Enchanted (The Accidental Billionaires #4)(20)

Why in the fuck did my body react so damn hard, literally hard, just from seeing Andie smile?

My head thumped back against the lounger as I held back a groan of frustration.

I’d never meant to spill my guts to Andie.

I was the one usually dishing out advice.

I didn’t talk about my own emotions. Ever!

And I really had no desire to start doing it now.

Unfortunately, honesty poured out of my mouth every damn time I spoke to her. I couldn’t seem to help myself.

Andie was like a beautiful siren who was pretty much untouchable, yet I couldn’t lose the gnawing ache in my gut to reach for the impossible.

I wanted to catch her and keep her safe. And then, I wanted to fuck her until we were both so spent that we couldn’t move.

Son of a bitch!

I was so . . . screwed.

“Here we go,” Andie said merrily as she breezed back out onto the patio. “Find it for me, please?”

I blinked hard as I took the computer from her.

Hell, when she asked me for something in that sweet, persuasive tone that got my dick harder than a rock, I was pretty sure I’d go jump off the tallest bridge in the world if that was what she wanted me to do.

I brought up my portfolio and handed it back to her.

I tracked her movements and her expression as she plopped her gorgeous ass down on her lounger again.

Her brow furrowed as she scanned everything for a few minutes.

“What?” I asked, wondering why she was looking for so damn long.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said distractedly, her eyes never leaving the numbers on the computer as she scrolled through the information. “Your investments are really, really solid, and growing like crazy.”

“They should,” I answered, not in the least bit interested in the numbers. I was too busy watching her. “My half brother is a financial genius.”

I took the laptop as she passed it over. “Look through it, Noah. Those aren’t just numbers on a screen. All of the properties, businesses, and investments are yours. Real money. Real assets.”

I was a business guy, but since the money had never felt real, I’d never bothered to analyze exactly what Evan had done with my portion of the inheritance.

I’d wanted enough to buy my home. I’d gotten it, plus another ten figures or so in a money-market account I never bothered to check.

At her insistence, I looked, and my brain actually connected with reality this time.

Even in the short time that I’d had the money, it was growing.

“Evan did well,” I muttered, distracted as I took a real look at the assets I now owned from a business perspective. “It’s actually pretty overwhelming.”

“It looks like Evan has been actively managing it,” Andie observed. “He didn’t just invest the money and leave it. He’s making sure you’re getting the maximum amount of growth.”

Honestly, it was surreal, which was probably why I’d never really studied the portfolio after the first time I’d looked.

Andie’s right. Evan has been working on my investments consistently.

There was something about going from near poverty to unbelievable wealth that had just never clicked for me. It had been almost . . . imaginary. Intangible. So unbelievable that I’d never taken it in as my new reality.

Had I thought it would eventually just disappear?

Looking at it right now was making me face the fact that all that money wasn’t going anywhere.

“There’s nothing you can’t buy, own, or acquire with that kind of money, Noah. You do get that, right? You do understand that you don’t have to work the way you do?”

How did I explain to her that the way that I worked, and the money I’d inherited, hadn’t really connected . . . until now? It hadn’t even made sense to me.

Later, I couldn’t have explained what happened in that moment, the instant that my brain and my inheritance truly aligned.

That exact instant when I truly realized I was free to do whatever I wanted.

The second I comprehended that my job of raising my siblings really was done, and that they were all just as wealthy as I was, or more.

I’d kept my head down and worked for so damn long. Just like I’d promised my mother that I would. And she’d been right. My actions had kept every one of my siblings safe. I’d worked frantically, desperately, afraid that if I didn’t, something bad would happen.

Finally, I looked up because I realized that I’d done everything I’d promised my mom I would do.

And when I really looked up, I was utterly and completely . . . lost.





CHAPTER 7

ANDIE



It broke my heart to see the vulnerable expression on Noah’s face.

Maybe he’d needed to be shaken out of his robotic, programmed state, but that didn’t mean I had to like the shattered expression in his gorgeous eyes.

Honestly, it was no wonder that he looked like he didn’t know what to do. He’d spent his entire adult life, and probably most of his teen years, taking care of his family. It was really all he knew how to do, the only thing he’d had time to accomplish.

“They still need you, Noah,” I said in a gentle tone. “They just don’t need you to financially support them or take care of them all the time. They’re adults. Aiden has his own family now, and I’m sure that the rest of them will eventually have their own families, too. I think they’ll always turn to you for advice, but you aren’t in control of their lives anymore. They just want you back as a brother, instead of a parent figure. They feel guilty that you’ve dedicated your entire life to raising and educating them. It would help if you started living for yourself now.”