Omega In The Office - Aria Grace Page 0,26

to end up in the exact same situation the last owners did.” From what I’ve heard, this place had turned into a dump that none of the tenants gave a shit about.

“More than half of our units are empty. We’re all gonna wind up in the street if—”

The front door opens before Lucius can finish talking, and we both immediately lapse into silence.

“Hello, my lovelies.” Candor grins as he rolls through the front door. His near constant smile lightens the mood almost instantly. “I picked up the groceries you wanted, Leon.”

He pushes the door shut and grabs the backpack that’s hooked over the back of his chair.

“Thank you so much.” I smile and rise from my seat. “How was your appointment?”

Candor hands me the backpack, and we share a quick kiss in greeting.

“Great, it went really well.” He beams from ear to ear. “The doctor did caution me and said I probably won’t regain all the functionality I had before, but every patient who has tried this procedure has had at least some improvement.”

As I pass Lucius on my way to the kitchen, he’s already starting to clean up the paperwork from the business side of the apartment complex. We agreed right from the start that we weren’t going to let Candor know about our financial situation. There’s no doubt in my mind that he would want to use his settlement money to keep us afloat.

But, to quote Lucius, “You don’t bail out a sinking ship until you plug the holes.”

I don’t understand all the details, but my business minded brother tells me that having more investment money would only increase the debt for Glass Bay Apartments. If we had a reliable source of new tenants and a solid plan to increase our income, then we could justify taking on more debt. Without either of those...it’s just a waste of money.

Or something like that.

“Have you set a date for the surgery yet?” Lucius asks, tucking his paperwork neatly away.

“He wanted to do it in December. I guess that’s the soonest it can be scheduled for.” Candor removes his coat and hangs it on a hook by the door. “But I’ll need several weeks of recovery before I can start physical therapy, and I’d rather not be laid up during our first Christmas together.”

A smile touches my lips as I stand just outside the kitchen. I’d been so caught up in everything else that’s going on, I hadn’t thought much about Christmas. It’s not that far off really. Last Christmas, I was completely alone, waiting for Lucius to come home from college.

What a difference a year makes.

“So, I guess we’re looking at some time in January,” Candor says. “I hate to wait that long but...a few weeks isn’t going to change things. Besides, I need to be fully functional if I’m going to take you guys to meet my parents.”

My heart stops dead in my chest.

Candor talks about his parents quite a bit, but I’ve never actually met them. Somehow, they were always this abstract thing that existed...elsewhere. Now the thought of meeting them has me on pins and needles.

“You guys are being really quiet...” Candor furrows his brow as he approaches the dining room table. “Is there something wrong?”

I shrink farther into the kitchen with the hope he thinks I just didn’t hear.

From my hiding place, I hear Lucius take a deep breath and slowly release. “Well,” Lucius says, loud enough that there’s no possible way to pretend I didn’t hear. “I guess it’s time to tell you about where we came from.”

11

Lucius

I don’t blame Leon for wanting to avoid this conversation.

I’m not exactly thrilled about it myself, but I feel like we owe Candor an explanation. He doesn’t know everything we’ve been through. We’ve mentioned some of it, but he’s never gotten the full story.

Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on the table and steeple my hands.

“Leon and I never met our birth parents,” I begin. “We were adopted straight out of the hospital after we were born. Everything I know about our adoptive parents was learned second hand. Apparently, they were real estate agents, unable to have kids of their own for some reason.

“When we were two, we were with a babysitter while our parents were hosting an open house in another part of town. A group of thugs showed up and tried to rob everyone, but things got out of hand, and people were shot, including our parents. They didn’t make it.

Candor looks heartbroken for us but