Page 90 of Gorgeous

That motherfucker.

I make an amused sound. Von Bremen likes to play the villain, but this goes to show he is anything but. In his own way, he has made contributions to this Foundation right under our nose.

“It sleeps?” Breck questions. Right. I stopped mid-sentence. “It sleeps all of us.” I don’t elaborate, allowing Theo his secrets.

Breck smiles. “You like it there?” she asks, hearing the fondness in my tone.

I nod. “Yeah. I love to fish and the atmosphere is so peaceful.”

“It’s been years since I’ve been to a lake. My parents preferred the beach.” Her voice seems sad.

“Do you miss having a relationship with your parents?” I ask. I’m curious becauselately I find myself wondering if my parents are okay. They are getting older now and I wonder if they are in good health.

Breck sighs like it pains her to admit it. “Yeah. I do. We didn’t have the best relationship but I remember good times before Ben—” She stops mid-sentence, her eyes misting. “Cade, I need—”

“I’m adopted,” I blurt out like an idiot, cutting off whatever she was about to say. “I’m sorry,” I quickly add. “You first.”

A tear forms in the corner of those eyes that remind me of the mountaintops as they reach the heavens, and she swipes it away. “You first. I was just rambling.”

But it doesn’t feel like rambling. It feels like I interrupted something important. “Mine can wait. Please … go ahead.”

She waves me off with a forced smile. “It was nothing. Tell me about your family. You were adopted?” Her prompting is all I need to purge the other tragedy in my life.

“I am. My real mother was a surrogate for this rich couple.” I take a breath and Breck squeezes my hand in comfort. “They wanted a child, but the wife was infertile. So, my mom agreed to donate her egg and body for the couple to conceive, but when I was born …” My chest spasms and I have to rub the increasing knot there. “When I was born, the wife of the couple couldn’t bear to look at me. Said she was wrong and wouldn’t ever be able to love a child that wasn’t hers. My biological father signed over his rights, and I was left with my mother, who already had three children of her own. I was the outcast. My stepfather couldn’t bear to raise me because I wasn’t his. They fought all the time. And then he left. My mother was so angry—blamed me for her ruining her life.It wasn’t until I met Drew in fifth grade that things turned around. His parents were wonderful and welcomed me with open arms. I found myself sleeping over at their house more than my own. Eventually, Anne, Drew’s mother, asked me about my parents. By this time, I loved her more than I loved my own mother. I remember crying in her arms begging for her please not to send me back, and she shushed me, telling me everything would be fine.”

I sigh, chancing a look at B. Her eyes are watery. “She adopted you?” she guesses.

I nod. “Yeah. She went to see my mother. She never would tell me what happened but then she asked me if I would like to live with them forever.” I chuckle, remembering my reaction. “She couldn’t get the words out of her mouth before I was saying yes. I remember Drew being the happiest out of all of us. He said he had always wanted another sibling but something happened and his parents never could have any more children.”

My eyes feel heavy and itchy. Am I about to cry?

“Anyway,” I say, clearing my throat. “I became a Jameson after that. I was no longer a Davis, and I felt like I was reborn. The world was my oyster. So when Drew wantedto become a commissioned officer after college and travel the world, I was all over it. We decided on the Marines, and although I think I could have gone into the Air Force and become a pilot, Drew had dreams of becoming special forces. I had grown protective of him even though he was a few months younger than me, but he was wild and free spirited. Much like Theo.” Huh. Almost exactly like Theo.

“I wouldn’t leave him so I joined the Marines too. We were in this together.”

Breck shuffles, her hand squeezing mine tighter before she asks, “Is that why you don’t speak to them anymore? You feel you killed their real son?”

My throat constricts as she hits the proverbial nail on the head. “Yes. He was all they had, and I failed them.”

“Oh, Cade.”

I flinch. I don’t want her pity. I deserve the agony of being alone. I killed their son. My best friend. I took the only thing they had left in the world.

Breck unlatches her seatbelt, her hands going to my face in a gentle caress.

“What are you doing?” I ask. My foot eases off the gas, and I pull onto the shoulder. I refuse to drive with her unrestrained.

“Put your seatbelt back on,” I admonish, throwing my truck in park. Breck ignores my demand, placing a soft kiss on my cheek. Her lips feel warm and soft against my face. Her hands go to my hair, running through the strands, giving them a gentle tug. Another kiss to my temple has me reaching for her, pulling her body into me.

She drags her lips from my temple to my mouth, and I give in.

I want her.

I want her to make the images of Drew disappear.

I want her to make my parents disappointment in me disappear.

I want to lose myself in her until I can’t think of anything other than her warmth.

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