Free The Billionaire's Step - Complete Series (Forbidden Billionaire Stepbrother Romance) by Michaela Adams

skin held the barest hint of a tan. She was fair now but it was clear she had not always been. And although Cora was clearly not malnourished, she had a slight hunger to her thinness.
    Upon meeting her, Julian had noticed how her slender body seemed taut and muscled. It was as if the body had inured itself to hunger or starvation, honing itself to a lithe surviving machine. Cora was able to eat regularly now but Julian had a strong suspicion that was not how she had grown up.
    Karen Denton had been a small, fair little child with soft cheeks and wide eyes. Cora Rámon was a thin but strong, capable woman, with eyes that missed nothing. True, a person could change quite a bit from ten to twenty-five and yet seeing Cora, Julian would never have guessed this brave and daring woman was his lost and tortured Karen.
    It was clear life had not been easy for her since her disappearance. And she clearly had wanted to stay missing. She had gone through great lengths to change her name and had apparently wanted to keep it changed. She clearly had not harbored any secret hopes of some day being found by him or his father. As far as Paulson knows, she also had not looked for Julian since returning to the States.
    Perhaps she wouldn’t want to know the truth. Julian felt his heart clench at the idea of keeping Cora at arm’s length. Because isn’t that what he would be doing by holding a piece of himself back? But Julian didn’t want to rattle her. And he sure as fuck didn’t want to scare her away. Not after he had just found her.
    Julian ran a thumb down his chin, thinking fast.
    No. He would stay quiet for now. He wanted to speak with Paulson first. He wanted to make sure he was correct about the murder charge. Julian was absolutely positive Karen would never be able to commit murder.
    But Cora Rámon?
    He wasn’t sure.

Two
                  “They’re ready for us to board, Mr. Benedict,” Cora said quietly.
                  Julian nodded and followed her out of the hangar and towards his private jet. Cora had felt that it would be more appropriate to call Julian “Mr. Benedict” in public so as not to cause any raised eyebrows.
                  The gesture was a good one but she soon realized how futile it was as they took their seats on the plane. Sitting on the gleaming walnut side table were fresh copies of today’s papers. Emblazoned on the front page of every paper were the pictures of Julian and her, standing close and intimately together. Cora couldn’t read French but she had a damn good idea what the headlines said. ‘Mystery woman’ could only be spelled so many ways, regardless of language.
                  Was that what was bothering Julian? Since waking up from the most incredible and passionate night of lovemaking, Cora had felt the sudden and quite surprising shift in Julian’s attitude towards her. He wasn’t necessarily cold but he was aloof and more than a little removed. He reminded her of the man she had met when she first interviewed at JB Enterprises—a skeptical and calculating CEO who wasn’t quite sure he believed what he saw.
                  Cora watched silently as the captain of the plane came out of the cockpit to shake hands with Julian, confirming the flight plan. They were en route back to New York. All the business in Europe had been handled successfully and it was time to head back home. Cora watched as Julian nodded to whatever the captain was saying. She admired his strong, defined jawline which was lightly stubbled. Even relaxed, the man had an air of strength and control which made Cora’s pulse quicken.
                  What had changed between them?
                  Although it made her stomach turn into an icy knot to think it, perhaps he regretted what happened last night? Perhaps he was realizing now that all he had wanted was a one night stand and it just so happened his assistant was the nearest