With shaking hands, I answer. “Hey, Melissa. What’s up?”
“Julie, there’s been an accident,” Melissa says, her voice strained. “Josie’s in the hospital...”
The rest of her words fade into an indistinct buzz as a tidal wave of dread crashes over me.
Our father abandoned us when Josie was just an infant. He ran off to Wyoming with his mistress and left us with an alcoholic mother who could barely take care of herself, let alone us. Now that I’m about to graduate college, I’ve been fighting for custody of Josie for the past year. I’m determined to give her the stable home she deserves.
And the one time, theone time, I let my guard down and do something for myself...
“I’m on my way,” I tell Melissa, my voice breaking. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Ending the call, I gather my things with fumbling hands, barely able to see through my tears.
With furrowed brows, Blake asks, “Everything okay, sweetheart?”
I can’t even look at him, too awash in shame and panic. “I’m sorry, I have to go. It’s an emergency. My sister... I have to get to her.”
“Wait, slow down. I’ll go with you, let me help?—”
But I’m already pushing past him and running out of the bathroom on unsteady heels. “I’m sorry,” I call over my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Blake.”
And then I’m fleeing through the club, desperately searching for the exit as a sob clogs my throat.
Chapter Two
BLAKE
Present
“Where do you want this,Mr. Donovan?” The mover wipes sweat from his brow and gestures to my oversized leather sectional.
I stand in the driveway of my new mansion, hands on my hips as I survey the movers unloading furniture and boxes from the trucks.
“In the living room, against that far wall,” I direct him.
As the mover nods and maneuvers the couch through the front door, satisfaction swells in my chest. This is it. My new home in Cooper Hills Estates.
I’ve worked my ass off to get here. Working late nights and weekends, I’ve poured everything I have into Donovan Enterprises. And it’s paid off. Business is booming, and I’m the last of my brothers to finally get my own place.
Drew’s living it up in his downtown penthouse with Eliza, and Heath’s got that huge cabin out in the woods with Willow. But this, a mansion to call my own? I’ve earned every square foot of it.
“Quite the pad you got here,” the other mover comments. Jim, I think his name is. “Lotsa space. The wife and kids moving in too?”
His casual question catches me off guard. “Oh, uh, no. No wife or kids. It’s just me.”
“Really? Six bedrooms for one guy?” Jim raises his eyebrows. “Seems like a waste. No offense.”
I force a chuckle, but his words strike a chord. Is it a waste? Am I missing out on something by being alone?
I’ve never been the type to dream about white picket fences and two point five kids. That’s more Drew and Heath’s style. They’re the charmers, the social butterflies. I’ve always been the quiet one, the introvert who’d rather have his nose in a book than work a room.
It’s not that I don’t want love or a family. I do. I just haven’t found the right woman yet. Someone who gets me and appreciates my quirks and passions.
Well, that’s not entirely true. There was one woman. One incredible, unforgettable night in Vegas...
The shrill ring of my cell snaps me out of my thoughts. I fish it from my pocket and see Heath’s name flashing on the screen.
“Hey, man, what’s up?”
