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I examined him closely. My gaze rippled down his body, checking out his clothing. He didn’t look like mafie. Really, he came off like an average American male in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket. No expensive watch or other accoutrements that screamed money or mafie. He certainly didn’t dress like a Romanian right off the boat.
“You’ll need to be patted down,” I warned.
He laughed. A deep throaty sound that snapped my head up. The last time I’d heard that sound was... Who is this guy?
“I’m not carrying,” he replied. Spreading his arms, he said, “But go ahead. I’m not a threat to you.”
I snorted. Yeah, right. Never trust a man who told you he was not a threat. There was no such thing as a nonthreatening male in the world I inhabited.
Stegan patted him down, and I tilted my head toward the staircase to my office. Leading the way, I watched from the corner of my eye as he followed me. Stegan, ever watchful, came in behind him.
Upstairs, I ushered him into my office and motioned for Stegan to stand guard outside. I figured that should be enough. Unarmed, the man’s chances of killing me were slim. Besides the gun in my holster, I had another in the drawer and a couple of knives.
“Since you seem to already know my name, why don’t you tell me yours?” I suggested.
“Sebastian,” he responded promptly, leaving out his last name.
I motioned to a seat as I went around my desk and settled in. His eyes zipped around the room, taking in as many details as he could while he took a seat. Curious, was he?
“Sebastian what, pray tell?” I inquired. Family names were paramount.
His gaze returned to me. “I go by my mother’s last name, Johnson, but I’m a Lupu.”
“Are you?” I drawled. By his features, this didn’t come as much of a surprise. Now, what did he want from me? After a beat, I hedged, “Listen, if you’re looking for a job—”
“That’s not why I’m here,” he cut in.
“Then, why are you here?” I asked, hardening my tone a bit. I didn’t have time to fuck around. I could be downstairs, hoping to get another glimpse of Nina as she passed by.
“I’m your half brother.”
My head jerked back. “Come again.”
He gave out a long-suffering exhalation. “I’m your half brother. By your father. Our father.”
I blinked. This couldn’t be real. “What kind of fucking joke is this? You think this is funny?”
“No,” he answered smoothly, “and believe me, I wouldn’t have come to you if I didn’t have proof we share the same father. It’s not a pretty story. Your father had a second family with my mother. Who’s American, I’m sure you’d like to know. That’s how we were able to stay off the radar of you and every other Lupu. You have a brother, Luca, who’s twenty-six years old, one year older than me, and the twins, Nicu and Tasa, will soon be turning twenty-one. See? I know all about you.”
Shock and recognition shuddered through my body. Followed rapidly by one thought. “Does my mother know?” I forced out between my pressed lips. This, I had to know before we went any further.
“I can’t say for sure,” he replied smoothly. “I believe a few of your older soldiers knew that our father was having an affair, but they didn’t know about us. Razvan, our father’s consilier knew, but he took that knowledge to his grave when he died a few years back. He made sure to remind me of my duty before he died,” he concluded, bitterness tainting his tone. “While I’m doling out the surprises, you should know you also have a half sister, Emma, who’s two years younger than me.”
Un-fucking-believable.
“Emma? Christ almighty, not another sister. I can barely contain the one I have,” I muttered, more to myself than to him.
Sebastian chuckled. There was that sound again. An exact replica of my father’s. Only one man laughed like that, and it hadn’t been passed on to me or my siblings. I didn’t even know I craved to hear it again until then, although it torqued my heart in a knot. That laugh, along with his features and the way he moved confirmed this man was indeed Tata’s son. I’d get a paternity test, of course, but I already knew the truth in my gut.
“My advice is that you don’t try to contain Emma. She’s a wild child. Completely unmanageable.”
“Normally, I’d say, if she’s American, then that’s not a surprise, but after what my sister did, I don’t have a leg to stand on,” I elaborated. Where did that come from? I didn’t get chummy with complete strangers. Yet…there was something about Sebastian, an indescribable affinity and easiness that put people at ease. A charm that mirrored Tata’s. He’d been the quintessential gentleman—except for this new discovery that he was an adulterer of the worst kind—that made people trust him and gravitate toward him.
“Assuming what you say is true, what do you want from me?”
“Dad gave me and Emma the option of living a life separate from the family. If we chose to tell you, he made me promise to wait until my twenty-fifth birthday. After some discussion with Emma, because I couldn’t do this without her approval, I decided I wanted to know you. I’m aware this might complicate your life. I understand if you’re upset. This discovery may cause pain to your mother and siblings, but I wanted to give you the option to get to know us.”
Dad? He called Tata “Dad.” How quintessentially…American.
