The Renegade Returns (Mill Town Millionaires) Read Online Free Page B

they were the biggest supplier of both jobs and housing in the area—heck, the whole county. Without the mill, Black Hills would cease to exist.
    It had been a grueling year for his brothers, dealing with all of that on top of Luke’s car accident. “Anything new?” Luke asked.
    “Nothing I can prove, yet,” Jacob said, his amber eyes darkening.
    “That sounds promising.”
    His twin nodded. “Zach has one of his men following the trail, but it looks like we also have some embezzling going on.”
    “That’s bold,” Luke said. “The orders, company equipment, our cotton supply and the Manor itself…now money. Is there anything this guy isn’t afraid to put his hands on?”
    “Not that we can tell,” Aiden said with a slow shake of his head. He pressed his palms against the desktop. “As soon as we cut off one avenue, he finds another. All too easily.”
    Luke paced across the room despite some lingering muscle pain from his therapy session. His rising anxiety made the walls close in, leaving him eager to move, to escape. An all-too-familiar feeling. “That’s disheartening.”
    “Well,” Aiden said, “I hope I can cheer you up with my news.”
    “Yeah?” the twins said in chorus.
    “The legalities of Grandfather’s will are all finished. The mill is now mine,” Aiden said.
    “Wow. That was quicker than you thought,” Luke said. “Congratulations.”
    “It was quicker than I thought,” Aiden conceded. “But I’m glad, because now I can move on to plan B.”
    A short glance at Jake didn’t provide any clues as to what that might be. He looked as expectant as Luke felt. Aiden pulled a thick envelope out of his inner jacket pocket.
    “I’ve had my personal lawyer pull up this paperwork,” he said. “I’m changing the ownership of the mill to all three of us, instead of just me.”
    Luke simply stared, not fully comprehending.
    Jacob spoke for both of them. “But Aiden, this is your inheritance.”
    “It shouldn’t be. It should be ours . Not just mine. Not a weapon to turn us against each other, as Grandfather intended.” He took a solid breath. “A family investment. We’re all putting our lives into the mill, the town. We’re sharing the responsibility. We should share the benefits.”
    “Whoa. Wait a minute.”
    Jacob’s smile faded as he looked over at Luke, but Luke couldn’t give in just to make his twin happy.
    “I’m not staying here,” he reminded them. “The only thing I plan on investing my life in is my racing career—the minute I’m cleared to get behind the wheel. I’m here only because I have to be.”
    Luke could almost feel Jacob’s emotions fall along with his expression. Aiden remained more stoic as he said, “You never know what might happen in the future, Luke.”
    “Is this why you insisted I come home?” Luke asked, panic rising in his chest. “Did you think you could force me home, force me to find something of value here, and then I’d never want to leave? Like you two have?”
    He didn’t even realize his voice had risen until he stopped talking. The three of them stared at each other in silence. Embarrassment swept over Luke like a heated blanket. Where had that come from? “Look, I’m sorry. I know y’all would never do that to me.”
    “No, I wouldn’t,” Aiden agreed quietly. “I would never trick you into coming here. After all, I know very well how that feels.”
    Their grandfather had faked his own death, bringing Aiden home to care for their sick mother, but it was only a trick to force Aiden and Christina into marrying. Even though the man really was dead now, Aiden faced what James Blackstone had done to him every day. Luckily, he’d been given a happy ending.
    Luke didn’t want one. Not here.
    Aiden wasn’t finished. “I’d never force you to sign this paperwork,” he said, giving the envelope a little shake. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t wish you would. Regardless of what your immediate future holds, you’re