Page 219 of The Compass Series

Damian and I stared at one another and blinked before shrugging. “I don’t see it,” we said in unison.

“You two could be twins.” Connor laughed.

Just then, a little girl came in with a box in her hands. She set it in front of me and waved. “Hi, who are you?”

“I’m Aiden, Damian’s brother.”

“Uncle Damian, you have a brother?” she exclaimed.

“Yup, sure do.”

“I’m Elizabeth. That’s my daddy, and my mom is helping cook.” She pointed at Jax before opening her box and pulling out some makeup. “Can I do your makeup and nails now?”

“Oh, uh, sure?” I questioned, uncertain what to say.

“Elizabeth, what did I tell you about using makeup on strangers?” Jax called out.

“Only use non-waterproof mascara, and use a beauty blender to add highlights,” she replied.

“Exactly.” He held his hands up to show his hot pink=painted nails. “She wants to open her own makeup and nail salon when she’s older. I’m test dummy number one.”

Connor held up his neon green nails. “Two.”

Damian held up his black nails. “Three. Think of it as your pledge to become a part of our self-made fraternity.”

“Well, by all means, beautify me,” I told Elizabeth. She went to work as the guys taught me all about themselves. Connor and Damian were in the real estate business, and they were slowly but surely trying to convince Jax to take on the role at their real estate branch in the south.

“I’m a plumber,” Jax argued. “I don’t sell toilets. I unclog them.”

Fair enough.

After my nails were properly painted and everyone was juiced up for the night, Damian took me to the spare room I’d be staying in. “Thanks again for letting me stay here.”

“Of course, it’s not a problem. Also, Stella would’ve killed me if she knew I had you stay at a hotel.”

“She’s a good one.”

A small smile slipped out of Damian. The first smile I’d seen him give. “The best one. Let me know if you need anything. My room is two doors down.”

“Thanks. I do have a question for you, though.”

“What’s up?”

“Do you happen to know where I could find Catherine? She didn’t leave an address or anything, but I figured I could see her in the morning before I head to the airport maybe.”

His brows knitted, and he grumbled to himself. “You sure you want to do that?”

“I just feel it’s a part of my story, and once I face her, I can officially close out my past.”

“Yeah.” He blew out a hot cloud of smoke. “I get it. Lord knows I had to take on my own adventures of shit in order to get to this stable place now. Do what you need to do to get closure. I’ll get you her phone number, and you can reach out. Can I give you a word of advice as your older brother?”

“Go for it.”

“Catherine is, to put it nicely, a bitch.”

“That’s putting it nicely?”

“Trust me, it is.” He cleared his throat.

“Just don’t get your hopes up, kid. Know that your story is yours, not the ones who gave you up.

No matter what, you get to make a good life for yourself.

If you need to see her in order to make your life better, do it.

But don’t expect much of her being a part of your happy ending. She’s not built that way.”

I thanked him for his advice.

He scratched at his hair. “We aren’t like, hugging brothers, are we?”

“I mean, we could be if?—”

“I don’t like hugs,” he cut in.

“Oh. Well, okay.”

He held his hand out toward me. “Handshake?”

I shook it. “Night, Damian.”

“Night, brother.”

That morning, I called Hailee to wish her a Merry Christmas. “I’ll be home in no time,” I told her.

“I’ll be waiting here,” she replied.

I woke up early, but clearly so did the rest of the household. Kids were screaming downstairs with excitement. Santa must’ve come that morning. As I collected my things to leave, I walked downstairs and came into the living room with three families dressed in matching pajama sets.

“Merry Christmas!” everyone shouted the moment they noticed me. Connor gave me a hug, Jax and Damian kept with their handshakes, and it felt oddly normal being in a household with strangers who made me feel like family.

I was, after all. I was their family.

“Nice pajamas,” I told Damian with a smirk. He was wearing a red set with reindeer all over it. Funny enough, I doubted that was his normal go-to attire.

“Don’t laugh too hard. This will be your future one day.”

Oddly enough, that didn’t freak me out.

“Did you hear from Catherine?” he asked, walking me to the front door.

“Yeah. I’m going to meet her for coffee before my flight.”

“Just be careful, all right?”

“Will do. Thanks for your hospitality. It’s been great meeting you and your whole family.”

He gave me another smile. “Stella wasn’t lying. I’ve always wanted a brother. You have my number now. Use it.”

“I will. It goes both ways.”

“When you’re back in Los Angeles filming, we’ll meet up again.” He took my hand for a shake and pulled me into a hug.

“I thought you didn’t do hugs?”

“Whatever. It’s Christmas.”

I thanked everyone for a final time before heading out to my car and driving to meet up with Catherine.

My nerves were shot, and I wasn’t quite certain how to deal with the anxiety I’d been feeling.

As I parked the car, I climbed out. Standing in front of the shop was a woman in a luxury coat and red bottom heels.

She looked at me, and my stomach knotted up.

“Catherine?” I asked.

She blinked, and I saw pieces of me in her expressions. “Aiden, yes. Hello.”

She seemed nervous, but I couldn’t blame her. I felt it, too.

“Do you want to head in and get coffee?” I started to open the door and she stopped me.

“No, not really. I just wanted to meet to get it out of the way. It seemed important to you, but I don’t want to give you false hope. From what I can tell, you have a good life now. I don’t want to interfere with that, and honestly, I’m not interested in being involved in your life.”

The coldness of her words stung. I couldn’t say that Damian didn’t warn me.

“No, I get it. I guess I don’t know why I wanted to meet you.”

“So you could look at me and realize you already had the best parents. It’s fine. Consider this my Christmas gift to you.”

“Thank you.”

She nodded. “Whoever thought that Samuel and I would make something this talented?”

I blinked. “What?”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Yeah. You mean you and Jake. Not Samuel.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Uh, no. I think I know whose baby I carried. I don’t even know who this Jake person is that you’re talking about.”

I felt nauseous. As if I’d been sucker punched in the gut. “Are you sure?”

She sarcastically laughed. “Yeah, I’m certain. One doesn’t easily forget the man who messed up your body for nine months.”

My mind was spinning, and I felt faint. I wasn’t certain what to do, so I excused myself from the situation. “It was nice meeting you, Catherine, but I have to go.”