Entangled (The Accidental Billionaires #2) - J. S. Scott Page 0,71

I was about Skye, it wouldn’t have taken very long for me to suggest she live with me.

“Most parents would do anything to make sure their children can eat. There wasn’t much we weren’t willing to do to keep our family together,” Seth said.

I thought about his words for a moment. Really, I had to admit that family was a pretty good motivator. I knew what it was like to want something better for my siblings. It was the reason I’d busted my ass to see the younger ones get an education. “She could have asked me for help.”

Seth snorted. “After she left you for another guy? I’m pretty sure she wasn’t expecting to get a nice, warm welcome.”

“I would have helped her,” I shared. “I sure as hell wouldn’t have let her and her kid starve, even though she did leave me.”

“I think you need to prepare yourself for either possibility. One: she lied to you because she was desperate, which is the most likely scenario. Two: somebody messed up on the test results.”

I took a deep breath and then let it out. I needed to think rationally. My brother was right about that. But every sensible thought had flown out of my head when I’d looked at those results from the lab. I’d felt like my entire world had just collapsed.

Now, my gut instinct was telling me that Skye wouldn’t lie unless she was somehow backed into a corner. And maybe she had been. Yeah, she was living with me, but she had yet to ask me for a penny for anything she personally wanted. Hell, she hadn’t even accepted anything for Maya. And if I wanted to get honest, I owed her for years of child support if Maya was my biological child. The only reason I’d never paid her for that was because I was under the impression that I’d always be there to take care of her and Maya.

“It doesn’t really matter if Maya doesn’t have my DNA,” I finally told my brother. “I’d be pretty damn proud to call her my daughter.”

“Then talk to Skye and be reasonable,” he answered.

I looked at Seth as a light bulb went on in my head. “You like her.”

He nodded. “I like her because she makes you happy. And so does Maya. And I already know you’re crazy about her. You’ve never hit me before, even though there were times I might have deserved it. Only a guy who’s head over heels does that.”

“You really deserved it this time,” I grumbled. “And I’m not apologizing.”

Seth smirked. “No apologies necessary. Just go patch things up with Skye. Your sad mug is starting to depress me.”

It was probably time for me to head home. I’d been gone a couple of hours now, dumping all my bullshit on Seth. “I’ll talk to her.”

He nodded. “I don’t want you to be with somebody who is going to be a habitual liar, or a woman who isn’t going to put as much emotional energy into the relationship as you are. But I also don’t want you to screw this up twice because you don’t have all the facts. Get all the information before you lose it.”

Was it possible that Skye was so desperate that she’d made stuff up just to house Maya somewhere better? To give her daughter a better life? And if she did, could I really blame her?

“She really acted like it was all a mistake,” I considered as I stood up. “She looked as surprised as I was.”

I was just now getting rational enough to think about her reaction. There had been no guilty expression, or any hesitation when she’d said that Maya was most definitely my daughter.

Seth followed me to the door. “Just listen to her, Aiden. Get her side, and follow your gut until you can get a new test done. Until you know the truth, don’t do something that can never be undone.”

“I plan on it,” I answered. “How are things going with the tree hugger who doesn’t want you to develop the land on the water?”

“Not good,” my brother answered unhappily. “She’s taking legal action to stop it. And since she’s an attorney, she has connections. And she knows how to write some scathing emails. I hate environmentalists.”

I grinned despite my worries because Seth looked so disgruntled. It wasn’t often that anybody really annoyed him.

“You don’t hate your little sister, and she’s a conservationist. And don’t voice your opinion to Jade,” I cautioned him. “She might