Only a Millionaire (The Sinclairs #6.5)(9)

“That will work.”

I unlocked the door and stepped into the lobby of my building. It was quiet. The building wasn’t monitored by live security. Not that it needed to be.

This is going to be awkward.

We spent time together alone at work, but letting him into my private life was something else entirely.

We rode the elevator up to the second floor in silence. When the doors finally whooshed open, I asked, “Why did you finally decide to come up?”

I’d offered at least a hundred times, and he’d never agreed to come with me.

“I think we need to talk.” He walked out of the elevator without any further explanation.

I followed, eventually taking the lead to show him which apartment was mine.

I didn’t want to talk about leaving again, but it seemed I had very little choice.





CHAPTER 5

BROOKE



My apartment seemed extra small with Liam in it. It wasn’t because of his size, although he was a big guy. It was his presence. I felt like he sucked every bit of oxygen from the small apartment, and it left me gasping for air.

I told him to make himself comfortable in the living room while I got the drinks. When I entered the kitchen, I automatically hit the button to listen to my messages. There was only one.

“I know you’re coming home soon, but I guess I just wanted to hear your voice. I’ll be glad when you’re back in California. I’ll catch you later. I love you, Brooke.”

I smiled as I listened to Noah’s message. I really did miss my family. I even wanted to see every one of my pain-in-the-ass brothers right now.

I had the drinks in my hand when I turned to go back to the living room, but I didn’t get far. Liam was standing at the entrance to the kitchen, and he didn’t look very happy.

“He doesn’t love you, and you don’t love him,” he said coarsely.

I pushed by him and he followed me into the living room. I handed him a beer before I said, “I do love him. A lot.”

He’d obviously overheard Noah’s message and assumed it was my nonexistent boyfriend.

“How in the hell can he have a woman like you and not need to see her every fucking day?”

Liam had seated himself on the end of the couch, so I sat on the other side. “He doesn’t have me.”

His head turned sharply to look at me. “Are you breaking up with him?”

I grinned at Liam. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s possible.”

There had been many times when my brothers had driven me crazy, but since we were blood, I either had to put up with them or not have them in my life. Since they had some good qualities, I’d decided to ignore their nonsense.

“Why? If you don’t love him and he doesn’t love you, it would be better to dump him.”

“I can’t dump my own brother,” I informed him, and then took a large swallow of Merlot from my glass.

“That was your brother?”

I nodded. “Noah. The eldest.”

He looked relieved as he answered. “Sorry. I guess I’m not used to you having brothers.”

“I’m not sure if I’m used to it, either,” I joked. “And they’ve been my siblings for twenty-six years. Noah is protective since he raised all of us, but we can never seem to convince him that we’re all grown up now.”

He threw back half of the bottle of beer he was holding before he answered, “He’s always going to want to protect you. Tessa is married, and I still want to tell her what to do. I don’t think that instinct ever goes away.”

“I love him. He dedicated his whole life to his family when he was barely a grown-up himself.”

“He did what he had to do to keep you all together. I respect that.”

“But you thought he was my boyfriend?”

He nodded. “I did. You can still break up with your boyfriend, Brooke.”

“I can’t.” How could I dump a guy who didn’t exist?

“He basically left you alone for the last year. He’s been here to visit for a day or two a few times, but if he really loved you, he would have been here with you.”

My heart melted just a little bit more. Liam was obviously trying to help me, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that he appeared to care if I was happy. “If you were in the same situation, would you have dropped your whole life for a woman?”

“If she was the right woman, yes.”

Strangely, I believed him. Liam was loyal and steadfast with people he cared about. “There aren’t many guys who would,” I explained.

“Bullshit! I don’t know many guys who wouldn’t.” He took another healthy hit from his beer.

I knew plenty of men who wouldn’t drop their lives and follow a female, even if they were in a relationship. But Liam apparently hung out with guys who had their priorities together.

I changed the subject before I had to tell an actual lie. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I wanted to see if I could talk you into staying, but after hearing your brother’s message, I know it’s not going to happen. And I’m definitely not getting anywhere with convincing you to get rid of the useless boyfriend.” He paused for a moment before he added, “But it doesn’t feel right to just let you go.”