Sam wasn’t the only one lost in make-believe, but I turned off the movies when I needed to be responsible.

  Elon said, “She spent almost every day of her childhood immersed in them except when we took her out to play.”

  That was just the tip of the iceberg. Princesses didn't have to sneak around to get food. Even Cinderella prepared a plate for herself.

  “We?” Sam asked. "Who's we?"

  I'd always admired the love the Norouzis had for each other. That love was also why Sam and I were here with Elon. The Norouzis valued family in a way I wished my own parents had. I picked up my pizza and addressed Sam. “Your father had twelve brothers.“

  Sam asked, “Had?”

  Elon answered quietly, “I have eleven now. One died.”

  Evan had died. When Evan and I had both been ten, I'd sat with him many nights while we shared stories of our plights. Evan had a hard time sleeping, and Elon had found me on a number of occasions snuggled up next to his dying brother. Elon’s brown eyes had felt like they’d burned into my soul, but I'd never talked to Elon about Evan or my problems.

  We’d never talked about Evan since.

  Evan had been up at all hours because of his cancer, though he hadn’t wanted to wake his maman or worry her any more than she already was worried.

  His death was the first time I'd realized we didn’t live forever. I lowered my head. “He was nice.”

  “He was in love with you,” Elon said.

  We'd been friends. He’d been a good listener, and he'd died when he was twelve. I shook my head. Elon had been the first man I kissed, the first man who made my skin buzz with anticipation, and the first man I’d ever had sex with.

  I shook my head. “That’s not true, and we both know it. Evan told me you were the one for me, not that it mattered. Look, let’s eat.”

  We ate. His staff brought wine for the adults and a soda for Sam. I sipped my wine, knowing Sam and I were safe with Elon. Honestly, if he said he wanted me tonight, I’d agree. The thought was crazy, though, as I knew he’d never press his advantage.

  Unlike every other guy I’d ever met, Elon was a gentleman. His control over himself was rare and part of his charm.

  Once we finished eating, I jumped up. “Tomorrow starts a whole new day.”

  A day where money couldn't buy everything.

  Both Sam and Elon stood.

  “Can I sleep with my wand?” Sam asked.

  I laughed. “Sure, sounds fun.”

  The sooner I was in my room, the better. Hopefully sleep would help cure me of my crazy thoughts. The last thing I needed was to start believing that Elon and I could be a couple. Happily-ever-afters only happened in movies.

  6

  Elon

  Last night, I’d laid in my bed alone and hardly slept a wink. In the other bedrooms, I had a son I needed to get to know and Clarissa. It was clear she’d gone through more than she'd told me about.

  I had a clear picture of whoever this Hunter was and what he’d done to Sam, and my muscles were tense from guilt. I wished I’d gone to find Clarissa years ago.

  The sun came up, and it gave me a reason to get up and head to the gym. Working out had for years helped me solve the problems that plagued my mind. I’d spent the past year growing my business and hiring competent doctors, training them, and then ultimately selling franchises across the country. It made me money and helped countless women have healthy deliveries, but that didn’t alleviate the weight on my shoulders.

  I headed downstairs, and as I turned, I saw Clarissa outside on the porch. So I opened the door and joined her. She didn’t seem to notice me at first. She was gazing off in the distance and appeared calm, exactly the way I'd seen her many times in childhood.

  I approached her and then slid into the seat beside her on the white wooden porch swing. Her eyes widened. A spark rushed through me. “You’re up early.”

  She nodded, seeming like she was far away. “I missed seeing the sunrise at the ocean and wanted to catch it. Is Sam still asleep?”

  “Yeah.”

  Sam had had a late night, and I hadn't heard any noise when I’d passed his room. I followed her gaze to the ocean. “Did you come out here to think?”

  She sighed. “And watch and listen to the waves.”

  “Of course,” I said, though I wasn’t sure how to reach her.

  She blinked. “We can share the view, if you promise not to make me cry.”

  Maybe I should leave her alone and not push her for anything more. She’d already brought my son here, and that should be enough. I whispered, “I don’t want to make you cry—ever.”

  “Good, because I’m here so you get to know Sam.”

  I realized I needed to make her laugh. And it wasn’t just to break the mood of the moment. I needed her to open up because I wanted to kiss her again.

  It wasn’t a fast, demanding desire that burned inside me. I needed to earn back her trust because I wanted more than sex. I wanted her heart. Then maybe we’d have together what I’d been afraid to want when we'd been younger.

  I laid my hand between us, though I knew she’d not take it. “I’m hoping to find a way to make up with you too.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “Oh, you’d not look good with mascara or lipstick.”

  I laughed. Her offbeat sense of humor was one of the best things about her. We passed some more time by watching the ocean. “I saw pictures of you in your princess dress. The PI I hired to find you sent them, and clearly you were in your element.”

  Her face pinkened. “I… it was the best decision for work I could make. Competition was fierce to get the acting gig.”

  “I can imagine.”

  She shook her head. “No, you can’t. But thanks for saying that. I applied every thirty days until HR relented and handed over a dress.”

  Fair enough.

  “You deserve good things.” Regret, as well as my upbringing, had taught me to be appreciative of the things I had. I kept the palm of my hand faceup, but she still didn't grasp it. “I… really did miss you.”

  She inhaled and shook her head. “You’d be the only one.”

  “My brothers wondered where you were, too, as you were the closest thing they had to a sister.” Her blush deepened, and I took a breath. “I spoke to my parents. Yours decided to retire to Fort Myers.”

  Her chin went higher. “Good to know.”

  My body buzzed with her nearness. “And mine are respecting our wishes for privacy right now, but they are excited to meet Sam.”

  She pivoted to face me. “You told them.”

  My heart beat faster. We'd never discussed keeping Sam a secret. I blinked and said, “It’s impossible to keep a secret from Maman.”

  “You should have talked to me first before sharing that with her.”

  “I… it slipped out when she asked me questions."

  “Still, he’s all I got.”

  “My parents are doting. They'll be good for Sam.”

  “You’re right, I guess.” She shrugged and settled back down. “Must be nice to get taken into a loving family.”

  It was time to follow my plan. I tilted my head and asked, “So other than bad boyfriends, did you develop any fun hobbies since you’ve been gone?”

  She blinked and settled into her seat, though her shoulders were less rigid. “I learned to dance some routines. I don’t think that’s what you meant, but with work and Sam, it’s hard to have hobbies. So what about you?”

  I relaxed. “I actually make wine.”

  Her eyebrows raised. “Seriously?”

  I nodded. “You drank some of it last night.”

  “It was good.” She swung the seat, and I helped her keep it going. “What do you remember the most about me, Elon?”

  Her kiss. How our bodies had fit together perfectly. How she’d always placed her hand on my arm, and her nearness kept me calm when I’d get anxious—and anxiety had plagued me a lot as a teenager. She’d been gentle and sweet. I couldn’t say any of that, though, and decided instead on specific examples. “How you were always in my corner, cheering for me. You came to my high school and college soccer games. You believed in me, and I didn’t realize how special that was till after you left.”

  “I doubt that. You and your family are so tight.”

  “Not always true,” I said. “Do you remember when I rode that horse to school to ask you to be my prom date, and the principal chased me off, which caused the horse to gallop in the wrong direction?”

  “Right into the cafeteria.” She laughed.

  Good. That sound was all I needed. She was sweet and sexy, an appealing combination.

  “You never have more than a minute of anger in your family,” she said.

  She’d be surprised. My stomach twisted at the thought of disappointing her. “Cyrus and I had a big argument recently.”

  She pressed her lips together. “Let me guess. You two made up.”

  Heat rose to my face. Family was about being on each other’s side. I swallowed. “I am going to be best man at his wedding.”

  She shook her head. “Of course.”

  Yet she’d not heard the rest of the story. I sucked in my lips and then decided to tell her. “A while ago, I found out an employee of mine had targeted Cyrus by using him to get her pregnant so she could cash in our money. I’d hired her as it's hard to find entrepreneurial doctors. After giving birth, she drove drunk and died, leaving the infant to Cyrus and my future sister-in-law. It was a big mess, and I felt responsible. They'd met because of me.”

  Her gasp made my pulse zip. She said, “That doesn’t sound like you.”

  The faith she had in me was a shock. I swallowed. “She was a good doctor.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “What did you mean?”

  She lowered her head. “That you didn't have any way of knowing the kind of person you were hiring.”

  “She was very entrepreneurial, but I’d never thought I’d need to protect my brother from her.”

  “He chose to sleep with her. You didn’t force them.”

  “Absolutely not, and my nephew is adorable, and Cyrus's fiancée is great. You’ll like her as she’s very down to earth.”

  “I’m happy for him. Cyrus was always so serious.”

  I wasn’t sure I'd told her the story because of my conscience or for another reason. I rocked us on the swing. “The point is, I’m not perfect, but I’m hoping maybe we can learn to work together.”

  She took my hand. My pulse quickened.

  “Sam’s already starting to like you,” she said.

  Good. And Clarissa and I needed to figure out how to work together. “We’ll really see how much he likes me when something happens, and he needs a parent. If you and I are on the same team, we’ll both be better at helping him.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “What are you saying?”

  Adrenaline rushed through me. “Last night, Sam told me to marry you.”

  She jumped up. I should have kept that to myself. She rushed her words. “I heard, and let’s not encourage him. Sounds like he’s awake. We should get back inside and get him ready for school.”

  Right. We needed to function, and that included doing normal things. She hurried inside the house and headed to the kitchen like she was on a mission. I followed her as she grabbed bread and headed to the toaster. I pressed my hand on her arm to stop her.

  My staff had already set the table. A few workers came into the kitchen and bustled around her.

  She gazed at them and then at me. Her shoulders slumped, but then Sam appeared at the door and together the three of us headed into the dining room where breakfast plates were already set. Sam slid into one seat. I took the head of the table, and she took the right side, like we were a normal family. I reached for the carafe of tea, but she got to it first and poured for me. I tensed as she wasn’t my maid.

  Sam asked, “Where were you two?”

  Hopefully, in time Sam and I would find common ground and start to build trust too. “On the porch. Your mom is big on getting you signed up for school.”

  He picked up his silverware and looked at Clarissa. “Okay. I don’t want to get you in any more trouble.”

  I narrowed my gaze. “Trouble?”

  Clarissa’s face turned bright red, and her hands shook until she put them on her lap. “I kept him out of school when we were… gone. So we had truancy calls daily.”

  Right. I nodded and then told Sam, “I’ll get you a tutor to catch you up.”

  Sam smiled and met his mother’s gaze. “I’ll make you proud, Mom. I promise.”

  She reached across the table and took his hand. “You already do because you’re the best son I could ever ask for.”

  One day, I needed to be part of this family. I needed Clarissa and Sam to let me in, which meant going slow and steady to prove myself. No more mentioning marriage. Proving to her that I could be there for them both would hopefully be the right start.

  7

  Clarissa

  After dropping Sam off at the elite private school where we'd enrolled him, my heart pounded. I’d gone to one of the best private high schools in the heart of Long Island, and as I stared at the walls of my bedroom in Elon's house, memories hit me.

  As an adult, I’d had to explain away the privilege. I’d been asked about it when I was finally granted an audition to be a princess. I’d told the woman interviewing me that I’d been on scholarship, and she seemed confused about why I hadn't taken advantage of more schooling. I hadn't told her I'd never fit in at the shiny halls. Instead I talked about how I’d proven my strong work ethic by taking a job as a hotel maid. I pointed out my desire to work as a pretend princess in a theme park.

  Now my son was going to a school similar to the one I'd attended. The only difference was he belonged there as his father’s son. He also belonged in this house.

  I prayed that Sam would fit in.

  On the drive back from Sam's school, Elon had kept mostly silent. We’d joked a little about the past, which had made my stomach churn. I wasn’t who he remembered, and eventually he’d realize that. I was even more broken and closed off than I'd been in the past.

  I took a long bath, closed my eyes, and hoped I could relax. However, memories flooded me of meeting Hunter at the cast center, bringing him home, and finding my son bruised and bloodied in that damn closet.

  I sat up and tried to take deep breaths. It wasn’t easy.

  Since that moment, I’d hated myself for not telling Elon he had a son. I believed the Norouzis were well prepared to protect their own. I’d spent an entire lifetime watching their family dynamic. I'd wished to be a princess because that would have made me good enough to be in their family.

  I got out of the tub, dried myself, and promised myself I’d never, ever, ever let someone dangerous into our lives again. I'd never again give up my power. And it would be stupid to give my heart to the man who'd dashed my dreams.

  Finally, I came out of the bathroom and went to the closet where I’d stashed the bag Elon had given me. I wasn’t sure what I’d choose to wear. I opened the walk-in closet. All the clothes had been hung up, and shoes were stacked as though the closet was a shoe museum.

  I pressed my hand to my heart. I was reminded of Elon's mother’s house and her closet. I’d watched his mother put on makeup and dress for parties while I dreamed of living a life like hers. If my parents had found out I’d been in her bedroom, they’d have threatened to send me away to an orphanage. I should have just run away. I’d only stayed because of Elon and my dreams of his family becoming mine.

  Some of the fancy dresses caught my attention. They were modern and nothing like the princess dresses from wardrobe I’d worn at work. I'd also been required to wear heavy, caked-on makeup.

  I’d never wear any of the dresses in the closet, but I found a nice pair of slacks and a button-down blouse. I grabbed them and some black flats, all of which fit perfectly. I took my time getting ready as I wanted to look nice for Elon.

  He was different now, more vulnerable and open and a better listener. A chill rushed through me at the thought that he’d take over for me in my son’s heart. I took a deep breath and shook it off. The changes in Elon didn't affect my plan to ensure he and Sam were bonded so Sam would forever be protected from harm.

  For now, I needed to get along with Elon so Sam's transition here would be smooth.

  When I finished dressing, I left the bedroom. The halls were quiet. I had no idea where Elon might be, so I wandered the house.

  I gazed at the blue-and-white textured walls. There were pops of color on the rugs, and the original art hanging from the walls had a beach theme. This wasn’t his mother’s style unless she’d changed.

  I checked every room in the house until I got to the last one.

  Elon wasn’t there.

  He didn’t need to fill me in on what he did every day, but I tensed. I checked the patio, and he wasn’t there, either. In the backyard, I saw a structure in the distance that wasn’t a shed or a garage. The weather was nice, so I decided to talk a short walk to explore the garden, which featured mums and other fall plants. The garden smelled like flowers—and a hint of grapes.

  I continued toward the building near a small vineyard, which seemed to be a commercial structure. The door was open, and my heart thumped. I couldn’t see Elon, but the goose bumps on my arms grew, and I knew Elon was inside.

  I tensed but decided to walk in. Elon was using a machine to move a stainless steel barrel into a cellar.

  The machine was so loud, he hadn’t heard me.

  I breathed in the scent of wine and assumed this was his hobby.

  It was more like a professional operation, but of course he’d only have the best.

  When he finished moving the barrel and turned around, he smiled brightly. My heart stirred. I tried to compose myself. “Thank you for the wardrobe, but it’s a bit much. I hate accepting it.”

  He shrugged, got down from the machine, and gently squeezed my arm. “Maman picked most of the clothes and had them delivered. I don’t know anything about women’s fashion.”