Earthbound Angels Part 1

by Sweet

  “I see. Well, what you need to know is that you’ve got an extended family. In fact, it was one of your half-brothers who hired me to find you. He didn’t seem to know much about you and didn’t seem to know anything at all about Ronan. The reason he wanted me to find you is because your biological father has recently passed on.”

  “My father? Are you sure?” Kiara looked a little lost and stunned. “And he’s died, too?” she asked in a small voice.

  “Not only that but there’s a great deal of money involved in the estate and you’ve been left a significant portion of it.”

  She was still looking at him. “Do you know how he died?”

  Graeme noted that she didn’t even seem to hear about the money. “No, Kiara, sorry I don’t. I can find out, if you want,” he said gently.

  She looked still dazed as she looked down at her hands again, then she seemed to gather herself together. Her shoulders squared and she looked back at him again. “What else was it that you’re saying?”

  “I am saying that a huge part of your father’s estate has been left to you. Obviously, this would allow your lifestyle to change considerably. However, I found it strange that no one else knew about your existence until the reading of your father’s will.”

  “What is my father’s name?” Kiara asked.

  “Yes, his name is Richard Graves. His son and your half-brother, Jefferson Graves, is who hired me. I’ve had some time to dig into their background a bit and discovered that there are actually three sons. There’s Jefferson, Elliott, and Bradley. Those would be your half-brothers. I’ve only met with Jefferson so far, but I’ll need to meet with the rest of them before I willingly turn you over to them.”

  “Graves…. That name sounds a little familiar to me,” Kiara mused. “But it just may be something I read or saw somewhere.”

  “It’s possible,” Graeme agreed. “The Graves name is pretty well-known around here. But you’re sure you never heard it from your mother?”

  “Pretty sure, yeah,” Kiara replied.

  “Okay, well, either way, I won’t be letting on that I’ve found you. That makes it certain that you’ll remain safe until I’ve had some time to look into this. Are you okay with that?”

  “Of course,” Kiara replied without hesitation. “I’ll do as you say.”

  By the time this meeting concluded, it was late and starting to get dark outside. Dreama and Hollianne both hugged Kiara before they left and assured her once more that she and Ronan couldn’t be in safer hands than Graeme’s.

  Then, with a promise to check in on her the next day, both women hurried off to have dinner with their men.

  Graeme showed them out, and Kiara went in search of Ronan. She didn’t ordinarily like to leave him on his own for very long at a time, but he didn’t need to be a part of this horrific story.

  The game room wasn’t hard to find as she just followed the sound of a video game’s music. Pausing in the doorway, she watched her little brother deftly playing the video game he had chosen. A small smile touched her lips.

  He never got to have any real fun anymore because of the way they had been living. Even if it turned out that Graeme’s intentions weren’t the best, this was still better than the alternative.

  Kiara felt rather than heard Graeme come up behind her.

  “He’s so happy,” she said without even turning around. “Thank you for this.”

  “I should be thanking you,” Graeme replied. “I forget just how big this place is until there are no people in it except me. My housekeeper and her husband are on vacation right now but you’ll meet her soon enough. I’ve got a feeling she’s going to be very pleased about this turn of events.”

  “She is?” Kiara asked. “Why?”

  Graeme looked a bit uncomfortable, but he replied. “Stella has been trying to find the perfect woman for me for a very long time. She’ll see you being here as a very hopeful challenge.”

  The wry tone in Graeme’s voice made her laugh.

  “She’s going to love having Ronan here to spoil, too. Don’t even try to talk her out of it, either. Your pleas will fall on deaf ears.”

  “You know, it’s been a long time since anyone has spoiled him except for me. It will probably do him a lot of good.”

  As Graeme stood near her, watching Roman, too, he reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently.

  She knew what the gesture meant, but Kiara was stunned when her body responded to the touch. An electrical current zipped through her body, reaching her lower belly and putting a curious weight there that could only mean one thing.

  She wasn’t that ignorant to know what it meant. It has been a long time since she felt attraction to a guy. What’s different now was that it had been a youthful infatuation then. Now, she’s an adult. And her body could feel the difference.

  Oh wow, she thought. She looked back up at Graeme, hoping nothing on her face showed what’s going on inside her. Graeme was staring at her strangely.

  Then he smiled.

  That weight in her lower belly dropped.

  “Why don’t we go in and see if Ronan is hungry? I’m sure his lunch wore off a long time ago.”

  Kiara tried to smile, too, but her face has already turned away when she nodded.

  And together, they entered the room.

  ~ ~ ~ ~