Page 57 of Secret Heir For The Billionaire Twin

“Yes. Adrian and I were together almost constantly.”

“And your parents?”

“My mother was there.”

The specificity of his answer makes me pause.

“And your father?” I ask.

Julian cuts into his steak before answering.

“My father was building Blackwell.”

There is no resentment in his tone, but there is enough precision in the wording that I hear everything he leaves out.

“He worked a lot,” I say.

“He still does.”

“That wasn’t really my question.”

“I know.”

I wait, and Julian’s gaze comes back to mine.

“He loved us,” he says after a moment.

“I’ve never doubted that. But the company was always there. Dinner, vacations, birthdays. There was always a call that mattered or a problem that couldn’t wait.”

“Did you resent him?”

Julian’s eyes narrow slightly with thought.

“Sometimes.”

The answer is so plain that I know he means it.

“And now you run the company.”

“I appreciate the irony.”

I smile. “A little.”

“My mother was different,” Julian continues.

“She made sure Adrian and I had a childhood even when my father was trying to build an empire around us.”

“You’re close to her?”

“Yes.”

There is warmth in the single word that makes me smile.

“Adrian takes after her, doesn’t he?” I ask.

Julian almost laughs. “In temperament?”

“He has enough personality for three people.”