The Billionaire's Secret

My memory flashed back to the pale pale blond. Her ice blue eyes...those were Dahlia's eyes. Dahlia's pallor, Dahlia's thin fame. Everything that Liam lacked as Dahlia's offspring, Lily had instead.

r /> I felt my heart flop sideways.

He rubbed his face again and stared off into a fixed point over our shoulders. "God," he laughed shakily. "Even saying it out loud like this...it feels just wrong. Like I'm violating some sacred taboo." He shook his head. "I never really knew her. She's fifteen years older than me and has been in and out of mental institutions my entire life. To hear Dahlia tell it...when she even mentions her at all...she's completely insane."

He looked at us, entreaty in his eyes. "But...she isn't. She was just released," he looked at me, "The day after I ordered the bouquet. Her doctors said she was ready to live on her own. I've been trying to find her a halfway house, maybe a live-in nurse. Set her up somewhere. She has no one else. She needs me. My sister needs me."

Kiki made a soft sound. Her fingers were at her lips, her eyes shining wet with tears that would be falling soon enough.

She believed him.

I turned and looked at Kit. His face was grim. And Jasmine was still staring at Liam like he was something stuck on the bottom of her shoe. But none of that mattered because Liam was looking at me.

And I believed him.

He saw it. The breath left his lungs with a loud whoosh. "You believe me, Shay?"

I wasn't ready to say it. "And the note?" I pressed. "From your...." I had to force my tongue around the shape of the word. "Mother?"

He looked panicked again. Rage and sorrow passed each other in waves across his beautiful face, rippling like I had thrown a boulder into still water.

He stared at Kit, and then Kiki and Jasmine, and I knew how badly he wanted to retreat into his secrets.

But he didn't.

"Papers. I have power of attorney over Lily's estate." He swallowed hard. "Dahlia wants me to have her committed. Again. Against the doctors' recommendations. Against all reason." His knuckles were white against the doorframe. "She's threatened me with everything she has....and she has a lot. Money, connections, power. All of my business partners, all the investors...hell even my secretary used to work for her. She has - has always had - her tentacles in every part of my life. But this...." His breath caught as the shock of her cruelty socked him in the gut again. "This is her lowest blow yet. And I cannot do this to Lily. Not when she's doing so well. Dahlia cutting her off, sending her away again?" His gray eyes glittered. "That will kill her."

Chapter Thirty

He hadn't moved from the doorway. All five of us were rooted to the spot. Only the stronger spring sunshine slanting across the floorboards and creeping up the wall betrayed how much time had passed.

I stared at Liam, hollow with worry about his sister, furious at his mother's cruelty.

He suddenly shuddered and shifted, turning to the hallway with a look of surprise. "I brought you these," he said, dully.

He pulled out a bouquet of the most gorgeous snow-white roses I had ever seen. "They mean I'm sorry. I think."

"I'm worthy of you," I corrected. "That's what they mean."

He stared at me entreatingly.

Kit gasped in pleasure, breaking the moment. "Where did you even get those, this time of year? Are you some kind of wizard?"

"No." Liam stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Just a man with too much money and not enough love."

His words hit me in the gut. I hated how vulnerable he looked right now. William Graves was supposed to be confident, dominant even. This man looked...wrong.

I needed to fix it.

"We can fix this," I said out loud. "Your sister. Your mom, they need to see each other again."

Liam shook his head. "That won't work."

But Kiki was already on board. I could see her eyes gleaming at the prospect of a happy ending. "No, it has to. When your mother sees how much better Lily is doing...."

"She'll have to back off," Jasmine concluded. I looked at her, startled by how earnest she was. She was totally on board.

"Make it a neutral place," Kit added. "Not your mother's house. How about a dinner?"

"At your place!" Kiki added. She clutched his arm in excitement.

Liam's eyes were ping ponging from friend to friend as they closed in on him with the full force of their love and concern.

"Yes your house. That way you hold the power." Jasmine nodded forcefully. "Your turf."

"And you can kick your mom out if she starts being a cunt," Kit added drily.

"That's what you need to do. You rich folks, I swear you'd rather die of a stress aneurysm than actually admit there's a problem." Jasmine was shaking her head. "Ready? Watch my lips. 'Mother, you're wrong about Lily and I'm not committing her.' There, see how easy that was?"

Liam opened his mouth, then shut it. Then he looked at me, pleading. "You're right. You're all right, okay? But Shay, I need you there with me. I can't do this alone."

Chapter Thirty - One

I walked around the table, turning the centerpiece one last time for good measure. It was a simple arrangement of hazel foliage and Star of Bethlehem flowers cascading from the vase onto the table. Flowers for the reconciliation I hoped Liam could achieve tonight.

The table was set with gorgeous china printed in a masculine, geometric pattern. Crisp white napkins were laid out with silverware so heavy I knew it had to be antique. It must have been a family heirloom. I ran my finger lingeringly over the flat of a steak knife and wondered if all of the money he had was enough to make up for the terror and turmoil of Liam's upbringing.

"How do I look?" Liam stood in the doorway of his bedroom, adjusting his cuffs. I tried, and failed, to avoid biting my lip.

"Very proper," I nodded, taking in his crisp white shirt and the solid gray tie that precisely matched his eyes. "Too proper. You should take everything off."

He laughed a little, a slight explosion of tension. "This dinner will be excruciating enough without having to throw nudity in the mix."

I went to him and adjusted his tie, then kissed him lingeringly. "My loss," I breathed.

"Everything okay here, Liam?"

I sighed against Liam's chest. Of course Darius was right here to interrupt the moment. "Everything is fine," Liam said over my shoulder.

"Food is in the kitchen, it just arrived," Darius rumbled in that deep bass voice of his.

"Thank you very much. Why don't you take the night off?" Liam nodded.

"If you don't mind, the Eagles are playing tonight and I was hoping to catch the game."

"Sure, sure, no one's using the media room tonight, I can guarantee you that," Liam chuckled darkly. "Have at it."

Darius nodded and headed back into the recesses of the huge apartment. "Doesn't he have a home to go to?" I whispered.

"Think so, but he doesn't like spending much time there," Liam said, walking into the kitchen and opening the catering trays. "Plus I have a better TV here."

"Huh." Something nagged at me for a moment, but I shoved it aside when I heard the ding of the private elevator.

Lily stepped out. She looked shrunken in her too big clothes, the worry lines around her face aging her well past her thirty-nine years. But she held her head high as she walked into her brother's penthouse.

"Thank you so much for coming," Liam went to her immediately and kissed her cheek.

"I'm doing this for you," she said to him. Her voice was stronger than her frail body would imply. There was a hint of Dahlia's steel in the determined set of her jaw.

"Thank you," Liam repeated, then held out his hand. "This is Shay," he smiled at me. There was no mistaking the pride in his eyes as he glanced in my direction and I immediately lifted my own head and smiled at Lily.

"The florist," Lily said softly, glancing at Liam and then back at me. "Thank you for the bouquet. It meant a lot."

I took her slight, bony hand. "Liam made sure it had meant that much."

A ghost of a smile flickered across her lips. "He told me what it meant. It was really incredible." She looked up at him fondly. "Exactly what I needed."

I could feel myself grinning from ear to ear

. I was surprised to find that, after all the heartache she inadvertently caused me, I actually liked her. "Can I get you anything to drink?" I asked her.

"Water," she answered promptly. Like she had rehearsed this situation a billion times, which in retrospect, she probably had.