the dainty blonde offers. “Your mother, like Evan’s, Bethany’s, and I were all, at one time or another, employed as Barclay’s personal assistant. I just happened to be one of the last.”
“Wait.” Xavian steps back, stunned and blinking. “You mean you’re all related to Barclay Reed? The guy who swindled his clients out of hundreds of millions of dollars? The Bernie Madoff of the West Coast. That Barclay Reed?”
“Ah, so you’ve heard of our ‘esteemed’ father,” Harlow says tartly. “That’s him. He was a real peach. Maxon, Griff, and I grew up with him, so we speak from experience. But he fucked us all over in one way or another.” Her gaze slides over to her sister. “Probably Bethany most.”
Xavian scans the group, taking in one face after the other, in stupefied shock. “Wow. Okay, so…what do you all want from me? I don’t know anything about Barclay Reed. I never met him. He was just some guy I heard about on the news. So I don’t have a story to tell the press about him for a buck. My mom probably could have, but she passed away three years ago. If you’re worried I’ll talk or something, don’t be. I’ve got nothing to say.”
Keeley, who’s been quiet for most of the introductions, speaks again. “Nobody wants anything from you.”
He stares at the group suspiciously, then glances around the big, multimillion dollar house. “If you’re worried I’m going to somehow try to cash in on the notoriety of being one of Barclay Reed’s offspring, that’s not happening, either. I work in the investment sector, so attaching myself to that name wouldn’t exactly help me gain my clients’ trust.”
The redhead glances at her husband, then back to Xavian with a sigh. “We just want to get to know you. You’re family.”
Keeley said the magic words.
Xavian visibly thaws. “Seriously? That’s it?”
Evan answers first. “I lost my mom at five, and other than one foster mom I was close to, I had no family. When I met the Reed clan, I’d just lost my first wife and unborn child in a car accident. I had no one, and Maxon, Griff, and Harlow all welcomed me…so I moved here from Seattle with my current wife a few months back.”
Bethany nods. “I left LA after my life as Barclay’s right hand ended with his arrest and all the awful accusations in the press. I’d met Evan once. I’d never set eyes on any of the others.” She nods toward the Reed siblings. “It was Christmas, I was broke, and I had nowhere to go. They took me in. And suddenly, I was part of the family. My husband and I moved here soon after.”
Xavian gets really quiet. I’m sure it’s hard for him to believe they don’t want anything, but I actually think they’re sincere.
“I’m not related to any of them,” Amanda puts in. “Harlow and I grew up together.”
“We’ve been friends since we were kids.” The pretty brunette grabs Amanda’s hand. “We still are.”
She squeezes it back. “And I regret betraying that friendship to have a relationship with her father, but I can’t regret Oliver. These people have all welcomed my fiancé and me as family. They didn’t judge. They simply listened when we needed it. They helped when we were lost. They’re what family should be.”
Xavian scrubs a hand over his face. He’s overwhelmed. It’s a lot to take in, and he won’t know them well enough to trust them unless he spends more time with them.
I stand and address the Reed clan. “Can you excuse us for a moment?”
After their murmured assent, Xavian follows me down to the shore. I glance back to check on Echo, but she’s already fallen into an animated conversation with Keeley. Harlow quickly joins in with Bethany listening intently.
I turn to X, who’s totally shellshocked. “You okay?”
“I don’t know what to think. Whether to believe them…”
“Only you can answer that, but I think you should. At the least, a conversation won’t hurt. You have a great nose for bullshit. Use it.”
He pulls his phone from his pocket. “No time. We gotta get back for this shindig.”
“I think it’s more important for you to get to know these people while we’re on the island. You can talk to the CEO another day.”
Xavian sighs. “You’re right.”
Together, we head back to the group. As soon as I reach Echo, I hold out my hand and help her to her feet. “It was great meeting you all. We’ve got a mixer to attend. A work thing. We can come back for Xavian in a few hours.”
He’ll need more time than that to make up his mind, but it’s a start.
