Daring Dylan (The Billionaire Brotherhood Book 2) Read Free Page A

ago. He and Natalie needed or wanted nothing else. And the Matthew
Bradford Foundation was well-funded.
    “The cabin
in East Langden, Maine.” The attorney drew the words out with all due gravity.
“Where your father died.”
    Gripping
Linc’s hand with white knuckles, Natalie gasped. “That can’t be right. The
family camp there belonged to the Bradfords.”
    “I guess it
belonged to Dad, and she inherited it after he died.” Dylan’s thoughts raced
full speed ahead, but only questions with no answers emerged. “Why didn’t she
get rid of it? It seems like it would have been more appropriate for
Grandfather or Uncle Arthur to have maintained it all this time.”
    Natalie
frowned. “And why not tell us about it?”
    “As far as
I know, she’d only been there a handful of times, and that was before Dad’s
death.” Dylan rubbed his temple where pulsing tension had developed into a
sharp staccato.
    “Can’t you
picture Mother dressed in Versace and cooking a gourmet meal in a kitchen that
hadn’t been remodeled since the Truman administration?” His sister threw him a
nostalgic grin.
    Propping
his shoulder against an eighteenth-century armoire, Dylan turned back to
Lawrence. “What more do you know about this?”
    “Not much,
but I believe it ties in with this other business.” The lawyer squared his
shoulders. “Last year, your mother received a letter of inquiry from a young
man claiming to be your father’s son.”
    “That’s
impossible.” Dylan looked to his sister for agreement.
    Natalie and
Linc wore matching expressions of disbelief. Linc slipped his arm around her
and pulled her against him.
    She echoed
Dylan’s opinion. “Impossible.”
    He turned
back to Lawrence. “What type of ‘inquiry’?”
    “Yes, and
by whom?” Linc asked.
    “What does
the claimant want?” Natalie finished. “Money?”
    The old man
opened a file on the desk. “His name is Clayton Harris. He said he’d simply
like to have the matter of his paternity confirmed. Apparently he bears a
marked similarity in appearance to the Bradford men. And it’s long been the
rumor in the town where he was raised.”
    “Rumor!”
The word burst from Dylan’s mouth like a curse. “Why the hell would you allow
Mother to be distressed during her last months over a bloody rumor?”
    Lawrence
stiffened at the criticism. “She corresponded with the young man without
immediately taking me into her confidence.”
    “She
wouldn’t have done that,” Natalie insisted. “She always said that acknowledging
rumors only gave them credence.”
    “Apparently,
the gist of her response was that there was no truth to the story and the young
man should look elsewhere for his paternity.” The attorney’s lips thinned into
a disapproving line. “He threatened to take your father’s estate to court if
she didn’t take the allegation seriously.”
    Another
recent memory slipped through Dylan’s confusion and clicked into place. “That
explains why Mother asked me to promise not to let anyone dishonor Dad’s name.
I thought she was concerned about the Karen Hammonds tell-all.”
    Natalie
sniffed at the reference to their father’s flamboyant ex-press secretary.
    “I guess it
was this jerk she feared.” Just then
another possibility reared its ugly head. “Wait a minute, who’s his mother?”
    Lawrence
flipped through the document. “The woman’s name was Lana Harris.”
    “Never
heard of her.” Dylan remained slouched against the armoire, only slightly
relieved to hear that Karen Hammond wasn’t involved in the scam. Not at first
glance, anyway.
    “Does she
claim she slept with Dad before or after he married Mother?” Natalie asked.
    “After, of
course.” Dylan didn’t hesitate to make the guess. “It wouldn’t be scandalous or
noteworthy otherwise.”
    “Actually,
the woman hasn’t claimed anything,” the attorney said. “She lived in East
Langden but disappeared exactly one week before your father’s