Page 10 of Wife Number One

“Both.”

I shrugged. “I’ve got some saved for a deposit. But I’d need a lot more.”

Liam pushed his check across the bar top. “Would this cover it?”

I froze. “That’s twenty thousand dollars.”

My brother nodded. “Yeah, that’s what it says.”

“I can’t take that.”

“I mean, sure. Not this check. It has my name on it. But I’ll bank it then write one with yours.”

I shook my head so fast it nearly fell off. “No. No way.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “You need money. I have it. I want to give it to you.”

I shoved the offending piece of paper away. “I’m not taking your money, Liam. You have a family to spend that on.”

Liam stared me dead in the eye. “What are you, Brother?”

I swallowed hard, staring at the zeroes printed on the check. There were so many. It seemed absurd he would want to just give me that much money. I knew he had plenty of it. Hell, with three partners and four incomes, especially Liam having a partner salary from his law firm, I knew this was just a drop in the bucket to them.

But it was everything to me.

Not just money. It was dreams. Security. A legacy.

“I would pay you back,” I whispered, barely daring to hope he was actually serious.

Liam shrugged. “Or you don’t, and I become a silent investor in your restaurant.”

That felt like way more pressure. I’d never even considered searching for investors. I was a nothing from Saint View. The idea that someone would want to invest in me was ludicrous. “What if I fuck it up and the whole place bombs?”

But Liam’s gaze never wavered. “You won’t.” He slapped my arm. “We’ve all watched you grow up over the last five years. Don’t think we haven’t noticed you aren’t the thug you used to be.”

I still felt like him inside though. So much of my identity was wrapped up in “Chaos” that sometimes I still found it hard to just be Hayden.

I touched my fingers to the numbers printed on the check. My brother was offering me everything I’d ever wanted. All I had to do was say yes.

A slow smile spread across my face. “Don’t you need to ask Mae and Rowe and Heath?”

“You’re their family too. I’ll ask, but I already know what they’ll say.”

I did too. Because they were good people. So fucking good I surely didn’t deserve them. Not after everything I’d done.

But I found myself agreeing anyway.

Liam held his hand out. “Partners?”

Despite myself, I nodded. “Let’s buy a restaurant.”

4

KARA

Istayed in the position for the required hour, silently praying a pregnancy would come from our joining. When my time was up, the sky had turned dark, and I moved slowly and stiffly to the bathroom to clean myself up.

There was no mirror in the small space, vanity frowned upon in our community, but I was glad for it. I didn’t need a mirror to remind me my face and body were a disappointment.

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