Hunter pushed his empty plate away. “What’s that?”

“Noah. He could swoop in and claim Hayden as his. Once he realizes this isn’t going the way he wants it.”

“I hadn’t considered that.”

“The man suddenly starts appearing wherever we are? He has to be on to something.”

“He’s pushing my buttons. Trying to look like the upstanding guy and me the unreasonable ass. Not much has changed since we were kids.”

“Didn’t your parents ever clue in to the truth?”

“We were lumped into the same person most of the time. By the time Noah showed his real drive, my father was clued out, my mother was gone . . . and I was determined to live life differently. I’d always been one of two.”

“A lot of people would want that.”

“Not when one of the two is a complete emotional opposite. You’d think identical twins would have the same personality. We don’t. I had the drive to become self-made, he had the drive to let someone else do everything for him. Worse, he thinks I owe him simply because of our DNA. I never have understood that mindset.”

“When do you think you’ll be prepared to petition the court for custody?”

“I’m looking for a couple more nails and then we can move. Two weeks . . . maybe.”

“Before Christmas?”

“Christmas?” His eyes were wide.

“Yeah, you know . . . that big holiday at the end of December?”

“I know what Christmas is . . . I just haven’t thought about it.”

Neither had she . . . not until earlier in the day when she noticed lights going up around the city. “What do you normally do for the holidays?”

He shrugged. “Company Christmas party . . . a few I can’t get out of events.”

“I mean on Christmas. Without family . . .”

When he didn’t have a quick reply, she felt instant remorse for asking the question. “I’m sorry I asked.”

Hunter shook his head. “Christmas is a holiday for close friends and family . . . both of which you know I don’t have. I don’t accept invitations from my associates. I keep my employees at a distance.”

“What about your father? Is he so awful?”

Hunter rolled off the bed, took their plates with him. “He’s a hermit. A shell of a man he once was. Ten minutes in the room with the man is about all I can take.” He placed their plates on a cardboard box that hadn’t yet been unpacked and proceeded to stoke the fire.

“Your father was once a successful businessman, right?”

“He was. He didn’t get rich, but he managed. My mother thought he was better off than he was. Insisted on fancy schools . . . which is where I met Blake.”

“And Gwen.”

“Blake didn’t let any of us around his sister. He was known to break the noses of her dates. Noah took an interest, and that’s about the time I ducked out of their lives. Last thing I wanted was Blake mistaking him for me.”

“How is it I didn’t know this?”

“Noah backed off quickly. Our mother left and took most of my father’s money with her. I saw an instant decline in my father’s will to move forward. Noah took our dad’s depression and worked it to get whatever he wanted.”

“And you held up the pieces.”

“I wouldn’t say that. I made my own way. I’d been accepted into the colleges I wanted. I moved, learned after three semesters that I didn’t need a degree to run a successful business.”

“Wait . . . I saw a degree in your portfolio.”

“Honorary. They hand them out like candy if you write a big enough check.”

“That’s crazy. So you dropped out of college and set the world on fire . . . burning bridges along the way.”

“Making money, not friends, was my goal.”

“Mission accomplished.”

He moved back to the bed and sat. “Christmas was my sacrifice.”

She fought the frown on her face. The ache in her chest for those missed holidays tightened. “I guess we’ll simply have to make this year all the better.”

Hunter reached out and played with a lock of her hair. “If you want to spend it with your family—”

She caught his hand. “I don’t know where we will spend Christmas . . . but I don’t see any reason why we can’t be together.”

“Unless I screw up between now and then.”

“Then don’t screw up.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible.”

“Try.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Hunter sat across from Frank Adams and his squad of lawyers. Travis and Hunter’s team sat beside him. The meeting was a formality. In truth, the contracts could be signed with each of them in their respective states. But they agreed face-to-face was better. Hunter hedged on the final agreement, giving Frank a larger cut and enough say in the oil sections to prevent a hostile takeover . . . which had been part of the long-term plan. So long as Frank didn’t bankrupt Hunter’s efforts, they could comingle.

He couldn’t help but wonder if marriage had made him soft. He wouldn’t have agreed to a larger cut a year ago.

“Are we ready to do this?” Frank asked.

“My t’s are crossed if yours are.” Hunter reached out a hand and Travis placed a pen into it.

His lawyer opened each page, told Hunter where to initial and sign before turning the document over to Frank. The signing took thirty minutes to complete before both of them stood and shook hands over the table.