Noah walked toward the bar, sure he was going to find that Lily hadn’t heeded his advice about taking a break. He was on a mission to make sure she did. She was a human—she could get sick, and he didn’t want her stressing out so much that she made herself ill, or gave herself another headache.
He’d meant to check on her sooner, but he lost track of the time while he was in Blake’s office. Despite his words to Lily the night before, he hadn’t been able to resist at least attempting to search for his twin. The need inside him to find Chance was overpowering. So, he’d powered up Blake’s desktop computer and set to work.
He was no hacker. He didn’t possess much more knowledge than the basics. But he’d thought maybe he could find Chance somewhere, and once he started looking, he hadn’t been able to stop his search.
Even though he hadn’t been able to find a trace of his brother, he still couldn’t call a halt to it, trying every search engine he knew of, scrolling through pages of results. Not until he glanced at the clock and saw he’d been in there for almost four hours. Deciding that was enough for the day, he turned the computer off, determined to make Lily take a break while he cooked dinner.
Frowning as he reached the bar and found the room empty, he called her name as he walked over to where the laptops were still open. He glanced idly down as he called her name again and then stopped as his eyes fell on a tab that said Chance.
That couldn’t be a coincidence.
He debated for a moment, torn. He should probably find her and ask her what she’d been doing, but instead, his hand reached for the mouse and he clicked the tab open. He’d been right—she was searching for his twin.
But it looked like she hadn’t found anything more than he had. A big, fat nothing.
Exhaling with disappointment, he clicked the tab shut again and walked to the front window, looking for Lily. He saw her struggling to get a box out of the back of her car and he rushed outside to help her.
“Wait,” he called as he jogged over. “Let me get that. You should have asked me to help before you came out here.”
She smiled as she shrugged at him, the blue shades in her eyes looking even more drastic than usual as the setting sun highlighted them. “I didn’t want to bother you. It’s not all that heavy, anyway.”
“I went into the bar to make you take a break while I cooked dinner, but it looks like I didn’t need to force you.”
Shutting the trunk lid, she walked with him back to the door and held it open for him. “I wanted to get that out of the car. Besides, my eyes were starting to cross, and I could feel a tension headache building. I thought a small break was called for.”
“In that case, I’m glad you weren’t going to push yourself more,” he said as he set the box down on the counter. “I was going to make dinner. Any requests?”
She laughed. “Maybe not chicken, in case Skylar shows up.”
Chuckling, he nodded. “Yeah, that might be best. Anything else sound good?”
“I’m not picky. Just don’t forget that you switched out the salt and sugar.”
Leaning in, he kissed her softly. “Yeah, that’s a surprise for Liam. I don’t want it backfiring on us. Keep on taking a break. Don’t work again until after dinner, okay?”
“I promise I’ll try not to.”
His eyes narrowed on her, but he figured that was as good as it was going to get. Nodding, he turned and made his way back into the kitchen. He was just about to open the fridge when he felt his phone vibrate. Pulling it out of his pocket, he frowned when he saw a number he didn’t recognize.
“This is Noah.”
A pause came over the line and then a deep male voice spoke. “Noah. This is J—Chance.”
His heart stopped beating and then started up again with a vengeance, threatening to break free of his ribcage. “My brother Chance?”
The other man hesitated and then cleared his throat. “Yeah. Your twin.”
“How—where—how did you get my number?” he asked, feeling dazed as he made his way over to a stool and sank down on it.
“I’ve had it for a long time.”
He frowned. “So I was right. You did remember me, then.”
“You say that like you didn’t remember me,” Chance replied, his voice careful.
“Not until last night. I had no memories before age eight.” He frowned, shaking his head. “But you clearly remembered. And you had to have looked me up, if you have my number. But you didn’t try to find me or get ahold of me at all. Why?”
A sigh came over the line. “I couldn’t. I shouldn’t have even called now. But two searches for my name came from your location today, and I had to call. To let you know you need to stop. I’m close to finally ending this, and I don’t want them finding out about you.”