I was freezing.

I’d grabbed the first coat I saw, and the leather ankle-length garment was far from the warmest I owned. It was a lot colder in Denver that it had been when I left just over a week ago, and snow was coming down in fat, fluffy flakes as I made my way up the walkway to the house where Gracie and Lukas lived.

Gracie had given me her key and dropped me off, telling me she thought I’d do better if I was alone.

Lukas isn’t opening up to me at all. If I’m there… She’d trailed off and just shaken her head.

I wasn’t entirely comfortable being alone in the big sprawling house with Lukas considering how we’d parted, but I’d agreed.

Now, as I fumbled the locks open and stepped inside, using her fob to disarm the system, I wondered what I was going to say, what I was going to do.

Would he listen to me?

Would he try to send me away?

I didn’t know what I was going to do if he did.

It wasn’t like I could walk.

That thought, more than anything, settled me, because Lukas wouldn’t let me walk, which meant I had time to get through to him.

I started up the steps, listening for the music I’d heard the one time I’d seen him hitting himself with the belt.

But I didn’t hear music.

It was almost eerily silent, but once I reached the hall that led to his room, I heard a rhythmic noise. Something slapping flesh. Swallowing the bile that rose up in my throat, I hurried down the hall. Something sharp bit into my hand, and I looked down, realized I’d tightened my fist around the key until the teeth were cutting into my palm.

Swearing, I shoved the keys into my coat pocket as I came to a halt in front of the door.

I went to turn the handle, determined to get in there and make him stop whatever he was doing to himself.

But the door was locked.

Swearing, I hit my fist against the door. “Lukas!”

The noise coming from inside didn’t so much as pause. I hit the door with my fist again, and called out louder.

Nothing.

Swearing, I drew back, studying the door – and the lock. Then I smiled, reaching up into the messy topknot I’d twisted my hair into. I’d been a brat of a child, so different from my perfect sisters. I used to sneak into Annette’s room and read her diary – she was actually a little less perfect than she let on and her diary had been fascinating. Eye-opening, really. Once she realized I was sneaking into read it, she’d started locking her door and hiding it. So I’d learned how to pick the lock…and it had been a lock almost identical to the one on Lukas’s door. About as simple to pick as one could hope for. Squatting down, I told myself to ignore the noise and focus. I was a kid again, just trying to go somewhere I didn’t belong, and it was that much more fun for it.

The hair pin I’d pulled from my hair almost wasn’t long enough, but finally, there was a satisfying click and I turned the knob as I rose to my feet.

The view in front of me was enough to have me sucking in a horrified breath.

Lukas hadn’t just been thrashing his back – he’d destroyed his room. Looking around, I took in the devastation, a little dazed.

Movement to the left had me turning, and I shouted, “Stop!” just as Lukas when to strap his back again. It was covered in angry, ugly red welts, and a few looked like they might actually be bleeding.

My heart broke a little.

Lukas flinched at the sound of my voice, but the strap landed anyway.

“I said stop!” I shouted at him, rushing over and grabbing his wrist as he went to lift his hand again.

He froze at my touch, his clouded eyes zooming in and locking on my face. He blinked, confusion in his gaze. The clouds slowly cleared, and he shook his head. “You’re here.”

“Who did you think was shouting at you?” I demanded, tugging on the belt.

He didn’t let go.

“Give this to me,” I said, pulling harder.

He yielded this time, letting the belt go and reaching up with his hand to touch my cheek. “Why are you here?”

“Because Gracie told me you were being a dumbass,” I said, trying to smile, but it wobbled, then fell from my face before it even fully formed.

Lukas shook his head. “You should have stayed away after what I did. I was an asshole – I am an asshole. I didn’t even give you a chance to defend yourself. I should have…” He stopped talking and turned away.

The sight of his back made my stomach hurt, and I closed my eyes. I went to rub at my face, but the leather of the belt touched my skin. I dropped it, repulsed. He’d done himself so much damage. Taking a long look around the room, I asked, “Are you doing this because of me?”

“I’m doing it because if I’m not, I’m hurting somebody else. You, Gracie. Even the people at the firm. None of them can stand to be around me and I don’t give a flying fuck about them, but it’s my company now and I need to make sure it’s fit to run on its own before I turn it over to somebody else for the day to day operations.”

He laughed bitterly. “Fantastic fucking job I’m doing.” He spun to look at me, his eyes glittering. “Did you do it? Steal the money?”

“No.” I lifted my chin. “My family is loaded. Why the hell would I need to steal?”

“Some people do it for the thrill. But that’s not who you are. And I should have known that.” A wild look entered his eyes, that self-directed rage leaking through once more. “I should have. But I’m too much of a self-absorbed asshole.”

“You are an asshole…” I said softly. “Sometimes. But everybody can be that way.” Taking a step toward him, then another, I hoped none of the heart-wrenching emotion I felt showed on my face. I knew he didn’t want it. But it overwhelmed me. “Lukas, you’re not a bad person.”

“The hell I’m not. It’s stamped on my DNA. My dad was like this – I’m like this. Maybe if my mother had lived, I might have had a chance, but I came from shit and shit is all I ever knew – so that’s who I am.”

“No.” Throat tight, I shook my head. I had to tell him. “Our DNA doesn’t make us who we are. Hell, if it did, I’d be as perfect as my parents are – as my sisters are. But I’m not. And you…Lukas, I don’t think Gilbert Grayson is your father.”

His head jerked up at the sound of that name. “How do you know who he is?”

“Because…” I took a deep breath. “Because I did an online background check and found out. I went to talk to him and he said…” Biting my lower lip, I hesitated a moment before blurting out the rest of it. “He said some pretty awful things about you and your mom, but he also said that he wasn’t your dad. He told me your father’s name was Holden Richmond. So I looked him up too. He lives in New York, and I went to see him. Lukas…you have his eyes.”

He hadn’t moved, hadn’t blinked since I started talking.

Now, he staggered a little. One hand went out, grasping the nearest post of the magnificent bed and slowly, he sank down. The eyes – eyes just like his father’s – stared blankly at nothing for what felt like an eternity. Finally, though, he shifted his gaze to me. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.” I twined my fingers together, nerves biting at me. What was he thinking? How did he feel? Well, other than shocked. That much was obvious. “I know I shouldn’t have gone meddling, but I was trying to understand how anybody could lay hands on their child. What I realized was that, even if you were his, Gilbert would have hurt you. He’s just plain mean, but genetics aside, you’re not his son, Lukas.”