Ensnared (The Accidental Billionaires #1)(70)

“The facility is amazing, but do you realize what it costs to keep a nonprofit like this going?” I asked. “It would take an enormous amount of continual fund-raising.”

He turned his head and grinned at me. “I kind of know a guy who’s pretty good at that. And I have some donors already lined up. Most of them are Sinclairs, but it wouldn’t be hard to find more.”

My mind started to spin as I thought about all the good that could be done with this facility. “I need connections worldwide for sample swaps and field research.”

“I’ll get you the numbers,” he said confidently. “And you’ll build those relationships, sweetheart. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

My eyes welled up with tears as I thought about getting back into the lab to find solutions for dwindling populations of wildlife. I’d need to build a strong team around me. But it could be done.

Never in my life had I believed I could do something that could have so much impact on conservation. And being offered the opportunity to do that made my heart feel like it was being tightened in a vise.

“So you already called in the troops to donate?” I asked softly.

“Didn’t have to,” he replied. “Your brothers and Brooke were on board immediately, and then the rest of the family got in line to sign up for it. They all know how passionate you are about conservation, and they all truly believe you’ll be doing important work. It’s a cause everybody can get behind, sweetheart. The only one who can stop it is you.”

I’d gotten in my own way many times in my life, but I wasn’t about to do it now. “I want it. I really do want it,” I said as I rose to my feet with tears trickling down my face.

I raced across the room, and Eli was already standing with his arms wide open.

He caught me, just like I knew he would.

“I love you,” I said happily and I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him as hard as I could. “How did I ever get lucky enough to be marrying somebody like you?”

“I was thinking the same thing, but for the life of me, I can’t figure it out,” he teased. “For some reason, you think I’m somebody special, and I’m not about to clue you in on the truth.”

I laughed as I punched his arm playfully. Eli had made my causes his, too, and he’d always kept my spirits up when I couldn’t find the job I wanted.

“You basically built this job for me,” I accused.

“No, I didn’t. You’re fucking brilliant, Jade. And if anybody can save some animals that are headed for extinction, it’s you. You honestly need your own facility, and it doesn’t hurt that you have a huge family of billionaires. That opportunity was there for you all along. I just wasn’t sure it was what you wanted.”

“It never really occurred to me, Eli. I’m not a big-picture thinker.”

“Only because you’ve never had the opportunity to think big,” he said huskily. “Now you do. I propose that you name it the Sinclair Institute for Wildlife Conservation.”

“The Sinclair-Stone Institute,” I corrected. “I’m not going to be a Sinclair much longer. And you made this all happen, Eli. Thank you.”

What else could I say to the man who had already given me the world, and then offered me even more? There weren’t really words to describe how much he meant to me, not because he was rich, but because he was Eli.

“I didn’t really do that much. I found the opportunity, and I’m buying the facility. But there wouldn’t be a research center if you weren’t the most intelligent and driven person I know.”

“I’m going to be busy,” I warned him.

“I have to negotiate and purchase the company first,” he said. “And I don’t care if you’re busy, as long as you always come home to me.”

“I can do some things once we own the rights, and then build a team and decide on projects once we get back from our honeymoon.”

Eli was taking me to Australia, another one of my dream destinations. A place I wasn’t even sure I’d ever visit because I thought I’d be paying off student loans for decades.

“What did you decide about the DNA match?” he asked. “Are you going to tell your family?”

I’d never heard back from whoever had matched my DNA. And months had passed now. If I told my siblings, I knew they wouldn’t have any idea which one of them was responsible. “I’m not sure it would do any good. My brothers obviously don’t know, or they would have been with their child. I don’t know if it’s better or not to burden them if we don’t know who it is.”

“I’m willing to do some digging,” he offered. “I can probably get to somebody who can give me some information.”

The fact that I had a niece somewhere in the world had been bothering me, and Eli knew it. “Yes, please,” I answered. “I’d like to know her if I can find out where she is. And my brothers are in the position to help now. If I can get anything about her, I could probably figure out which brother is the father.”

“Now that Aiden, Seth, and I are starting up the new corporation, I spend a lot of time with both of them. Maybe I can get something out of them without spilling the beans.”

I rolled my eyes. “Good luck with that. All of my brothers are pretty closemouthed about their love lives, even if they don’t have a problem jumping into mine.”