Baby Of Fortune. Shirley Rogers

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Baby Of Fortune - Shirley Rogers Mills & Boon Desire

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they’d first married, she’d thought that they would put down their own roots. Naively, she had believed they’d be together forever. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

      Justin gave her a slight nod. He hesitated a moment, then continued, “Her name is Miranda Fortune and she lives in Texas.”

      Heather wasn’t sure what to say. Justin seemed…somehow pleased by this new development in his life. “Oh, Justin.” She sighed, and her heart swelled with caring. Despite the heartache he’d caused her, she was happy for him.

      Justin had been searching for something all his life, something to fulfill him. He seemed to have found it. The realization that it wasn’t her, that she hadn’t been enough to make him happy, stung, even as her compassion for him flourished.

      “How did you find her?”

      “I didn’t.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Her ex-husband, Lloyd, sent a private detective to look for me. The P.I.—Flynn Sinclair—eventually contacted me and asked me to go to Texas to see her.”

      “And you did?”

      He nodded. “At first I refused. Then I learned that I have a twin, a sister.” Justin could understand Heather’s surprise at his news. He’d felt the same overwhelming disbelief when the detective had shown up at his office to tell him of his heritage. His first reaction had been indifference. His mother hadn’t cared enough to keep him—why should he give her the satisfaction of knowing him now?

      But learning he had a twin had convinced him to change his mind. There was another part of him somewhere in the world, someone with some of the same personality traits, the same looks, the same feelings of abandonment and emptiness. Based on that, he’d agreed to a meeting.

      “A twin sister?”

      The thought of his sister brought a smile to Justin’s lips. He touched the dimple on his cheek and remembered his surprise when he’d first seen that she, too, shared the identical physical trait. “Her name is Emma,” he said to his wife. “She’s just had a baby, and she ended up marrying Flynn Sinclair.” Seeing the confusion on her face, he added, “It’s a long story.”

      “My goodness.” She sounded as if she couldn’t believe it. “A lot has been happening. I’m very pleased for you,” she said. “What is your mother like?”

      “She seems nice, and is interested in learning more about me,” he explained, his tone noncommittal. “Miranda was very young when she had us, and on her own. She felt that there was no way she could take care of us. Later, she married and had two other children—so I have two other siblings, as well.

      “I’ve seen them all on a few occasions,” Justin continued. “The first time was several months ago when I first went to Texas to meet Miranda and Emma. I saw Miranda again just a few days ago at a party given by my half-brother, Kane and his wife Allison, welcoming me into the Fortune family.” Justin had even considered moving to Texas, but had quickly realized that leaving Pittsburgh would add a finality to his relationship with Heather. He wasn’t prepared to do that. Not yet.

      “You have a brother?”

      Justin nodded. “Yes. He’s a doctor and he also lives in Texas. So does my half-sister, Gabrielle, who is married to the town sheriff and has a daughter.”

      “And you’ve already met them all?” Heather could imagine Justin’s manner as he met the strangers who were related to him. Even as he spoke of them now, she could see the reservation in his eyes. That he’d called his mother by her first name revealed more than he intended. He’d met these people—relatives—but he wasn’t yet willing to call them family.

      “As I said, several times.” He moved across the room and picked up a framed picture on a drop-leaf table. It was of the two of them on their wedding day. Deep in thought, he rubbed his thumb over the picture.

      Heather wished at that moment that she’d put it away. She didn’t want him to think it meant something to her. She’d kept it out to remind herself of the mistake she’d made by believing he truly loved her.

      “Apparently the Fortunes are obscenely wealthy,” Justin stated, sounding notably unimpressed as he studied the smile on Heather’s face in the picture. Their wealth hadn’t been what had encouraged him to meet Miranda or the Fortunes. At eighteen, he’d moved to Pittsburgh with the last foster family he’d lived with. A short time later, when they’d moved again, he’d moved out on his own. He’d worked two jobs and attended college.

      He’d made a place for himself in the world—owned his own prosperous steel business, Trigon Steel, which earned enough money for him to live on quite comfortably for the rest of his natural life even if he never worked another day.

      But it wasn’t enough to fill the void inside him, and what actually prompted him to meet his biological mother was her connection to his own existence. It was finally knowing where he’d come from, who he was linked to in the world, that had taken him to Texas.

      “Your mother never searched for you before?”

      “I don’t think so. When Miranda was young, she never wanted any affinity with the Fortune family, but she’s since made peace with them. She wants Emma and me to be a part of the family, too.”

      “What about your biological father? Have you met him as well?”

      “No, we haven’t discussed who my father was.” Though he was curious, he hadn’t asked.

      He looked at Heather and saw confusion clouding her green eyes. She couldn’t imagine why meeting his family had provoked this visit from him, nor did she have any idea why he thought they should make another go of their marriage. How could he make her understand, when he wasn’t quite sure he understood himself?

      Seeing all of the Fortune family together had made an impact on his hardened heart. Through troubles and tribulations, they’d stuck together, found offspring they didn’t know existed and brought them under the umbrella of their family. They’d supported each other, had opened their arms to welcome him and Emma.

      “And what exactly does all of this have to do with me?” Heather finally asked, after listening to his explanation. “With us?”

      “Miranda would like to meet you.”

      “But, why?”

      “Because you’re my wife.”

      Justin’s answer was too simple to make sense. Heather couldn’t imagine why his biological mother would want to meet her, especially since she and Justin were separated.

      When she didn’t reply, he swung around to face her. She felt the full force of his heated gaze as it traveled very slowly over her body, then rose with meticulous precision to her face. Butterflies attacked her stomach. She had an eerie feeling she wasn’t going to like what he was going to say.

      “I’d like you to go to Texas with me.”

      Two

      “To Texas?” Heather’s voice rose a pitch as she stared blankly at her estranged husband. He couldn’t really mean what he was suggesting.

      He frowned deeply at her reaction. “That is where she lives.” There was the briefest

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