Page 24 of Her Brother's Billionaire Best Friend

“How do you feel?” said Lucien.

“Peaceful,” I said, as I rested my head on his shoulder. “Like, I’m finally at peace.”

“Good,” he said. “That’s how I’d like you to feel.”

Half an hour later, we’d touched down in Caluga Falls and were back at Lakeview. I saw the valley with different eyes now. I wasn’t thinking about the past, about Conor, about all the problems small-town life had caused for me. It was my home. It was where I belonged. And as I got into Lucien’s car and he drove me down the hill, I realized that it was him. He’d brought me this sense of peace.

But as we approached the front door, I checked my watch. It was 4.15 pm. Kyle ought to be home from school by now.

Kyle. The thought of my son made me smile. I’d missed him a lot over the last couple of days. And yet, I was feeling nervous with Lucien in the car beside me.

As we pulled up at the car, I wanted to get out, to take my bag with me and get inside. But Lucien said “wait,” and I foolishly obeyed.

“Hey,” he said. “Come here.”

I didn’t want to risk it. But he was tempting, so tempting. Slowly, I raised my hand to the soft flesh of his cheek, and reached up. I kissed him, and felt his beard brush against my cheek. I’d never gone for men like Lucien, muscular, bearded and rugged. And I still didn’t know the origin of the mysterious scar that coiled across his body. And as handsome as he was, I would never have thought to go for someone so headstrong and short-tempered. But I now realized that there was something in him that was gentle. It made me comfortable as I pulled back, and looked into his eyes.

“This has been…something,” I said, taken aback.

“I hope that it doesn’t turn out to be nothing,” purred Lucien. His voice was dark and gravelly, and it made me shiver with pleasure. I was about to kiss him again, but then—

“Mom?” said a voice behind me.

Chapter 8

Conor (Lucien)

For a moment, I thought I was looking into a mirror. But mirrors don’t show you who you were. They show you who you are. And the boy standing in front of me, despite his height and his broad shoulders, couldn’t have been more than eleven.

I saw the streaks of red in his hair, the green tint of his shining eyes. I saw but I didn’t believe. And for the first time, I realized why Laura had been so cagey about going away on the trip with me in the first place. Why she was so tight-lipped about her family.

“Hi Kyle,” said Laura, and opened the car door. Her hand pulled away from mine, and I felt my fist grasp at the empty space. She stepped out and gave him a hug.

“Kyle,” she said, “this is Mr. Barnes. He’s my boss.”

“Hey there,” I said, flashing a smile and waving. “How are you?”

Kyle looked at me. And I could see his eyes narrow as he squinted.

“Yeah,” he said lifelessly. “Hi, mister.”

I stared at the boy for a while. He looked oddly like me. Green eyes, and a reddish tint to the hair. For a moment I wondered—then I brushed it off. No way. It couldn’t be. “So,” I said, unused to the company of children. “This your nephew?”

Laura turned to look at me slowly. I stared into her eyes and saw only mistrust. I understood why well enough. After all, I could barely say a polite word to my own dad. Let alone some stranger I’d hardly met.

She laughed. “No, Lucien,” she said. “Kyle’s mine. He’s my son. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

She ruffled the boy’s reddish hair. I felt sick to my stomach all of a sudden. Laura hadn’t told me she had a child. He looked about ten or maybe eleven. That would mean he’d been born, what—a year after she left?

Had she really moved on that fast?

I smiled and tried to laugh it off. “Well, I sure can see the family resemblance.” Only it wasn’t true. The boy in front of me didn’t have the slim strength of the Solomon family. He was broader, more muscular.

As I watched him, Kyle stared back at me. I knew he was looking at my car, thinking about his mom in there with me. I was almost sure he hadn’t seen me pull Laura in for that stolen kiss. But still, he had to have his suspicions.

“Everything okay out there?” called a bright, clear voice. I knew it right away.

Oh no.