26.

Ryan

S he didn't mean to tell me. I can see it in her eyes. Alex is as surprised as I am.

"What the hell do you mean?"

"I mean he vanished," she says. "We got separated, and now he's gone." She takes a deep breath.

"Try again."

"I've been trying to find him," she says. "I've been searching for years. Like, fifteen years."

Since she was what? Thirteen?

"That's why you wanted to work for me," I say, realizing the truth. "That's why you needed money."

"I thought having a master's degree would help me get a better paying job," she says. "I forgot the part where you need to actually work in a specific field. After I went to college, I worked for a few years before going back and getting my master's degree. There are always teaching jobs, supposedly. I thought it would be a good chance for me to stay close to home. I wanted something where I wouldn't have to go far."

Because she's worried about her brother. She doesn't want to go far because she thinks he's close. If she's anything like me, she feels a connection with her sibling that is unbreakable. She would know if he was gone. I'm sure of it.

"Getting a master's degree is supposed to help," I agree. I don't mention that I've got three. It's a silly thing to bring up at this point. I may be highly educated, but I'm also self-aware enough to know that I'm only where I am because of my father.

"Well, apparently, there isn't as much of a demand for teachers as I thought," she says. "And even if there were, those jobs honestly don't pay as well as what you pay me."

"And here I thought I was lowballing you."

"You weren't," she says.

"You hired someone, then?"

She nods. "A private investigator."

"I'll hire a second one," I tell her. "We'll double up on resources and find him twice as fast."

"I can't...I can't afford two PIs."

I take a step toward her, reach for her chin, and tilt her face up toward me.

"Did I say anything about you hiring the other one?"

"No."

"I've got you, baby."

I'm honored she chose to trust me with her secret. I don't even want to think about how much she must be missing this brother of hers. I can't fathom living without Phoenix or Oscar. She must be fighting twice as hard, honestly. How long has she been bearing this burden alone?

"I've got you," I say once more, and this time, I kiss her. I expect that kissing Alex after she's shared this huge secret with me might feel awkward or forced, but it doesn't. Instead, kissing her feels as natural as singing.

Kissing her feels like everything is right in the world.

"You shouldn't do this," she says.

"Shouldn't do what?"

"Kiss me like you mean it."

"I mean every taste," I tell her. And I do. I'm not promising her forever. I'm not promising her anything at all except for a good time, but damn if the world isn't just a little bit better with her in it.

I know that my world is a whole lot better.

We take our making out to the couch. I lie down and she climbs over me, straddling me. She's naked, as am I, and since we've given up on condoms, apparently, she sinks down onto my length.

"Fuck," I groan. "You're so fucking tight."

"I'm glad you like it."

"You're fucking perfect," I tell her.

I mean every word.

We make love there on the couch, both of us coming again, and then I light the fire and we snuggle until we fall asleep right there in the study.

The night is perfect. It's everything I could have possibly wanted it to be. We're happy with each other. We're comfortable together. Everything we're doing makes me feel like the world is going to be a better, stronger place.

When I wake up, she's already gone. I assume she's in the shower. I head over to my laptop to see what time it is and to check for any urgent emails. There's one from Phoenix about Project Sunshine. I open it immediately even though I don't really want to. I hate knowing that our father was actually a villain.

I mean, who wants to believe that their dad was a bad guy?

Who wants to wake up knowing that the guy who was supposed to go to your baseball games and teach you to play catch is a huge prick in real life?

The email is short and to the point. Phoenix has started digging, and unfortunately, the threads are starting to come unraveled. He's meeting with Allison later to see how much she knows. Unless she squeals, he's prepared to fire her or sue her. Maybe both. Knowing Phoenix, he'll probably fuck her, too. Ever since his wife died, all he does is hate fuck. There's no romance left in the world for my older brother. He says he believes in second chances, but he doesn't.

I shoot off a quick, but vague reply to placate Phoenix. I plan to join him at the confrontation with Allison. We all need to know what she knows. Is she involved in this on purpose? Maybe she's just inherited the project, but doesn't really know what it means. Confrontation is our best bet.

I leave the study and head back to the bedroom. Alex is in the en-suite shower. I join her, climbing under the hot water and making myself comfortable.

"This is nice," she says. "Being with you...it's nice."

"I feel the same way, Alex."

"Do you think this is a good idea?"

"Getting involved with my employee?"

"Yeah," she says. "It's a bad idea. It's not going to end well."

"Don't say that. Give us a chance." My words surprise me. I'm not the eternal optimist that Oscar is. My brother loves to dream big and dream hard, but not me. I'm the asshole of the group. I'm one step below Phoenix in levels of grump, but for some reason, Alex just makes me feel...

Well, she makes me feel like it's worth taking a chance.