Page 84 of Trust

Jakob smiled. “I have a phone call to make, so I thought you two could talk.”

Leaning down to kiss her cheek, he whispered, “Try and clear the air, love. You both need to move on.”

She nodded, but he could tell she had gone on her guard. Jakob understood. The man she had admired had been an ass the last year or so, and she wasn’t ready to trust him just yet.

Walking to the house, he nodded to Ben and left them alone. He knew that Lani needed her brother, but Ben needed her more. Even with their insanely huge family, he was alone in the world now.

Lani didn’t know what to say to her brother. He looked a mess, his hair needing a trim, and he had lost weight. They had spoken a few times since the insane events at the house, but it had been mainly over the phone.

“You look happy,” Ben said, walking closer.

“I am.”

He offered her a solemn smile. “Good. I never saw how much you two liked each other.”

“I didn’t like him. He was annoying.”

His expression lightened. “I’m not sure if he wanted me to help him convince you to marry him or if he really wanted us to talk.”

She rolled her eyes. “It didn’t take much to convince me.”

“Then, I guess it was mainly to let me talk to you. You look good.”

“Thanks.”

He sighed. “I don’t know where I lost my way.”

Lani stared at him. He was still the brother she loved, but so much had happened that she didn’t know if she could trust him again. Not yet, at least. Lani waited. Usually, she would step in to make it easier for her brother, but Ben needed to fix things. At least, he needed to prove to her that he really wanted to fix this.

“I never believed in that hype around our name, you know.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Then, one day, I realized that it had been resting on my shoulders, and I didn’t fuck it up. I started believing the hype. It wasn’t me.”

Now, she would step in. “Ben, you are good as the head of the company.”

“I get that. Dad taught me just like Grandpa Ben taught him.”

Just hearing the name invoked memories of his big laugh and even bigger hugs. “I miss him. Them.”

He looked at her. “I miss my sister more.”

For the second time that day, tears filled her eyes. “I miss you too, Ben.”

“I’m not sure how we fix this.”

She went to him then and took his hand. “We start by talking like this.”

“Come back to Kingston, please.”

She wanted that but on one condition. “I don’t want to do PR. I want to use my law license.”

Hope brightened his eyes. There. That was the look she remembered from her brother, before all the BS of the last year.

“You got it.”

“And I want to work on contracts for Dillon Security.”

He nodded and pulled her into one of his big hugs. “I’ll try my best not to be a dick.”

Another fresh wave of tears streamed down her face. She knew they had a lot to work on. She needed to speak up more and stand up for what she wanted. He needed not to be a dick.

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