Had she sensed, somehow, that they were related when she’d first seen his picture? Was that why Roman Fraser’s striking features had never attracted her, the way Alex’s had?
Stop thinking about Alex. He doesn’t want you any more.
Fraser stopped in front of her, his expression as stunned as her see-sawing emotions.
‘Eloise...’ he murmured, his voice hoarse. ‘You look just like Grandma Joan.’
‘I’m Ellie,’ she corrected him. She had no idea who Grandma Joan was. ‘Eleanor MacGregor,’ she added, hearing the desperation in her own voice—to be the person she had always believed she was. But as he continued to stare at her, so intently, as if she were a phantom who might vanish at any moment, she knew that Ellie MacGregor was gone. Or at least altered beyond all recognition.
She could never have that naïve, hopeful, innocent, reckless girl back, not entirely. And it hurt so much to know people she had loved, she had relied on, had never been who they’d said they were.
It felt like losing Ross and Susan all over again. It felt as if layers of skin were being torn off, to reveal a complete stranger—someone she didn’t know and wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Alex with his stupid DNA test had changed all their lives irrevocably. She’d always had this empty space inside her, this yearning for something more, something different. She had always knownsomehowshe didn’t belong on Moira. But she had never for a moment believed finding her true self would cause so much pain.
‘Of course.’ Fraser nodded, the sadness in his eyes unmistakable. ‘I’m Roman.’
‘I know, I recognised you.’ Her voice broke on the words. Something flashed in his eyes that might have been hope. ‘I saw your picture. On the Internet,’ she clarified quickly, and the flash flickered out.
‘Right.’ His gaze finally detached from her face to glance around the hostel’s shabby entrance lobby. A frown of displeasure flattened his brows. ‘Grab your stuff and I’ll take you to my hotel uptown.’ The laser-sharp gaze landed back on her face, his tone firm, commanding. ‘You can stay in a suite there for now.’ He paused. ‘Or you can move into the Fraser Mansion on the Upper East Side. I keep it fully staffed but I’m not there much myself so that will give you your own space. We’ll meet with the legal team tomorrow to settle the inheritance. Then you can take your pick of the other properties owned by Fraser Holdings.’ He hesitated again, as Ellie tried to figure out what the heck was happening. This was too much, way too much. ‘Or simply buy your own place,’ he added. ‘Whatever works for you. But I don’t want—’
‘Whoa, wait,’ she interrupted the flow of information, or rather instructions, her head starting to hurt, along with everything else. ‘I’m no’ going anywhere today,’ she managed. ‘And I don’t want to speak to any legal team tomorrow.’
His brows lowered even further, as if she’d just said something incomprehensible. Clearly he was not a man who was used to having his instructions ignored. Or countermanded. Not unlike his best friend.
The sudden thought of Alex, in full-on He Who Shall Be Obeyed mode the first night she’d met him, had her stomach flipping over. It didn’t help to quell the nausea that had been lying in wait since last night.
‘Why not?’ he asked, as if her desire to control her own destiny made no sense whatsoever.
Ach, terrific. Just what I need—another overbearing man in my life.
‘Because I live here, this is what I can afford,’ she said as firmly as she could manage while her hands were trembling and the nausea was rolling around in her stomach like a dislodged oil tanker. ‘And I have shifts working in a bar in Columbus Circle today and tomorrow.’
‘Eloise, I don’t think you understand...’ he began calmly, the tinge of condescension making her stiffen.
‘Ellie,’ she corrected him.Again.
He blinked. ‘Right, Ellie.’ He took a deep breath, as if he were struggling to understand.Really?Why was it so hard to understand she needed her independence? ‘You’re now worth upwards of five billion dollars in real-estate dividends, share options and a trust fund set up in your name twenty-one years ago,’ he said with strained patience. ‘You can afford to live wherever you want. And there’s no charge to live at the hotel, or at the Fraser Mansion. Because those places belong to you too. You’re my sister.’
She flinched and saw him tense too as he said the word. It was the first time their sibling relationship had been acknowledged aloud—apparently, they were both still struggling with the information.
She couldn’t move out of here, not yet, and she certainly did not want to see any lawyers, but maybe she should give him a break. She opened her mouth, trying to figure out a possible compromise when he added:
‘And no way am I letting you continue to work in a bar.’
‘Excuse me?’ The spurt of outrage at his high-handedness felt strangely cathartic. But then she blew it. ‘Who made you the boss of me?’ Repeating the exact phrase she had once said to Alex torpedoed the outrage, reopening the great gaping wound from last night.
Alex...Who didn’t want her any more, had never really wanted her. And had sicced his best friend on her—because surely he must have found out where she was staying and told Roman Fraser somehow. Because he was done with her now, and he’d made her Roman’s responsibility. Passing her over to his best friend like a parcel he didn’t want to open.
‘I don’t think you understand. I don’t want the money.’ She sniffed, horrified to realise she was close to tears. ‘I don’t want any of this,’ she added, barely able to catch her breath, the misery pressing on her chest like a barbell. ‘I’m not ready, to meet you, to deal with all the lies they told me—’ She stopped abruptly. She was rambling, making a spectacle of herself. But worse was the gut-wrenching realisation that the thing that hurt most was knowing she would have to adjust to this new life without Alex.
She missed him, so much. Why had he abandoned her?
She blinked furiously, determined to hold onto the tears. Breaking down in front of this man, this stranger, felt somehow so much worse than breaking down alone in her hostel room.
But instead of looking shocked, or embarrassed, or even annoyed, Roman Fraser simply nodded again and said very slowly, ‘I’m sorry, you’re right.’ He hesitated again, the silence stretching as they both struggled to come to terms with the enormity of this situation. ‘How about we start over?’ he said at last. ‘Find somewhere private to talk? We have a lot to discuss.’
She sniffed again, scrubbed away a tear that had escaped. ‘Really?’ she said, the foolish feeling of gratitude making her knees shake now as well as her hands.