Hers alone.
She’d forgotten the one thing she knew to be true in her life—Jeremy had to come first. Her mother had drilled that into her long ago, after Jeremy had come out of the coma and they’d known he’d never be the same.
“Jeremy’s going to need all the help you can give, Harper. He needs you. And if anything ever happens to us, you’re going to have to take care of him.”
Harper had always done everything in her power to take care of her brother. Until now. Until she’d allowed herself to be wild and free.
To fall head over heels in love.
She was Jeremy’s guardian. She was all he had. But she’d let the rush of speed, and Will’s charm, blind her to her responsibilities.
Will didn’t know how Jeremy sometimes reverted to a frightened little boy. Will didn’t understand how utterly trusting her brother was. He would believe anything a stranger told him. Will had wanted to give him more freedom, more challenges. But she was the one who knew Jeremy’s limits. And she’d let it all happen.
She’d seduced herself with the attention, with the nights in Will’s arms, and she’d started wanting more than she should have. Started thinking she could actually have more.
The steward set their coffee down, with cream and sugar for her, black for Will. She looked at the milky coffee without picking it up, realizing that she’d forgotten the two china cups back in Will’s London penthouse. And she was glad, because they would always remind her that while she’d been off having wild sex in foreign lands, something bad had happened to her brother.
Will laid his phone on the table between them and turned the handle of his cup to pick it up, thanking the steward. When they were alone again, he said, “We’ve got a long flight. Why don’t you get some sleep in the cabin? I’ll stay by the phone.”
“I can’t sleep.” Her voice sounded dull and totally without emotion.
“There are some over-the-counter pills in the bathroom cabinet.” His eyes were weary, his brow lined with worry, his features sharp. “You haven’t slept much since we left San Francisco.”
She hadn’t. Because she’d been too busy making love with Will.
But she’d finally remembered her brother was her true duty. And she would never, ever let anything happen to Jeremy again. Because when they found him—God, please let me find him, I’ll do anything you want—things were going back to the way they had been before they’d ever met Will Franconi.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Harper’s silence made Will’s gut churn. He needed to know what she was thinking, what she was feeling. She meant everything to him—she and Jeremy both did—and he would give up literally every penny he had just to have her brother safe and sound again.
And to know that he hadn’t lost her love.
Right now, he was praying for at least one out of two to come true, since he couldn’t imagine Harper ever saying she loved him again. Not after he’d done the exact thing she’d been so frightened of...
“I’m so sorry, Harper. I shouldn’t have let this happen.”
The cords of her neck were taut, and her mouth thinned to a hard line. She was biting on the inside of her lip, as if she was trying to keep everything in.
He didn’t know what to do for her. He’d been so busy on the phone calling absolutely everyone he could think of to help that every other thought had been pushed out of his mind. But now there was nothing left to do but wait. Nothing left to say except that he’d screwed up royally.
Finally, she spoke. “This trip was ill-advised. I shouldn’t have agreed.” The coffee sat untouched in front of her, the steam fading, the cream rising to the top and coagulating.
He wanted to rewind back to the day he’d asked her to come with him. He shouldn’t have pushed her to come. He should have accepted her excuses. “We’ll find him, Harper. He’ll be okay.”
As if he hadn’t spoken, she continued, “Letting him go up to the city to work every day, where I wasn’t close by if he needed me—that was wrong, too.”
Will had loved the routine and Jeremy’s happy chatter when they’d picked up dinner on the way home to Harper. Those quiet evenings sitting with her on the sofa, her body tucked close to his, had been the best he’d ever known.
But she was regretting it all.
“He was better off at the grocery store,” she said in a firm tone. “He was better off with his regular routines.”
Will had been telling himself the same thing, that he should have had the clerk fired and left Jeremy where he was. Where everything was familiar to him. But no, he had to have what he wanted. He had to choose the method, the job, fix the problem. He had to stick his nose into her affairs.
And he’d screwed up every damn thing.
“I didn’t even call him.” Her voice was higher, harsher.