‘Where’s Barrett?’
Jagger looks around, points to our friend. He’s at the bar, two beautiful women talking to him. That figures. The guy never met a woman he couldn’t charm.
‘I need him.’
‘I’ll go.’ Theo steps away and we stand silently, only Cora moves, putting her hand in the crook of my arm, her eyes scanning my face with concern.
A moment later, Theo and Barrett are back. ‘This better be important.’ Barrett grins. ‘I was having quite a nice conversation with Mandy and Louise.’
Jagger rolls his eyes, but they’re relaxed. They don’t get this.
‘Barrett, have you ever heard of a woman called Savannah Maxwell?’
His expression shifts. He shakes his head, his brows lifting. ‘Should I have?’
I expel a soft breath. ‘That investigator I hired just called. Apparently, not only am I not your biological sibling, but it turns out Ryan did have another kid. A daughter.’
‘What the hell?’ Theo’s voice is quiet, but deep with anger. ‘That can’t be right.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘The investigator says it’s fact, beyond a shadow of a doubt. We have a half-sister out there, and I don’t think she knows anything about us.’
‘For crying out loud,’ Jagger explodes, shaking his head. ‘If our father was alive, I’d kill him.’
Grace lifts a hand to his shoulder, her eyes awash with compassion. ‘What do you know about her?’
I lift my phone out of my pocket and open the email, scanning it quickly. ‘She’s twenty-eight, lives in San Francisco.’ I keep scanning the email. ‘Runs a successful tech start-up and also founded a charity supplying homeless people with sanitary goods.’
‘So she has no idea about us?’
‘I don’t think so.’ I turn to Barrett, frowning. ‘But I want to find out for sure.’
‘So give her a call,’ he says, as though it’s that simple.
But Theo’s on my wavelength. ‘No, it can’t be one of us. It’s too risky.’
‘What risk?’ Grace prompts.
‘Because she might hear she’s a Hart and decide she wants to lay claim to a quarter of Hart Brothers Industries,’ Asha says gently, her own position as heiress to one of the world’s largest textile manufacturers giving her a unique perspective on this.
‘She’d have legal grounds,’ Barrett adds in a considering tone.
‘It’s not just that,’ I insist. ‘If she’s Ryan’s child then she has that right.’ I square my shoulders. ‘Hell, some could argue she has a considerably greater right than I do.’
‘Not this again.’ Jagger shakes his head.
‘We need to know what we’re dealing with.’ Theo cuts over Jagger, his words echoing my thoughts.
‘Agreed.’
‘Yeah.’ Jagger nods.
We each turn to look at Barrett simultaneously. ‘If only there was someone impartial we could send.’
Barrett’s eyes widen. ‘You can’t seriously be suggesting—’
‘Come on, Sir Barrett.’ We only invoke his title when we want to tease him. ‘You’re the perfect man for the job.’