Only a Millionaire (The Sinclairs #6.5)(25)

“You know that the chances of something like that ever happening again are minuscule,” Evan said calmly. “The odds of it happening the first time were pretty slim.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I snapped at him. “All I know is how I feel. She went through hell, and I’m going to make damn sure it never happens again.”

Evan shrugged. “Sometimes we have no control over the events that happen in our lives.”

Rationally, I knew that. My parents had died in a tragic accident, and my sister had gone deaf from an illness. There was no way of knowing those things would happen. Problem was, I wasn’t thinking like a reasonable man.

“I need to know that she’s safe,” I said, feeling so edgy I was ready to jump over the table and strangle Evan until he gave me more information.

“She’s safe,” he answered amiably. “She’s flying in Jared’s jet. She’ll be escorted home. She’s not alone.”

“Why Jared’s jet?” Usually Evan had no problem lending out his. He rarely traveled these days.

He stared at me, examining me like a lab specimen. “Because I had a feeling you’d need mine,” he replied drily.

My temper flared. “You manipulative bastard,” I growled. “You knew I was going to go after her.”

He nodded. “I did figure as much, yes.”

I stood, pissed off that he was manipulating Brooke and me. “What gives you the right to interfere in any of this?” I bellowed. “You’re nobody to her. At least I care about her. For you, she’s just another pawn.”

He stood, his face going from impassive to furious. “She isn’t another pawn,” he corrected. “And I always have my reasons for interfering,” he explained. “In this case, I have every reason. Brooke’s real last name is Sinclair. She’s my sister.”





CHAPTER 13

LIAM



My ass landed back on the chair as I sat down to absorb Evan’s admission. Thoughts raced through my mind, and I tried desperately to understand the bombshell he’d just delivered.

“Does she know?” I asked in a distant, flummoxed tone.

Evan took his previous position on the couch. “She does know now. I had to tell her. Her brothers and sister have known for almost a year. I couldn’t keep the information from her anymore.”

So all that time, the months that Brooke had been here, she hadn’t realized that Evan was related to her? I shook my head, still not quite ready to believe that my Brooke was actually a Sinclair. “How?” That one word was all I could get to leave my mouth.

“She would have already known, had the shooting at the bank not occurred before Noah and I could tell all my siblings. But we’d barely discovered the truth when the incident occurred. Brooke was in an understandable amount of pain, and we didn’t want her to have to deal with anything else.”

“I didn’t know her last name was Sinclair.” Brooke had always gone by the last name of Langley.

“Langley was her fictional last name,” Evan said with a nod. “She’s always been a Sinclair. She assumed that our shared last name was coincidence. It’s not uncommon.”

I’d never asked Brooke if her last name was real. It had never been a priority. “How did your sister end up on the West Coast? I don’t get it.”

“Most people don’t,” Evan stated evenly. “It’s a long story,” he warned.

“I have time,” I rumbled. “I need to know. If I’m going to California, I want to know exactly what to expect.”

Evan leaned back on the couch. “I told you the truth because I know you care about her. If you didn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

I waited impatiently for him to continue. I was going to get everything I could out of him before I tried to figure out what was happening with Brooke. I took some comfort from the fact that she was safe, but not nearly enough for my liking. And now I was worried about her state of mind.

“Although it was never common knowledge, my father was an abusive bastard,” Evan shared. “When I was young, he took it upon himself to train me to be his heir. They were painful lessons, but his lessons weren’t always physical, although more often than not, those sessions were physical abuse. One thing he always tried to use while he was attempting to break me was the existence of another family, his family, and how it would have been so much better if those kids had been his real heirs. Recently, I found out from Noah that they really didn’t know our father that well. He came for a few days every so often. They saw him for a few minutes and then he left with their mother for a day or two. It seems he used the information to taunt me. He never really knew his other children at all.”

I was incredulous. “All of Brooke’s brothers and sisters are yours, too?”

He nodded before he continued. “Half siblings,” he corrected. “We all share the same father. When he died, I went through all of his possessions to try to find out their identity. All I found were a couple of pictures, something that I assumed Brooke’s mother gave to my father. I had nowhere to search. I wasn’t even certain they were US citizens. My father traveled internationally.”

“So what did you do?”

“At the time of my father’s death, I put a portion of his money aside, hoping that I’d eventually discover who they were. I was hoping they’d come to me.”