by Lexi Blake
“He looks nothing like me.”
Shelby looked at him like he’d said the dumbest thing in the history of time. “Drew, he’s a mini you.” Her voice went low despite the fact that they were alone. “Is there any way your mother was pregnant when she left?”
“You mean when she murdered my father and his mistress, failed in her attempt to kill her children, and took off with a whole new identity?”
She ignored him. “The timing is right. I read through what the police have on him so far. Noah was born eight months after your father was killed. The mother’s name on his birth certificate is Leah Walker. No name at all given for the father. He was born in New York. Do you know that name? Could it have been one of her aliases?”
Oh, he recognized the name. “Ian and I talked about her earlier this afternoon. According to him, Leah Walker was a friend of Patricia’s. One who Patricia introduced to her wealthy friends over the years. But there was nothing about a child. Of course I didn’t tell them to look for a kid and they’ve just started investigating her. I meant to ask Carly about her tonight. Carly worked for Patricia for years. I assume she knew most of her friends.”
She turned and looked into the room. “He looks so scared.”
“He’s probably an excellent actor.” He was a Trojan horse. That’s what he was. His mother had found an actor the right age, who looked a bit like Drew, and she’d sent him down here to . . . to do what? Create chaos? To soften Drew’s heart? She was an idiot if she thought he would fall for this. He saw that kid for exactly what he was—a snake in the grass waiting to bite them all.
“So you’re saying your mother died a few years back?” the detective in the interrogation room was asking.
The kid nodded, looking down at his hands as though he couldn’t quite believe they were still cuffed. “Yeah. It was four years ago, but we weren’t close. She shipped me off to boarding school when I was seven. Not that I saw her much before that, either. I had a nanny. My mom spent a lot of time out of town.”
“What did you do during the summer?” the detective asked.
The kid, who Drew realized was nineteen and not an actual kid, sat up straighter. “I stayed with friends. It’s what I’ve been doing since I graduated from Creighton Academy. Well, I was before they all went off to college. Mom had prepaid my tuition for high school, but apparently she left all the money and the property to her sister. I didn’t know she had a sister so after I finished high school last year, I was kind of shit out of luck.”
“Your aunt didn’t take custody of you? You would have been fifteen at the time.”
He shrugged. “She didn’t call me. I didn’t even know Mom had died until after the funeral. The cops said they didn’t find my name on her phone or anywhere in the house. It was kind of like I didn’t exist. My friend’s mom took me in. She became my foster mom I guess, but she died of cancer about seven months ago. I’ve been staying at motels when I can ever since.”
“So according to what you told the cops at the scene, you recently received a letter claiming you’re the brother of Andrew Lawless?”
Noah sighed as though grateful to finally be going there. “Yes. It was in my backpack. You can read it if you like. It was on a card sent to the motel I was staying at. I have no idea who knew I was staying there except a few friends. It was weird because everyone I know sends e-mail.”
“I don’t suppose whoever sent the card left a return address?” the police officer asked.
“It was sent from a post office in New York. I can’t exactly trace it back. Snail mail sucks,” Noah said, frowning.
“So you get this note and decide to contact Andrew Lawless?” the police officer prompted.
“I always wondered who my dad was. Mom said it didn’t matter, that he was dead and it was better I didn’t know. The card said my father was Benedict Lawless and that if I wanted to find out the truth about my life, I should find it out from my brother Drew Lawless. That was all it said. I tried calling but he’s kind of hard to get in touch with. So I had some money left and I decided to come down here. I look like him. I think it’s true. I think he’s my brother. Half brother, I guess.”
“Oh, I doubt that,” Shelby said under her breath.
“He’s not my brother.” Drew didn’t believe it for a second. “It’s utterly ridiculous. According to Hatch, my parents were barely talking at the end.”
“They might not have been talking but they were doing something else,” Shelby muttered, her eyes still on the kid. “Drew, he’s practically your twin.”
“So she found someone who looks like me.” It didn’t matter if this kid took a DNA test that proved it. He wasn’t Drew’s brother. He was some rich brat. Creighton Academy was one of the world’s premier prep schools. The freaking president of the United States had gone there. So had the dude who made all of Drew’s private jets. It was for the wealthy and elite. If his mother had truly given birth to this brat, she’d obviously cared more for him than the rest of them. Noah had been lounging away at prep school while Drew and the rest had been struggling to survive.
Not his brother. No fucking way.
He was, however, a cock-blocking son of a bitch who’d ruined Drew’s day in more ways than one. He should be at home right now, working on round number three or four with Shelby. He’d intended to get home, get her in bed, and not let her out for a few days.
“So you decided to come down and meet your brother?” The detective sounded skeptical. “Who happens to be one of the wealthiest men in the world.”
Thank God someone else was skeptical because he could practically feel Shelby’s heart bleeding as the kid continued his well-planned-out sob story.
“I got a scholarship to Harvard, but I couldn’t manage the rest of the tuition,” Noah was saying. “I thought I could handle it, but I ended up dropping out. I’ve been working for a temp agency, but there’s not a lot of temp coding jobs. It’s the only thing I’m good at besides studying. But then I got that card. Now I get why I’m so good at it. My brother is the single most brilliant coder in the world. He’s a genius. Apparently my dad was a genius, too.”
A nasty huff came out of the detective’s mouth. “Your father killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself. He wasn’t so brilliant at life.”
Maybe Drew didn’t like the detective so much after all.
Noah sat back, his jaw turning stubborn. “There are people out there who don’t believe that. Some people think he was murdered so the company he founded could sell his ideas.”
“Conspiracy nuts,” the detective shot back.
“Well, he seems to have done some homework,” Shelby commented.
“Yes. He’s been well prepared.”
Shelby turned to him as the detective started to question Noah about how he’d gotten to Austin. “You know there are several journalists who’ve worked on the case over the years.”
“None who found real evidence. And calling them journalists is ridiculous. They’re conspiracy theorists. Like the detective said. I believe one of the working theories is that aliens took my father’s real body and he’s working for them now.”
A vision of his father’s burned body flashed through his brain, but it had nothing on that fucking heart she’d drawn on the back. Like it had been a gift from her. Like death had been his mother’s purpose and accomplishment in life.
She’d left it knowing the next time anyone looked in that box, it would be one of her children. She’d left it so the first thing he or his brothers or Mia would see was their father’s body. Was it her way of telling them to stay away? Or had it been her way of reaching out? Her way of saying, Look at this. You’re just like me, Andrew. You’re ruthless. You are my child. The others are too much like their father, but you . . . oh, you are mine . . .
“Drew?”
He had to shake his head, as though he could ma
ke the bad thoughts go away. “What?”
“I asked if you wanted me to get you something to drink,” Shelby repeated.
Scotch. A shit-ton of Scotch might help him relax. “No, I’m fine.”
He turned his attention back to his mother’s latest gift, but his mind was on Shelby. For a brief moment he’d forgotten everything but her. When he was holding her, bringing her pleasure, he hadn’t been thinking about anything but Shelby. He hadn’t wanted a drink or a computer. He’d only wanted her. She’d been the thing that made all the bad of the world drift away.
“So you decided to break in?” The detective sat back as though he had all night and it wouldn’t bother him to stay right there. “Did you think that would endear you to your brother?”
Noah sighed. “I wanted to wait for him. Okay? I know it was stupid, but I had to see him. I don’t have anywhere else to go.” Tears hit the kid’s eyes, but he seemed to suck it up. “I spent everything I had on the bus ticket down here and then the taxi that took me out to my brother’s place. Look, I wasn’t trying to get inside the house. I got tired so I fell asleep by the pool. If I was trying to break in, wouldn’t I have shoved a brick through a window or something?”
“Maybe you weren’t there to steal from him. You want to explain the knife in your bag?” The cop pulled out what looked like a small, ordinary steak knife. Not even a particularly good brand. It looked serrated, but not sharp. “Were you angry with Mr. Lawless?”
Shelby’s hand slipped into his.
“I’m not angry with anyone, damn it. I’ve been staying in a crap hole,” Noah shot back. “You wouldn’t understand.”
But Drew did. Drew knew what it meant to be so fucking scared that someone was going to attack him, he’d walked around with a butter knife because it was the only thing he could steal. He’d kept that stupid butter knife with him all the time.
Where would he have been if he hadn’t found Hatch? Hadn’t convinced him to clean himself up so they could find investors and get Riley, Bran, and Mia back? What if he’d truly been alone?
There was a brief knock on the door, and the detective’s partner strode in. She was a competent-looking woman wearing a tailored pantsuit, her silvery hair in a professional bun. She had a file in her hand. “Mr. Lawless, I have the paperwork all ready. I just need your signature and we can charge him with criminal trespassing and stalking. If he’s telling the truth and he has no money, we’ll set bail and probably hold him over until trial. That should be sometime next year.”
It would serve him right to stay in jail for months. Or he would drop the act and that would tell Drew something, too.
“Excellent.” If his mother gave a damn about the kid, she could show up herself and bail him out. Otherwise, Noah being in jail solved a great many problems.
“Andrew?” Shelby’s eyes were wide as she looked up at him. “You can’t put him in jail.”
“He was trespassing.” It seemed perfectly logical to him.
“He was looking for you,” Shelby insisted.
“Yes, after nineteen years, he suddenly decided he had a billionaire brother. That seems convenient, doesn’t it? Besides, it doesn’t matter. I have two brothers and he’s not one of them.” He held his hand out for the file, ready to sign on the dotted line.
Shelby stepped between him and the detective. “Drew, I need to speak with you alone for a moment.”
He should have known she would be difficult. Maybe a few minutes alone would be helpful. He should have dropped her at the house, but he’d been weak. “Please, Detective, could we have a moment?”
“We can hold him for seventy-two hours. You have between now and then to decide what you want to do, but I think a man in your shoes should be careful.” She nodded and walked back out the door.
He was alone with Shelby and a view of Noah, the detective interviewing him having left moments before. Noah was still cuffed. He sat at the table with his head in his hands.
Not that it meant anything to Drew, but the kid had been trained to draw out protective instincts. He looked like a fucking bunny caught in a trap and ready to get eaten.
And Drew didn’t give a damn because he saw that rabbit for exactly what it was. The rabbit in this case was the trap.
“Drew, that young man is related to you,” Shelby started.
“We don’t know that.” He wouldn’t believe it until he’d had a DNA test done. Not that sharing DNA meant a damn thing. His mother had proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. “Besides, if he is my brother, he’s been tainted by my mother. Can’t you see she’s the one who sent him?”
“You can’t know that for sure.”
She was being naive. “Who do you think sent him that card? Who else would have known about his connection? He thought his name was Walker all his life. So he gets a mysterious card and suddenly he’s Team Lawless? I don’t buy it for a second. He’s one of two things. He’s a distraction or an outright weapon against me. Either way, he can go to hell and I’ll buy him a first-class ticket.”
That was as baldly as he could put it. She had to understand now.
“Or he’s a victim like you.” She turned and looked at the scene in front of them. “Drew, he’s so young. He’s a young you. What would you have given for someone who could save you? Who could have taken care of you?”
“I took care of everyone. I didn’t need someone to take care of me.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “And you’ve done a spectacular job. You were everything they needed and now someone else needs you.”
“He doesn’t need me. He’s here to do Iris’s work. Can’t you see that?”
She sighed, a frustrated sound, and he could see the wheels of her brain working. He would give it to Shelby. She wasn’t the kind of person who gave up easily. “All right, have you ever heard the old saying keep your friends close, but your enemies closer?”
“That was said by people who didn’t have the means to keep their enemies in jail.” He picked up the folder, ready to sign. Shelby would forget about this incident once she got focused on the case again. She might be irritated with him for a few days, but she would come to understand that this was the best way to handle things.
She turned away, staring into the room where Noah was perfectly placed. Now there were tears in his fucking eyes. He looked pathetic, like the dog at the pound who knew he wasn’t going home with some family.
Shelby sniffled.
“You know I’m doing this for you, too.” He set the folder down. His signature would be easier to write on the desk.
“This isn’t about me, but I’m learning something about you.”
That sounded ominous. He could admit he wasn’t particularly good with women. It was precisely why he hadn’t had serious relationships with them.
“What did you learn about me?”
She turned and her eyes were red. She brushed tears off her face. “I learned that I shouldn’t cross you. You don’t give people second chances, do you? In Noah’s case, you’re not even giving him a first one.”
“Are you saying I should give my mother a chance to send her spy in? I should give her a chance to hurt me, or more importantly, you? I meant what I said, Shelby. This is as much about protecting you as it is me. He could hurt you. He could be here to hurt you.”
She moved in, her hands coming up to touch his chest, and he was an idiot because he practically sighed at the connection.
“I think you’re sweet to think that way, Drew, but I need you to talk to him. I think even if he’s a plant, you won’t be able to live with yourself if you send your brother to jail. We need to bring him home with us and figure out what’s going on.”
“I’m not taking him home.”
“He can stay in the pool house. You have plenty of room,” she reasoned.
“Absolutely not.” But he was already debating in
his head. His first instinct was to shove the kid in jail and never think twice, but it might be smarter to figure him out, to study him and see what made him tick. To find out what Mommy wanted to accomplish by sending her favorite son in to do her dirty work.
And then he could have the fucker taken someplace that would teach him what deprivation really was.
It might be fun. Except he had the issue of Shelby living with him and he couldn’t risk her. “I’m sorry. I would feel better if he was in jail. Now let me get this done so we can go home.”
Her hands fell to her sides and she nodded, stepping back. “All right. I’m going to go out and make a few calls.”
Yes, this was precisely why he didn’t date women like Shelby. Now he fucking remembered. “So you’re leaving? You’re going to call a cab and walk away the minute I don’t do what you want? Is that it?”
She frowned. “No. I’m not leaving, Drew. I’m going to call around and see if I can find a lawyer who might take your brother’s case. He doesn’t deserve to stay in jail because he pissed you off. You know it’s the poor of this world who get the shaft.”
She was forgetting a few salient points. “He went to one of the most expensive prep schools in the country.”
“Yeah, well, he doesn’t anymore, and just because he has a horrible mother doesn’t mean I won’t help him. Aren’t you lucky I think that way? Or you would be shit out of luck, too, mister.”
“So you’re coming home with me, but I suspect we won’t pick up where we left off.” He knew it wasn’t her fault they’d been interrupted, but he couldn’t help but feel cheated.
“Are you kidding me? You want me to go home with you and have sex? After everything that’s happened tonight?”
“I thought you were all about giving me comfort. Let me tell you something, Shelby. I’m very much in need of comfort right now.”
