Return of the Secret Heir Read Online Free PDF Page A

living room, but kissing him like the world was about to end.
    The ingrained hostess training that all the Baxter girls had been given won out—she poured him a glass from a jug in the fridge.
    â€œOr would you like something stronger?” she asked.
    â€œWater’s good.” He accepted the glass, took a drink, then put it on the counter. He gazed at Pia as she sipped hers and shook his head. “Look at us, standing in your kitchen, drinking water. JT and Pia fourteen years later. ”
    It wasn’t how he’d imagined their future back then. Factor in a brood of kids, a house with a yard, Pia a famous fashion designer and it’d be closer to the truth. Of course it probably would never have gotten that far—at the first sign of trouble she’d abandoned him, ripping his heart from his chest in the process, so better it had happened when it did than once they had a mortgage and three or four children. He’d never forget that when the going had gotten tough, she’d cut and run without a backward glance at him.
    He’d dodged a bullet that day and he’d made damn surenever to get himself in the firing line again. He would never open himself to a woman—especially not this one.
    Pia put her glass in the sink, then without meeting his eyes, she asked, “When did you start believing Warner was your father?”
    JT leaned back on the counter behind him and sank his hands into his pockets. Probably much better to talk about this than where his mind had been going. “When his death appeared in the papers.”
    â€œYour mother told you?” Genuine interest and concern filled her eyes. Pia and his mother had been close—she said she’d been able to talk to his mother in a way she never could with her own. And his mother, who’d always wanted a daughter, had been thrilled when she’d thought she was getting Pia for a daughter-in-law. From the little his mother told him, they still met occasionally for lunch, but details had been kept from him; he knew it was to protect him and had left it at that.
    He dipped his chin in a short nod. “She’d been scared of him.”
    Pia flinched. “She was hiding?”
    He clenched his fists in his pockets. As a child, he’d thought his mother liked moving around, but in his teens he’d begun to suspect she was running from someone or something. Seemed he’d been right. “She was in the Bramson Holdings secretarial pool. They had an affair. He thought it was merely convenient. She was in love.”
    â€œOh, poor Theresa.” Pia’s eyes glistened with the sympathy his mother deserved. This was the first time he’d repeated what his mother had told him—besides the few dry details to his attorney—and it felt good to have someone react the same way.
    â€œShe fell pregnant, and when she told him, he said he was already engaged and nothing would get in the way ofthat wedding.” His jaw hardened, making it difficult to get the words out. “He told her to get an abortion.”
    Her face paled. “She didn’t want one?”
    â€œApparently not, but Warner told her there would be consequences if she didn’t.” His throat was suddenly dry, and Pia pressed his glass of water into his hands. He frowned—he hadn’t noticed her pick it up—but took the glass and drank deeply.
    When he handed the empty glass back, Pia asked gently, “Did she talk to Warner?”
    He shook his head. “She went home, packed and ran.”
    â€œThat’s why you were always changing schools.” Pia moved closer, laid a hand on his arm, bringing all her softness and warmth to him. And without thinking, he took what she offered, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close.
    â€œYou know, she never let on that she was scared—she made it feel like we were exploring new places all the time.” He still couldn’t believe his