01 - The Heartbreaker Read Online Free PDF Page B

guy on the make, and after spending the night in his arms, she knew her first impression had been right.
    Not only was he gorgeous, but he had an innate understanding of her needs. How else could she explain the champagne they’d never drunk? The way he hadn’t let her leave? And then there was the Karma involved. Fate had paired her with a man who, by his own admission, had always done the predictable thing. Lived his life for others. Like she had. Even not knowingmore details, Sloane realized they had more in common than she’d have expected from a one-night stand.
    But it was a one-night stand, and though she’d have her memories and fantasies to relive later, for now she had to put him behind her. More pressing family matters called to her now. But she wished Chase well on the start of his new life and knew she’d think of him often as she forged ahead, trying to decipher hers.
    She paused at her parents’ hotel room door, unsure how to handle this confrontation. Her father would be in last-minute meetings and reviewing his speech, but Madeline would be inside.
    Her stepmother was a beautiful woman, both inside and out, and with her normally calm demeanor, she was the perfect politician’s wife. She’d also been a wonderful mother, stepping in upon Jacqueline’s death, when Sloane was eight. To Madeline’s credit, she’d never treated Sloane any differently than her real daughters—Sloane’s twin sisters, Eden and Dawne—and Sloane adored her in return.
    Which made the lie even more difficult for Sloane to understand. She shook her head and shored up her courage, knocking on the door, which swung open within seconds.
    “Where have you been?” Madeline grabbed Sloane’s hand and pulled her into a motherly hug. “When you didn’t show up for dinner last night, your father and I were worried sick.”
    So much for her stepmother’s calm demeanor, Sloane thought as she squeezed her back. Although Madeline was dressed for the press conference, looking very Jacqueline Kennedyesque with her dark bobbed hair and beautifully made-up face, her concern was etched in the lines around her eyes.
    Despite having good reason for ditching last night’s family dinner, Sloane felt guilty for making her worry. “I’m sorry.” She twisted her fingers together, searching for the right words. “But I needed to be alone. To think.”
    “About?” Madeline brushed Sloane’s hair off her shoulder, theway she used to do when Sloane was a little girl. “You can talk to me.”
    Sloane nodded. “I think we’d better sit.” She followed her stepmother to the sofa in the outer area of the suite, the same room in which she’d heard Frank and Robert talking last night. “Are we alone?”
    Madeline nodded. “Your father’s meeting with Frank in his room and the twins went shopping.”
    “I hope you gave them a money limit,” Sloane said, laughing. Typical seventeen-year-old girls, her sisters loved to shop, and when they were at home in upstate New York, they constantly grumbled about the lack of decent malls.
    “I gave them cash and confiscated the credit cards.” Madeline’s eyes twinkled with laughter but sobered quickly. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
    The facade of joking fell away. Butterflies rose in Sloane’s stomach and she drew a deep breath. “I showed up for dinner last night. I was half an hour early and you and Dad weren’t back from shopping yet.” She clenched and unclenched her fists, fighting the nausea and the fear. “Frank was with Robert and they were arguing about a threat to Dad’s campaign.”
    Madeline sat up straighter, her eyes wide and focused. “What kind of threat?”
    “The worst kind. A personal one.” Sloane bit down on the inside of her cheek. It was harder to repeat the words than she’d thought. “A man named Samson claims to be my biological father.”
    “Oh damn.”
    Sloane’s eyes opened wide. Madeline Carlisle didn’t curse. Sloane did. So did her dad, as did Eden