Are you okay?”

I try not to let my irritation show when my sister asks me the same question for the tenth time today as I grab a bottled water from the fridge and take a seat next to her at the kitchen table.

Going for a five-mile run through her development this morning was meant to clear my head. All it did was give me too much quiet time to think about what happened last night. For a few seconds, I had Shelby in my arms. Just like I’d dreamed about for six brutal years. Clinging to me like her life depended on it, her body so warm and perfect pressed against mine, her breath puffing along the skin of my neck and her heart beating against my chest…until suddenly, she was gone. Replaced with a stoic, hard woman who didn’t want anything to do with me. I’d like to say I didn’t even recognize her, but I did. One look at her with her chin raised and all the tears dried up like they’d never been there in the first place, staring at me like I wasn’t even good enough to shine her shoes…I damn sure recognized that woman because she looked exactly like her mother and made me think about the last conversation I had with that bitch of a woman six years ago.

“I’m fine, Kat,” I sigh, taking a drink of my water and pushing that damn conversation out of my mind. “Just working through some stuff.”

She reaches across the table, resting her hand on top of mine as I nervously spin the bottle cap around the wooden top.

“Daniel saw you threw those candles away when he took the garbage out before work,” she whispers softly. “Were they the wrong smell?”

I close my eyes and sigh, not wanting to talk about this with her, but feeling a huge amount of guilt that I haven’t shared anything with her since I’ve been home, no matter how hard she’s tried to pull it out of me. She never knew about Shelby and me back then, and there’s no way I want to burden her with it now. Telling her to buy those damn candles so I could fall asleep to the smell of peaches was an asinine decision on my part. It was one I quickly fixed after what went down last night at the stables, by tossing the stupid glass containers filled with pale orange wax so hard into the cans out by their garage that they shattered all over the bottom of the empty container.

“Don’t worry about the candles, Kat. They’re the least of our worries.”

Moving my hand out from under hers, I grab the letter that came in the mail earlier and pull the piece of paper with the United States Marine Corps insignia stamped at the top closer to me. I knew it would happen. I knew they’d be sending a letter like this; I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.

“You had another bad dream last night,” she tries again.

I wince, turning my head away from her so I don’t have to see the sadness in her eyes. I can’t handle the expression of pity on her face whenever she looks at me. I love my sister, and I thank God that I’m getting a second chance to be here with her, especially when I never thought I’d see her again, but I can’t stand her feeling sorry for me. I can’t have her worrying about me all the time when she has a family to take care of. After what happened last night, I woke up screaming louder than I ever have, once again bringing Kat flying into my room to take care of me, when she had other priorities that should come first.

“I’m sorry. I’m gonna find my own place as soon as I can.”

Kat lets out an irritated huff. “That’s not what I mean and you know it. I’m worried about you, Eli.”

My eyes lift from the paper and I try to soften my features. I don’t want to hurt her, but that’s all I seem to be doing lately. My baby sister has done well for herself and here I show up, threatening to ruin it all. I did what I could while we were growing up to shield her from the shittiness of having two parents who never really got the hang of parenting, did their own thing, and put their children at the bottom of their list of importance. I helped her with her homework, packed her lunch, and made sure she had something good to eat for breakfast and dinner, threatened any boy who came sniffing around for a date, shielded her from the drunken fights our parents always had by taking her out for ice cream, helped her pick out a dress for her first dance, and always made sure I was there for her when she had questions or needed advice. When our parents took their selfishness and excessive partying too far and got themselves killed, I worked my ass off to make sure she never suffered. To make sure she always had what she needed and never forgot how much she was loved. She moved on from me and found herself a good man in her husband, Daniel Evans. One who I can tell just by being in the same room with them for five minutes would give up his life to make sure her and their daughter were safe. I hate that I wasn’t here to see this happen, to see her turn into such an amazing woman, wife, and mother. I hate that so much of our time was stolen from us, and I hate that I have to be the one to knock her back down again.

Kat would never tell me how hard it was on her when she thought I’d been killed. She’d never admit how much it broke her and how difficult it’d been for her to keep moving forward and get on with her life without me in it, because she wouldn’t want to hurt me. Daniel, on the other hand, had no issue with sitting me down over a beer after Kat had gone to bed a few nights ago and laying it all out on the line for me. He didn’t treat me like I was a piece of glass, ready to shatter if I heard something upsetting, and that made me like him even more. He was protective of his wife and he worried about how strong she was trying to be for me, when he was there with her five years ago, holding her up and letting her cry on his shoulder when she’d thought she lost me. Making her get out of bed every day, shower, and face the world. Telling her I would kick her ass if I knew she was wasting her life, spending every day crying over me.

Daniel Evans is the exact opposite of me, and I thought for sure when I first met him, I’d hate him. With his slicked-back, perfectly styled, short blond hair, expensive three-piece suits, and evidence of his fancy college background hung in frames in the hallway among family photos. He might dress like a spoiled rich boy, he might do business with all the spoiled rich folks in this county that I despise, but he worked hard to get where he’s at. He gave my baby sister a nice home in a private, gated community with a sprawling, manicured lawn, and he treated her like a princess—all the things I dreamed of for her when we were growing up.

Yeah, I liked Daniel Evans.

I liked him even more when I confided in him about the report I received anonymously in the mail and how I confronted Georgia Eubanks with it right before she shipped me out of the country, and Daniel became protective of my sister once again. He wanted me to make absolutely certain I had all of the facts before I told Kat. He wanted me to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that everything I was suspecting was true, before I gave this heavy burden to her. He wouldn’t let anything, even her brother who was back from the dead, hurt her or upset her in any way. You gotta respect a man for that, even though I know she’s going to kick my ass for keeping it from her for so long.

“I don’t want you worrying about me, Kat. I’ll be fine. It’s gonna take some time, but I’ll be fine. I hate that this letter is going to make things hard for you guys,” I explain, tossing the paper across the table angrily. “It’s bad enough you have to put up with me; now you gotta put up with this shit.”

Kat’s eyes follow the letter as it skates across the top of the table before fluttering to a stop right before it falls off the other side.

“Eli, we need to—”

“Hon? You home?” Daniel calls from the front of the house, the sound of the door slamming closed behind him and his dress shoes smacking against the hardwood as he heads in our direction.

I give him a confused look as he rushes into the kitchen, nods in my direction, and bends to give Kat a peck on the cheek.

“Sorry I’m late. Damn meeting with an investor took a little longer than I thought it would,” he explains quickly, pulling his suit coat off and flinging it over the back of the empty chair next to Kat as he sits down. “Did you tell him yet?”

He loosens his tie with one hand as he scoots his chair closer to Kat and slides his other arm over her shoulder, pulling her close to his side.

Even though it pains me to know I wasn’t around to take care of my sister, at least the mix-up with my death provided them with a good nest egg they could both build on, and that gave me a little bit of comfort knowing I had helped her in some small way while being imprisoned for five years. Daniel did right by her, and I owe him everything for it. Having to sit here in their beautiful kitchen, with all new appliances, in their home that he worked so hard to give her and discuss that damn letter is not what I want to be doing right now.

“You didn’t have to leave work early for this shit,” I tell him, jerking my head in the direction of the letter. “I’ve already put in a few inquiries about work, so I should be hearing back from someone this week. That money was yours, free and clear, and I’m going to handle it. This isn’t your problem, so don’t even worry yourselves about it.”

When I was declared dead by the U.S. government, my military life insurance policy of $100,000 was immediately given to my next of kin. Even though they screwed up, they still aren’t going to let them keep that money now that I’m alive. I get it and I understand it, but that doesn’t make me any less pissed off that I have to give my sister and her husband one more thing to worry about. I don’t know what they did with that money, and I don’t give a fuck. Maybe they used it to buy this house, maybe they used it to buy the small clothing boutique my sister owns and runs downtown, or maybe they put it toward the three other stores she opened up throughout the state. When Daniel and I had our little talk the other night, he let it slip that a few years ago, my sister almost lost her business and he almost lost his job because of some tax fraud bullshit. He reassured me it wasn’t a big deal and that the problems went away in a few days, so maybe they used the money for that…it doesn’t matter, as long as they used it. It was theirs to do with as they wished, and now having to ask for it back isn’t something I have any intentions of doing, even if I have to take the rest of my life paying it off. It’s my problem, and I’ll handle it.

“You didn’t tell him?” Daniel asks Kat softly.

She shakes her head and gives him a small smile. “You know I don’t understand all that financial crap you go on and on about all the time. I figured I’d wait for you to tell him.”

My eyes narrow as I look back and forth between them and they turn their heads at the same time and smile at me. I don’t like the way they’re looking at me, like they have a secret they can barely handle keeping quiet about. Kat is practically bouncing in her seat at this point, and I can hear her bare foot smacking against the floor under the table in excitement. And I call bullshit on her not understanding “financial crap,” since she singlehandedly takes care of the accounting and the books for all of her clothing stores.

“You’re not paying it back,” I tell them through clenched teeth. “It’s my problem, and I’ll handle it.”

Daniel laughs and shakes his head at me. “You’re right, we aren’t paying it back, you are.”

Finally, we’re on the same page.

“And you’re not going to have to bust your ass working a shitty job for years to do that,” Daniel goes on to explain.

“We never spent the money,” Kat quickly adds.

My hands clench into fists on top of the table, and Daniel, noticing that I’m starting to get a little pissed off, continues with his explanation before I blow a gasket.

“You know your sister, man. Do you honestly think she would touch one cent of that money, thinking you lost your life for it?” Daniel asks quietly.

“Dammit, Kat!” I shout. “It was yours. Yours to spend, yours to save for a rainy day, yours to do whatever the fuck you wanted to do with it! I don’t care if you still have it in your damn bank account, you’re not giving it back. It. Is. YOURS.”

Kat shakes her head at me, tears pooling in her eyes. “Daniel’s right, Eli. That money made me sick. I couldn’t even touch the stupid check when it came in the mail. The things you did, the things you went through…it wasn’t my money to do anything with and you know it. You earned that money, and now I’m thankful I didn’t want anything to do with it. I’m thankful I have a smart husband who knew what to do with it, and Eli, you’re going to be pretty thankful, too. You took care of me when Mom and Dad died. Hell, you took care of me all our lives, even before they died. You worked two jobs to keep a roof over my head and put me through college. Now, it’s my turn to take care of you, so shut the hell up.”

Daniel moves his arm from around Kat’s shoulders and leans down to the side of his chair, pulling up a briefcase I didn’t even notice he walked in with. He smacks the leather case on top of the table and flips the two snaps by the handle, lifting the lid and pulling out a manila folder. Sliding the folder across the table to me, he leans back in his chair and puts his arm back around his wife’s shoulders, both of them staring at me with those damn matching smiles.

“I can’t believe you didn’t use that money, and of course I took care of you. You’re my family. That was my job,” I mutter, snatching the folder and pulling it closer. “What is this?”

Opening the folder, I see a pile of bank statements inside, each one in my name. Glancing down to the bottom of the top statement, my mouth drops open and my eyes widen in shock.

“What the fuck,” I whisper, my eyes glued to the balance of the account.

“My husband is a very smart man, Eli,” Kat informs me with pride in her voice. “And now you’re a very rich man.”

Sliding the top piece of paper aside, I move on to the next one, another account in my name with another balance that makes my head spin.

“I repeat. What. The. Fuck?”

Daniel laughs, and when I get through all the papers in the folder, each one for a different account with more money in it than the previous one, I finally look up.

“What can I say? I’m good at my job,” Daniel tells me easily. “I invested your life insurance money, and since we never had any intentions of using it, and never thought in a million years you’d suddenly show up again, I took a lot of risks I wouldn’t normally take with a client. I know you’re pissed, but get over it and see it from my point of view. I take care of my own, Eli. I know she’s your sister, but she’s my wife. I can provide for her and our daughter just fine, and even if I couldn’t, her clothing stores more than make up for that. We didn’t need your money. I’m grateful the money was there, in case something happened, but it didn’t, and now it’s all yours and then some.”

And then some is right. One minute I’m worried about getting a job, any fucking job, just to be able to at least pay my sister back for the food she’s provided and the clothes she’s bought, and now I find out I’m a goddamn millionaire.

Yeah, I definitely like Daniel Evans.

“So, how about dinner tonight to celebrate? We can go somewhere nice, get dressed up, and Eli can treat,” Kat announces with a laugh.

I laugh right along with her, feeling lighter than I have since I got home, my eyes unable to move away from the stack of paperwork in front of me as I continue to flip back and forth through the papers. Not only can I pay the government back in full, but I don’t have to worry about getting a job for a very long time. I can buy my own place, do whatever I want, and have one less thing hanging over my head to worry about.

“Can’t tonight, babe. I’ve got that stupid charity function at the Eubanks Plantation,” Daniel reminds her.

My head jerks up from the paperwork at the mention of the plantation.

“Damn, that’s right. I forgot you were invited to that thing,” Kat sighs.

“What charity function?” I ask, feigning nonchalance.

“Honestly, I have no idea. There’s always something going on at that house, and since half of my clients go to these things, I always wind up getting invited,” Daniel tells me. “And since kissing ass is part of my job description, I go. At least I usually get a few new prospective clients out of it, so there’s that.”

The conversation Rylan and I had when he followed me out the door this morning, and annoyed the shit out of me during my run, flashes through my mind. Rylan is the only person in my life who knew about Shelby and what she meant to me. He knew it when it happened six years ago, and he had to listen to me talk about it all through our deployment and when we had moments of peace in the five years of hell after. He knew how I felt about her, he knew she was the one thing that kept me alive, and he knew as soon as he saw me chucking candles into the garbage can this morning, cursing and kicking the shit out of the damn thing, that our first meeting didn’t go as planned.

A few hours ago, I had no intention of going back to her. Not after I’d seen what she’d become, knowing all the guilt I felt over the way I left her and the reasons why I left her were all for nothing. I gave up everything to keep her safe, and almost gave up my life because of my involvement with her. Before last night, every minute of my time away from her had been worth it when I’d thought she was happy and following her dreams. Even if that whole scene in the barn never happened and I was still oblivious to the woman she’d turned into, I was still plagued with doubts about finding her again, knowing I had nothing to offer her. Being a broken man living with his sister and with no clue what the hell he was going to do with his life isn’t exactly a position of strength. Now I can walk into that room, with her rich-ass friends and her mother’s rich-ass supporters, hold my head high, and not be ashamed and feel like I have a right to be there. A part of me wanted to walk away and never look back after my first encounter with Shelby out at the stables. I was hurt and pissed that something I’d been holding on to for so many years was gone, and it made me wonder if it had ever been there to begin with.

I’m still hurt, and I’m still pissed, but I’ll be damned if I just walk away without making her talk to me and tell me what the hell happened. I need to see that my Shelby is still in there somewhere, and I don’t give a shit if I have to do it in front of all of Charleston. Bonus points for also being able to rub it in Georgia’s face and let her see that I’m back, and I’m not going anywhere. Her days of bullying and blackmailing me are over.

“How about you let me be your plus-one?” I ask Daniel. “I’ll even let you dress me up in one of your monkey suits.”

Daniel laughs. “I hate to break it to you, but it’s black tie. Which means you’re going to need a tux, my friend. Good thing I have an excellent tailor always on standby and you have enough money to buy something that fits you better than anything in my closet.”

While Kat rushes out of the room to get my niece when she starts crying from her afternoon nap, Daniel calls the office and takes the rest of the day off, then immediately places a call to his tailor to book us an emergency appointment for within the hour. As all of this takes place, I wonder if this is the dumbest idea I’ve ever had, walking into the lion’s den and facing Georgia Eubanks on her turf. I tell myself I’m not a hypocrite for having more confidence now to face Shelby again, knowing damn well that having a few extra zeros behind the balance of my bank account doesn’t make me a better man. All this money does is give me access to her world, a place where I’d never been welcome before. A place where I can confront her on equal footing and prove that everything she said to me in the stables was complete bullshit.

It’s also a place where I can show Georgia Eubanks once and for all that I’m not backing down, and there’s not a damn thing she can do to keep me away from Shelby now, especially in front of all her people. With a thumbs-up from Daniel as he speaks to his tailor, at least I know I’ll look damn good when it happens.