Page 2 of Jaylen

"It's different." She sighed. "You are different, and not for the first time, I wish we could feel something more than familial love for each other. It would make it so much easier."

He laughed at that and squeezed her hands. Not once in their long association had he entertained impure thoughts of her.

She was his sister, they might not be from the same parents, but she was his family, and to him, that was so much better than being her lover. Their friendship had been maintained and that was something he was incredibly grateful for.

"We will find our someones—one day we will. But back to you honey, believe me when I say it is not that jerk you are hooked up with." Letting go of her hand, he cupped her cheek lightly, dark brown eyes indulgent. "You don't have to settle."

"You are one to talk," she grumbled. "Are you still going out with that lawyer?"

His hand dropped and his expression became shuttered. "We broke up."

"Cory—"

"No." He shook his head. "We are not going down that road."

"That's not fair. You get to dissect my relationship and yours is off-limits?"

"I really do not want to talk about it." He rose and she watched as he went to finish her packing. As far as he was concerned, the conversation was over and she was not going to pry anything more out of him. With a sigh, she got up and joined him.

*****

James glared at his son furiously. “You dare to disobey me?”

Jaylen let loose a harsh laugh, green eyes glittering. “You are forgetting that this past October, I turned thirty. I can do whatever the hell I want and I am saying that I will be taking off for six months.

After this music festival crap that I am forced to attend, I am out of here. Who knows? I just might extend that to a year, if I happen to find someone who holds my attention for that long.” He gave the old man a mocking look. “You should be proud; I am following in your damn footsteps.”

James reigned in his temper with great difficulty. He supposed the resentment and anger—those were warranted, but he was getting tired of the disrespect.

Jaylen was his only heir and he had wanted him actively involved in the business that would be passed to him a few years from now. He had messed up his relationship with his wife when Jaylen was fifteen years old and compounded the problem by parading a series of women in the home.

Kathleen had moved back to Italy, where she had family, and had died a few years ago.

After his mother’s death, things had gotten from bad to worse and the tenuous relationship had dissolved with Jaylen moving out of the manor and going about his own way.

He had chosen the path of modeling as an act of defiance and had excelled at it.

His golden beauty could be seen on billboards around the world. He had made the covers of more magazines than anyone in his career, and his reputation as a playboy was well-known. He showed no signs of settling down whatsoever and had told his father bluntly that marriage was the furthest thing from his mind.

“I have seen what it does to people," he had told him with a sneer. “And I think I have inherited your genes.”

He had inherited his mother’s outstanding beauty and her excellent bone structure. James had made a gigantic mistake by letting Kathleen go and hurting her like that and he was constantly paying for it.

Trying to reach his son at this point was a hopeless endeavor and he had just about given up. The boy was stubborn to the point of being mulish and whenever he made a decision, it was made in stone.

“I am asking you to reconsider.” The fight had gone out of him and he was suddenly feeling every inch of his sixty years.

“Why?”

“Because you are my son, goddammit.” He heaved out a breath. “Look Jaylen, we have not gotten along and I admit that most of it is my fault. I messed up. I was young and stupid and I made a mess of things. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes.”

“So what you are telling me is that you are looking out for me.” His lips curled in derision. “You want me to let the past go and come meekly home.” He looked around the posh office with its stunning gold and green decor . “I bet you have an office already set up for me. Is it as big as this one? Do I get an assistant as well?”

“The company is yours—"

“The company is yours.” Jaylen shoved himself up from the lounge chair he had been sitting on, with the spectacular view of the city. Not that he had noticed the familiar view much. He was seething with resentment for being summoned. “I have a wildly lucrative career in modeling, remember?”

“And when that is over and done with?” James asked him tightly. “You are thirty and your shelf life is just about over. What then?”

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