by Bella Andre
Tears streamed down all three women’s faces as they gathered each other close and held on tight.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Mr. Sullivan, I need you to know how much I respect Lola. And how much I love her.” Though Ethan’s eyebrows rose, he didn’t interrupt. “Hurting your daughter is the very last thing I ever want to do.” The thought of Lola in pain, in tears, twisted up Duncan’s insides. “While I know that must seem hard to believe given my past with Moira and the news you just read, I promise you that I want only the best for your daughter.”
While Duncan spoke, Ethan Sullivan’s gaze remained steady. Neither happy nor furious. Surprisingly, Duncan got the sense that Ethan was assessing the situation from all angles.
Finally, Lola’s father spoke. “You don’t have any children, do you?”
“No.” It wasn’t until Duncan met Lola that he’d longed for a family of his own.
“One day when you do, you’ll understand that the hardest thing in the world is to let go and allow your children to grow up and make their own choices, good and bad. You have no idea how difficult it is to watch them make mistakes, to see problems coming from a mile away when they don’t yet have the life experience to see it themselves.” Ethan’s expression clouded over as though he was thinking back to some of his children’s worst mistakes. Mistakes he clearly wished he could have prevented.
“I’ve always wanted to protect Lola the same way I protected her when she was little,” he went on. “But as she grew older, and especially once she was a teenager, she pushed back on me and her mom. And why wouldn’t she, when she had become her own person, no longer simply Ethan Sullivan’s daughter or Turner Sullivan’s sister? I love all of my kids equally, but I can also see each of their unique gifts and challenges. Lola is very talented, very creative, and very beautiful. So beautiful that other women have often been terribly jealous. And when it comes to men…” Ethan’s frown carved deep ridges in his forehead. “Though my daughter has never come to cry on my shoulder or complain, I know dating and relationships have been difficult for her. I sure as hell haven’t been a fan of anyone she’s gone out with. No one has ever treated Lola with the same respect for her brain and her talent as they do for her beauty. And as one worthless guy after another has come through her life, Beth and I have worried that there might never be a man worthy of her. A man able to see beneath her outward beauty to truly appreciate the beauty inside.” Ethan pinned Duncan with his sharp gaze. “I have to say, on paper, every single thing about you looks bad. Worse than all the guys she’s dated put together.”
“If I had a daughter,” Duncan said, his voice resonant with emotions he couldn’t keep in check, “I would want me out of her life. As far out as possible.”
But instead of agreeing with Duncan, Lola’s father did the strangest thing. He smiled. “Strangely, I find it comforting to have your past laid out in front of me, warts and all. With every other guy in Lola’s life, I always had the sense they were trying to hide something. Putting on a pleasant veneer that would disappear the moment I turned my back. But with you, there’s no veneer. Not now that your name is splashed all over the news. And yet, my daughter just walked into our family’s café holding your hand and looking at you with love in her eyes.” Ethan paused, his eyebrows rising. “That’s where things don’t add up. If you’re such a bad guy, why would she let her guard down to let you in again? And why have several of my nieces and nephews texted me to let me know that they’re working to help clear your name?”
Duncan wasn’t surprised that Lola’s father was already in the loop. He guessed Ethan Sullivan was aware of far more about his children’s lives than they realized. “Lola recruited your family to help,” Duncan explained. “Despite my voicing concern about drawing them into my mess, your daughter and your nieces and nephews have impressively strong wills.”
“Lola would never turn her back on someone she loves,” Ethan agreed, “especially if they’re in trouble. And I’m not at all surprised that my nieces and nephews also insist on doing whatever they can to clear your name, despite your reservations about involving them.” Ethan’s determined expression reminded Duncan of Lola’s. “I’d like you to tell me exactly what’s happened—and why I should trust you within a hundred feet of my daughter ever again.”
After five years of holding back the truth from everyone but his traitorous lawyer, Duncan was now able to cull it down to the essentials. “My parents passed away when I was six, and I was raised by my brother, Alastair, who is ten years my senior. We were close when I was younger, but as we grew up and he changed into someone I barely recognized, I wanted to believe he was a better man than he is. I joined Lyman Ventures, the family firm, after business school and worked with him until five years ago. That was when I discovered that several client accounts attached to the subsidiary company Brilliant Funds had had massive reverses in fortune. After doing some digging, I uncovered a trail of fraudulent activity, all of which pointed to my brother. Unfortunately, as the startup incubator was his pet project, I wasn’t directly involved. And after I confronted Alastair with proof of his embezzlement scheme, he had all of my company records and contacts destroyed, which is why I was unable to find Moira to make things right.”
“I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you to accept your brother’s perfidy,” Ethan said. “In addition to Beth and the children, my three brothers have been the most important people in my life. I’ve mourned my late brother Jack every day since he died unexpectedly at forty-two.”
“I’m sorry about your brother,” Duncan said first. But while he appreciated Ethan’s empathy, he wouldn’t leverage it to let himself off the hook. “I should have seen what was happening at Brilliant Funds, and I should have stopped Alastair from stealing from the people who signed up to work with the company. During the past five years, without the evidence to give to the feds, I worked instead to make personal amends to the owners of the other companies that I could trace from memory. But now that Alastair has made it clear that absolutely nothing is off limits in his quest to come out on top—” Renewed fury rose inside of Duncan as he thought about what Alastair had said about Lola’s being every man’s wet dream. “No matter the cost, I need to stop my brother from hurting anyone else.”
“The more you tell me about the situation, the more sense it makes that Lola has offered to help you. My daughter has a keen sense of right and wrong, and she can’t stand to see evil win.”
“Lola is an incredible woman,” Duncan agreed, “and I can’t tell you how sorry I am to have brought her and the rest of your family into this, as well as Moira, who has been through so much.”
“Moira is from strong Irish stock, just like my Beth,” Ethan told him. “Though I don’t wish another rough patch on Moira, I guarantee she’ll make it through with her head held high.”
Duncan was glad to hear it. But there was something else he needed to say to Ethan. “There’s no doubt that Lola would be better off without me. Better off without being drawn into my knock-down, drag-out fight with Alastair. Better off without worrying that I might end up in jail. But I’ve never loved anyone the way I love her. With all my heart and soul. With everything I am. And no matter what happens, even if she decides to push me out of her life again, I will always love her and only her. Forever.”
There was nothing more Duncan could possibly say to convince Lola’s father that he was good enough for her. In fact, it would be perfectly reasonable if Ethan tried to tear him apart with his bare hands for daring to hold on to Lola’s heart rather than relinquish it for a better man to claim.
Duncan was braced for the knockout punch when Ethan said, “Thank you for sharing all of that with me. That took guts. And if anyone knows just how much guts, it’s me.” For the second time in their conversation, he smiled. “I once gave a very similar speech to Beth’s father to convince him that I would do whatever it took to make his daughter happy. Luckily for me, he gave me the chance of a lifeti
me to be with Beth. So I’ll give you the same chance now. And if there’s a way you can utilize my time and skills, I’d like to be a part of the fight.”
Duncan was floored. His only experience with fathers, and father figures, had been with men who always put themselves first, even if they had to lie, cheat, or steal to get there. But Lola’s father was risking so much on his daughter’s behalf, with a man who, as he had said just minutes before, couldn’t look worse on paper.
“It would be an honor, sir, to have you on my side.”
Lola’s father grinned even wider. “I’ve always relished a fight. Back in the day, I spent quite a lot of time in the boxing ring. Not so much because I was a fan of the sport. More because I liked winning.”
Duncan could easily see Ethan Sullivan beating the pulp out of his opponent, then taking the other guy out for a beer—or, more likely, shots of Irish whiskey. No harm, no foul, all in the name of good sportsmanship.
“Moira should never have gone through such trials and tribulations with her company,” Ethan added. “But since we can’t go back and undo what was done, I think it would do her a great deal of good to see that bastard brother of yours taken down.”
The night Duncan and Lola had stayed up together, and she’d shared Moira’s wisdom—that instead of spending their time wishing they could go back into the past and change things, they should focus on moving forward—Duncan had longed for such a thing to be possible. Longed for the past to stay in the past. Until today, however, he hadn’t believed that the future could truly be bright given all the darkness and shadows that had come before.
At last, he believed it with every fiber of his being.
“Thank you, Mr. Sullivan.” He’d been thanking Lola’s family all day, filled with boundless gratitude for the support the Sullivans were giving him.
Her father grinned again, the expression so similar to Lola’s. “Call me Ethan.”
In his peripheral vision, Duncan saw Lola, Beth, and Moira walk out of the café and head across the street to the park. He couldn’t quite work out what Moira and Beth were thinking, but thankfully, Lola was wearing a bright smile. What’s more, she and Moira had their arms around each other, which he hoped meant they’d mended fences.
“Relax,” Moira said to him, breaking the ice from a half-dozen feet away. “This isn’t a firing squad. Lola has told me everything.”
“Moira.” Duncan wanted to physically reach out to hug her, but he had no right to do so. Not yet. “I hope you don’t feel that I’m pressuring you to forgive me, or help me in any way, when you have every right to want nothing more to do with me.”
She studied his face intently. “Honestly, Duncan, now that the shock of seeing you so unexpectedly has passed, I don’t feel that way anymore. Truly, I don’t.” With the pallor of shock lifted, he saw how vibrant she was, with the same spark in her eyes that Lola and her mother had. “Like I said, Lola has filled me in on the situation, and I want you to know that I understand what it’s like to be raised by family who want nothing more than to turn their own kin inside out, just for the hell of it. For the thrill of power. And to have control. It’s why Beth and Ethan and Lola and her siblings are all so important to me. Though we’re not related by blood, they’re my true family. And I’m theirs.” Moira smiled at Lola, Beth, and Ethan before saying, “And given your brother’s latest chess move today, since he’s clearly decided to drag me and my company into the mix, I’d like to tell you what I remember from my time working with Brilliant Funds. I’d also like to give you any papers that you think might be helpful in bringing your brother to justice.”
Duncan had never known so many generous, giving people. “I appreciate your offer to help, Moira. More than I can say. And I’ll accept it gladly. But if at any point you want to step away, please don’t hesitate to do so. It’s not up to you to help fight my battles.”
“They’re not just your battles anymore,” Lola reminded him.
“We’re all going to fight beside you,” her father agreed.
Looking ecstatically happy, Lola threw her arms around her father. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, honey.”
Beth had also softened toward Duncan, giving him a warm smile. “Whatever you need, even if it’s just a hot meal or a few words of encouragement, be sure to let me know.”
“Thank you.” His words were slightly gruff, filled to the brim with gratitude. “Your support means the world to me.”
“Me too,” Lola said. And then, “Now that we’ve cleared the air, why don’t we head to my studio and get cracking?” She winked at her mother. “And if you’re in a baking mood, Mom, I for one would certainly feel inspired by some warm soda bread liberally slathered with butter.”
Though Beth teasingly swatted Lola’s behind, her eyes shone with love. And Duncan knew that no matter what happened from here on out, he’d always remember what real love looked like.
Because Lola and the Sullivans had shown it to him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Though Duncan understood why Rafe had requested that he lie as low as possible for the next twenty-four hours, he needed to tell Anita and Gail not only why he’d left the family firm five years ago, but also explain that today’s news was Alastair’s way of trying to turn the tables on him. While Anita and Gail ended up being far more understanding than he felt he deserved, they did make him promise never to keep them out of the loop again.
Duncan now realized that he couldn’t expect other people to trust him if he didn’t fully trust them too. For so long, he’d been operating solo to protect himself from another betrayal. But after meeting Lola and her wonderful family, and being so warmly welcomed into their fold, Duncan finally understood he didn’t need to live that way anymore.
While he’d been speaking with his employees, Beth brought over a veritable smorgasbord of food and drinks for Lola, Moira, Ethan, and himself. She was just about to leave Lola’s studio when he stopped her to say, “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, Duncan.” She gathered him in for a hug, one that meant more to him that he could ever express. “Now go raise some hell.”
He was still smiling as he sat with Moira to take notes on her history with Brilliant Funds. When he tried to apologize yet again, she was adamant that the two of them had made their peace—and that the best possible way he could make things up to her was to help put his brother behind bars.
After they concluded their meeting, the four of them broke for lunch, and Moira and Ethan reminisced about the six months he had lived in Ireland.
“I was so desperate to convince Beth to go out with me,” Ethan recounted, “that I tried to learn Irish Gaelic.”
“It was very sweet of you to try,” Moira said on a laugh. “But I’m sorry to say that you had the worst accent I ever heard. It didn’t help that every other word you spoke seemed to be mixed up with one that sounded similar, but meant something very different.”
Ethan chuckled, remembering. “I’m not sure I’ll ever live down the time I thought I was talking about grabbing a bull by its horns when it came to my business by using the verb adharcáil, but actually told everyone that I was a lustful young man.”
“In the end,” Moira explained to Duncan, “Beth only agreed to date Ethan upon his solemn vow to never speak Gaelic again.”
Despite the threat of FBI and SEC investigations still hanging over him, Duncan found himself smiling and laughing. He’d never known anyone like Lola’s family—they were focused and determined, yet relaxed and easygoing at the same time.
After lunch, Moira connected Duncan with the people she hoped could corroborate her experiences with Brilliant Funds. Come five o’clock, during a second video call with Lola’s cousins to share what each of them had learned during the day, Duncan couldn’t help but be amazed by how quickly they had been able to connect the dots on Alastair’s crimes.
His chest ached as he wondered, yet again, what had happened to the sixteen-year-ol
d boy who had vowed to take care of his six-year-old brother. Where had the person gone who had taught him to throw a ball and sail a boat?
Duncan’s laughter during lunch suddenly seemed as though it had happened in a parallel universe as he took in the staggering extent of his brother’s crimes. No matter the personal cost, or how many years it took, he wouldn’t rest until Alastair was behind bars.
Ian’s voice broke into his dark musings. “Given that we can’t be completely sure which law firms in Boston might be under your brother’s thumb, it would probably be best if you utilize my legal counsel in Seattle to fight any federal charges that might be brought against you. If the State of Massachusetts gets involved, we’ll work it out.”
“I agree,” Rafe said. “And speaking of the feds, I feel confident that we will have enough solid information on your brother by tomorrow morning for you to let them know you’re willing to cooperate in their investigation.”
“I need to talk with my brother first,” Duncan said. “I know there’s virtually no chance that he’ll confess, but I have to give him one more chance to finally do the right thing.”
No one seemed surprised. Least of all Lola. “Of course you want to give him that chance. Why wouldn’t you, when the two of you were so close before he turned toward the dark side?” She put her hands over his. “And I’m going with you.”
But Duncan couldn’t stand the thought of what his brother might do or say to Lola. “I know how strong you are, but I still don’t want you dealing with him.” If anything happened to her… His gut twisted in knots. “If he said or did anything to try to hurt you—”
“I know Krav Maga, remember?” Lola’s expression was fierce as she added, “I have a few choice words I’d like to say to him before he gets locked behind bars.”
Though Duncan still didn’t like the idea of his brother being anywhere near Lola, he knew nothing he could say would change her mind. Just as he would do everything in his power to make her happy and keep her safe, she felt exactly the same way about him.