“You were a kid—not silly at all.”
I shrug. “Well anyway, one day my mother received a call from my father and he asked for us to come to him, and I just knew he was ready to meet me and make me a part of his life.”
Keen pushes a piece of hair from my face.
I suck in a breath and go on. “We drove more than six hours up the coast to Sacramento. I remember my grandmother begging my mother not to go, but she insisted it was time I met my father.”
Keen shifts so we’re facing each other and he looks really concerned.
I give him a slight smile. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”
He nods.
“The whole way up there I thought I was finally going to have a real family like all my friends at school. But then as soon as we pulled into the Governor’s Mansion, we were ushered through the employee entrance and taken into a very private room. I thought it was weird we didn’t get to walk in through the grand front entrance. Yet, still I waited in my new dress for my powerful father to come and be a part of my life. We waited for hours until someone finally came in. It was a nurse, and she whispered something to my mother. My mother started to cry but told me to be brave while the nice nurse took a sample of my blood.”
“What? Are you kidding me?” Keen asks in shock.
“Yeah, my dear old dad wanted proof that I was his. And we waited three more hours, at which time an older man in a suit came in. I knew he wasn’t my father since I’d seen my father’s picture. He sat down beside my mother and took some documents out of his briefcase. Turns out dear old dad wanted her to sign a gag order in exchange for a million dollars. To get her to promise never to tell anyone I was his, he was going to pay my mother off.”
Keen gently places his hand on my hip. “Why after all that time would he do that?”
“He was going to run for the highest office in the nation, and the President of the United States could not possibly have an illegitimate child.” I laugh. “He never made it that far.”
“What did your mother do?”
I smile. “She told that attorney to go fuck himself, and took me home.”
“Good for her.”
“It wasn’t long after that that she took the job in New York City.”
“Because of him?”
“I don’t know for certain, but I think so. I think she just wanted to get far away from him and all the political bullshit.”
“I guess I can understand that. And you’ve still never met him?”
“Nope. He died two years ago and left me a letter.”
“What did it say?”
I shrug. “I never opened it. Just gave it to my mother and told her to burn it.”
He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to—his eyes say it all.
I give me another reassuring smile. “I have to admit, I learned a valuable lesson that day while I waited to meet him.”
Sadness fills his eyes that a moment ago were filled with compassion. “What lesson is that, Maggie?”
I suck in a breath and then blow it out. “That dreams never come true, and that the only way to have control of your life is to take it.”
Keen pulls me to his chest. “I wish I could tell you that wasn’t the truth, but I’d be lying.”
I close my eyes and whisper, “I know. Now we should get some sleep. We have an early flight to New York to catch.”
After a kiss to the top of my head, Keen settles on the pillow beside mine.
And then I fall asleep, waking in the middle of the night from a dream about white horses.
How ridiculous.
Keen
Simon Warren is about men’s fashion.
Everyone in this company has their role. Cam is trying to refine those roles while at the same time trying to grow his company.
My role is to see the big picture for Simon Warren.
Before I can do that, I have to understand the very core of this company’s existence—fashion.
Which is why I’m back home so fucking soon after hightailing it out of here. Not because I want to be here, either. This city holds way too many memories I’d rather forget. My job, all the women, a restlessness I could never quite understand, and then my father’s sudden death. Nothing I want to be reminded of.
Good thing I’ve been on the move all day with no time to think about any of that shit.
As soon as the plane landed in New York City, I spent the entire afternoon being shuffled from one fashion show to another. Simon Warren’s show was first on the agenda, Jordan having flown out yesterday to be here for the preparation of presenting the fall line. After that he took Maggie and me to three other shows.
The final show of the day has just finished. It was Austin Mars—the company Cam is in the process of buying—and I arranged to have a drink with Austin to get a feel for him and his business style.