Prologue
Jacob sipped on his first and only drink of the night. He wasn’t much of a social drinker—maybe one or two in the evening at home after a trying day at the office. He sat at a table in the far corner, in the dark, away from everyone. It was getting late, and his brothers and grandfather had all gone home. The only relief for this tumultuous day was having them here to support him.
He should be happy; he was married and settling down, but instead he was hidden in a dark corner wondering what the hell had he gotten himself into.
He gazed at his guests having fun on the dance floor, noting people of different heights, colors, sexes and then finally to the white dress in the center of it all. Her dark, curly hair cascading down her back, unraveled from the pinned-up look she wore, her eyes bright, her head thrown back repeatedly in a laugh; she raised a flute of champagne to her lips, emptying it. The waiter caught it in time before it fell to the floor, already forgotten, as she began to sway back and forth to the music.
Sierra was in her element, the center of attention where she always wanted to be.
She was stunning in that wedding dress, created by only the best designer that money could buy. He had to admit when she walked down the aisle, his heart had raced at the sight of her, the way the dress lovingly displayed her tiny curves and the swell of her breasts. His loins had responded as they always did when she was near. He had fallen under her spell, and she had become an addiction he could not quite shake.
He realized too late that the woman he had been attracted to at first sight was not who he thought she was and now he was good and trapped, betrayed by his own body every time she was near and in one moment of weakness, his fate was sealed.
A voice interrupted his somber mood. “Is your wife drunk already?” The man sneered, disgust in his voice. Jacob turned to the Senator, his now father-in-law. Sierra’s father was dark-skinned with salt-and-pepper hair, slim build with a regal carriage. Her mother, who passed away when she was a child, had been a light-skinned woman, born and raised in Montreal. She had met the Senator when she traveled to Washington to work as a White House intern, eventually becoming a professor teaching politics as her husband ran for office.
He checked the dance floor in time to see her twirl around in her dress and almost lose her footing; she laughed when a guest caught her hand and steadied her, soon waving over a different waiter and grabbing another flute off his tray.
The Senator’s commanding tone silenced Jacob before he could speak. “She’s your responsibility now, get her under control before she embarrasses you, your family, and me. I have an up-and-coming charity event that I will be networking at to get more sponsors, and I do not need the scandal of how drunk my daughter is at her own wedding.”
The man glared at him, dark brown eyes seething, and Jacob nodded before downing the rest of his drink. The glass clunked against the table before he pushed his way through the crowd and to his so-called pregnant wife.
Chapter 1
“Jacob, is the divorce now final?”
His contemplation ended at the sound of Colin’s voice. Jacob turned his head and watched as his younger brother, the second child after him, shifted his giant linebacker body in his seat, trying to get comfortable in their grandfather’s ancient excuse of a chair.
Before he could ponder how to respond, the loud, boisterous laugh from one of their younger brothers distracted them both. Rafe was on one side of the couch, Bronson on the other, and Matt, Abbott and Dyson squeezed between them. How the study of Grandfather Norris’s private office had only one couch and how his brothers were able to squeeze themselves into it was a mystery to be studied.
Jacob was the eldest brother with shoulder-length brown hair and eyes like the arctic blue; he sported a small, trim beard this year but contemplated shaving it as it was becoming a nuisance to maintain. Anything that took away time from business or his daughter had to go. Next to Colin, he was the tallest out of all the brothers. His broad shoulders suited him well, given the struggles weighing on him lately.
Despite the age gap, he felt the closest with Colin. He had been in his teens and thought he would be the only child until Colin came along, with his shocking red hair that he’d inherited from the Norris side of the family. Then the rest had followed.
Abbott and Matt, identical twins, were the third oldest, both with strawberry-tinted hair. Then it was the lightly tanned Rafe with his striking, dark brown hair, Dyson with his reddish-brown hair in locs, and the baby of the family, Bronson, his hairblond and curly. Other than Dyson and his warm, brown eyes, the Norris brothers had the same shade of arctic blue eyes as Jacob.
After Jacob, Colin, and the twins lost their mother, their father bedded every type of woman possible to get over the death of the love of his life. He had left three of his paramours with children—Rafe, Dyson, Bronson—and Grandpa Norris brought them into the fold.
He and his siblings were close, and he was grateful for his grandfather stepping in and taking over their care when their own father would not. That was why when Grandpa Norris called for them to come home, they came without question.
He started to shake his head at his brothers’ antics, swiping at and jostling each other on that one couch, but remembered Colin had asked him a question. He held his posture stiff in warning that he didn’t like being questioned about his ex. He spoke frostily, “Yes, she signed the papers, once I was able to find her.” He reminded Colin.
His divorce was finally official, almost a year and a half after she signed the papers.
Jacob felt a slight twinge of guilt, as he wasn’t being completely honest with his brother. He had made her sign the papers once she woke up in the hospital and not after she was recovered enough to leave. But Colin and his family didn’t need to know everything.
His brother held his hands up in surrender. Colin could read him better than anyone and knew when to push and when to back off. Especially since he knew that Jacob was not in a good place with everything that happened during his marriage.
He saw Colin’s face soften. “How is my niece doing, is she excited for her first year as a big girl now and going into kindergarten?”
A smile graced Jacob’s usually dour expression, lighting up his face with love and affection for his daughter.
“Yes, she has already started to pick out her outfits, even though school is months away. We still have the summer to get through first.”
As he spoke, Jacob recalled that morning, how she stayed in bed instead of excitedly getting ready. She was slightly flushed when he checked her temperature; seeing it was elevated, he gave her an aspirin and told her to rest. Eventually Kaitlyn made it out of bed and spent time with the nanny, while he made the trip to his grandfather’s home.
Colin must have noted the shift in his demeanor and elbowed him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He sighed, smoothing out non-existent wrinkles in his pants. He had made an appointment with Dr. Van, but it still felt too far away. “I’m not sure, but Kaitlyn has been tired a lot lately and has lost weight.”
