They were headed outside now, and Mack barked a laugh. “Know about Noah and his millions?” He laughed again. “What makes you think we’d know about that?”
“He’s your brother.”
“And he’s your boyfriend.”
At her dark look, he clamped his mouth shut and cleared his throat.
“The truth is, Noah hasn’t told anyone about his double life. No one in my family had any clue. He doesn’t buy fancy clothes. He doesn’t splurge on nice cars or anything. Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever seen him in a tux. And I’ve seen his closet. He only has one suit. If there are more somewhere, it’s not at home.”
She couldn’t make any sense of what he was saying. He had to be lying. But what reason would he have for doing something like that? She eyed Mack as he pulled open the door to his truck and shot her a smirk. “There’s a lot about Noah that he hasn’t told us, and I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna get to the bottom of it… eventually. Even if I have to wrestle him in the mud and hogtie him to do it.”
His playful tone made her smile. Mack had a way of putting her at ease. It was nice to have someone to lean on—especially since she knew she’d have to break the news to her parents about what was going on. She could already see the judgment in her mother’s eyes.
She heaved a sigh as Mack climbed behind the wheel. “If you didn’t know, and he didn’t tell me, why do you think he kept it a secret?”
Mack shrugged. “Hard to say. Why do people keep secrets, anyway? It’s usually to protect the people they care about, right?”
“Or themselves,” she muttered bitterly. There was a very real possibility that he’d kept it from her because he didn’t want her to break things off with him.
If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she might have done just that—at least in the beginning. She’d never wanted to be part of that world. The people who had a lot of money and enjoyed it? All the more power to them. It simply wasn’t the lifestyle she wanted. She didn’t want the temptations that it created for people. Those with too much had a tendency to want more or feel entitled to things they shouldn’t. Her opinions were a bit judgmental, and she acknowledged that if her situation was different she might look at the the whole thing from a completely different point of view.
But Noah didn’t seem to be that kind of person.
She shook her head to clear it. Just because Noah didn’t seem like the type didn’t mean he wasn’t immune to it.
“He should have told me,” she muttered.
Mack glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
“He should have told me who he was and that he was my boss. He should have been open and trusted me.”
“Can you blame him, though?”
She shot him a glare.
“I mean, think about it, Jane. He’s had a crush on you since we were kids. He finally caught your affections. What do you expect? When someone wants something, they make decisions they think will ensure they don’t lose it. He made a mistake. But it doesn’t change who he is.”
“And you seriously didn’t know,” she muttered flatly.
He chuckled. “I seriously didn’t know. We were all gifted with a chunk of money for college when we graduated. Though our parents didn’t force us to use it on an education. If I had to guess, I’d say Noah probably figured out how to make money off of what he had. He made some good choices, and it worked out. Honestly, I can’t help but be impressed.”
She scoffed.
“Really, Jane,” Mack said softly. “He made something of himself, and instead of flaunting his position, he chose to start up a charity that has reached all parts of the continent.”
Dang it, Mack was right. Still, she couldn’t let go of this anger and betrayal she felt festering in her stomach. “And what’s his excuse for putting my career in jeopardy? Hmm?”
Mack put his truck in park, and she glanced around to find they were at a ranch supply store. He stared at her hard. “Do you honestly think that Noah would have done anything to hurt your career? He knows how important it is to you.”
“Then he should have thought about that before he recommended me for the position while he was trying to date me,” she snapped. “It’s too early to tell, but I’m just waiting for some HR representative to pull me into their office and askme if we did anything inappropriate in order for me to get that position.”
Mack grimaced. “That’s not going to happen.”
“You don’t know that. How many cases have there been where people manipulate the system? Too many to count. It doesn’t matter if that wasn’t his objective. It happened, and I will be the only one to get hurt from it.”
He didn’t move for a moment, and the air between them grew thick. He knew she’d made a good point. That was made even clearer when he dragged a hand down his face with exasperation. “I’m not here to pick sides, Jane. I could see that you were struggling last night, and I wanted to check in on my friend.”
“Then let’s not talk about him, okay? I need to deal with this my way, and right now, I just don’t want to think about what’s going to happen next.”
