Chapter One
The smellof fire and bug spray clogged my nose as I buckled in and took a deep breath. The week-long camping trip went way too damn fast, and now I was heading back to an empty apartment where I would be until I woke up and went to a job I hated. I’d hoped to leave the woods rejuvenated, but the second I got into the truck, reality set in. Back to the grind.
I scratched my jaw, enjoying the beard I had started growing a few weeks before the trip. It was full-fledged now. My sister and Grace were going to give me so much shit. Still wasn’t going to shave it. The only person I worried about impressing these days was myself. One of the many benefits of not dating.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter and took a long breath, thinking about the hikes and beers, and allowing driving with the windows down and my music blasting to calm my soul. I’d proved to myself I could survive in the woods for a week. Rich kid or not, I’d always been valued practical skills. A silver spoon helped nobody.
My inheritance caused more problems than it solved. People wanted a part of it—always would—so I’d taken to hanging out with people who didn’t give a shit about my money. Which was currently about four people.
My phone blared from the passenger seat, and my mother’s name appeared on the screen. I tapped the screen, putting her on speakerphone. “Hey, Mom.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I loved my parents. I did. But they never called to just talk. They always wanted something from me.
“I’m in desperate need of your help,” she said, her high-pitched voice a bit frantic.
Of course.“What’s up?”
“Your father and I are in the jet, about to take off for Brussels. It’ll be months until we sort this fraud debacle, but you don’t need to worry about that.” She cleared her throat and spoke too fast, reminding me of my sister, Gilly.
They’d trusted their advisor overseas for years until he’d retired and passed the business to his son. My parents should’ve vetted him instead of blindly trusting. My inheritance caused more problems than it solved, so I’d taken to hanging out with people who didn’t give a shit about my money.
I waited for the ask from Mom. If I didn’t love my sister so goddamn much, I would’ve been irritated that they always asked me for favors. Never her.
Gilly seemed to think it was because they liked me more, but I called bullshit. It was because I was the oldest. The firstborn. The son. The one who would carry on the Carter name and legacy. It didn’t matter though. There was little my mom could ask that I wouldn’t agree to. Maybe it was the fact she and my dad worked hard to give Gilly and me the life theythoughtwe needed.
“What’s the favor, Mom?”
“Steve and Julianna Atwood’s daughter, our goddaughter, Leanora.”
I made a face even though she couldn’t see me. “Uh, is she okay?”
“You need to pick her up at the airport in…forty minutes.”
Holy Mother of Junior High, I hadn’t seen her in a decade. Not since Gilly and I had stopped socializing with theelitesour parents loved to rub elbows with. Nora used to be feral when we were kids, always playing in the dirt and her hair in long braids. She’d bring snakes to dinner events and wore lime-green-and-black striped knee socks with her first communion dress. Last I’d heard, she still lived in her parents’ mansion and attended all the uppity events, schmoozing with the elites. She could have a reality TV show for all I cared because that rich heiress life wasnotfor me.
I could think of no worse way to spend my Sunday than retrieving Leanora Atwood from the airport. Because there was no way it would be as simple as picking her up and dropping her off at her hotel.
My temples pounded, and the wordshell nowere right at the tip of my tongue. She could take a goddamn taxi for all I cared—the last thing I wanted to do was deal with a high-maintenance socialite.
Then my old friend, guilt, clawed up my throat, and my mouth went dry. When I was fifteen, my dumbass had driven her father’s 1956 Ferrari without permission and dented all thirty million dollars’ worth of it. My parents had already warned me I was on thin ice. One more infraction, and I’d be packing my bags for reform school. I’d never understood why she did it, but Nora took the blame.
“Fine. I’ll pick her up.”
“Yes, you’ll do it?” Hope rang out of her chipper voice.
“I’m heading home from camping.” I eyed the beat-up truck I’d borrowed from my buddy. She made more noise than a train, but she was sturdy. My brand-new Beemer didn’t have four-wheel drive or the trunk space for all my camping gear. “Let me drop the truck off—”
“Her flight gets in soon, Anthony. You can’t be late. You surely remember that she’s…delicate.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Delicate? She wasn’t made of glass.
“I promised her parents we’d take care of her.” She exhaled, and my dad mumbled something in the background. “We’re taking off. Look, she’s staying in the unit across from yours. Just pick her up, let her into the unit. She’ll be at the foundation for a few months. I’d hoped I’d be able to fill you in on this before, but I’ll email you all the details once we get in the air. Love you. Tell Gilly good-bye for us, will you?”
“What about Gil’s wedding plans? You bailing?”
“I’ll call her.” She hung up, ending the conversation, and I had to laugh.
My sister wouldn’t even blink when she heard the news. Our parents were loving and provided for us, but they were always on the move, always finding ways to help others. It was hard to be upset about their constant absence when they were doing so much good, but it had been the catalyst for Gilly and I deciding we wanted to put down roots, and our promise to always be in each other’s lives. My sister already had the roots part figured out. She had a job she loved and a man she wanted to be withforever.
Just thinking the word made me almost barf. After all the bullshit with my ex, the deception and learning she was using me for my money, I’d never be able to even consider having a forever with someone.
