Free Marked by Passion by Kate Perry Page A

him play with his glass and wished I'd thought to bring myself a glass of water to fiddle with, too.
    "I have no excuse. I should have come sooner, but I was building my business, and the years got away from me ..." He shook his head. "And then Dad died and I realized I couldn't put it off any longer. You're the only family I have left, Gabby."
    The lump in my throat made it impossible to say anything.
    He leaned forward, his eyes blazing. "I want to be what we used to be. Despite everything, we were best friends growing up. Do you miss me as much as I miss you?"
    "I missed you." And I really did—for a long time. But I'd written him off. At the time, I'd felt justified. Now I felt like I'd betrayed him, too.
    "Do you think you can forgive me for what I said?" He reached for my hand and clasped it in his. "Can we be friends again? I don't expect to walk back into your life and have everything be okay. I know I've let too many years go by. I'm just asking you to give me a chance to be your brother again."
    My heart ached with longing. God, I wanted that so badly. I'd give anything to have a big brother again. I'd give anything to be able to talk to someone about the Guardianship—someone who knew the history and understood. Emotion clogged my throat, so I just nodded.
    "Good." He blinked a few times and cleared his throat. "We'll have dinner. There's so much to talk about."
    "I like food," I said inanely.
    He grinned, and I caught a glimpse of the boy I used to have stick fights with. "You always did. Especially candy, just like Mom. I remember how you two used to sit on the porch and share M&M's."
    Our special time, Mom called it. She used to tell me there were many secrets to being a woman and she wanted me to know all of them.
    "I used to be so jealous of those moments, even though Mom always made sure she and I had our own special time together. I miss her, Gabby." He frowned at the ice melting in his glass. "Do you ever think about the day Mom died?"
    My shoulders tensed, and I hunched down just a little in the chair. I hadn't expected him to mention that. I wasn't ready for it.
    "She laughed when I told her she shouldn't go outside because you and Dad were practicing. But she wanted to take more pictures of the roses, so she went anyway. One minute she was smiling and happy, and the next..." He shook his head and took another swig of his drink.
    The guilt in Paul's gaze shocked me. It never occurred to me that anyone else would feel responsible. It made me feel that much guiltier myself.
    "I wonder how things would have turned out if I'd insisted she should stay inside." He squeezed my hand. "It was bad of me to blame you. I think it was to lessen how responsible I felt myself. And you couldn't help that you couldn't control tu ch’i. You were only eighteen. It was too much of Dad to ask of you. Especially when you were so focused on your art."
    The energy that had been pulsating under the surface surged, probably responding to my emotions. For a moment, I thought it was going to break loose, but I managed to shove it back with sheer will.
    Oblivious of my struggle, Paul let go of my hand and sat back in his chair. "I'm sorry. I hadn't meant to bring all that up, not the first time I saw you again."
    "It's okay." It had to be said if we were going to be friends again. Besides, who'd understand better than me?
    "I have all of Mom's photos." His lighter tone told me we were done with the heavy talk. "I had them shipped up from LA to my suite here in the city. You should come by and pick out the ones you want."
    "I'd love that," I said with my whole being.
    He smiled. "Good. They're yours as much as mine. And then there's the matter of Dad's estate."
    I wrinkled my nose. "Since when did Wu have an estate? He was just an accountant."
    "I specifically meant the scroll."
    "What about the scroll?"
    "I know you never wanted to deal with the responsibility of the scroll. It's not what you were meant to do. So I came to offer to