Page 179

Adonis Katrakis was a man-made creation. Oh, his name was the same as it had always been, but this…man in a suit who had billions of dollars and access to everything his heart desired had been shaped from the mud he’d been cast into as a boy. Young boys fetched high prices for abuse. Older boys less so, because they began to fight back.

He’d fought his way out of being trafficked, fought his own father, threatened to kill him.

Then he’d run away. If he hadn’t, it was likely he would have been the one who lost his life.

But there had been other children and there was something about being able to shield someone else that had given him purpose.

Then Esme and Alex had come into his life. He’d known immediately, when he’d first seen Esme’s round, sweet blue eyes, that he would do anything to keep her safe. To spare her the sorts of things he’d been exposed to.

Guilt lanced at him now. He shouldn’t have left her as he had, but it had been for the best.

She deserved to have a normal life.

He saw, in a million small ways, the way how they managed him. How they shaped their lives around him. He was a good businessman but he also didn’t have the easy nature Alex did. He had a hard limit on social interaction—he blamed the years spent mostly alone. Years many children spent in classrooms but he’d spent in locked bedrooms.

People had never signified anything good to him until he’d met Alex and Esme.

Alex had shown him loyalty. He’d shown him what a brother could be. What it was like to have someone protect you when you needed it. And he’d offered his protection to both of them in return. He’d offered his life to them.

But only then.

Even now, when people crossed the line with him…

He had a breaking point. He’d proved that the night he’d beaten Esme’s date. Yes, he’d deserved it. But it was still feral street behavior, and he knew it.

He never wanted Esme to be hurt by his failings.

Without any further ado he was on his private plane, taking a short trip to Boston.

And then, he was back at the office. Six months since he had been there. Six months since he had seen Alex, five since Esme. The two people he had once seen every day of his life.

He had thought it would be easy to leave. Because…there were things inside of him that were simply broken. But apparently, he did care about them.

A hard truth.

He gritted his teeth as he walked into the building. The receptionist looked shocked, and then immediately waved him through.

He had once been here every day, and now he was a stranger. A surprise.

But this wasn’t the time for a retrospective. This was time to get back into the swing of things. Into work. That’s all this was.

He took the high-speed elevator up to the top floor, and when he got out, he ignored the wave of nostalgia that washed over him.

Nostalgia? Was that what it was? He had never experienced that before. He had never felt any particular fondness for anything he had ever done.

He had never wanted to go back anywhere. He had only ever wanted to move forward.

Except standing there at the cusp of the office, he felt an immense desire to go back in time. To a place he’d been before. To other people. What a strange feeling.

“You’re here already,” Alex said. And he didn’t look angry, which was strange because the last time he had seen his friend he had been furious.

“I told you I would be.”

“Yes. I have a proposal for you. I have it all laid out in the boardroom.

“Esme doesn’t know you’re coming. It will be an amusing surprise. She thinks that—”

He paused. “What does she think?”