Buying His Bride (The Donovan Brothers Trilogy Book 1) Read Free Page B

man people forgot. Particularly women.
    “So, the details, Mr. Donovan?” she asked. “I’m afraid I can’t be more specific until you tell me why you and Mr. Murdoch have brought me here.”
    He studied her a moment longer, and then, as if having come to a conclusion, he glanced at Murdoch, nodded once, and stood. “Mr. Murdoch will handle the details, as you call them, which is why he’s here today. But the basic proposition is this.” He smiled, his tone turning ironic. “Or perhaps I should rephrase…this is the basic proposal.”
    He caught and held her gaze, and she had the oddest feeling that he was suddenly ill at ease, though she would have bet a month’s paycheck from McKinley, which she could ill afford, that very little made this man uncomfortable in the course of an ordinary day.
    “Yes, Mr. Donovan?”
    “Ms. Callahan, I need your services for approximately one year, starting now. For five hundred thousand dollars now and a million more upon completion of that year, will you consent to be my wife?”

Chapter Two
    He had to be kidding.
    She’d so hoped this interview might result in a legitimate business arrangement, a possible path toward finding a way out of the financial difficulties for her and her mother.
    She’d been a fool.
    Anger boiling, Sierra stood and faced Michael and John Murdoch. “Gentlemen, this is either a stupid practical joke, in which case I admit I’m failing to appreciate it, or it’s a proposition that should be offered to some other kind of woman.” She gathered her purse and jacket from the chair. “And if it’s the latter? Let me give you some financial advice. The sort of person you’re looking for, and her services, go for a whole hell of a lot less than a million and a half!”
    Sierra made for the office door, wrenching it open.
    “Ms. Callahan!” Michael Donovan’s voice rang out behind her. “Wait a moment, please.”
    She swung around to face him, chin tilted. His words were more of a command than a request.
    “Will you excuse us for a few minutes, John?” he asked, keeping his eyes on Sierra. Murmuring an assent, Murdoch passed them and left the room.
    “I don’t think there’s anything further to discuss, Mr. Donovan. I’m not interested in your so-called proposal. I came here in good faith looking for a legitimate business opportunity, and I find I’ve wasted my time. Which just happens to be as valuable to me as your time is to you.”
    “Call me Michael, please.” Again the request was put more as a command “You surprise me, Sierra. Most women wouldn’t find an offer of a million and a half dollars insulting, particularly women in your financial position.”
    Sierra was fed up. “Call me Ms. Callahan.” She ignored a gleam in his eyes. “Just who do you think you are, ordering background searches on me and referring to my ‘financial position’? The details of my life and my finances have nothing to do with you.”
    With a smoothness Sierra found infuriating, Michael took her arm, and, despite her resistance, walked her back to the chair, then closed the office door.
    “Forgive me, but if you’re determined to have a conversation with me at the top of your lungs, I prefer we keep it private, out of the hearing of the rest of Murdoch’s firm. Let’s see if we can discuss this matter calmly and come to some kind of satisfying understanding.”
    Seething, Sierra sat on the edge of the chair before the desk as Michael took the chair behind it. “I doubt that’s possible.”
    “A moment ago, you asked me who I thought I was. My question to you is this: who do you think I am?”
    Sierras shifted in her seat and sat back a little. Michael Donovan. Once again the name teased her brain. She still couldn’t place it. She retorted with the only reply she could think of. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
    “If my name doesn’t ring a bell, then perhaps my father’s name will. Connor Donovan. Or the name of his company, DEI. Donovan