The soft swishing sound of people moving beside me was muffled by the warm water that encased me. My lungs started to burn the longer I held my breath. With eyes closed I concentrated on just the soft sounds and not the need to breath air.

Just a few moments longer.

An air bubble escaped my nose and I felt it slide upward along my face. Weightless, I let my arms go lax and for a moment I felt like my body only moved when the water around me forced it to. There was no weight on my shoulders, no burden that felt too heavy and definitely no worries.

The water beside me jostled my body and I opened my eyes to find two brown ones looking back at me. The impish face of my brother floated in front of me and he grinned before shoving my head further under water and swimming for the surface.

My hand reached out and snagged his foot as I tried to drag him back down. He kicked out and I pushed off the bottom of the swimming pool to try and beat him to the surface.

When my head broke the surface, I was greeted with the raucous noise of people around me and a slap of water in my face. The chlorine water filled my nostrils.

“Hey!” I sputtered and wiped a hand down my face.

Drew laughed at me and tried to swim back before I reached out and caught him by the arm.

“Andi! I was just playing! I swear!” he laughed.

“Yeah, right brat!” I pulled him and dunked him under water.

He came up blowing water at me and smiled. His short brown hair was sticking up all over his head in a spikey unkept manner.

“Can we stay here for a while?”

I looked over at the clock on the poolroom wall.

“For a little bit longer but we have to get out at some point and get over for registration.”

His face scrunched up and he rolled his eyes in a dramatic fashion that only twelve-year-old boys could pull off.

“Okay, fine,” he reluctantly agreed.

Drew turned and swam away nearly hitting a group of giggling pre-teen girls in the process. He smiled and swam around them as they burst into a louder fit of giggling. Their eyes and smiles followed him as he joined another boy who had just grabbed a ball to throw around.

He was a cute kid and I was happy that he had an afternoon spent around other kids his age. As far as brothers went, he was pretty awesome. I could have been stuck with the brother from hell version. The kind that I might want to choke on a consistent basis and who gave me shit all the time, but Drew wasn’t that kind of brother.

I watched as the giggling pack of girls swam over to watch him and the other kid throw a ball around. The boys seemed to be oblivious to them.

I shook my head.

Drew was taller than the other kid and seemed to be getting a few more looks over the last year than I was ready to handle. He had light brown eyes and a smattering of freckles over his nose and upper cheeks. Girls were starting to notice even though he seemed to still be completely immune to them thus far.

The girls were trying their best to get the boys attention as I turned away and headed to the side of the pool. I couldn’t remember whether I had behaved the same way around boys at that age. It was both nerve-wracking and a little funny to watch Drew handle it though.

I pulled myself up and out of the water, looking around for our towels. Walking over to them, I was nearly run over by four children and their harassed looking mother.

One of the little girls was screeching as the other three were headed in opposite directions.

This is why I didn’t want kids.

My brother was at least a little more mature and I couldn’t remember ever seeing him screech like a banshee in public.

Small miracles, but certainly not the norm.

Reaching our pool bag and towels I started wringing my hair out as I watched other people around the giant room.

The pool was Olympic sized and sat in the middle of a huge light blue tiled room that had lounge chairs and tables all around the perimeter. There were bathrooms that led off to shower rooms from the pool. Beyond those rooms, there was a huge hotel gym and laundry.

We were here for an employee day at the brand-new hotel I had started working at for the summer. The room was filled with a few people I knew but not many. Overall, there were nearly a hundred people, not including their kids. The grand opening was set for tomorrow and everyone was enjoying a day with family before the real work began. According to management, it was nearly booked for the upcoming week.

On the tour we had been given, I knew that this was only one of three pools that the hotel featured. This room was mainly for families, the outdoor pool would probably be packed full of single guests and the pool on the roof was for the richest clientele.

I grabbed my towel, wrapped it around my waist and sat down on one of the lounge chairs. The sun was filtering through the windows and dancing off the water as I kept an eye on Drew.

The rehabilitation clinic I normally worked at in Lakefield had some great benefits. One of which, was the fact that it was close to my apartment. When the owner, and my friend Liv’s husband, announced that they were opening a luxury hotel out near the lakes I wasn’t particularly interested at first. Drew had still been in school, I was working doubles and the likelihood of actually being hired was pretty small considering the amount of interest in the hotel.

Aiden Latimer was an entrepreneur and a billionaire that owned a lot of different businesses and companies. It was always big news when he did anything, much less build an entire hotel. When he married Liv, they had been hounded for months by media.

The location was something that had a lot of people extremely interested. According to Liv, Latimer Corporation owned the sole rights to several hundred acres of land around the city including land around the lakes.

It had previously never allowed any building until Aiden had started construction on the hotel. Now it sat in the middle of forested land, off the highway, within twenty minutes driving distance of the lakes and over an hour to Lakefield’s city limits.

It boasted of its own shops, some apartments on the upper levels, a wedding venue, three pools, a valet service, suites, corporate meeting rooms and tourism center. It also had a full gym that could easily fit over a hundred people in it, three different kitchens with adjoining restaurants and three bars.

The tour had really been mind-blowing when I finally got to see everything for the first time.

Liv had asked me if I was interested in possibly working at the hotel for the summer in housekeeping. It was basically what I did at the clinic and she knew I wasn’t really interested in doing anything public. It would have been a nightmare drive though, so I had turned her down. Then she had offered a significant pay increase and a live on-site apartment.

I smiled to myself.

That had definitely sweetened the deal.

We had been put on the manager level with a two-bedroom set up, small living space and a kitchen. Talk about sweet.

Drew and I didn’t even have to move much in for the summer. Just the essentials and we were good. My apartment was still in Lakefield, and after the summer we would be right back in it, but for the time being we were living like it was our own three month vacation spot. My employment at the clinic was secure by special approval from Aiden. After the summer, I would just go back into the same job without any complications.

Liv was a badass.

She, Julia and Kate were my best friends. We had hung out together and were thick as thieves last year until Kate had moved and Julia had gotten pregnant. Liv had her son near the holidays and had been understandably busy. Now Kate was pregnant too and there wasn’t much time for anyone with all of that to do anything together.

A small shudder passed though me.

Kids. I couldn’t even handle Drew’s puke on a good day, much less dealing with babies and the mess they made. Poor Kate and Julia were due next month. They looked miserable in the heat and had two extremely over protective husbands following them around everywhere.

In Kate’s case, being pregnant with twins, she had the worst of it. She and her husband, Logan, had moved to Colorado but were back for the delivery in order to be around Logan’s family. I was happy for them and glad I could be around for the big date, but missed their company quite a bit.

It seemed like everyone was moving forward into marriage and family. Something I couldn’t do.

Not that I couldn’t but if I did, I would be risking everything. Especially with Drew.

We were Drew and Andi Jones to them. Unfortunately, we were also Andrew Price Wellington and Andromeda Renee Wellington. The only two children of Roland and Claire Wellington. Who just happened to be the only Wellingtons in the long family tree that were convicted for corporate fraud and a whole list of other crimes.

Jail time for three years. Because that’s what happened when you decided to mix your commodities business with corrupt people. The corruption within their company must have gone deep for a bunch of low-life thugs to show up at the house one night. Everything had come crashing down after that.

Those crimes were one thing though. Those things they did to their business and the thousands of people they had employed. But the things they were accused of, didn’t include the crimes against their children.

One child. Specifically, me.

The last time we were all together as family, we had lived in a huge house in Connecticut. Manicured lawns, nice families, parents that commuted to New York City. Everything had been different behind closed doors though. In retrospect, it made me think about how appearances, even in my family’s affluent circle, were deceiving.

Before I turned twelve, things had been different. I was happy like any other kid and thought the world of my parents. Their business had taken off and they seemed to revel in it.

They became increasing angry with me when I began to form my own plans in life. It was little things so small that it shouldn’t have mattered. A child’s imagination of what her future might look like. A star ballerina, an artist and maybe even an astronaut.

Wellingtons didn’t do that. We became financial analysts, doctors, lawyers. Things that they thought brought prestige.

I was a disappointment. Nothing seemed good enough. When I defied them over whether to take an art class at a summer camp my father hit me for the first time. He had been drinking, which changed his personality on any given night on a normal basis, but that night things had really started.

It was slapping sometimes for minor offenses. Hitting for more serious crimes and getting locked in a closet for major infractions. Andrew was never touched and I felt thankful for that as I grew older.

Bruises didn’t lie and whenever they were questioned, there was always some quick excuse. We were Wellingtons after all. Abuse couldn’t possibly happen in our family. My parents were always very good at explaining things away like nothing was really happening.

Nothing to worry about.

Then there was that terrible night in May four years ago. It was awful and changed everything but also gave me a chance at a new life.

The night after my high school graduation, I woke to the sounds of my mother screaming and the loud barking of men’s voices. We were yanked from our beds and tormented by people my parents clearly knew. I had watched my eight-year-old brother sit with a look of terror on his face for over an hour.

My unfeeling parents had ignored him. Even when they hit me repeatedly in front of their faces and Andrew had screamed in fear.

Armed and clearly furious, the men in our house had threatened our lives for a list of things that my parents were involved in. A deep rage had built within me as we sat and listened to my parent’s crimes that had nothing to do with Andrew and me.

We had been living the life of the opulent and the affluent, but it had been built on lies for years. I had known this to be an inherent truth given what they had done to me, but as it turned out, they were even bigger assholes than I had imagined.

That was the last night we had spent with our parents. The next day, they once again, tried to explain things away. Even looking at my bruised face hadn’t deterred them from trying to gloss over the truth. Mistaken identity, wrong house, nothing to worry about. Listening to them had made me want to puke. They were liars, even to their own children.

They had gone to work, leaving us alone. I had taken Andrew and left.

I had stolen a credit card, emptied the safe in my father’s office, withdrawn my entire bank account, bought two expensive new identities, and we had been two different people for over four years.

At least in name.

In reality, we were just two screwed up kids running from a screwed up situation.

I was technically a kidnapper. Not that my parents ever reported it as far as I knew. They didn’t have time afterward. The news outlets had reported their arrest and subsequent incarceration. I always wondered how they explained two missing kids. They were out now and in the wind. No news, no tabloids. Nothing.

They were off somewhere in the world, doing whatever they did. Their concern for their children, clearly non-existent.

So much for parents. I wasn’t even certain that they had ever loved us at this point.

It was rough. I had hated every moment of it, but I was going to make what I had now work for us. I was determined.

We landed in Lakefield by chance. Taking multiple buses as we came south, the travel had been exhausting. One of the bus services ran through the city and I had instantly liked the feel of it.

A fellow passenger had directed me toward an elderly relative that rented a small studio apartment out of their basement. After getting settled, I had applied for the first job I had seen and landed it. Their niece had even watched Drew during the day until I was able to get him in school. Everything had worked out just fine, with a lot of help from some really good people. That was the city of Lakefield in a nutshell. Once again, my instincts had been right.

Watching Drew climb out of the pool with a smile on his face told me that we were where we needed to be.

It was sometimes lonely, knowing that I could never really have a long-term relationship with marriage as an option. With all the paperwork involved, our lies would be found out. What then? Introduce myself as a kidnapper and the daughter of criminals?

I shook myself out of my morbid thoughts as I watched Drew walk toward me. He was dripping with water when he came over to the chair I was sitting in. I handed him a towel and let him dry off.

“Where do we have to go today?” he said, while he rubbed the towel over his hair.

“Lobby. They’ll have a registration sheet and then you’ll be signed in for camp.”

He rolled his eyes. “Camp sounds like it’s for kids.”

I chuckled. “You are a kid.”

He gave me a sideways glance. I knew what he was getting at. He had grown up a long time ago and wasn’t like the rest of his peers.

“Just give it a try. It’s four weeks at the Latimer Camp. I even hear that they have a survivalist course that’s taught by one of Aiden’s security guys.”

His eyes lit up. “With guns?”

I blanched. “Gawd no, you goober. Maybe they’ll have paintball or something. Look, I know you’re not exactly enthused at the moment but you just reached the age where they’ll take you. I think if you give it a chance, you’ll have fun. You know, they have a second session in August but I haven’t looked at it yet. I didn’t want to pressure you.”

“Okay, okay. I get it. I’ll try it, but only because you need to find a date.”

I gave him a surprised look. “I need to what?”

He shrugged. “You know. Like find a date when I’m gone. Someone that will be nice to you. Maybe we can all go fishing together or something if you find a boyfriend.”

Ahh. He wanted a buddy. Maybe an older brother type of person. Hmm.

I stood up and gave him a quick sideways hug. “Yeah, we’ll see. Meanwhile, I have to work. If you want that Ford Mustang by the time you’re a graduate then I’m going to have to save some money.”

He was recently obsessed with cars. I had my preferences and he had his. Our tastes were very different but it gave us a chance to connect when we talked about them.

He smiled up at me. “You might need to get two jobs but I’ll take it.”

“Who says you aren’t going to pitch in, kiddo?” I asked, as I gathered up our pool bag and wrapped my towel around my waist. My pink swimsuit top was showing but no guests were in the building yet that would care.

“I’m a kid, are we talking slave labor?”

“Oh, now you’re a kid. I see. Hard work never hurt anyone, Drew. We earn our way in the world.”

He gave me another glance as we walked out of the pool room.

“You should change your hair again. I don’t like the dark brown. Go back to the red.”

I titled my head at him and kept walking. “Since when have you turned into my hairdresser?”

“I’m just saying. And get a haircut, maybe you can meet someone with a lot of money that can just buy me a Mustang when I turn sixteen and I won’t have to work.”

“Okay, stop with the boyfriend thing. Earn your car, because that is not going to happen. I’ll call one of the guys at the clinic and see if they want to go fishing when you get back. Deal?”

He scrunched his nose up at me as we walked down the hallway toward the elevators. I smirked back at him and pressed the button when we got there.

Giving him my full attention, I said, “I’ll do something with my hair. Deal?”

The doors to the elevator opened beside us with a soft swoosh.

He nodded at me. “Deal. Get a boyfriend.”

“Stop with the boyfriend lecture. I need one of those like I need a hole in the head.”

“Boyfriend?” a male voice beside us asked.

Fuck. I knew that voice.

I turned around and nearly ran into solid chest. Six-foot solid chest attached to muscled arms and murky green eyes.

Brock. I would know those eyes anywhere.

When I looked up at him, I saw his eyes briefly slide down to my bikini top then snap back to my face. At least he had the decency not to stare while my brother was present.

I gave him a scowl and he smirked.

He was wearing a white polo shirt with some jeans. The color showed off the sun-kissed tan on his muscled arms. The edge of a tattoo was peeking out from under the hem.

His midnight black hair was styled in the usual way, looking messy and ruffled on top. Like the going trend in hairstyles that was meant to look like he just rolled out of his bed but he had cut the sides short since the last time I had seen him. The effect made him look like a GQ model. The nerdy, bad boy model variety. Paired with black rimmed designer glasses and a black stud earring, he looked hot.

Not that I was looking. Nope, not one bit.

Drew piped up with a smile, “Yeah she needs a boyfriend. Interested?”

“No,” I said.

At the same time Brock said, “Yes.”

Keeping my eyes on Brock, I back-pedaled toward the opening elevator doors, dragging Drew with me.

“Go on a date with me,” he said and smiled.

“No,” I said firmly.

“Why not? It’ll be fun.”

“I think it would be a bad idea. I’m really busy.”

Drew piped up, “No you’re not.”

Brock smiled at Drew. “See, no reason we couldn’t have a date. I can create some time for you if you’d like.”

I frowned at him and backed into the elevator. “I have no idea what you mean by that and don’t want to know.”

Brock crossed his muscled arms across his chiseled, wide chest and watched us with a grin. His playful eyes danced over my body again in a subtle sexy way.

Those eyes could melt any woman and he knew it.

“See you around, Andi,” he chuckled darkly.

I punched the security code buttons for the apartment floor as quickly as I could and let the doors close without replying.

The last thing I needed was Brock, the super sleuth, security tech in my life. He worked for Aiden and he was rumored to be able to track everyone he came in contact with.

Drew turned to me. “He’s perfect for the job.”

I groaned.