Page 4 of The Billionaire's Angel

He might remind me of a wounded animal, but wounded animals were dangerous. And I’d been bittenenough.

The only person in this house who needs you is Amelia, I reminded myself.Stay away from GageWinters.

“Are you in Vance’s old room?” Gageasked.

“I am. Across from Amelia. I guess her room used to be Holden andTate’s?”

Gage nodded. “If you’re done with your bugs, I’ll walk youback.”

“It’s just down the hall,” Iprotested.

“All the same. I’ll walk youback.”

I didn’t bother to argue. Gage followed me out the door, turning off the lamp before we left the room. The short stretch of hall outside the library was dark, the doors to the wine room and Aiden’s office lost in theshadows.

We turned the corner to the main hall where silvery moonlight streamed through the tall, arched windows, casting the walls in dreamlike shades. Outside, in the center courtyard of Winters House, a fountain burbled, the water flashing black andsilver.

I loved this fairy tale of a house. I completely understood why Mrs. W was so devoted to it. How could Gage have left this place and not come back for so many years? In the six months I’d been with Amelia, Winters House had become ahaven.

Why had Gage left it just when he’d needed itmost?

I couldn’t imagine the losses this family had suffered. Not really. I’d lost my mother to cancer when I was a teenager, but Gage had not only lost both his parents as a child, he’d lost the aunt and uncle who’d raised him when he’d barely been aman.

More than once since he’d gone missing I’d wondered what had happened to make the eighteen-year-old Gage flee his familyhome.

Now that he was back, was he going to stay? None of it was my business, but I couldn’t help mycuriosity.

Gage kept his distance as we walked down the hall, following just slightly behind me. Our feet shuffled along the polished hardwood floors, almost silent in the sleeping house. This wasn’t the first time I’d wandered Winters House in the middle of the night, but it was the first time I’d done so withcompany.

We reached the door to my bedroom, across the hall from Amelia’s. I reached for the handle, and Gage’s fingers closed over mine. I started in surprise, letting out a little squeak. I was grateful for the dark as I felt my cheeks turnred.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Gage said in his low rumble. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone in the library and I reacted on instinct. I didn’t mean to scareyou.”

“You didn’t,” I lied. “It’sokay.”

Gage dropped his hand and stared at me, his blue eyes gleaming in the moonlight, seeing everything. He knew I was lying, knew I’d been scared. Lips pressed together and eyes wide, I silently begged him to let itgo.

Gage took a step back and dropped hishand.

“Sleep well, Sophie,” he said, his low voice sending shivers down myspine.

“You, too,” I whispered, and escaped into myroom.

Chapter Two

Gage

Aiden was avoiding me.It took me a while to figure it out. He worked so much, sometimes it seemed like he was avoiding everyone. I’d been home for two days, and we hadn't spent more than twenty minutes alone together since I'd walked through thedoor.

Don't get me wrong, Aiden was glad I was home. Everyone was. And I was relieved as hell to be here. There'd been times, too many of them, when I'd been certain I'd never see home again. Somehow, I'd imagined things would go differently if I ever gothere.

Always the dutiful head of the family, Aiden had met my plane. I'd seen him here and there over the past thirteen years, but I hadn't really noticed him growing older until I'd come home forgood.

Fuck, we’d both gotten old. We were the same age, pretty much. We even looked alike. And now we had the same grooves drawn into our faces, the same lines around oureyes.

Once, we’d beeninseparable.

Now, Aiden could barely meet myeyes.