“Holy crap, Colt. This is amazing,” Callie said.

“You outdid yourself this time, brother. And can I say that this parmesan broccoli is awesome. How did you get that crunch on the broccoli trees?” Clay asked.

“A family secret I’ll pass down to you when you’re older,” I said, winking.

“For all we know, Dad’ll find a way to set it on fire,” Callie said.

Clayton groaned as a chuckle fell from my lips.

“I’m going to kill you for telling her that story,” Clay said.

“Not a chance,” I said.

“You know we love you, Dad,” Callie said.

“I love you too, lightning bug,” Clay said.

My eyes made their way back to Callie and I watched her take a massive bite of the filet mignon I’d prepared for all of us. But my eyes quickly fell down her body. Damn it. That sorry excuse for a tank top she had on drew my eye every time. I could see the outline of her nipples through the pathetic excuse for a fabric. It was the only thing my mind seemed to latch onto. I forced my gaze down to my plate and began slicing my filet into strips. Then, I diced it up into little squares. After that, I pushed my mashed potatoes into a small mound on the side of my plate before I turned my attention to the broccoli.

“Creating your masterpiece there, Colt?” Clay asked.

I ignored the question and kept my gaze focused. I needed something to take my mind off her. Anything to distract myself from the perfect nipples that poked through the fabric of her tank top. What the hell had gotten into me? What was this word coming to? Did Callie really have no idea what the fuck she did to me? Was she really clueless as to how beautiful she was?

If only she did.

I stabbed a bit of my steak and tucked it away between my lips. I felt my gaze coming up again. I caught Callie’s breasts in my peripheral. My mind fell blank. My mouth began to salivate. The caged animal within my body rattled its cage and it took all the energy I had to turn my head over to look at my brother.

And I found him staring at her as well.

Worry filled his stare as we all ate in silence. He had the concerned look of a father and the defiant look of a man ready to kill the one who broke her heart. He mindlessly ate the dinner I had prepared while holding himself back from bringing up the topic again. I knew what he wanted to ask. He wanted to know if Matthew had called her at all tonight. He wanted to know if she had turned on the news in her bedroom and seen what was scrolling across the screen now.

But he held his tongue, and I was proud of him.

However, if I were to ever pursue Callie for any reason, he wouldn't hold his tongue. Hell, he wouldn’t hold his fists. That man would beat me into a bloodied pulp before tearing me to shreds. It didn’t matter that we weren’t blood relatives. It didn’t matter that Callie wasn’t really his daughter, or that she wasn’t really my niece. The only thing that mattered was that he raised her. Adopted her. The only thing that mattered was the fact that I had helped raise her. Babysat her. Coached her through her first high school heartbreak and helped her pick out her prom dress.

There was no excuse for the way I now looked at Callie. No reason for the lust I now felt for her. But as much as I tried to fight it, the feelings grew. What started as a curious glance the summer before her sophomore year of college grew into a fantastic want to be around her. To hear her voice in my ear. To check on her and see how she was doing and intervene whenever I could to keep her student loans at bay. I paid just enough to fly under the radar so she didn’t raise an eyebrow. Not that she wasn’t smart. The girl had scholarships poured over her like rain on a hot summer’s day. But there were moments where I knew she worried about money.

So, I dipped in without a second thought and never once brought it up.

“Colt?” Callie asked.

“Mhm?”

“How are things going at work?”

“We don’t have to talk about that right now,” Clay said.

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“I know you guys are about to buy your international headquarters or something, right?” Callie asked.

“Callie, talking shop has no place at the table right now. Everything’s fine, I promise,” Clay said.

“But I want to know,” Callie said.

“Well, if you want to know, then I’ll tell you,” I said.

I felt Clay’s eyes on me trying to shut me up, but I laid my napkin in my lap and cleared my throat. If she wanted to hear about how work was going, then I would tell her. Even though Clay was the type of man to address things fully as they happened, I quickly came to find that Callie wasn’t that type of person. She needed distraction and time to emotionally digest before she talked about things.

So, I’d give her all the distraction she needed.

“We’ve been looking at a few places, but we have it narrowed down to a building in Switzerland and a building on the outskirts of Frankfurt,” I said.

“Oh, Germany. That sounds exciting,” Callie said.

“Though, that one isn’t at the top of my list right now because the building is much more rundown. What we’d save initially paying upfront we would easily filter back into making the building what it needs to be for our international real estate branch.”

“Where is the other building in Switzerland?”

“Zurich.”

“Oh, I bet that’s beautiful. I’ve never been to Switzerland. What’s it like?” she asked.

“Matthew never took you?” Clay asked.

“Matthew took her,” Callie murmured.

“You get that out of your system?” I asked.

I hooked my gaze with Clay and willed him to back down. He didn’t need to be pressuring Callie to talk, and I sure as hell wouldn’t let him. Not at this dinner. I glared at him until he nodded and cleared his throat, then he speared another piece of steak and let his own wants go. It didn’t matter how he wanted to deal with this. It didn’t matter how he wanted to approach it. The only thing that mattered was how Callie wanted to approach it.

How she wanted to deal with it.

“So, yes. Those are the two places we’re looking at. Switzerland’s a bit more expensive, but the building won’t need much. Germany isn’t as expensive, but will need more renovations. In terms of price and work, they about even out.”

“I take it you’re not delving into the tax benefits of both countries, then,” Callie said.

“I am the C.F.O., after all,” I said, grinning.

“Sounds like you got it under control, then. When are you thinking about making a decision?”

“We need one by the end of the month. The plan is to be signing for the building at the beginning of July.”

“Oh, how exciting. Do you have pictures of both the buildings?”

“We can take a look at them later,” I said.

Callie smiled at me as she reached for her water and I took the whole of her in. Her thick, curly black hair that fell down past her shoulders. Her amber eyes that sparkled with delight whenever she grinned. Curves on a body with long legs that could wrap around me twice. And a mind that sucked up information around her and retained it as if it were a sponge. Callie wasn’t just sexy as hell. She didn’t just dominate my dreams and throb my cock at the most inopportune times. She was also fiercely strong and wildly intelligent. Ambitious. Independent. An absolute joy to be around. She has her own dreams and her own aspirations, and she was charging full steam ahead towards all of them.

I enjoyed everything about her. Including things Matthew deemed ‘faults’.

“Uncle Colton,” Callie said.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Did you hear what I said?”

My eyes flickered over to Clay and I found him giving me the oddest look.

“Sorry. I was thinking about where those pictures for the buildings were,” I said.

“They’re on our phones,” Clay said.

“I know that now that I’ve retraced my actions in my mind. What did you say, Callie?”

“I said that Dad was right. This steak is the best one you’ve made by far.”

“Well, I’m glad you like it.”

She smiled at me again before taking her last bite of steak in and my cock lurched against my pants. I loved watching her enjoy my meals. From slurping up my spaghetti to chewing on my buttery steaks, watching her lips wrap around her fucking forks was a nightmare. And the little moans that fell from her appreciative lips echoed off the corners of my mind for hours after the meals were over and done with. This young woman had fully captured me. Fully mesmerized me with all she was.

Why the fuck was she my brother’s adopted daughter?

“How much longer do you have with your Master’s degree?” I asked.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Clay turned his confused look back over to Callie.

“I’ve got this last year of study, and then I’m done. Come this time next year, I’ll have my Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology.”

“And one step closer to opening your own practice,” Clay said.

“Have you put any thought into the process that will go into something like that?” I asked.

Callie giggled as she picked up her water and leaned back into her chair.

“What?” I asked.

“Trust me, I’ve already tried to give her advice on the topic. She won’t take it. Won’t even talk about it with me anymore,” Clay said.

“Well, that’s silly. Why not?” I asked.

“It’s not silly. But this is something I want to do on my own,” Callie said.

“No one’s taking that from you. But my brother and I have a plethora of knowledge to help you with your endeavor so you don’t make some of the mistakes we made when getting our business of the ground,” I said.

“I’ve already told her,” Clay said.

“Look, I just don’t want to use my family and our name to help put me in a position of prominence in the community before I’ve earned it,” Callie said.

“Then you’ve highly overestimated what you think I would do for you. I wouldn't give you something like that unless you worked for it. I know what our name means in this community, and it’s something my brother and I had to earn. All I was thinking about was more along the lines of what building you were going to rent. Or perhaps you’re going to purchase? Where do you want to set it up? Are you going to be in Los Angeles or not?” I asked.

“Maybe we should tuck in the talking shop now. I don’t want Callie to get overwhelmed,” Clay said.

“Dad’s right. I think that’s a conversation for a different night. I’m getting a bit tired after eating two plates of this delicious food,” Callie said.

But I wanted answers to those questions. Just like I knew Clay did. I mean, was I going to lose her over the next year? Was Callie planning on going halfway across the country to open her practice? On the one hand, it wasn’t like I couldn't get to her. My brother and I owned the largest real estate development company in the country. We were established in every major sector of the United States. And the traveling alone I did for the branching out of our international marketplace would make it more than easy for me to pop in on her whenever I wanted. Or whenever she wanted.

But the thought of not having her in Los Angeles made my stomach turn. The thought of having to relinquish her yet again to a world that proved to be just as unkind as I knew it to be made me sick.

“Then, we’ll leave it for another time,” I said, smiling.

I panned my eyes back down to my plate, but not before I saw Callie toss me a playful wink. And every hair on my body stood on end. I loved it when she did that because I knew what it meant. I dropped my eyes to my plate and scooped the last of my mashed potatoes onto my fork, but my mind was elsewhere. I was focused solely on my cell phone in my pocket, just waiting for that telltale feeling to ripple through my thigh.

I kept Callie in my peripheral as her fingers flew across the screen of her phone in her lap. Then, I felt it.

My phone vibrate against my hip.

I put my fork down and wiped my mouth off, then tossed my napkin onto my plate. Clay got up and began clearing the dishes from the table, dumping them into the sink. I unlocked my phone and saw the message Callie had sent me and it bled excitement through my veins.

We’ll talk about it soon. I promise.

“You think I don’t see you guys when you do that, but I do,” Clay said.

I chuckled and shook my head as Callie threw hers back in laughter. I slid my phone back into my pocket and took in her reverence. The happiness that spread across her features. That had always been our thing. If Callie needed to talk, she’d wink at me, send me a message, and I’d be at her beck-and-call. Her laughter filled my ears as I scooted away from the table, then I rose to help my brother clean up the rest of the kitchen.

But Callie’s laughter persisted.

“Was it something I said?” I asked.

“I think she’s just relieved to be home,” Clay said.

I dumped my dish into the sink before I crossed my arms and turned to look at Callie. Her cheeks had turned bright red, lending a healthy glow to her milky skin. She cupped her hands over her mouth and curled her legs into her body, and soon Clayton began laughing with her. The two of them devolved into a pointless laughter that almost robbed them of their breath, and watching the two of them struggle made me cave.

“What the hell are we laughing at?” I asked.

“That’s the first time… Dad’s ever… called us… out like that,” Callie said.

“You guys have done it for years. I’m surprised you didn’t… know I knew,” Clay said.

I shook my head as a smile completely took over my face, closing my eyes and rendering me sightless. It felt like old times. Before school and death and financial hurdles all got in the way. The three of us, laughing until we could hardly breathe in the kitchen after sharing a hearty meal. I leaned against the counter to hold myself up, my ribcage hurting as my stomach jumped with my delight.

Holy hell, it was good to have her home.

But more than that, it was good to hear Callie laugh.