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Anything beautiful I had a chance at creating would surely end in flames.
My entire life was proof of how misery followed on the heels of beauty. I’d lost two sisters; my passion project was probably going to send me to prison. What misery awaited me on the other side of a fulfilling relationship?
I didn’t want to find out.
“Damian—” she started, but rustling from the kitchen interrupted us.
I tipped my head toward the door. “I’m gonna go check that out. If you’re ready, we can go back down.”
I took a gulp of air as I strode out of the laundry room, feeling like I’d both crossed multiple linesandsaved myself from something perilous. How could one simple stain removal be both victory and failure?
I crossed the threshold of the kitchen, finding Trace at the island, his palms pressed to the surface.
“What are you doing?”
Trace’s dark brows were pinched toward the middle of his forehead. “Just deciding if I want to stress eat or stress drink.”
“I’d go with stress eat first,” I said. “Followed by stress drinking.”
He hefted with a humorless laugh. “Thanks for the tip.”
I tapped my knuckles along the counter as I approached him. “Axel’s down in the board room with Francis. We’re crafting our strategy.”
Trace’s jaw flexed as he stared at some unknowable point in the air. “Shouldn’t I be a part of that?”
“I don’t think so,” I forced out. “Not right now, at least.”
He swung his dark gaze my way. Brokenness shone back at me. A rawness that stole my breath. “What should I have done differently, Damian?”
The question was a gut punch. Now, as we were all thirty or older, hindsight was more than picture perfect. “You should have told us then. When you found out.”
“Dad asked me not to,” Trace bit out.
“That was wrong of him,” I said softly. “That was too much for a kid to keep quiet about, to carry alone.”
“But I did it,” Trace said. “And after a while, it just didn’t seem necessary to detonate everything over a little detail I wasn’t even sure was true.”
“A little detail.” Nowthatwas funny. This little detail had the potential to upend everything. Most importantly, our family. The one thing I’d thought was rock solid and unshakeable.
Yet again, proof that good was always followed by bad. Even the surest bets in life were susceptible to complete and utter failure. When would I learn?
“Hey, guys.” Jessa’s soft voice behind me caused me to twist around.
The sight of her there, wringing her hands together, nibbling on her bottom lip as her gaze darted between us, that damp spot on her dress in full view, sent a shock wave of warmth and tenderness through me. I wanted to gather her into my arms and never let go.
“Hey, Jessa.” Trace waved, but it was tired.
“Why don’t you head back down without me?” I tipped my head toward Trace. “We need to talk about a few things.”
She nodded. “Of course. Do I need a key to operate your fancy elevator or…?”
I cracked a grin, deciding to escort her to the elevator, even though itdidn’tneed a key to go down. I pressed my hand to the small of her back without even thinking, guiding her out of the kitchen. “Let Axel know I’ll be back soon, okay?”
She nodded as we approached the private elevator. I pressed the button and the doors slid open. I searched her face for some sign that whatever threshold we’d crossed earlier in the laundry room wasn’t going to make things weird.
“I’ll be down soon,” I added, knowing that in my alternate fantasy life, this was the part where I’d lean in and kiss her.
Kiss her.
