to return our calls.”
“Oh?” My heart trots in my chest. I know where he’s going with this as well.
“You wouldn’t happen to know Rhett Carson, would you?”
My jaw hangs. I don’t know how to answer.
I don’t know how to answer his question without making myself seem like some heartless, selfish weirdo, and maybe that’s a sign that I should’ve put a stop to this a long time ago.
“If he knows you, maybe you could reach out to him?” Liam asks. “I’m familiar with what happened. I imagine he wants nothing to do with Bryce, but legally, he’s entitled to twenty-two million dollars of Bryce’s estate. If he doesn’t want it, it’d default to you since you’re his next of kin.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” I say, “me contacting him.”
Or me getting another twenty-two mil …
Liam swipes his hand in the air. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have asked; I just didn’t know if maybe you knew each other personally. Anyway, we’ll be sending him a letter soon if we haven’t already.” He sits up in his chair, buttoning his suit jacket. “Oh. One more thing before I forget.”
He hunches over the folder, rifling through the papers in the back and retrieving two white envelopes.
One bears my name, the other bears Rhett’s.
He hands me mine. “In the instance of Bryce’s passing, we were instructed to give you each these letters.”
My hand clutches the envelope, and I press it against my chest. To think that my brother sat down with a paper and pen and wrote a letter to me—it overwhelms me like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I need to take a second to catch my breath and fight the rush of tears threatening to cloud my vision.
My nose runs, and I want to smile. Liam hands me a tissue.
“Here’s my card.” He retrieves a business card from a shiny silver rack on his desk a moment later, sliding it across the wooden surface. I pull in a deep breath and stack it with my letter from Bryce and the papers that declare I’m officially a multi-millionaire.
I’d trade it all for a shot at what we could’ve had though. I’d give it all away if we could go back, if I could meet Bryce … if he could give me a chance.
“I’ll be in contact with you shortly with all the specifics,” he says. “If you want to arrange an estate planning meeting for yourself, that’s something I can help you with, though it says here that you’re from California, so you’ll probably want to consult someone back home. Just keep me in the loop, and we’ll do everything we can to help settle this for you.”
“Thank you.” I rise, gathering my things, and folding the papers neatly before placing them in my bag. It isn’t until I’m fumbling with the zipper that I realize I haven’t stopped shaking.
Liam walks me to the elevator, apologizes for my loss once again, and tells me to call him if I have any additional questions.
I blink and I’m outside strolling down the sidewalk.
I blink again and I’m past the coffee shop on the corner.
I blink a third time, and I’m halfway across town, headed toward Rhett’s.
Twenty
Rhett
* * *
“If a good person does a bad thing but had good intentions, does that make them a bad person?” Ayla stands on the other side of my door this afternoon. Her hazel eyes are glassy, and she chews the inside of her lower lip. Before I have a chance to answer, she pushes past me, showing herself in and dropping her bag on my counter.
“Hello to you, too.”
“Just answer my question.”
I rake my palm along my jaw, studying her.
She did something. I can tell. It explains why she’s pulling away and being short with me lately. But the question isn’t what she did, it’s do I really want to know?
“I need context,” I say.
Her arms fold. “I can’t give you context.”
“Then I can’t give you my answer.”
She exhales, her lips slightly pouty as she stares at my feet.
“Ayla, relax.” I go to her, sliding my hands down her arms until they stop at her waist, and then I pull her body against mine. Tasting her lips, I inhale her soft scent. Just being with her quiets the storm in my mind, and I’ve missed this so much. “You want a drink?”
“It’s three o’clock.”
“Your point?”
She hesitates. “Yes.”
I go to the fridge and grab her a beer, twisting the cap and tossing it in the sink