“My God.” Lola couldn’t imagine being related to someone who could do that.
“I immediately went to confront him,” Duncan continued. “And do you want to know the truth?”
“Yes. The truth is all I’ve ever wanted.”
Regret was etched in the lines of his face as he said, “I’m sorry, Lola. So damned sorry for everything. You’re the very last person I ever wanted to hurt.”
Though her heart was breaking for all he’d endured, she still wasn’t sure she was ready to forgive him for saying he loved her and then keeping so much from her. So instead of responding to his apology, she said, “What happened when you confronted him?”
“I thought he’d be upset. Scared, even. But it was the exact opposite. He was pleased that I finally knew the truth about him.”
Though plenty of Duncan’s story had shocked—and saddened—her, this took the cake. “Why do you think he reacted that way?”
“Maybe he was pleased that he’d raised me to be clever enough to see through his schemes when no one else did. Or maybe he relished the chance to show me that he would always be the victor, no matter what.” Duncan stared out at the water as though the answer could be found in the rolling sea. “Whatever was really going on beneath his surface, he told me he was doing exactly what our father would have wanted him to do.”
“Your father told him to embezzle from his clients, then lash out at his brother when his crimes were discovered?”
“The names Alastair and Duncan both mean warrior,” Duncan explained. “From the day we were born, Alastair claims our father intended for us to head into battle—and to win every time. It didn’t matter whether it was on the sports field, or in the classroom, or in the boardroom. Destroying the competition by any means necessary was the family brief. I was too young when he passed away to know whether Alastair was embellishing for impact, or if those actually were our father’s intentions.” Either way, Duncan looked utterly disgusted. “As of that day, the relationship we’d once had was forever lost.”
“That must have been devastating.”
Though he shrugged, it was clear how deeply losing the brother he’d once idolized had affected him. “He made sure I didn’t have enough evidence to prove what he had done, and though I still planned to go to the FBI at that point, I soon realized that without hard facts to present to them, not only would they not believe a word I said, my brother would surely find a way to pin the crimes on me. If I went to jail, I wouldn’t be able to undo the damage to the companies that had signed up with the fund. So instead of turning Alastair in, I did whatever I could to help all of them. Only Moira’s name and contact information eluded me. You don’t know how many times I wished I had done more than just sign off on the initial paperwork for Brilliant Funds, so that I could have found her and helped turn her business around.” The chatter and laughter and smells of ice cream and lobster rolls continued all around them as he told Lola, “My explanations don’t make me any less responsible for what happened to Moira, but I hope you’ll at least believe I never intended to hurt her, or anyone else.”
Looking into his eyes, she knew without a doubt that he had finally given her the full truth. “Why didn’t you tell me all of this that night we stayed up together? You knew I was—” Her chest hurt as she decided to be just as honest with him. “You knew I was falling in love with you. How could you keep this from me?”
“I thought you couldn’t possibly love me if you knew.”
“Do you really think that little of me?” A fresh flush of anger ran through her. “I thought you were different, that you weren’t like all the other guys who assume I don’t have a brain, who think I’m not capable of analyzing information and coming to my own conclusions. I thought you knew that I’m capable of separating right from wrong.”
“I’ve always known how brilliant and talented and strong you are, Lola. Always. I’m the one who should have been able to analyze my brother’s behavior more quickly and seen him for who he really is, rather than staying blind to his faults.”
Though she was still deeply conflicted over her feelings for Duncan, that didn’t mean she could let him continue to tear himself apart over what had happened with Brilliant Funds. “He’s your brother. Of course you wanted to believe in him. If I suspected one of my brothers or sisters was responsible for defrauding people, I wouldn’t want to believe it either. Heck, I would hands-down refuse to believe it. Anyone who loves their brother or sister would.”
But he obviously wasn’t ready to be let off the hook. “I can’t fix my past actions, but I can make sure Alastair doesn’t hurt anyone else. Especially you, Lola.”
For a moment, he looked like he was about to brush aside a lock of her hair that had blown in front of her eyes. She held her breath, waiting for him to reach for her.
When he didn’t, she was more disappointed than she wanted to admit.
“Why would your brother come after me?” she asked. “I’ve never even met him.”
“A man who works for Alastair—one of his over-muscled goons that he likes to use as an unspoken threat to his opponents—came to my office on Friday, right when I was about to head to the airport to see you in Bar Harbor, with an offer from my brother to acquire my company.”
“You would never sell your company to him!”
“No, I wouldn’t, which I made perfectly clear. Unfortunately, the man also came to Serafina’s fashion show and he saw us together. When I realized that you could become a target due to your association with me, I knew it was finally time to pay a visit to Alastair to inform him in person that I won’t tolerate his presence in any part of my life. That was when he showed up out of the blue on my doorstep, saying he wanted to sit down and resolve our ‘misunderstandings.’ But the truth is that he doesn’t have one single stitch of remorse or regret for what he’s done. All he really wanted was to make sure I knew he won’t be swayed from his plans to take over my company. And that he’ll stop at nothing to get it.”
“Losing your parents, and then being betrayed by your brother…I wish…” Her chest clenched tight, aching for him. “I wish you could have been spared all of it.”
But Duncan didn’t so much as nod, and he certainly wasn’t wallowing in self-pity. If anything, his anger was directed at himself. “After everything that’s happened, Alastair still believes I’m going to come back, that it’s just a matter of time until I see that he’s right. The last thing he expects is for me to risk everything—including a jail term for myself—to go after him. But now that you’re involved, none of the risks to my reputation, to my business, to my personal life, matter anymore. All that matters is making sure he doesn’t hurt you.” He blew out a harsh breath. “If only I had dealt with him five years ago.”
“What if you needed to wait until you had the right team in place, rather than trying to take him on all on your own?” It was difficult for Lola to speak past the ache in her chest. She was utterly overwhelmed by just how much she meant to Duncan. Enough to risk, and to lose, absolutely everything. “What if all of this—your coming to Bar Harbor, the two of us connecting, Moira seeing you at my parents’ house—is what will finally lead you to that safe, steady, happy place you’ve always dreamed of?”