And just like that, her eyes shone. Her smile lit up the room, and she threw herself across the table to hug me tight around the neck. “You mean it? You’ll help me? You’ll go to the gala and talk up the project and help me with the city council?”

“Whoa,” I said. I unhooked her arms and pushed her gently back into her seat. “I said you can use my name. Annabelle will be the face of Daire Industries at any public functions you require.”

Her shoulders slumped. “But not you?”

“My name will be on the checks,” I said. “In construction, that speaks louder than any fancy shindig.”

“But—” she protested.

“Take it or leave it, Lexi,” I said.

I could feel Annabelle’s eyes flitting between us. She was obviously trying to determine the relationship between us. I’d say estranged sibling with a side of distrust at least on Lexi’s side of things. While I was more in the “estranged and trying to keep it that way” category.

“I’ll take it,” Lexi said. “But I’m not going to stop asking you to come to the gala. It’s going to be the biggest event in Phoenix. Anyone who is anyone is going to be there.”

“How is that?” I asked.

She grinned. “Are you kidding? When word gets out that you’re supporting a net-zero housing development, I won’t be able to keep them away.”

“I’m not going to the gala, Lexi.”

“So you say.” She tipped her chin up and turned to Annabelle. “What has Nick told you about this project?”

“That you’re going to revolutionize home building,” she said.

Lexi barked out a laugh. She patted my arm and said, “Same old Nicky. You always did believe in me more than I did myself.”

I felt my throat get tight at her words. It was jarring to have her back in my life. I didn’t know how to feel about it. I’d intentionally not reached out to her for twenty years so that she could have a better life with a good family, and yet here she was.

Why now? Why when I was feeling like a poor imitation of my old self? I didn’t want her to see me as broken or weak. I wanted her to remember me as her hero. And I definitely didn’t want her to get attached just to have me punch out early and leave her brotherless again. What would that do for her? Nothing good.

An awkward silence filled the room as I didn’t know what to say. Annabelle seemed to understand, and she jumped in and said, “Lexi, I love the art you have in here.”