Free The Billionaire Bargain (Millionaire's Club) by Barb Han Page A

connection.” His shoulders came forward. His face twisted. “Turns out he’s the uncle of someone I dated a long time ago.”
    Was Daegen really talking to her about something important? He’d never revealed details about his life when they were together before. Was he ready to open up and discuss his past? “When did you figure out the connection?”
    “Today. The tabloid.” He held out his palm with the supplement still on it. “He has her eyes.”
    Every move in Daegen’s life was calculated. She could scarcely imagine him slipping up and getting someone pregnant by accident. Then again, it was a long time ago. Maybe he learned to be cautious the hard way.
    Reluctantly, she took the iron pill and downed it with a swallow of water. Then she really looked at him. His coppery eyes were filled with storms and chaos. His face pale. “You didn’t see this coming, did you?”
    His elbow rested on his knee. His hands clasped. “It was like seeing a ghost.”
    “Did you love her?” A pang of jealousy stabbed Rae.
    “Yes. In every way a nineteen-year-old boy could. We were young. I suppose it was puppy love.”
    A vulnerability she hadn’t known existed shown through the pain in his face. She pushed through her own heartache. On some level she realized she was being silly for feeling this way about a childhood crush. “I wonder why she didn’t tell you.”
    “Our families. They didn’t like us being together. Especially hers.” Anguish darkened his smoky eyes. The storm behind them magnified.
    Rae pressed her hand to his. She was surprised at how fast his fingers wound together with hers. “And you never heard from her again?”
    “They shipped her off. I did what every love struck nineteen-year-old would do. I ran away to look for her. It took me a year to find her.” His gaze dropped. His hands trembled. He was holding back his emotions with everything he had.
    Rae’s heart nearly tore into pieces.
    “By the time I found where they’d stashed her, she was dead. Suicide.” His hands fisted.
    “And you’ve been blaming yourself ever since.” Damn. Is this the reason you held back? Too scared to allow another woman in your heart?
    His shoulders quaked.
    Rae pulled him into an embrace.
    His body stiffened, and he pulled back. “Why didn’t you tell me you had family?” He turned the tables.
    Little did he know how much they had in common. “I’m afraid we’re swimming in the same boat. I don’t know him. I mean, obviously, I had a father. I remembered him. But I had no idea where he went or what he was doing. For all I knew he was dead. Oh, but I fantasized about him.” A hot tear leaked from her eye.
    Daegen wiped it, tucking a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. “What happened?”
    Rae didn’t want to go into that now. She didn’t want to feel like that six-year-old standing on the edge. Crying. The pain so overwhelming she didn’t think she would be able to breathe. “It doesn’t matter.”
    His gaze traveled over her, assessing. “Your mother?”
    That she could talk about. Rae shrugged. “She took off with another man before I could sit up.”
    Everyone leaves.
    “I’m sorry.”
    Rae could see him kneeling there with his pain raw and exposed. Part of her wanted to tell him just how much she understood. To comfort him. And find some relief herself. But the other part of her couldn’t expose a vein in that way. She felt a bond growing between them as they shared their pasts, and part of her was afraid to scare it away by pushing for more.
    “Doesn’t matter. I didn’t know her,” she said with a nonchalant air she didn’t own.
    Daegen’s gaze paused thoughtfully on hers. “Then tell me more about your father.”
    The invisible band tightened around her chest as her shoulder blades felt an all-too-familiar pinch. She didn’t talk about her father with anyone.
    Daegen’s hand squeezed hers and the band loosened. “I want to know everything about you.”
    She hugged her