Page 31 (1/2)

Not even his wife

Nine years ago, he’d been blinded by Whitney’s seee in his ar her--he swore he’d felt their hearts touch

And he’d never in his life experienced any ee was his sister-in-law One of his best friends Too good, too sweet, to be dragged any deeper into the vortex his life had become She was untouchable

But, God help him, he wanted her anyway

Chapter Sixteen

"Welcome back," Daniel said as Evan entered the conference room and took a seat at the table

"Glad to see your seat filled again," Sebastian said with a suru, he was beloved to uy was huranted And he thanked his lucky stars for his fiancée, Charlie

Matt leaned back in his chair "Things haven’t been the same without you" Like Sebastian--and unlike Daniel in his flannel shirt--Matt wore an iloues regularly, and formality and proper attire were akin to respect

Only Will wasn’t here, as he and Harper were in Hawaii for their honeyreat ti at his friends, he realized how daood it was to be hos"

The Mavericks had been together for twenty-five years, brothers without sharing blood They fought for one another, stood up for one another They were the men they’d becouys, and they had his back in return

In the squalid Chicago neighborhood of their youth, they’d been on the cusp of et the hell out And they had all succeeded Evan with his investments Daniel with his hands and craftsman’s tools Matt had employed his inventive mind Sebastian had tapped into the perfect combination of charisma and enize what people truly desired into an import-export empire

Evan couldn’t have done it without them Or without Susan and Bob Alone, he would still be in the old neighborhood, breathing the dirty air, cowering frohost of his father

The Mavericks had saved hione dark on them the last month He hadn’t turned to the people who mattered to hiain Not even when keeping everything locked away inside sees, they norht into a discussion of any business ventures with top priority But Evan’s life had been anything but norot an announcement" He steeled himself to say the M-word "My mother’s returned" He paused to let that sink in before hitting the with a brother and sister I never knew about"

The jaws of each and every Maverick dropped

"This has got to be a joke," Matt said "You’re trying to screith us, right?"

"I wish I was"