Page 3 of Lost In The Dark

Our father had tried hard to crush Eli’s artistic side, and mocked him relentlessly about it. He thought it made Eli weak and feeble. He didn’t see the strength Eli already had inside of him. Strength he had earned during the years of mental, and some physical abuse he had been forced to endure. Earned by watching his own mother take her life when he was still only ayoung kid. He never understood my brother and he didn’t want to either.

Getting Eli out had been the right decision. Adam had lived with Eli while I was overseas, and taken care of him. And Eli? He had thrived, able to paint when he wanted and live without fear of the next insult or hit. He’d gone to college and focused mainly in art, much to my fathers disapproval, but it didn’t matter what he thought. I had a sizeable trust fund from my mother and I could afford to pay his college fees.

Now art was his true passion and he was so damned talented too. He’d had several shows where his paintings had been displayed and sold out in a single night. It could be his career if he wanted it to be, or he could just lock himself away in his studio and do it for himself, since he too had his own trust fund from our mother, not to mention profits fromLyle Industries. He didn’t need to work a day in his life, and yet, ever since I had taken my place at the company, he had been at my side every step of the way, supporting me. It was just who he was. He cared about the people in his life and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for them.

I slipped into my room and shucked off the uncomfortable suit. I took a quick shower, hoping to wash away the lingering stench of the day, then pulled on shorts and a tee. I wasn’t a suit guy, though I wore one every day for work – just another piece of the armor my father had instilled in me. That was the real me though – comfortable and able to relax in the privacy of my home.

“God, that smells so good. What did you cook?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen and found Adam pulling something from the oven.

“Baked ziti. I thought comfort food might be good,” Adam replied as he set the hot dish down on the counter and pulled plates from the cabinet. “Eli okay?”

“Tired. It was a lot for him today, all those fake assholes and their bullshit. You know he hates that crap,” I explained as I went straight to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer for me and one for Eli. Adam didn’t drink, and for years we had kept alcohol from the house for him, but in the last few years he’d encouraged us to have a beer if we wanted to. He seemed good with it. Alcohol had never been his vice anyway.

“He looked like shit.”

“I know. I think he’ll be okay now though. The old bastard can’t fuck with him anymore, and I’ll try to keep him away from the assholes I deal with at the office.”

“And you? What are you going to do now? You hate those assholes just as much,” Adam pointed out.

“I do, and I’m going to get rid of them all over time. I have a plan to turn things around. No more profiting from failing businesses. I have the reins now and I’m going to turn it into a company I’m proud to run,” I told him confidently.

“Sounds like a lot of work.”

“It will be, but it’ll be worth it.” If nothing else it would be worth it just because I knew how much my plans would make my father outraged. This would be my final ‘fuck you’ to the old bastard.

“Hey,” Eli greeted as he walked in, also changed into his version of comfortable – paint splattered jeans and a worn looking t-shirt. “Is Jordan back?”

“Nah, not yet. He had a hot date after work. Some woman he met at the coffee shop,” Adam shrugged. “You want ziti?”

“Yes please. It smells so good,” Eli replied.

“Me too. I’m fucking starving now.”

I quickly got out some cutlery and grabbed Adam a soda, then laid it all out at places at the central island in the kitchen. We had a dining table, but rarely used it. I had made sure things in our home were the complete opposite to the formal bullshit we had grown up with. There were no staff, no formal dinners, and no expectations. We all did our bit to keep the place clean, and Adam kept us stocked with groceries. We did have a gardener, but otherwise we were just a family, relaxed and comfortable enough together to be ourselves.

We were all sat eating and chatting, both Adam and I trying to cheer Eli up as much as we could, when my head of security – Kane – came in through the glass doors from the yard.

We had security with us at all times, including on the property when we were home. I’d been left with no choice when three men attempted to kidnap Eli for ransom last year. Luckily, I had walked into the parking lot as they were trying to grab him and had been able to fend them off enough to get my brother in the car and out of there, but I was taking no more risk.Lylemade us very wealthy men and I knew the lengths that could make some desperate men go to.

Kane was ex-military and I had worked with him overseas. When he got out I offered him the job of managing our security, both personal and for the head office building in the city, where Eli and I worked. He also coordinated the security for the other office buildings our company owned and operated around the country. He lived in a separate cottage on our property. I hadoffered him a room in the house, but like so many of us, he had come out of the military with his own demons. He needed his own place, and so we had built that for him. Now I didn’t know how we had ever managed without him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt dinner,” he said as he walked in and looked to us all.

“All good. You want some ziti?” Adam offered as he moved to stand.

“No, thanks. I’m fine. I just wanted to update the boss,” he nodded to me. I had told him a hundred times to just call me ‘Asher,’ but he still always referred to me as ‘the boss’ so I had given up trying. “ I have the information you requested.”

“Ruth Brooks?” I had asked him to look into the woman a week ago, needing to know if we really did have a sister or not.

“Yeah. She’s dead. Died nine years ago of heart disease,” he explained.

“Did she have a daughter?” Eli asked, looking much more like himself now. I knew he was excited at the prospect of another family member, but I was worried. Even if there was a sister, what would she think of us when my father – and hers – had just cast her aside before she was even born?

“Yes. Adeline. She’s twenty-six. Worked as a librarian in a tiny town in Ohio until two years ago. Her father is listed as ‘Joseph Lyle’ on the birth certificate,” Kane went on.

“So it’s true?” Eli turned to me with so much hope in his eyes. “We have a sister?”

“Just take a breath. We don’t know for sure yet,” I reminded him. “Where is she now?” I asked as I looked to Kane.