Page 89 of Hot Tycoons Boxset

“They had no choice. The law forced them to,” I shoot back.

Hearing a clatter upstairs, we both look up, and Ian makes a rueful face. “Well, it was too much to hope that they would stay asleep.”

I look at the clock. “I should be going as well.”

However, I make no move to get up.

“I’ll drop by the bar,” Ian says. “You’re probably going to be there, anyways.”

I wince. “I have to look out for her, especially if she doesn’t care about the danger she’s walking into.”

Ian sighs and then looks at me, suggesting, “You could always leave her alone. She isn’t your problem. Trying to protect her could cause more damage to you and your business, especially if this gang decides you’re a hindrance.”

I narrow my eyes at him, not understanding my sudden anger at his callous words, and Ian gives me an amiable smile. “But you won’t. So, I guess I’ll drop by to check out your little girlfriend.”

I punch him in the arm, making him curse.

As I leave his house a little later and get into my car, I ponder Ian’s words.

I understand her urgency about finding her brother. I can relate to the hopelessness.

Hadn’t I gone through the same thing when I had found out about Reine’s accident?

I wanted to be by her side, but my uncle told me I would do nothing but come underfoot. Three days I spent trying to find some way of getting to my baby sister, who was attached to a thousand different tubes, halfway across the world.

My hands tighten on the wheel as the rush of memories make it difficult for me to breathe.

I had gone wild with grief when my uncle had called me to tell me that Reine had been declared brain dead. Even now, her death is something that haunts me. Her loss, just as fresh inside of me. The wound, never to stop bleeding.

If I close my eyes, I can still see her crying when my uncle showed up to take us away from our alcoholic father and separated the two of us. He sent her to a boarding school in Switzerland, and he sent me to the States. She begged me not to leave her, but I was a child myself, at the mercy of the adults making the decisions.

Turning into my building, I park the car and step into the elevator to my penthouse. I had not slept the previous night, and I know that Sarah won’t be at the bar tonight, so I plan to get some sleep in.

My chest aches, and as I enter my lavish penthouse, I stare blindly at the large living space. I can’t see the carefully chosen furniture that I collected over the ye

ars. My eyes aren’t processing the kitchen that I spent years working at, perfecting recipes that are now served at my restaurants.

No.

All I can see is the missing girl with her two pigtails, smiling at me with that adorable gap in her teeth. She is all I want to see.

My head aches due to the lack of sleep, but I feel my gut churning inside.

So many years have passed, more than a decade, and yet this hurt is still so alive inside of me. I still want to wrap my arms around her and hold her.

Trudging over to the long gray sofa that was the center of the living room, I let myself fall on it, and I throw my arm over my eyes, trying to contain the burning anguish.

Isn’t it supposed to become easier over time?

Isn’t the wound supposed to scar over?

Hearing a shuffling sound, I sit up only to see Agatha standing there. “Sorry. I let myself in.”

I make space for her on the sofa, my voice hoarse. “What are you doing here?”

“My apartment’s being remodeled, and Grams has her ladies’ thing going on, so I didn’t want to stay with her. Philip forgot to leave his key with me, so I thought I’d crash here.” She sits down next to me, putting her socked feet on the wooden table, a mug of hot cocoa in her hands.

“Well, you’re always welcome to stay here. I’ve got an extra bedroom,” I tell her.

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