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“Please accept my apology.” She tried to play it cool, even though she was anything but, with her nerves going haywire on the inside.“I appreciate the fact that you came here to please my mother and indulge her delusions. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. I’m sure you’re a busy man yourself. I won’t waste any more of your time. Tell my mother we had a lovely time, but you find me boring and unappealing.”
“She’d believe that?” His eyes filled with shock and disbelief. “Would anyone ever actually say that about you?”
She remained resigned and irritated that her mother kept doing this to her. “She’d believe that and more. And yes, it’s been said. More than once.” And it still stung.
“If that’s true, or you simply believe that it is, I’m sorry. Maybe you just need to look in a mirror and see what I see.”
Though the compliment set off those butterflies again and she felt herself blush, she waved it away.
He studied her even harder. “Listen, while your mother is part of the reason I’m here, she didn’t send me.”
Embarrassed, her cheeks flushed even hotter. “Oh, god. I’m sorry. I’ve read the situation wrong.” This was not her day. Not with him, anyway. “I hope I haven’t ruined some business deal for the company.”
“Not at all. This has nothing to do with business,” he assured her, leaving her even more confused.
“She really didn’t send you?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.
“No. Your father did.”
The blood drained out of her face. Every thought in her head evaporated. Her whole body, including her heart, went numb.
She didn’t know what to say and just stared at the stranger, dumbstruck.
“Miss Weston.” The man planted his hands on her desk and leaned in close. “I’m Cody Larkin. In addition to being your father’s lawyer, I’m also his business partner and friend. He sent me here to talk to you.”
When she didn’t respond, he tried to get her attention again. “Miss Weston.”
After all this time, he’d sent his lawyer. He hadn’t come himself.
The crushing disappointment wasn’t new, but it hurt even more that he’d made contact through an intermediary so he wouldn’t have to speak to her himself.
“What’s his name?”
Cody stood to his full height again, stunned disbelief in his eyes. “Nathan Weston. Everyone calls him Nate.”
At least her mother hadn’t lied about his name. “Why now?”
Cody paused, his concerned and wary eyes locked on hers. “He just found out about you two days ago. His daughter received the results of a DNA test she did in biology class. It revealed that you’d taken the same one... and you were matched as half siblings.”
Summer’s heart clenched with the shock.
Her father didn’t know about her! She had a sister!
She didn’t want to believe it.
He didn’t know?How could he not know?
“Didn’t you get your results from the test you took?”
“I... I’ve been so busy with work and an issue at one of my properties... I hardly ever check my personal email. My work one... It just never stops.”
“Why did you take it?”
“I won it in the office raffle. I thought maybe my great-uncle had a love child out there somewhere, or something.”
That eyebrow went up again. “It never occurred to you that you’d find your father’s family?”
“I didn’t know he had one. I don’t know anything about him.”
