Crashing my car and spilling my coffee all over me wasn’t me at my best.

The Maserati owner in the expensive clothes was hotter than the weather in Tennessee. Sure, part of me didn’t want to argue, but this stranger in town turned something on inside me I thought was dead…

So I brought him to the garage in town, showed him the local hotel, and stayed for dinner.

He’s only in town for the night and, for once, it’s nice when a guy calls me his.

One night away from my life sounds perfect, but, in the morning, I realize Joel had a secret. And that secret can affect my friends.

I knew better than to get involved. So I spilled the beans. I’d see my friends again, not Mr. One Night.

But I didn’t expect he was more. And I misjudged him. I’m not good at apologies.

Letting a guy anywhere in my heart usually ended badly.

But there is nothing usual about Joel.

Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. I absolutely did not expect what happened. Find out if the BOOM and a sexy stranger change my life, forever.

❤The Happily Ever Alpha World are books written in association to the internationally bestselling Until, Until Her, and Until Him series written by Aurora Rose Reynolds. My story for the Happily Ever Alpha World will be Until Kendal, which is connected to Aurora’s Until Jax.

Joel

Staring at the broken trailer with boards missing from the floor, I rocked on my feet.

It seemed like a lifetime ago. I remembered my disgusting green T-shirt, which I’d practically lived in except for the weekly washing my sister had insisted on. I’d never had any memories of my birth mom, but my father, a user who’d lived in the disaster here in this trailer, had been all too happy to send me to foster care once my sister died.

Starting foster care at fourteen was usually a death sentence, but I was charmed somehow. I’d gone to the group home only briefly. Now, as a Norouzi, I had eleven brothers, Pedar, and Maman, who was the only mother who’d ever looked out for me. None of the people in my new life were anything like my birth father. My birth father would have hated that I’d ended up in the lap of luxury. In fact, I’d hired the wrecking team driving down the street to demolish this hovel.

A helicopter hovered overhead. Glancing up, I saw the black and gold and knew someone from my family was here. Quickly, I packed up the two boxes of sister’s papers that he’d kept, including my niece’s birth certificate. I knew many kids in the foster care system never had this paperwork. Without the papers, travel was impossible.

I’d been saved, but honestly, I had no idea what had happened to my niece, Hope. Her father’s nineteen-year-old sister, Ellie, had taken custody of the baby. It was time to find her and offer what I could.

On the street, the helicopter landed, and Arman stepped out. I recognized his dark hair and build from the distance. My lips quirked up as I imagined him walking on the hardened mud in his Tom Ford dress shoes. However, he directed the demolition team, so he had to come.

I took one more look around. The neighbors had clearly taken whatever valuables my father had in here long before I showed up. Luckily no one touched my sister’s ashes, which I’d grabbed, along with the box of photos and papers.

I walked out, and Arman took one of the boxes from me then helped me put it behind my seat in the silver Maserati I’d driven here yesterday. As we finished, Arman asked, “This was your home?”

My lips thinned. My memories of this place weren’t of a family home. I patted him on the back and said, “The only home I had was with our family.”

Arman pointed me to the demolition team looking for an order as he said, “And Maman would be upset if she saw this place.”

I pointed to the trailer, and the bulldozer rumbled forward. A second later, the mobile home was ripped apart. I wished my memories were that simple. As Arman and I watched the destruction, I hoped my sister in heaven would forgive me for not finding her daughter sooner. She would be eight or nine now.

I turned to my adopted brother, who had never known anything but wealth. “It’s why I didn’t want any of you coming.”

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

That was sweet. Somehow, I’d ended up with adoptive parents who loved me. Arman was now my business partner, and although the rest of my adopted brothers were everything from heart surgeons to pilots, we were all equal in our parents’ eyes. Thanks to Pedar’s trillions, I’d gone from nothing to one of the richest men in the world in a blink of an eye.

Yet one little girl out there shared my blood. So I needed to find her. My sister had been the only angel from my early life. I owed it to her to find her daughter.

Once the trailer was nothing more than scraps of trash being thrown into the dumpster, I told Arman, “The next part, I have to do alone.”

He shrugged and motioned to my car. “We can courier any of this, and you can take the helicopter with me.”

I laughed. A helicopter to a jet was the opposite of humble, not that Arman knew that word. I shook my head. “I want to do this on my own.”

“Well, let’s get dinner.”

At least Maman had only sent one of my brothers. I wouldn’t have known how to break free of all of them to go find Hope to ensure she was safe and happy.

“The only restaurant I know nearby is at the hotel I booked,” I told Arman.

“Good thing you’re driving, then.” He went and told the helicopter pilot where to meet us so he could get a ride later.

Once again, it sounded like a scene in a war movie as the helicopter left, but Arman hopped into my car. I turned down my blaring country music and drove onto the old county road that led away from the trailer park.

“Arman,” I asked, now that we were alone, “why did you come?”

In Beverly Hills, where we lived, palm trees lined the streets. Tennessee was the opposite of our normal lives. Arman’s presence made me forget my past and act more like my normal self, though.

“Maman and Pedar were both worried about you when you decided to come alone,” he said.

“You mentioned her twice now. Is she on speed dial?”

“She’d like to be. I told her I’d look out for you.”

Now that sounded exactly like Roxanne Norouzi. She always found time for all her boys. “Going from here to being a Norouzi wasn’t just a culture shock.”

“I can’t imagine.”

Of course not. He’d been born into his world, but more than half of us in the Norouzi home had been adopted from all over the US. “And this is why I loved the world of videogaming.”

Unlike most people who lost themselves in the story when gaming, Arman and I often sat there and analyzed user experience or broke the coding apart on our laptops.

Arman said, “The funny part about you when we were kids, you were already on the programming side, which makes you a perfect partner.”

That was fair. I probably did more coding, though he sold himself short with his talent.

Arriving at the hotel, I pulled into the parking lot then led Arman into the lobby of the three-story building with maybe twenty rooms, and his gaze narrowed like he’d never seen green wall-to-wall carpeting.

I put my hand on my stomach and laughed. “Seeing you in a three-star hotel is already the highlight of the trip.”

We walked to the restaurant in the back, where the window overlooked a small fountain. Children with their parents and other family members were all around us. Arman normally ate at five-star Manhattan or Beverly Hills restaurants or had the family chef leave him dinners to eat at home.

He tightened his grip on the napkin as he sat. “I’ll do anything for my family, and I promised to get you to the beach house in a few weeks.”

We ordered right away. Once the waitress left, I said, “I’ll be there. We haven’t been all together there as adults in years, so it will be great to catch up.”

Arman glanced to both sides then whispered, “Sure you want to stay here and not come back to New York straight away?”

Normally, I threw myself into work. But first, it was time to make up for the past. “I’m sure. Please inform everyone I’m fine and happy to see them soon.”

Our food came at the same time the helicopter landed in the parking lot.

People all stood to get a look. Arman drank his beer and ate his cheeseburger fast. I took my time, but I’d paid the waitress ahead of time so I had the option to leave in a hurry.

The second he finished, he said, “Don’t be long. The company we launched needs both of us.”

Usually, I didn’t blink at luxury, but a helicopter landing in a parking lot so close to my old life grounded me. This wasn’t normal for most people. I stood and walked him out. “I trust you, Arman. Have a good flight.”

We hugged, and I headed back inside. As I rounded the corner, I bumped into a small woman in a white T-shirt and black pants, her eyes red and teary.

I stilled. The frizzy brunette had captured my attention, and I wanted to wipe her tears. Holding back the impulse, I asked, “Are you okay?”

She shoved her phone into her back pocket and said, “Don’t get involved.”

My brother’s take-off made talking impossible.

Once the noise lessened, I motioned to the hotel door. “I’ll get you a drink or call a service for you if it’s your car.”

She shook her head. “No, thank you. My car is fine.”

Then before I could ask her anything else, she rushed off. My heart lurched like I’d missed someone important to me, but I headed inside to finish my meal. Hopefully, whatever her issue was, she would work it out.