The Billionaire's Touch (The Sinclairs #3) Read Free Page B

His attire reminded him of his goals. He didn’t want to be sidetracked into something frivolous or unimportant.
    Eyeing the guy for a moment, Evan had to admit that wearing a pair of jeans and a button-down green shirt didn’t lessen Micah’s aura of power. But Micah was different, normal. He was an expert at several of the sports that he sold state-of-the-art equipment for, and he had no reason to be anything other than self-assured. He might think that Micah was certifiable for participating in some of the extreme sports that he excelled at, but Evan couldn’t deny that his cousin was good at them. Really good. It took intense concentration and focus to do the stunts Micah was capable of performing, and he took his business just as seriously.
    “I heard they named the baby David,” Micah said conversationally as the plane continued to descend for landing.
    Evan inwardly released a sigh of relief that Micah had dropped the teasing. It wasn’t something he was entirely comfortable with, even from family.
    He nodded as he answered. “David was a friend of Hope’s who was killed while chasing tornadoes. An extreme meteorologist. They wanted to pass the name on to their son.”
    Evan admired the fact that Hope was paying tribute to a good friend who had died trying to collect weather data, but he sure as hell hoped that his nephew didn’t decide on the same line of work as his mother or his namesake. Maybe it was a good thing that Evan hadn’t known that Hope was chasing tornadoes and every other form of extreme weather before she married Jason Sutherland. However, it still ate at him that he’d failed his only sister, hadn’t protected her from the horrors she’d suffered early in her career. She had hidden her involvement in her dangerous endeavors well, but he should have been better, more involved in her life. He was her oldest brother, and he should have kept her safe. Evan hated failing at anything, but what had happened to Hope was his deepest regret and his greatest defeat. He still hadn’t forgiven himself; he was pretty sure he never would.
    “I can’t believe that our sweet little Hope was such a wild child,” Micah mused, his voice sounding slightly awed.
    “It was her career,” Evan answered unhappily. “It’s not like she was out seeking thrills for no reason.” He didn’t like her being referred to as wild . She wasn’t. Not usually. As Micah had already mentioned, Hope had been a very sweet child and a quiet teenager. Evan had thought she was just carrying on in the same manner in Aspen, living a very sedate life free of media attention in the Colorado Rockies. In reality, she’d been roaming around the world photographing extreme weather events.
    I don’t really know her. I don’t really know any of my siblings anymore.
    If he wanted to be honest—which he didn’t—he had never really known them at all. They’d spent very little time together as children or adults. Evan hated the fact that there was distance between himself and his siblings, but now that they were all grown and happy, he wasn’t certain how to fit into the Sinclair family or how to fix the situation, or even if he wanted it to be fixed. Too much time had passed.
    Maybe I feel distant because I’m not happy or content like they are now? We have nothing in common.
    No. That wasn’t quite right. Evan had always needed to maintain his distance in order to keep his secrets. Now, he wasn’t sure he could or would ever truly be close to any of them. He was fairly certain that all of them saw him as more of a pain in the ass than a brother, simply because he interfered in their lives from time to time. But he was okay with that. As long as they were all safe and happy.
    “I still think she’s pretty ballsy,” Micah said with admiration. “And her photography work is incredible.”
    “It is,” Evan answered simply. He was proud of all of his siblings, and Hope’s talent was truly astonishing. His home in Boston