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

the only defense she knew—asking him about his family.
                  “What about you, sir? Are you close with your father? Your mother?” she asked, feigning innocent curiosity.
                  But instead of an abrupt cold shutdown, Julian surprised her by slowly shaking his head. “My mother passed when I was very young. I don’t have too many memories of her. And my father died when I was about twenty.”
                  Surprised, Cora had no idea how to respond.
                  Taking advantage of her silence, Julian pressed on, “My father was a well-known and respected engineer for many years.” He gave her a meaningful look of expectation.
                  But Cora only nodded blankly. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said quietly before turning towards the window.
                  Julian sighed. As soon as the plane landed, he would be calling Paulson.

Three
                  Julian’s driver weaved the car in and out through the busy New York traffic. He knew he should stop by the office first and meet with Trisha to touch bases on some of the deals that had been made in Europe but he was too antsy to sit through any kind of meeting right now.
                  Dialing Paulson’s number, Julian thought back to the plane ride. He probably shouldn’t have probed her so much before he could confirm Paulson’s information but he couldn’t help himself. He had spent the entire plane ride looking at Cora with new eyes. Knowing that she could possibly be his Karen, Julian couldn’t help but analyze her feature anew again, looking for old similarities.
                  He wasn’t surprised she didn’t recognize his comment about his father being an engineer. Anybody could be an engineer and besides, he highly doubted a ten year old would remember her stepfather’s career.
                  They had been a family (if that’s what one could call it) for such a short time. Less than a year. But Julian had never forgotten the stirring protectiveness that had bloomed within him the moment he had laid eyes on Karen. If Cora really was that hurt and lost little girl from fifteen years ago, he would do everything in his power to make up for every pain, every scar she had endured.
                  “Chief?” the gravelly voice answered.
                  “Paulson, where are you now?”
                  “Mexico City. I’ve been trying to follow back Cora’s trail.”             
                  “Alright, good. But in an hour, I want you to email me everything you’ve found on Cora. Include everything. And keep your phone handy. I’ll be calling again to get a full report.”
                  “You got it, chief.”
                  Julian looked out the window, blindly staring at the passing cars and people. He was so close.
                  So close.
     
                  Cora threw her suitcase in the corner of her small apartment as she plopped face first into her sofa. The flying, the meetings, the phone calls, and most of all the emotions of the last few days had been more than draining. She could feel every muscle ready to turn into jello as she laid on the couch.
                  Whatever had changed within Julian, it certainly wasn’t what Cora expected. If all he had wanted was a one night stand and a morning of no complications, why would he bother to question her about her family or her background? It was unusual indeed.
                  But at the moment, Cora was too exhausted to figure out her mysterious employer. As she debated whether she had the energy to change her clothes before passing out on her bed, she heard her phone ring. But it wasn’t the normal ringing chimes of her work smartphone.
                  It was the short buzzy