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34.
Alex
“Ithink we broke up.”
“Tell me everything.” Beatrice sets down her popcorn. Her date, North, stares at me.
“Should I leave?” North asks nervously, wringing her hands. Out of all of the people Beatrice has brought home lately, North is the one I like the most. She’s quiet, she’s kind, and she’s compassionate. She also spends a lot of time listening. She thinks about other people. She’s great.
“Sorry, baby. That’s probably for the best.” Beatrice kisses her gently and walks her to the door. She whispers goodnight before turning around, closing the door, and locking it. “Dish.”
“I’m sorry for ruining your date.”
“It’s fine. Start talking, though. Otherwise, I’ll call Ryan. You know I’ll make good on this threat really easily.”
Yeah, I know.
Because Beatrice is the kind of person who doesn’t hold back. She’s the kind of person I wish I could be. Although, to be fair, I didn’t really hold back tonight with Ryan. I kind of gave him a piece of my mind. If he had known about his dad’s adoption scheme, why hadn’t he told me sooner? If he had, I could have been hugging my brother instead of realizing I’m only starting my journey to discover him.
Where the hell has Aaron gone?
What’s his name now?
And why hasn’t he reached out to me?
I don’t believe Aaron is dead, but I think there’s a reason he’s stayed away all of these years. Maybe he thought he was protecting me. Maybe he thought that the world was messy enough without us trying to reunite. Hell, maybe Aaron just thought that together, we make a horrible team. I don’t know.
I need to find him, and I need to see him, and then if he wants to go no-contact, I’ll respect it.
But I need the closure, and Ryan...
Ryan’s been lying to me.
“He’s been keeping secrets,” I say.
“Billionaires have lots of secrets, kid. You’re going to have to do better than that.” Her words aren’t unkind, and Beatrice looks at me with sympathy. Maybe it’s pity. I don’t think so, though.
“This is different.”
“How? Because it’s about your brother? Kind of sounds like Ryan didn’t know, Alex. It sounds like he was caught off guard by this, too.”
“That’s not very fair.”
“Isn’t it? Billionaire meets girl, they fall in love, he discovers his dad did something horrible, he doesn’t tell her right away. Is that really the worst thing in the world? Because I’ve got to tell you, it’s not sounding like the worst thing in the world.”
