Only a Millionaire (The Sinclairs #6.5)(35)

“She got her hearing back with a cochlear implant, and she married one of your cousins, Micah. She’s happy, but the protective instincts stay with a person even after they aren’t needed anymore.”

“I think Seth, Aiden, and I will always feel like we have to watch out for Brooke, Jade, and Owen,” he told me unhappily.

I shrugged. “It’s never going to go away. But it gets better with time. Eventually you realize that they’re all grown up and able to take care of themselves.”

“I doubt that,” Noah answered.

I had my own misgivings about Brooke’s brothers ever seeing her as an adult, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to mention it to Noah. “I’ll take care of her,” I said.

“You better,” he grumbled. “I see the way she looks at you. You could hurt her worse than any other guy on the planet.”

“She has the same power to hurt me,” I replied. “I’ve known that since soon after she came to Amesport.”

“I don’t want her to move to the East Coast,” he mumbled.

“That’s going to be her decision,” I said, not willing to let her family try to sway Brooke. “I’m good with staying here.”

“What about your restaurant? Evan said it’s been in your family for generations.”

I shrugged. “Priorities change.”

If Brooke wanted to live on the West Coast, I was more than willing to relocate. She was my priority. I’d miss running Sullivan’s, but I had the money to start another place. Several places, if I wanted. And there was only one Brooke.

“You’d leave your home and your sister for her?” he said carefully.

I nodded sharply. It had taken me a while to come to the conclusion that it didn’t matter where we lived. I just wanted to make sure it was always going to be together. “Tessa has Micah, and she’s independent, even though I tried not to notice it. My sister has a ton of friends and the Sinclair family she loves in Amesport. And it’s not like I couldn’t get to her if she needed me.”

“And the restaurant?” Noah questioned.

“I’d hire a manager. I like running it myself, but in the big picture, it doesn’t really matter. Brooke is a hell of a lot more important to me.”

“Evan said you’re wealthy,” Noah said, studying me like I was a specimen under a microscope.

“Not as rich as Brooke is with her inheritance, but I don’t think the money is going to matter much. It’s never meant much to me. But if she loses everything tomorrow, I can take care of her for the rest of her life.”

Noah grunted. “I suppose. At one time, I would have been thrilled if she’d found a guy with a good profession. Now we’re splitting hairs about being a millionaire or a billionaire. It seems fucking ridiculous.”

Brooke’s brother still appeared to be struggling with coming into so much money. “You’ll get used to it,” I advised. “It doesn’t change who you are.”

He gave me a grim look. “But sometimes it changes the people around you.”

I shook my head. “Not if you hang around the right people.”

“Are my half brothers and sister in Amesport the right people?”

I knew that Noah was trying to ask me what they were like. He was obviously curious about his second family. “All of them are good people. You already know Evan, and even though he’s an asshole, he cares about the people he loves.”

Maybe Brooke’s brothers and sister were a little rough around the edges. Maybe they’d grown up without the influence of money, but they’d probably appreciate being wealthy a whole lot more because they’d lived poor.

“Evan can be a jerk,” Noah replied. “But it’s not that difficult to see right through him. He didn’t have to include us when he settled our father’s estate. He didn’t have to bust his ass to make that fortune grow even larger. But he did.”

“He should have told the rest of his family,” I said to Noah. “I can’t imagine any of them will be happy when they find out you guys exist and they didn’t know.”

Noah shrugged. “I would have done the same thing. No sense in upsetting them when the half siblings can’t be found.”

I smirked. Noah was a control freak, even though he didn’t want to admit it. He reminded me a lot of Evan, so it was no surprise that they understood each other.

I changed the subject, getting back to his original threat of killing me. “Brooke will be happy wherever we end up. You can count on that.”

“You sure she’s going to stay with you?” Noah asked right after he drained his bottle of beer.

No, I wasn’t at all certain that Brooke was going to make a lifelong commitment to me, but I had to believe she would. I wasn’t going to be worth a damn if she didn’t. “I hope so.”

I finished my drink and tossed it into the garbage. Noah tossed his bottle from a little farther away and hit his target perfectly. “You better bring her back often to visit,” he grumbled.

“How do you know she’ll move back to Maine with me?” I asked.

He gave me a knowing look. “I’ve known her for a lot more years than you have,” he explained. “Brooke was always the more sensible twin. But Jade could easily lead her into trouble when they were younger. When they grew up, they were . . . different.”