by Reese Ryan
Can he tell her the truth...
this time?
Will he risk everything for a reunion?
Will she give him the chance?
Discovering he’s a long-lost heir isn’t the only surprise awaiting Darius Taylor-Pratt in Royal, Texas. He’s next door to his ex after five long years. Darius broke off his red-hot relationship with designer Audra Covington without explanation. He still has regrets...and truths he’s hiding. Rekindling their flame may cost him...especially when new secrets surface to threaten their second shot at seduction.
And then there was Audra.
She was the only woman he’d never forgotten.
The one regret that kept him up at night. Not only was she here in Royal, but she was staying right next door and using his pool wearing a scrap of fabric for a bikini.
Yep. Either he was being punked or the universe was having a nice laugh at his expense.
A light went on upstairs in the house next door, and his eyes were automatically drawn there.
Audra.
Probably preparing a bubble bath with her drink in hand.
Darius shut his eyes against the erotic image that suddenly flooded his brain, his body stiffening in response.
There would be a lot of cold showers and sleepless nights in his future.
* * *
Secret Heir Seduction by Reese Ryan is part of the Texas Cattleman’s Club: Inheritance series.
Dear Reader,
Family can be complicated and messy. Add secrets and lies to the mix, and it’s like lighting the fuse on a powder keg. No one knows that better than Darius Taylor-Pratt.
In Secret Heir Seduction, the fashion designer comes to Royal to pursue the opportunity of a lifetime. What he gets instead is the deceased father he never knew, siblings he never asked for and an encounter with the ex he walked away from five years ago. Gorgeous diamond heiress and jewelry designer to the stars Audra Lee Covington is temporarily living in Royal, away from her most recent ex, a handsome politician who is still campaigning for her heart.
Neither Darius nor Audra wish to revisit the past. But fate has other plans.
Thank you for reading this installment of Texas Cattleman’s Club: Inheritance! Be sure to read the complete series.
To discover my Bourbon Brothers and Pleasure Cove series, visit reeseryan.com/desirereaders. For series news, reader giveaways and more, join my VIP Readers newsletter list and private reader Facebook group.
Until our next adventure,
Reese Ryan
Reese Ryan
Secret Heir Seduction
Reese Ryan writes sexy, emotional romance with captivating family drama, surprising secrets and a posse of complex characters.
A Midwesterner with deep Southern roots, Reese currently resides in semi-small-town North Carolina, where she’s an avid reader, a music junkie and a self-declared connoisseur of cheesy grits. Reese is the author of the Bourbon Brothers and Pleasure Cove series.
Connect with her via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or at reeseryan.com.
Join her VIP Readers Lounge at bit.ly/VIPReadersLounge.
Books by Reese Ryan
Harlequin Desire
The Bourbon Brothers
Savannah’s Secret
The Billionaire’s Legacy
Engaging the Enemy
Dynasties: Secrets of the A-List
Seduced by Second Chances
Texas Cattleman’s Club: Inheritance
Secret Heir Seduction
Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or reeseryan.com, for more titles.
You can find Reese Ryan on Facebook, along with other Harlequin Desire authors, at Facebook.com/harlequindesireauthors!
To the amazing readers who read and
recommend my books, especially the members of
the Reese Ryan VIP Readers Lounge, y’all rock. I’m
grateful you’ve chosen to come along for the ride.
To Kristan Higgins, LaQuette, Megan Frampton,
Robin Covington, Lauren Dane, Cheris Hodges,
Michelle Styles, Piper Huguley, Patricia W. Fischer,
Naima Simone, HelenKay Dimon and all of my
fellow authors who’ve read and shared my books...
thank you from the bottom of my heart
for your kindness and generosity.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Excerpt from Forbidden Promises by Synithia Williams
Excerpt from Heartbreaker by Joanne Rock
One
Darius Taylor-Pratt sat in front of a heavy mahogany desk and surveyed the space around him.
The room’s dark decor seemed better suited to an older man than to upbeat lifestyle guru and reality TV star Miranda Dupree.
Miranda, founder of the Goddess health and lifestyle brand, had invited him to Royal, Texas, for a meeting. She’d proposed a collaboration with Thr3d, his quickly growing performance wear company, to create a Goddess-branded line of athletic wear.
The timing was terrible.
His team was preparing for their first LA Fashion Week runway show. Still, this deal could catapult Thr3d to the next level. So he hadn’t been able to board the plane she’d sent for him quickly enough.
Heavy footsteps approached. Too heavy to be the five-foot-three, redheaded sprite. Miranda probably weighed less than a buck twenty-five.
A man with a messy shock of brown hair, brown eyes and a five o’clock shadow entered the room.
“Hello, Darius. I’m Kace LeBlanc.” The man extended his hand. “Attorney.”
Darius regarded him warily as he stood to shake his hand. “Don’t lawyers typically get involved after an agreement has been reached?”
Kace thumbed through papers in a folder already on the desk. “In a business deal, yes. But I’m not Miranda’s lawyer.”
“Then whose attorney are you, Mr. LeBlanc?” Darius’s shoulders tensed.
“I represent the estate of Mr. Buckley Blackwood, recently deceased. The estate which he left to his ex-wife, Miranda Dupree Blackwood.”
“How nice for her.”
That explains the furniture, but not why he’s here.
Darius returned to his seat and glanced at his black-and-gold Tissot chronograph watch before meeting the man’s gaze again. “Will it be much longer before Miranda joins us?”
“I apologize for the subterfuge in bringing you here. But you’ve been summoned to meet with me about a completely different matter.”
“Miranda has no interest in partnering with my company?” When the man didn’t respond, Darius shot to his feet. “Look, I don’t know what this is about, but I’m a busy man. I don’t have time for your little shell game.”
“I assure you, you’ll want to hear what I have to say,”
the man said calmly. “I only need ten minutes of your time. When I’m done, if you’d still like to head straight back to LA, the driver will take you to a fueled and ready plane.”
Darius set his stopwatch. “You’ve got exactly ten minutes.” He sank onto the chair. “Why am I here?”
“Does the name Buckley Blackwood mean anything to you?”
Darius shrugged. “I know he’s Miranda’s ex-husband, and that he owned a bank.”
“Plus this six-hundred-acre ranch, homes around the globe and investments in a variety of other business interests, like Thr3d.”
“You’re saying he invested in my company?” Impossible. He knew the names of every investor. Buckley Blackwood wasn’t one of them.
“He invested in Thr3d using a shell company.”
“That still doesn’t explain why I’m here.” Darius’s patience was wearing thin.
“You’re here for a private reading of Buck’s will.” The man tapped the document in front of him.
“Why would an investor include me in his will?”
“Buck was more than just an investor, Darius. He was...your father.”
The room became eerily quiet. The only sound was the ticking of the grandfather clock on the wall behind him.
Darius stared at the man a few moments longer, sure someone would pop through the door and declare that this was a prank.
“Look, Mr. LeBlanc—”
“Kace.”
“Kace...there must be some mix-up. You’ve got the wrong guy.”
“You’re Darius Taylor-Pratt, son of former actress Liberty Taylor. Adopted by your stepfather, William Pratt, at the age of two. You’re thirty years old, and you received your undergrad at—”
“All right.” Darius held up a hand. He wanted Kace to stop talking long enough for him to wrap his head around what was happening. He sucked in a deep breath and tried to slow his rocketing heart rate. “You’re saying that this guy, this...”
“Buckley Blackwood.”
“...and my mother...they were together at some point.”
“Yes.”
“He knew I was his son. Yet, he never so much as called or dropped a birthday card in the mail in thirty years.” Anger slowly crept up his spine. “Why? Was he ashamed that he’d fathered a son by a black woman?”
“No,” Kace responded emphatically. “That wasn’t it at all.”
“Then what was it exactly?” Darius seethed, unconvinced.
“You were the product of an affair during his first marriage. That’s why he thought it best to care for you from a distance. When you were two, and your mother married Mr. Pratt, Buck agreed to allow him to adopt you and raise you as his son. You were to be informed of the adoption once you turned eighteen, which I assume you were.”
Darius gripped the armrest without response, his head pounding and his muscles tense.
He’d been told that Will wasn’t his biological father. But his mother wouldn’t reveal his father’s identity beyond saying he was a wealthy man who didn’t want to “complicate” his life.
“Darius,” the man said, “I realize this must come as a shock to you, but—”
“That’s the understatement of the year, Mr. LeBlanc.” He gritted the words through clenched teeth.
“Just Kace is fine,” the man insisted.
Darius was beginning to hate Kace’s sympathetic expression. It felt a lot like condescension and pity.
“The old man is dead, so I’m obviously not here for a father-son reunion.” The declaration made him sound like a heartless ass, but Buckley Blackwood had shown him the same callous disregard. “And you could’ve conducted the reading of the will via video conference. So why the hell am I really here?”
“I’ll allow Buck to explain for himself.” Kace read the final will and testament of Buckley Blackwood. The more he read, the more agitated Darius became.
Buckley Blackwood was a coward and an asshole.
Too cowardly to claim him as his son while he was alive. And the kind of jerk who left everything to his pretty, young ex-wife while leaving nothing to his children. And just for shits and giggles, Darius was being asked to take a DNA test to prove he was Buck’s son.
“Any questions?” Kace put down the will and clasped his hands on the desk. The man seemed braced for a verbal assault.
“What’s the point of a DNA test? The man’s dead, and it’s not as if I’m in line to inherit anything.”
“You have three siblings.” Kace laid out the photos individually. “Kellan, Vaughn and Sophie.”
Darius’s mouth went dry, and he couldn’t speak. He wanted to shove the photos onto the floor and call bullshit on this entire charade.
But he couldn’t.
Darius picked up each photo and studied it.
His brown skin was darker than theirs, but they shared many facial features.
His nose, chin and cheekbones were similar to theirs, and he and Sophie had the same rich brown eyes.
An unexpected sense of belonging washed over him, like a wave at high tide, with the power to knock him off his feet. He swallowed hard, returning each photo to the mahogany desk.
“Do they know about me?”
“They learned of you after their father’s death.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“So far, just the family,” Kace said.
“Good. Let’s keep it that way.” A knot tightened in his gut. The same one he’d developed when he’d gone to school with wealthy kids who’d treated him like an undeserving outsider.
He’d learned to relish that status. Had incorporated it into the Thr3d brand. But he wasn’t keen on experiencing that kind of painful rejection again. Especially not from people with whom he shared DNA.
Darius wanted to walk out. Refuse to play along with the old man’s sick game. But a part of him needed answers. And this was the only way he’d finally get them.
“I’ll take the test.”
“They’re expecting you at Royal Memorial Hospital.” Kace slid a sheet of paper across the desk, then closed the folder. “As for the estate...from what I’ve learned about you, you’ve always been a fighter. Two of your siblings are contesting the will. I’m certainly not encouraging you to do so, but—”
“It is an option.” Darius rubbed his jaw.
Kace gave him a subtle nod. “I’ll be in touch when I get the DNA results. In the meantime, someone else would like to speak with you. Should I send her in?”
Darius nodded absently, not really listening. He pulled his phone from his pocket once the door clicked shut behind Kace. He needed to tell his mother and stepfather he finally knew the truth about his paternity. But they were on vacation. And this wasn’t the kind of conversation they should have over the phone while they were an ocean away. He’d wait until they returned from Europe and talk to them in person.
His relationship with them had been strained since he’d learned that Will wasn’t his biological father. He could’ve forgiven that lie. Maybe even understood it. But when his mother refused to reveal the identity of his father, Darius had been furious.
Now he knew the truth.
He was the son of some rich asshole who hadn’t wanted him when he was alive but felt the need to alleviate his conscience on his deathbed.
The door opened suddenly, startling him.
“Hello, Darius. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Miranda Dupree extended a hand.
He scrambled to his feet and shook her hand. She was nearly a foot shorter than him. “Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Dupree.”
“Call me Miranda, and please, have a seat.” She settled onto the chair beside him. “I apologize for not being direct about why I invited you here.” She sifted her fingers through her wavy red hair. Her sparkling, deep blue eyes seemed sincere. “But I didn’t think you’d
come if I’d told you the truth.”
True.
But that didn’t earn her a pass for lying to him.
“So the collaboration was just a ruse?”
“I prefer to think of it as bait.” Miranda smiled sweetly. “What I said about wanting to create a signature clothing line...that’s absolutely true. I’d like to revisit the topic once all of this is sorted out.”
He acknowledged her statement with a slight nod. But his head still swirled with the news of his paternity.
So much for those fantasies of a reunion with my long-lost father.
“Darius...” Miranda placed a gentle hand on his forearm. “I can only imagine what you must be feeling.”
“Then I’ll tell you.” He glared at her. “I feel like I’m being manipulated. By you. By that lawyer. And by a gutless old man who never gave a damn about me when he was alive but wants to play God with my life now that he’s dead.”
Miranda seemed willing to absorb his anger, her gaze still warm and sincere. “If I was in your shoes, I’d probably feel the same. But there’s something you need to see.”
Miranda retrieved a thick envelope from the desk and sat beside him again.
“Buck and I hadn’t spoken much since our divorce. So I was as shocked as anyone that he charged me with handling some very sensitive matters after his death. I’ve received more instructions via letters over the past few months. Yes, the man could be an asshole.” She laughed bitterly. “But one of his deepest regrets was never getting to know you. He implored me to bring you here, so you’d have the opportunity to get to know your brothers and sister. And he wanted you to know that, regardless of what you might believe, you were never far from his thoughts.”
“He had a damn funny way of showing it.”
“Buck struggled to show affection with everyone. It destroyed both of his marriages. And it’s the reason his relationships with his children were strained. The reason he died alone.” She frowned. “But it doesn’t mean he didn’t care about you.”
Miranda handed him the envelope. “Buck wanted you to have this...to know that even though you were apart, he always held you in his heart.”
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