A Forbidden Love (Eligible Billionaires Book 9) by Maggie Marr

shouldn’t just quit. Don’t let them make you run away. Don’t resign, don’t stop being a Travati.”
    “I can’t exactly stop being a Travati.”
    “Really? How exactly does this family define itself?”
    “Through our work.”
    Anthony nodded. “Through our fearless success.”
    “I’m not afraid. And I still want success, but my definition of success has changed.”
    Anthony glanced away. His nostrils flared. “Okay, say you stop defining yourself through your work and you stay in California away from your family. Have you really considered what you’re giving up? Who you’ll hurt?” He turned back and aimed a piercing stare at Devon through the screen. “You’re giving us up. All of us. So you can swim in a really cold ocean, watch waves, look at the sunset, and define your own ‘success.’”
    Devon sighed. Yes, being away from his family was difficult, especially now that it was growing. He knew part of the price of staying was not seeing his brothers’ kids grow up.
    “You’ve been gone close to a year, and I thought that would be long enough. Maybe it’s not, but don’t throw away your life in New York, your entire career, just because you like Venice.”
    “That’s not it.” At least not anymore. He felt a pull to be in this place. A pull to settle in, really be a part of the community. A pull that overwhelmed any urge he had to return to Travati Financial. He didn’t want to work in a suit and live in a high rise and go to clubs and restaurants and make money by being out every night. And now ... if he was completely honest with himself, another pull he couldn’t explain and maybe didn’t even understand had taken hold of him…the pull to be with Ilana.
    “Look, stay a little longer then. Make Venice your second home. Do what you need to do, but let Justin know you’re coming back to New York. Okay? He’s driving us fucking nuts with his worrying, and he keeps crunching the numbers over and over again. I’d like to be able to tell him to just shut the fuck up because you’ve got it under control and you’re going to be back on such and such date.”
    Devon sighed and shook his head. It was like they’d never talked about his plans for economic social activism, what he wanted to try to do out here. Anthony hadn’t truly heard a word of it, and neither had Justin. Maybe they thought if they kept saying the same things to Devon over and over again that eventually he, the youngest brother, would give in to what they wanted. But he wouldn’t. Venice was now home. He wasn’t sure how a place felt right so quickly, but this small town beside the ocean did.
    “I wish I could tell Justin that, but Anthony, I don’t think that I can.”
     
    *
     
    “I thought I’d find you ladies here.”
    Ilana’s toes curled and heat burst through her body at the sound of Devon’s voice. She looked up from where she sat on the art room floor putting together a kid’s easel toward the front door. God love that man. He walked in with takeout bags in one hand and a six-pack of beer in the other.
    “Seriously,” Amelia whispered, “you have to keep this one. He’s amazing.”
    Ilana nodded. Devon was amazing.
    “I figured with only thirty-six more hours to go you two would be hard at it, and that you probably hadn’t eaten. So here I am with dinner.” He already knew her so well. She and Amelia had been working since practically dawn, and what had she eaten? A muffin, maybe? At least she didn’t have to contend with being hobbled any more—her ankle had healed up nicely, and she had given up the crutches days ago with her doctor’s blessing.
    “Thank you.” Ilana dusted her hands on her pants, stood up, and tilted her head up to kiss him. So effortless being with him, kissing him. It was like they’d fallen into a relationship without even trying.
    “What’d you get?” Amelia asked, liberating one of the bags from Devon’s hand as he nibbled on Ilana’s bottom