Sighing, Callie rubbed her temples and looked back at her work. Half a stack of science tests remained uncorrected in front of her. Unfortunately, she couldn’t focus. In fact, she hadn’t been able to focus on much for the past five days, not since Helen Lee dropped the bombshell about her father in her lap and turned her entire life upside down.
After spending her whole life believing her father had died in an accident, Callie didn’t know how to feel now that she knew the truth. If that wasn’t enough, he was also an exceedingly rich and powerful man who might be the next President of the United States. News like that would mess with anyone’s head.
“You should have told me.” Callie touched the gold locket around her neck. The same locket her mom had always worn because it had been a gift from Callie’s father, or at least that was what her mom had told her. Who knew, maybe that was a lie too?
Callie clenched her jaw as anger toward her mom flared. It happened every time she thought about how her mom had kept the truth from her. Callie hated lies and secrets. She knew from personal experience that nothing good ever came from them.
Through the open window, Callie heard a car pull into the driveway behind her apartment building. The noise sent Lucky straight to the window for a better look. Not long afterward, a strong knock on the door sent Lucky bolting across the floor. Thankful for the distraction, Callie followed at a somewhat slower pace.
She didn’t know whom she’d expected when she opened the door, but it wasn’t the large and exceedingly well-dressed, dark-haired Adonis standing on the other side. Like a brainless ninny, she stood and gawked at the gorgeous man standing on the landing. An occasional reader of The Star Report and Celebrity magazines, she’d seen plenty of pictures of business executive Dylan Talbot. In fact, months earlier, he’d been voted one of the most eligible bachelors in the United States.
The man standing at her door could be his identical twin. They say everyone has a twin. Her brain just wouldn’t let her consider the possibility it was him, because that would mean only one thing, Warren Sherbrooke sent him.
“Miss Taylor?” the gentleman—dressed in a dark gray suit Callie suspected he hadn’t picked up at the local mall—asked.
“Can. . . can I help you?” She’d hoped maybe he’d come to the wrong apartment, but if he was asking for her by name, that wasn’t possible.
Lord, you might think she’d never seen a handsome man before. Not this handsome, I haven’t.
The man offered her a friendly smile that transformed him from gorgeous to downright heart-stopping. “I hoped to have a word with you. Warren Sherbrooke sent me.” The man’s deep voice and slight English accent washed over her as his words sent her stomach plummeting.
Since her conversation with Helen Lee, she’d tried not to think about Warren Sherbrooke and her unknown family. She was having a difficult enough time dealing with the fact her mother had lied to her for thirty-one years. Unfortunately, it looked like she could not ignore Warren Sherbrooke any longer.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t let a stranger into her apartment, but this didn’t fall in the normal circumstances category. “Please come in, Mr…” She paused, accepting the fact the man was Dylan Talbot and not just a look-alike. Warren Sherbrooke was married to Dylan Talbot’s mother.
The man pulled open the screen door. “Dylan Talbot,” he said, extending his hand to her once inside.
Her friends would never believe Dylan Talbot had been to her apartment. She wouldn’t blame them. If they told her one of the country’s most desirable men had shown up on their doorstep, she wouldn’t believe it either. Actually, she would probably laugh at them.
So not important now. Focus on why he’s here.
He’d mentioned Warren Sherbrooke. Obviously, her father had received the letter her mother wrote him. Did he believe it? And if he did, why hadn’t he contacted her himself? Why send someone else?