Million-Dollar Amnesia Scandal by Rachel Bailey

reports and my mother’s descriptions of everything I’ve been through, everything I’ve experienced?”
    â€œIf that happened, we’d find more information.” He stretched out beside her, mirroring her pose, and laced his fingers behind his head. “You wouldn’t have to rely on one person’s account.”
    The way he so smoothly inserted himself into her future, making contingency plans for her benefit, made her want to smile, but she restrained it. Being pleased by his respect was one thing, factoring him into her future was another.As soon as the hotel issue was sorted, they’d be going their separate ways.
    Instead, she let her mind drift along a path she’d mentally traversed often during her walks on the grounds. She turned her head to see him watching the stars. “Don’t you think memories are part of what makes us who we are? What if our personalities, our selves are the sum total of everything that’s happened to us, how we’ve reacted, the choices we’ve made?”
    When he didn’t reply, she listened to the sounds of a never-silent ocean until he spoke, lulled by the gentle rocking of the creaking boat.
    He drew up one knee, the rug beneath them snagging with the motion. “There might be some truth in that, but I believe we’re born with certain characteristics, perhaps inherited, perhaps our own. I know that in personality, I seem to have more in common with my half brother, Ryder, than I did with Jesse. Yet Jesse and I had more experiences in common.”
    She considered this, mentally tested it against her theory, exhilarated to be discussing something real, something conceptual. She rolled on her side to face him. “You and Ryder are both an eldest or an only child. Jesse was a youngest, and that would probably affect his experiences more.”
    â€œTrue,” he said, still staring above. “You know, I’ve never thought about Ryder and I having anything in common, besides our father, before. But we’re both determined, both competitive.”
    â€œBoth leaders,” she added. “Both men of action and honor.”
    Tilting his head toward her, he quirked an eyebrow. “You know this how? ”
    â€œI know you fairly well now,” she said, repeating hiswords from earlier. “And I’ve been reading the papers in the past few days. There’s been quite a bit of discussion about your family and its history.” Which she’d devoured with an eager curiosity. “Ryder’s been there a lot. Most stories are covering his engagement to Macy Ashley and buying her father’s company.”
    â€œAnd her father’s company’s stock in our company,” he said with a knowing glint in his eye.
    The instinct to tread warily warred with a burning desire to know, to understand this man and what drove him a little better. She drew a breath then took a chance. “What does that mean for you?”
    He neither shrugged off her question nor bristled at her interest, but seemed to take it seriously. “Ryder and I both have equal shares in Bramson Holdings, with the balance held by several others.”
    She remembered the name from the report he’d given her a few days ago at breakfast, and from the frequent mentions in the media. “That’s the company that owns the hotels.”
    He nodded. “It’s a parent company. Our father inherited it from his father and spent most of his life building it up. It was a food conglomerate when he inherited it, made up of smaller companies manufacturing products such as frozen meals, sauces and the like.”
    She tapped an index finger against her lips. “So why go into hotels? That’s quite a leap.”
    â€œWhen Jesse and I were young, I think he realized he wouldn’t be able to train us in the same business he was training Ryder in. So he diversified. He wanted something very different.”
    The idea