Page 11 of The Elusive Billionaire

“He won’t stay away forever. Uncle Grey is a lot of things—tortured, protective, stubborn—but he’s not an idiot. He knows he needs us as much as we need him. Whatever’s going on between the two of you will be resolved, but first he’ll need to tame some of his own demons.”

“I just…” I finally peer back up at this amazing young man. “I can be prickly too, but I messed up this time. I owe him an apology, Sage.”

“And you will. But tonight is about Braxton and Madi. Uncle Grey can be a grumpy bastard sometimes, but he’s a good man. He’ll come around, but Madi may never forgive us if we don’t have the times of our lives tonight.”

He leads me in a circle to see my best friend. Madi is happier than I’ve ever seen her, and I know Sage is right.

Grey and I may have a rocky road ahead of us, but we aren’t getting rid of one another anytime soon.

Eventually, he’ll have to forgive me, and eventually, I’ll have to admit that it was never just about sex with him.

Thankfully, neither of those things has to happen tonight.

Soon, but not tonight.

Tonight is all about happiness and love.

Elle pushes baby Keela into my arms.

And apparently, babies. Lots and lots of babies.

CHAPTER FOUR

GREYSON

Present Day

Rain fallsin a wall of water so thick that I can’t see more than a few feet in front of me.

Standing on my front porch with a cup of coffee, watching it come down is fascinating. The power of it. The raging energy. Yet I’m calmer than I’ve been in months. Leaning my shoulder against my new porch pillar, admiring the riotous view, I’m almost relaxed, something I thought would never be possible now that I’m back in Happiness.

But it’s a vast improvement over the last few months, where everyone around me thought I’d snap like a twig at the slightest provocation.

Even the mountain of dirt Cian left on the side of the drive that’s quickly turning my private road into a mosh pit and will likely create a few thousand dollars in damage doesn’t deter me from studying meteorological savagery with mild enjoyment.

Witnessing Mother Nature ravage the area as Hurricane Isolde warnings blast through my cell phone is an aptrepresentation of what’s been happening inside my mind since returning to Happiness, Georgia a few days ago.

I don’t belong here.

But I’ll live here for Sage and Braxton.

I fight back a shiver because thinking about my lifelong best friend as my half brother is still messing with my head. He seems to have adjusted to this particular betrayal much better than I have.

We’ve been best friends for twenty-five years. His grandfather, Ace, adopted Sage and I after my father went to jail for the death of my sister.

The worst part is, people knew we were related, but no one bothered to tell us until last year.

Since Ace passed away, our lives have been upended. First, he threw us curveballs with his will. One sent Braxton here, to Happiness, to essentially find and fix the heart and soul of the town, which ended up being Madi Ryan, his new wife.

My mission was slightly…different. And twofold. First, he wanted me to run Omni-Reyes Media on my own. While that’s daunting, fine. I’ll never back down from a challenge. It was his second request that’s still haunting me.

The mistakes of youth and misplaced trust weigh heaviest on innocent souls. When Sin turns to sadness, don’t allow her to break. Be stronger than those before you. Choose love, and light, and laughter. Choose Happiness, Greyson. Choose to let go in order to move on.

I’m certain he wanted me to choose this godforsaken little town too, with all its intrusive residents, fucked-up festivals, and absolutely no privacy, but his words were written in secret codes I can’t decipher.

Sin? Who the hell is that? And why will she be sad?

None of it makes any sense.