Aaron was stunned by what was being said. He knew he wasn’t particularly good at hiding his distaste for others…in hindsight, he should have known his ‘good brother’ act was transparent.

It was true. He didn’t like Gray. He never had.

He had the kind of falseness about him that Aaron had hated about every single person in high society. Those people never made their true intentions clear because their entire lives were surface-level lies.

He had never been able to trust the man as far as he could throw him so how was he supposed to like him? Especially since he had been involved in Keeley’s and Robert’s deaths in his first life.

Going into their relationship already feeling like Gray was an enemy…even if he had acted more sincerely, Aaron probably wouldn’t have accepted him for real. How could he have when he was working with Lacy in a seeming repeat of what happened before?

But that was a long time ago. He wasn’t sure if it was prison or this woman who had changed Gray but he had dropped his façade and was laying his feelings bare. Aaron couldn’t help but respect that. It was a pretty big risk after all.

Gray was right. Neither of them had been sincere. He couldn’t hold it over the man’s head without being a hypocrite.

Keeley’s death had been so long ago. He hadn’t done anything to harm her in this life and had even killed Lacy for them. The life he had now wouldn’t have even been possible without this man’s sacrifice.

Gray was dangerous—that much was undeniable—but if he truly desired to change, Aaron couldn’t fault him for that. He hadn’t exactly been the best person either but Keeley had forgiven him and allowed him the chance to be better.

“You’re right,” Aaron admitted. “I don’t like insincere people. I grew up around them and they tried to control my life until Keeley gave me a reason to get out. But if you’re willing to be honest with me, I’ll be honest with you Michael.”

His brother’s smile grew until it threatened to swallow his face. He seemed like a completely different person when he wasn’t putting on airs.

“Yes, of course! What do you want to know?” he asked eagerly.

“Mostly I’m curious what’s going on with your fiancée and whether or not you’re involved in anything shady that might come back to bite me later,” Aaron said bluntly.

Gray—no, Michael—actually laughed so hard he ended up wiping tears from his eyes. A moment later he sobered to reply seriously.

 “I suppose I deserved that. Rest assured, I’m going straight now that Mandy is a part of my life. I don’t want ‘anything shady’ to come back and bite her either. I was thinking about getting back into the tech world. There are so many fascinating new advancements now.

“As for Mandy…we knew each other before I became Graydon Meyer. She was my foster sister during my senior year of high school and we spent a lot of time together. Apparently she was in love with me, isn’t that crazy?”

A self-deprecating look appeared on his face and he continued. “I remembered her but not her name…she was our waitress the last time we went to dinner. She recognized my name from the bill and left her phone number. We ended up catching up on the past thirty-eight years together and have a lot in common. She quite forcefully said that I was hers after that and now we’re getting married.”

Of all the possible ways they ended up together, Aaron definitely hadn’t expected that. So she was genuinely in love with him. Since Michael said they had a lot in common, he was able to read between the lines and understand that she knew the truth about him.

Mandy knew what he had done and what he was capable of and still loved him. He had been right about her being a second troublemaker.

“Okay, I get that, but what was with the prank?” Aaron asked.

Michael appeared a bit sheepish. “Oh that. That was Mandy’s idea. She was a bit put out that you don’t actually like me and wanted to mess with you.”

Wow. He really had told her everything if she even knew the complicated history between them. Not that she knew the full story—even Michael didn’t understand why Aaron had been so convinced he was an enemy at first because that had to do with terrible things he couldn’t remember from another life.

“That’s fair,” Aaron said begrudgingly. “I take it she’s the one who suggested you be honest with me about what you want?”

Michael nodded. “Yes, she’s quite something, isn’t she? Isn’t it amazing that men like us could both find such outstanding women?”

Men like them…as much as he hated to admit it, they were similar in more ways than one. Keeley had been right when she once said that they both hide their true feelings well. Aaron’s were hidden under a thick layer of ice while Michael’s were underneath all of that phony charm.

Neither of them knew what warmth or love was from the way they had grown up either. And they both had an inner darkness that came from being Alistair Hale’s sons. Aaron had squelched his so he could have his happily ever after with Keeley and it seemed like now a woman had inspired his brother to try and do the same.

“Amazing indeed,” Aaron said thoughtfully.

The real Michael Gray might not be so terrible after all. It would likely take a while to get over his preconceived notions and properly get to know his brother but that didn’t matter. What did was that he finally knew that he had never been a threat after all.

Guilt squirmed in his stomach. He wouldn’t be this magnanimous if he knew Aaron was the reason he had ended up in prison. Well, he probably already felt that way because he killed Lacy for Aaron’s benefit but if he knew that his brother had personally been the one to get the evidence that convicted him…

Aaron knew what he had to do. Michael wanted them to be like real brothers so the only way to make things up to him was by doing that. He needed to put genuine effort into their relationship from here on out.

This wasn’t the first time he had to work to make things up to someone. Keeley had taken a long time to say the score had been settled after all he did to her in their first life. Since Michael could never know the truth, Aaron would have to spend the next twenty-five years being a proper brother to square things away between them.

He held up his wine glass with a slight smile on his face. “To brotherhood.”

Michael returned his smile and clinked glasses with him. “I’ll drink to that, baby brother.”

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