37. Luke

As soon as I stepped out of the car, Harriet launched herself into my arms.

"I thought I'd lost you for good," she said, her voice thick with tears.

"I thought I was never coming home," I replied, every fear and every regret I'd had in that tiny bathroom roaring back. Reminding me how close I'd come to losing everything because of my father.

She leaned back, and we laughed at the sight of our soggy faces.

"Please don't ever get kidnapped again," she said, laughing through her sobs.

I kissed her forehead and pulled her in for another hug. "Never, ever, ever again."

I watched Elijah sink to a crouch in front of my nieces, playing in the grass. They were smiling and presenting him with wildflowers they'd picked from my garden. He let Lizzie tuck a wild daisy behind his ear and my heart tried to catapult from my chest to the sky.

Harriet turned and followed my gaze. "They must have noticed you pulled up," she said with a sniff. "I've been trying to keep it together for them, but they could tell I was worried sick about you."

"Oh, it's fine," I said as we started to walk over. "I'm just their uncle who was kidnapped. Elijah's a new person and new people always win."

"Good lord, that man is handsome," Harriet muttered. "Only you could go through something so traumatizing and end up with a boyfriend at the end of it."

Elijah glanced up from where he'd been charming my nieces. He now wore a crown of daisies and an easy smile. "Am I your boyfriend?"

I flashed him a grin. "If you'll have me."

"I'd be honored, my liege," he replied, eyes dancing with mischief.

My nieces dragged me toward the house before I could swoop down and kiss Elijah—my boyfriend—square on the mouth in front of everyone. Inside, the kitchen was full of people. Friends, coworkers, most of my neighbors. The music was upbeat, there was cold beer, tons of food and my nieces had drawn a sign that read, "Please don't get kidnapped again, Uncle Luke!"

For the first hour of the party, I took Elijah by the hand and beamed as guests exclaimed over his heroism. He kept our fingers entwined and blushed adorably with every compliment he received. I was going to remember the moment Elijah burst through that bathroom door to save me for the rest of my life. I'd been so sure he was a feverish hallucination, standing there like an avenging angel, coldly competent in his fury. Then tender and delicate as he pulled me toward him with so much love it took my breath away.

I did eventually let Harriet drag me off to the hammock, with the girls playing on the sand directly behind my house. I filled her in on everything that had happened from the last time we'd spoken, from the car going off the road to Elijah saying I love you so much in the parking lot.

By the time I finished, tears fell freely down my cheeks. "I couldn't stop thinking about how I might never see you again," I said. "Wouldn't see Lizzie or Rory. This big, beautiful life that I'd miss because I was stuck getting revenge on a man who was truly incapable of love. I don't want to be stuck in that past anymore, Harriet. I want to do what you said. Fight for a better future."

She handed me another tissue before reaching up and curling her hair into a bun. "So what does that mean for TBG? Are you gonna sell it or keep it?"

"I had a lot of time in that bathroom to think about this," I said slowly. "And if I sell the company, I lose my trust, and we're gonna need it. But not only for you and the girls. I want to start a foundation, a way to direct my father's money back into the community. To give every penny of it away for as long as it lasts. If we invest it right, that could be for a long time."

Harriet's smile was watery. "Oh, Luke. I love that idea."

"We could have a great board too," I said, getting more excited. "With people like Clarence Craven and Nora and Mía. Ethel and Clarita, people who believe in Cape Avalon. I'll still sell off the company in three years, but until then I'll talk to Gregory, our lawyer, about the rules and bylaws, what I can realistically change. I want to bring in affordable housing experts, see what good my dad's company can do before we sell it. In the meantime, I'm putting a permanent stop to the construction planned at Sunrise Village. All the artists will be able to stay."

Harriet threw her arms around me. I laughed so hard we almost fell out of the hammock.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"There's the big brother I know and love. Knew you had it in you."

I tossed her a wide smile. "Luckily I've got people in my life who will tell me when I'm being an obtuse asshole."

"Luke, you survived a childhood of grief and abuse and deprivation," she said softly. "Survived a father who openly declared you worthless at every opportunity. That anger you carry, that need to turn your back on your family, there's nothing wrong with it. There's no shame in being a human with feelings that will ebb and flow as you change."

She cast a glance at her daughters, playing in the sand. "I never met your mother, but I'm a mother now too, so I think I can speak from experience when I say she'd want you to feel anger when you feel it. And she'd want you to know that none of it was your fault. But she'd also want you to have a life full of things to hope for, to fight for, to believe in. To balance out the days when you feel sad or stuck in the past. There's no single way to survive what you and Preston went through. But we get through it together."

I was quiet for a while, too overcome with emotion to say much of anything. When I could finally speak, my voice trembled. "You know, I had the same thought when I was stuck in that bathroom, thinking I was gonna die."

She wiped a tear from my cheek and pulled me in for another hug. "It's almost as if we're siblings."

"I love you, Harry," I said. "More than hot coffee on freezing winter mornings."

"I love you too. More than ice cold lemonade on hot summer evenings."

And just when I was about to call Elijah over to tell him I had exciting ideas to share, a shiny town car parked in front of my house and out stepped Kenneth and Preston.

When I caught Kenneth's eye, he jerked his chin toward where he and Preston were standing, with the same demeanor of a dog owner calling over his pet. Irritation zipped up my spine as I carefully disengaged from the hammock.

"Do you want a buddy?" she asked, following my gaze.

I almost said yes, but then caught sight of Elijah, making his way toward the two of them. I shook my head and said, "My boyfriend's still in bodyguard mode, so I'm well and truly protected for the time being."

After I strolled over, I shot Elijah a grateful look before taking his hand. If Preston was surprised to see the two of us together, he didn't show it. Though Kenneth's lips thinned when he noticed.

"Luke, I'm…" Preston started, voice cracking slightly. "I was so relieved when Elijah told me you'd been found."

The unexpected emotion on my brother's face had me smiling—just a little. "I'm relieved to be back. I don't recommend getting kidnapped. Wasn't my favorite."

Kenneth sniffed. "And you're welcome for keeping things running while you were gone. Which I've been doing these past two weeks on your behalf without an ounce of recognition."

Elijah went rigid next to me. But before he could say anything, Preston pinned Kenneth with a glare.

"Frankly, you don't really have a leg to stand on," he snapped. "Tell Luke what you told me on the ride over here."

Stunned, I looked over at TBG's board president, whose ruddy face was growing ruddier. "Are you here to tell me that Dad's prosperous career relied on his long-standing blackmail practices, holding leverage over rich and influential people to ensure his properties were successful?"

"Wait, what?" Preston said. "Did you know about this too?" he asked Kenneth, who was starting to fidget.

"As if I'd be foolish enough to answer that question without my lawyer present." Kenneth scoffed.

My brother raked his hands through his hair. "Tell him, Kenneth. Luke deserves to know."

In the frustrating silence Preston rolled his eyes, looking so like his fourteen-year-old self that my stomach hollowed out at the memory. Of sitting at the table during one of Kenneth's pompous lectures, both of us trying to find the funniest way to piss him off.

"Tell me what?" I finally demanded.

Kenneth blew out a noisy breath. "I knew your father was planning on changing the terms of his will. He told me a few months before he died, late one night after one too many drinks. Which was rare, for him. I talked him out of it, of course. Leaving a company as prestigious as TBG to you would have been a disaster. Clearly, I was right."

"Watch it," Elijah growled.

Kenneth looked appropriately miffed. "Like I said, I talked him out of it. Then things with Sunrise Village got worse and I forgot to confirm that he actually did change it. No one was expecting him to die. I was just as surprised as you were to learn that the last-minute change he'd made out of fear and paranoia had stayed in there."

I took a step closer. "Fear and paranoia? What does that mean?"

"Your father's life was being threatened by a local politician."

"Yeah, Senator Wallace," I said. "We already know that. Her chief of staff is the one who kidnapped me."

"From a liability standpoint, the less I say the better," Kenneth said through clenched teeth. "He was being threatened by an unnamed local politician."

Elijah cocked a brow. "That he was actively blackmailing."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that. Except your father did refer to a successful payoff, but then he didn't return the"—he seemed to consider his words—"the material, and the politician was upset."

I glanced at my brother. "Grady told me that Dad held proof of Rosamund Wallace's election fraud over her head for years. Now that she's running for president, they wanted it back. Paid him off and everything but he never actually returned it and they don't know why."

"If your father had his reasons, I would trust them," Kenneth said.

"Cut the shit, Kenneth," Preston said, hands on his hips. "Over the last few years, Dad was getting more paranoid, hoarding everything. It didn't matter that he had all the money in the world. If he could get paid off for blackmail secrets and keep the leverage, he would have done it even if they threatened his life. That's who he was at the end, who he was becoming. We all saw it. You saw it."

"I saw no such thing," Kenneth replied.

I snorted. "Yet according to you, Dad was also getting drunk and changing his will erratically, so maybe there's some truth to what Preston's saying?"

When Kenneth avoided my gaze again, I bent my head to catch his eye. "Why did Dad leave it to me?"

He sighed dramatically. "They were threatening his life on more than one occasion, and he told me he'd threatened them back. Told them that if anything ever happened to him, his heir would take ownership of the flash drive and make sure that they never got their hands on it. He thought it was a brilliant insurance policy."

"Arrogant," Preston muttered, shaking his head.

A sick feeling was starting to unfurl in my stomach. "Dad…Dad assumed that if he died and the senator took that opportunity to make a play for the flash drive, whichever son took over the company would be the one in danger. He wasn't only transferring a company, he was putting a bull's-eye on the back of one of his sons."

But it wasn't Kenneth who answered. It was Preston.

"That's correct," he said, his voice even more anguished than before. "That's what Kenneth just told me. Forcing me to quit was Dad's twisted way of keeping me safe, out of the senator's line of sight. He was too greedy to give the flash drive back and too selfish to give the company away."

I was going to be sick right here on the lawn. Elijah's palm was stroking up and down my back in long, soothing lines.

"I was always the spare," I said. "The kid he didn't want, the disappointment. He got the best of both worlds—his legacy stayed in the hands of his family and he got to put the son he never loved directly in harm's way."

"It wasn't his most well-thought-out or rational plan now, was it?" Kenneth chided. "The errors are obvious now, but he wasn't…he wasn't thinking clearly. It's why I was so angry the night he told me. But I also don't think he presumed that he'd die of a heart attack at the age of sixty-three either. It's a tragedy, one that you never took seriously, Lucas. Yes, he was a complicated man, but he was still your father."

"And you're a fucking coward and always have been," Preston shot back.

Kenneth looked about as stunned as I was. Which was when Elijah stepped forward and put a hand on Kenneth's shoulder, turning him toward the car. "Time for you to go, Mr. Bromley."

"Pretty unethical of you to date your bodyguard," he sniped.

"I'm not his bodyguard. I'm his boyfriend," Elijah said—and even in the midst of this terrible conversation, I didn't miss the thrill that shot down my spine at his words.

Elijah had a quick conversation with the driver, then all but shoved Kenneth back into the town car. When he returned, Preston said, "Can I have a moment alone with my brother?"

Elijah nodded and bent to kiss me on the cheek before walking back to the house.

Preston looked carved up and wrung out, with dark circles under his eyes.

I shrugged a shoulder. "I'll have to ask Gregory first, but I'm pretty sure I can fire Kenneth from the board immediately."

"I always hated him," Preston muttered.

I sent him a questioning look. "Really? 'Cause two weeks ago you were reminiscing about how helpful his mentorship and guidance was to us as teenagers."

My brother paled further. Shook his head. "That's because…that's because I'm finally waking up to…everything that happened." He blinked rapidly. "Luke, listen. I don't expect you to ever forgive me for the things I've done, the things I've said. But ever since you were taken, I started to realize that my life with Dad was a complete fucking lie. And then Kenneth revealed that nightmare scenario to me in the car. And I—I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. I'm so, so sorry and so happy that you came home safely."

I looked back toward the shoreline, at the way the sun shimmered on top of the waves like glitter, just like Elijah had pointed out earlier. I watched the water for a moment and remembered what it was like between me and my brother before Mom died.

We were once so close people thought we were twins.

"I know you tried to sneak me food, Preston," I said, "when Dad would punish me. I know you tried sneaking me blankets and pillows too, when I was sleeping outside."

"But it never worked. I told Elijah that I should have tried harder."

"We were children." I lightly touched his arm. "I don't say this easily, because I don't think rebuilding our relationship will be easy. It'll probably take a long time and be super hard. Because of all the ways you were, like, a huge dick to me."

I watched and waited for his reaction. When his lips twitched into a half smile, I felt a tiny glimmer of hope. It was small, practically minuscule, but it would do for now.

"I've spent so much of my life feeling angry at Dad for what he did to both of us," I continued. "Spent so much of my life wanting to rail at the injustice of it all. Spent so much of my life wishing that Mom was here, because I think she'd know what to do."

"What do you think she would say?" he asked, blinking back tears. I realized now that at Dad's funeral—a hazy day for me at best—I hadn't seen my brother cry once.

"She'd want us to be brothers again," I said.

He blew out a ragged breath. "Christ, I'm gonna need to talk this through in therapy."

I let out a laugh. "Me too. Maybe we could go together sometime."

We were quiet for a moment. Then my brother cocked his head in Elijah's direction and said, "I like him for you. You complement each other."

"I'd like to think I bring a bit of fun and whimsy his way."

"And what does he do for you?"

I relaxed into a smile. "Reminds me to take some things a bit more seriously."

I suddenly realized how alone and awkward Preston looked, younger even. I cleared my throat and indicated our sister. "I can't promise she'd be open to it, but you know that's Harriet, right?"

Preston nodded. I'd told him about her after we first met but he'd never been interested in getting to know her, already too caught up in Dad's bullshit.

"We've even got nieces too. And they're extraordinary," I continued. "We obviously don't share a biological mom, but Harriet reminds me of the best parts of her."

Harriet glanced over at us and gave a tentative wave.

"Wanna go say hi?" I asked.

"Sure, I'm… Yeah. Let's do it. And Luke?"

I turned, felt a genuine shift in the energy between us.

"You remind me of the best parts of her too."