The Forbidden Billionaire (The Sinclairs Book 2) (18 page)

“I didn’t admit it at the time, but I think that
was
what I really wanted,” he answered in a husky whisper near her ear. “It’s hard to believe it’s actually happening. There’s only Evan now.”

Mara’s heart skipped a beat. Did that mean Jared was planning on staying in Amesport forever? That his home on the Peninsula would be his permanent residence? Obviously he’d have to travel at times. He had projects all over the world. But was he planning on spending the majority of his time here in Maine?

“I’m not certain the little Amesport airport can accommodate that many private jets,” she said with a levity she wasn’t feeling, trying to calm her agitated nerves.

Jared grinned at her. “Then we’ll make it bigger. That’s one good thing about having a lot of billionaires in one town. There will be plenty of money around to help with improvements.”

Mara could think of plenty of benefits, the most important one being that Jared would be in Amesport often. She opened her mouth to answer him, but her attention was taken away from Jared as Hope sat down on her husband’s lap in a recliner and spoke more quietly. “Since we’re all here right now, there’s something else I need to tell you. I hid some things from all of you, and I’m sorry.”

Mara saw Jason’s face change instantly, his expression immediately concerned, his eyes growing dim as he ran a hand up and down Hope’s back. “Sweetheart, maybe now isn’t the best time . . .” Jason started to speak gravely.

“It is,” Hope interrupted. “We’re never all together, and I want them to know the truth. We’re going to be close again, living in the same place. I need this for closure, Jason. I don’t want to go on living a lie with my family. I love them. It’s time.”

Mara watched the interplay between Hope and Jason as they looked at each other, so much communicated without words, before Jason finally nodded his handsome blond head reluctantly. It was a signal that he was standing beside Hope no matter what.

The beautiful, auburn-haired Hope opened her mouth to speak, but her voice was weak and tremulous. “I lied. I’ve been lying to all of you for years until recently.”

“Why?” Grady asked, sounding confused as Emily slipped her hand into Grady’s from their place on a love seat.

“How?” Dante questioned gruffly as Sarah wrapped an arm around her fiancé’s shoulders from her place in his lap in another chair.

Mara reached for and clasped Jared’s hand, sensing that whatever Hope was going to say would impact the Sinclair siblings emotionally.

Tears sprang to Hope’s eyes, and she tried to continue. “I-I hid things,” she said in a voice heavy with sorrow.

Evan’s voice boomed from his position in another recliner across the room from Hope. “She went to school for photography, a fact that none of us really knew. We all thought she was getting a useless degree, but in fact she graduated as a very talented photographer and started making her living traveling around the globe on risky assignments as an extreme weather photographer. She never shared what she was doing or where she was going because she knew we’d stop her.” Evan turned his ice-blue eyes toward his sister as she gaped at him. “And damn right we would have if we had known. She would have had protection around the clock.” Evan’s voice was matter-of-fact, but his eyes never left Hope. “While she was in India chasing a cyclone, she was kidnapped, tortured, and . . .” Evan coughed into a fisted hand before he got out the last words. “She was repeatedly beaten, assaulted, and raped.”

For the first time, Mara heard a note of anguish and remorse in Evan’s usually ice-cold voice as he spoke the last sentence. His face was still neutral, but he hadn’t been able to hide how he felt about what had happened to Hope. Mara squeezed Jared’s hand as she saw the disbelieving, tortured look on his face.

“How did you know?” Hope asked Evan flatly, lowering her eyes to her lap.

“I didn’t know until after you were involved with Sutherland, or I would have done something to prevent your dangerous activities. I only sent investigators on your trail when you disappeared in Colorado. I got the sense that everything wasn’t quite what it seemed,” Evan replied, his voice stern and angry.

“I was found the same day,” Hope argued.

“I didn’t give a shit,” Evan snapped. “You’re my baby sister, and I wanted to know what the hell I was missing.”

“What the fuck happened after you were kidnapped?” Jared growled.

“Who the hell did it?” Dante asked angrily.

“We’ll kill the bastard,” Grady interjected furiously.

“He’s dead,” Hope explained quietly. “He was a political radical and crazy. Our Special Forces were already tracking him in a top-secret mission because they knew he was hiding in India. They saved my life, and they killed him when they stormed the remote building he was using for cover. He was holding me there.” Hope took a deep breath before adding, “I’m sorry I lied to you all. After the way we were brought up, I just wanted to be free. You’re all overprotective, and I love that about all of you, but I needed to live my own life.”

Hope answered all of her brothers’ rapid-fire questions, trying to smooth over all of the hurt feelings. The women all backed up Hope’s decision, pointing out to their men that they
were
all overprotective, and that Hope had a right to her own life. Even if meant that she had to lie to them to get her independence.

“I admire your work, Hope,” Mara told her during a rare period of silence. Hope had mentioned her professional name of H. L. Sinclair while everyone had been arguing. “I’ve never seen any of your extreme weather pictures, but I have actually seen some of your nature shots. I wanted some prints to put on my wall a while ago, and I came across some of your photos. They’re extraordinary.” She looked around her, noticing every set of eyes in the room was on
her
. “Hope is incredibly talented. Have any of you actually ever
seen
her photographs?”

“She’s a photography genius. Hope is probably one of the most respected photographers in the world for her extreme weather photography. She has a gift, and she’s amazingly skilled,” Jason said supportively. “Luckily, her focus is now on her landscapes and nature photographs. She has nothing to prove to anyone anymore.” Jason and Hope exchanged a look of understanding, something that nobody probably understood except them.

Everyone grumbled that they hadn’t . . . except Evan. “I’ve seen them all,” Evan mentioned nonchalantly. “I agree she’s incredibly talented. I have a number of her works on my walls now,” Evan admitted. “I have to admit that I’m relieved that she’s decided to change her focus. If she hadn’t, I’d have agents all over her.”

“They’d have to get in line after mine,” Grady said sullenly.

“Mine would be there, too,” Jared added.

“I’d hire some,” Dante agreed in a surly voice.

“You’d all be too late,” Jason told them defensively. “I’d already planned her protection had she not chosen to get out of the field on her own. And I would have been with her every moment no matter where she was.”

Hope leaned over and kissed her husband tenderly before focusing her attention on Evan. “You really have some of my photos on your walls?” Hope asked hesitantly, hopefully, her eyes expressing her surprise.

Evan nodded sharply. “I’m proud of you, Hope.”

Mara knew Evan’s simple comment encompassed more than just her work as a photographer. Mara’s heart squeezed thinking about what Hope had endured in the hands of her kidnapper, although she hadn’t shared the gruesome details. She hurt for the physical and emotional pain that Hope had been through. “You’re incredibly brave,” Mara told Hope earnestly. “I’m just sorry for what happened to you.”

Hope gave Mara a small smile. “Thank you. I got through it, and I’m happier now than I could have ever dreamed I’d be.” She stopped to give her husband, Jason, an adoring look, her hand going to her still-flat abdomen protectively.

“We should have been there for you. You could have told us,” Grady rumbled.

“Please understand that I needed time, Grady. I love you all, but I had to have time to heal,” Hope answered softly.

“If this incident was top secret and it was hidden from the public eye, how the hell did Evan find out?” Dante questioned, looking directly at his eldest brother.

Evan stared back at Dante, his eyes neutral. “There aren’t many areas where I don’t have contacts.” He shrugged mysteriously.

Jared let go of Mara’s hand and stood, making his way slowly to his sister. “We weren’t there for you then, but we are now. Hug me, dammit,” he insisted gruffly.

Tears streaming down her face, Mara bit her lip as Jason let go of his wife, a tearful Hope rising to fling herself into Jared’s arms. “I’m so sorry. I love you all so much,” Hope sobbed as she clung to her youngest brother.

Everyone else except Evan rose, including the women, and passed Hope around for heartfelt hugs of forgiveness and love.

Although Evan watched every moment of the reunion, he never moved to hug his sister, or to join in the family rebonding.

He remained alone.

CHAPTER 17

“You have an incredible family,” Mara told Jared an hour or two after Hope’s revelation had shaken up the entire clan of Sinclairs. Although Evan tried not to appear affected by any of it, Mara knew better. While the rest of the family had been able to talk things out, hug each other in forgiveness and support, Evan had been brooding by himself. There was no healing for Evan, and her heart ached for him.

“I’ve missed them,” Jared admitted in a low, thoughtful voice as he watched the whole bunch of Sinclairs around him laughing and teasing each other about everything from childhood exploits to their sports team preferences. “I just wished I had known about Hope.”

“Nobody did. Evan didn’t even know until it was over. I’m glad she showed everybody her work. You should be proud of her. She’s talented,” Mara told him thoughtfully.

Hope had brought up her portfolio online after every Sinclair had insisted on seeing it. They’d all spent some time marveling at her talent, and Mara could see that Hope was relieved and pleased that her family could finally acknowledge her career. Although Hope was now done shooting extreme weather and chasing natural disasters around the world, she was still building her name in nature photography. And in Mara’s opinion, she was damn good at it.

“Jared? Somebody is here for you. She says she’s an old acquaintance of yours.” Emily hovered near where they were seated on the couch, her face appearing uncertain.

The doorbell had rung a few minutes ago, and Emily had hopped up, Grady right behind her protectively, to see who was visiting. Since the family was all here, and the Peninsula was private, he’d acted concerned. Obviously, they hadn’t been expecting any more guests.

The room grew quiet, all eyes on Jared. “Who is it?” he asked, appearing confused.

It’s a she? He isn’t seeing anyone else right now. He told me he isn’t.

Mara’s heart started to race, her fear that it was an old flame that he’d taken to his bed who had tracked him down making a cold chill move slowly down her spine.

He wouldn’t lie to me. He wouldn’t. Even if it is an old flame, he isn’t sleeping with her now.

Emily stepped aside, and a haggard-looking woman stepped up. “It’s me. I’m sorry to intrude, but I had to see you.” The older female was nervous, wringing her hands as she stood in front of Jared.

Mara turned her head in time to see a flash of intense pain cross over Jared’s expression. She very much doubted that the relationship was sexual. The woman was old enough to be his mother, but judging from Jared’s reaction, he obviously knew her.

“Mrs. Olsen?” Jared’s voice cracked as he acknowledged her.

For the first time, Evan rose and strode over to the couch. “Ah . . . it seems to be the night for family skeletons to come out of the closet. But not this particular secret, and not tonight. You, madam, may leave immediately or I’ll call the police and have you thrown out.” The eldest Sinclair brother’s voice was chillier than Antarctica.

“The police are already here,” Dante growled as he rose and stood next to Evan. “What the hell is going on?”

“Who is she?” Mara asked breathlessly, sensing the tension in Jared’s body.

“Selena’s mother,” Jared ground out painfully.

Mara vaulted to her feet, unable to contain her fury that this woman had actually sought Jared out after all he’d been through, after everything he’d done to protect her feelings in the past. She gritted her teeth as she spoke. “I’m sorry you lost your daughter, but Jared has been through enough over the years. Enough! Now leave.” She wasn’t letting this woman anywhere near Jared, and she stepped between them, essentially blocking Jared’s vision so he didn’t have to look at the woman who had slapped him down and blamed him for her daughter’s death.

“I’m not here to hurt him again,” the woman said nervously, anxiously.

“Then why are you here?” Mara demanded to know.

“I was hoping I could have a word alone with Jared,” Mrs. Olsen said quietly, fidgeting uncomfortably.

“Not until hell freezes over,” Mara spat out at her vehemently. She wasn’t leaving this woman alone with Jared so she could spew more venom at him. It might have been understandable when Selena’s death was so new, so heart wrenching. But several years later, she wasn’t getting her claws into Jared again.

“We’re all family here. Say what you have to say now or leave,” Evan demanded icily. “But be warned that if I don’t like what you’re saying, your ass will be outside in seconds.”

“I can’t say I know exactly what’s happening, but I’ll be helping him remove you,” Dante agreed.

“Selena kept journals,” Mrs. Olsen blurted out suddenly. “After she died, I couldn’t bring myself to read any of them, and I wasn’t sure I should. About a month ago, I found them packed away. I decided that I wanted to know her thoughts during the year before she died. She’d grown distant, and I wanted to know why.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “I know she was in love with Alan, and she was sleeping with him even though she was in a relationship with you, Jared. I want to know what really happened the night she died.” Tears flowed down the woman’s haggard, worn-out expression. “I don’t think I can let it go until I do know, now that I’ve read those journals.”

Jared stood and brought Mara up against his side. “There’s no point in rehashing it now,” Jared insisted. “Selena and Alan are gone, Mrs. Olsen. As much as I wish that wasn’t true, we can’t bring them back. I told you how sorry I was, and I don’t expect you to ever stop hating me. But let it go.”

“I just need to know, Jared,” the woman pleaded.

Jared kept his mouth clamped shut, shaking his head regretfully.

He can’t do it even now. He can’t get the words out or hurt her mother.

Mara clasped his hand in support. Obviously, he still wasn’t going to tell the truth, even though Selena’s mother knew the worst of it.

So Evan spoke for him. “My brother didn’t know about the two of them, or that they were sleeping together. Jared was working, trying to get the business going that he generously offered to partner with Alan. On the night of the party, Jared was there, and he was sober just like he had promised to be. When your daughter and Alan disappeared, he went looking for them and caught them having sex in one of the bedrooms where the party was being held. Feeling heartbroken and betrayed, which he was, he left. An ordinary reaction from a man who’d just had his heart figuratively dug out of his chest with a spoon, madam.” Jared pinned the woman with his intense, blue-eyed stare. “Nobody knows what happened after that except the three people involved, and they’re all dead. I understand you were devastated when your daughter died, and so was Jared. He took the blame at an extremely high price to his own mental health. He never said a disparaging word about your daughter to you or anyone, never told anyone that she had cheated. He wanted you to have your happy memories without besmirching your daughter’s reputation.” Evan’s voice had been eerily calm, as though he’d been talking about a minor business deal. He crossed his arms in front of him, his gaze never leaving the distraught woman in front of him.

“Evan. Stop.” Jared put a hand on his oldest brother’s shoulder. “This won’t change anything.”

Shaking off Jared’s hold, Evan said, “I hope for your sake that it
does
change things for you, Jared.”

“I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Olsen wailed. “I understand why you left. It was a natural reaction. You were good to Selena, and I’m so sorry she hurt you.”

“I should have stayed,” Jared grunted uncomfortably. “I should have taken both of them home myself even though I was hurt.”

“I don’t think Selena would have gone with you once you knew the truth. She wanted you to help her pay the rest of her way through school, and once you knew about her and Alan, she would have known it was over. You did what any person would do. The two people you cared about the most betrayed you,” Mrs. Olsen sobbed out. “I loved my daughter, and I wish I could have her back, but she was using you, and
I’m sorry
for that. I really did think she loved you. For what it’s worth, Alan did try to stop the affair, and he wanted to tell you the truth. It was all in her journal. He did love Selena, apparently.” She swiped tears from her face as she looked up at Jared. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Jared. I’m so sorry. I don’t expect
you
to forgive
me
, but I suspected something like this had happened when I read Selena’s journal. I had to seek you out. I needed to know the truth so I could lay everything to rest. I loved Selena more than anything, but I don’t like the things she did.”

“I do forgive you,” Jared said huskily. “Selena was a beautiful woman, and she wasn’t evil, Mrs. Olsen. She just fell in love with somebody else and wanted to finish school. She knew you didn’t have the money. I did. I don’t hate her, and I wish she wasn’t gone. She had some wonderful parts of her that the whole world will miss.”

Mara’s heart squeezed with love for this incredible man beside her. Even after all he’d been through, after all he was finding out about a woman he had loved, he still mourned her death.

Mrs. Olsen sniffled. “That’s very kind of you to say after how I treated you at her funeral, after I blamed you.”

Jared shrugged. “I understood. You were mourning a daughter. I can’t imagine anything more painful than that. I just wanted you to remember the good things about Selena.”

“I try to remember the good things,” she told Jared quietly.

Jared nodded. “You should. I know I will. Selena, Alan, and I had a lot of good memories. We were all young and made our mistakes.”

“But what she did to you—”

“Doesn’t matter anymore,” Jared finished for her. “We were still college age, Mrs. Olsen. Selena was a smart, headstrong girl, and Alan fell for her like a ton of bricks. Selena was still in college, not quite grown up yet. Focus on the good things she did. We all make stupid errors when we’re young.” He put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically.

“You were a good boy, Jared. And it looks like you’ve grown into a fine man, too.” The older woman looked up at him. “Are you happy?” She looked at Mara. “Is this your wife?”

“I am happy now. And this is Mara, the woman who changed my life,” Jared said in a graveled voice.

“I’m sorry about your daughter, Mrs. Olsen,” Mara said gravely, holding her hand out to the woman who had caused Jared so much pain. Although she hated the anguish this woman had put Jared through, she hadn’t known the truth. Now that she did, Mara admired the elder lady’s gumption for seeking Jared out to find out what had really occurred the night her daughter died, and trying to right some of the wrongs. Many parents wouldn’t want to know. Obviously, this woman did, and Mara was grateful to her for finally giving Jared the closure he so desperately needed, at the expense of her own pain. It was almost like the relationship between them had come full circle. Jared had suffered in silence for all these years, blaming himself. Mrs. Olsen had suffered thinking she’d blamed Jared unfairly, and then started blaming herself. Finally, they could both find peace, or so Mara fervently hoped.

Mrs. Olsen took Mara’s outstretched hand, shaking it and then patting it gently. “Make him happy then, Mara.”

“I plan on it,” she answered reassuringly.

Jared stepped forward once Mara had let her hand drop to her side and scooped the older woman into a hug. Mara watched as Mrs. Olsen closed her eyes and hugged him back. Tears sprang to her eyes as she watched Jared actually embrace his tormenter, forgiving so easily because the woman had lost her daughter. Jared’s ability for compassion and empathy humbled her.

Wrapping an arm around the woman’s shoulders, Jared walked her out to her car. Trusting that the woman wouldn’t harm Jared emotionally now, Mara stayed behind to give them a few minutes of privacy. The minute they’d exited through the doorway, the room exploded with questions.

“What the hell was that all about?”

“What happened to Jared?”

“Who the hell was she?”

Evan motioned for all of them to sit, and he calmly answered their questions. Mara smiled at him, knowing he was answering the difficult inquiries so that Jared wouldn’t have to do it. Just like Evan had spilled the stories about Hope, so she didn’t have to go through the pain of doing it herself.

Evan explained the entire incident, not going into any of the details about Jared’s subsequent bender. All he told the other Sinclairs was that he’d visited Jared and he was taking the deaths of his friends hard and blaming himself.

“I wish I had known,” Dante grumbled. “How did we ever get so separated? Hope and Jared both went through hell, and none of the rest of us knew except Evan. Why? I knew Jared was different, that he’d changed. But he wouldn’t talk about it. Maybe if we’d stayed closer, he would have.”

“I knew because I know everything,” Evan answered arrogantly. “Jared wasn’t ready to talk back then. No amount of discussion would have convinced him that what happened wasn’t his fault. He needed time.”

It
might
have helped Jared if he’d had support, but Mara noticed that Evan didn’t go there. She assumed it was because the incident was over, and he didn’t want his brothers taking on any guilt for what Jared had gone through alone, just like he didn’t want them to have excessive remorse over what had happened to Hope.