Just Like a Man Read Online Free PDF

do you say these things that you know aren't true? Why did you tell your friends all that stuff about me hacking into the computers of the Pentagon, the Kremlin, the United Nations, the World Monetary Fund and Toys 'R' Us? You know that's not true." He did his best to glare at his son. "I have
never
hacked into the computers of Toys 'R' Us. That was
you
who did that."
    "But you did those other ones," Alex complained.
    "The United Nations was a complete accident, and you know it."
    "But the others—"
    "The others," Michael interrupted his son, "are none of your business. And you wouldn't even know about them if you hadn't hacked into
my
files."
    "But—"
    "But nothing. I don't want to hear, ever again, that you're telling stories like these to your friends." He frowned. "I mean, c'mon. Twin sisters sold into bondage? Where did
that
come from?"
    Alex had the decency to look contrite. He dropped his gaze down to the ground and halfheartedly kicked a chunk of asphalt with the toe of his sneaker. Obviously the Emerson Academy hadn't vacuumed their parking lot as well as they should have this morning, Michael thought wryly. He wished Alex could attend a school that wasn't so… so… so prissy and overpriced, the kind of school that normal kids attended. But even without his current assignment, he needed for Alex to be someplace like this. Michael was a security freak—for good reason, too—who needed to know his son was safe at all times. And Emerson, like Alex's last school, had a security system that put Fort Knox to shame.
    It also had Adrian Padgett.
    "I'm sorry," Alex said now. "But I never told anyone Susie and Lily were my sisters. I only mentioned them by name. And they
were
twins. A couple of the guys just assumed they were my sisters, and I guess I let them go on thinking it."
    He glanced up at his father, and when Michael saw the earnestness in Alex's expression, he knew his son was telling the truth. Just as he always did.
    "And I didn't say they were sold into bondage, either," Alex added fervently. "Just that they were taken against their will. I don't know how that part got messed up." He blew out a melancholy breath. "But I sure do miss Susie and Lily."
    "They're guinea pigs, Alex," his father said, striving for patience. "And they weren't taken against their will. They moved to Pensacola with the rest of the Faradays next door."
    "They wanted to stay with me," Alex said.
    "They belonged to Timmy Faraday," his father reminded him. "Really, I think you should put the past behind you, kiddo."
    "Oh, like you have?" Alex challenged him, his head snapping up again to meet his father's gaze.
    Boy, Michael hated it when Alex did that. Not just because it put him on the spot, and not just because Alex reminded Michael of his ex-wife when he did that. But because it also emphasized how big his son was getting, and how quickly time was going by. Even though Alex had Tatiana's fairer coloring, he took after Michael in his features and his size. The kid was already nearly five feet tall. He'd be in double digits on his next birthday. Man, where had the past nine years gone?
    "My past is none of your business," Michael told his son decisively. "And you wouldn't even know about it if you hadn't decided to do a little snooping in my files. I'm not kidding, Alex," he stated emphatically. "You have to forget everything you saw there. We have a good life here in Indianapolis, and there's much to like here. Let's not screw it up."
    Immediately, an image of Hannah Frost materialized in Michael's brain, and, just as quickly, he did his best to vanquish it. He should just leave thoughts of her here in the parking lot, because the last thing he needed was to get involved with someone at Alex's school. Hell, the last thing he needed was to get involved with
anyone
on a more than superficial level. Superficial had worked really well for him since his divorce from Tatiana five years ago. If he had kept things superficial with Tatiana,