Read Online A Billionaire for Christmas by Maggie Marr - Free Book Online

conversation circled around Christmas, the Travati Teddy Bear Luncheon, the arrival of the new baby, and Shelly’s life in San Francisco.
    “You two always fought like brothers, but now? It’s weird there was none of that ball-busting I remember, not from either of you.”
    A tight band circled Anthony’s chest. Many years ago, what felt like a lifetime, he would have turned to Shelly first to talk about Max and Aubrey. He would have asked for Shelly’s thoughts, her guidance. He would have listened to what she told him, because he had trusted and loved her, and she had always been the person to advise him, talk him down when his first reaction was anger. That luxury, that relationship, that woman, his Shelly, the one he’d wanted to spend the rest of his life with, had disappeared when she run to Texas, leaving him and everyone else behind.
    “He didn’t want to do a DNA test.”
    “You needed a DNA test to know that Max is a Travati? All you have to do is look at him.”
    The muscle in his jaw twitched. “I understand that my nephew looks like a Travati. But Aubrey…she slept with Justin once fifteen years ago, and then arrived on Justin’s doorstep with a fourteen-year-old boy.” He looked toward Shelly. “Excuse me for being pragmatic, but our business holdings are well over a billion dollars. I felt quite justified in wanting to protect them.”
    “Yeah, and Justin feels justified in being pissed.”
    “Because I was reasonable.”
    “No, because you thought the woman he loved was a gold digger.”
    “The test is simple and painless and easy to perform—”
    “And kind of pointless. Justin married Aubrey, so what would it matter? Max would be his son and your nephew through marriage even without the DNA.”
    “I needed to know.”
    “Okay, just so I’ve got this straight, your needs outweighed family harmony? Accepting what Justin wanted? The wife and son he’d chosen?”
    Heat flamed through Anthony’s chest. How could she make what he’d done sound so outrageous? He knew damn well he’d been the most sane, the most reasonable, the most pragmatic one of the entire family. He had kept his head when Leo and Devon had been practically racing to accept Aubrey. “You can’t possibly understand.”
    “I can’t?” A wry smile decorated Shelly’s lips in the darkness. “You always hated how Justin got to make the rules because he’s the oldest. Always. You two fought since you could talk. I grew up with you. So here comes this woman and her son and your older brother falls in love. You think he’s getting duped, so here’s your opportunity to force him to do it your way, to finally play by your rules, because you think what you want makes perfect sense and is pragmatic .”
    Though he drove through the darkness of night, eyes fixed on the road, Anthony could feel Shelly’s heavy gaze on him. Damn her. He shook his head and forced the car to go faster. She didn’t get it. The DNA test wasn’t about him getting his way, wasn’t about forcing Justin to finally play by his rules. That wasn’t it at all.
    “The DNA test was to protect a billion-dollar enterprise.” If Shelly couldn’t understand that, then she’d lost more brain cells than he originally thought to her years of drug addiction.
    “Oh, I understand what the test was meant to protect. But that’s money. Okay? Your brother is in love.” She sighed and her voice dropped. “There’s a big difference.”
    The heat in Anthony’s chest built. Intense fury hit him like a wave. He wasn’t certain he understood the anger, and yet he couldn’t seem to force the rage from his body. A big difference? Did she think he couldn’t grasp the difference between commerce and love?
    What did she know about love?
    He gripped the steering wheel. He understood love. Love ripped your heart from your chest still beating and pumping. Love ground your desires beneath its heel. Love…like the love he saw when Aubrey looked at Justin, or when