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“I never knew why she ended things,” Mark said quietly. “A couple of days after that lunch, she called me and said she couldn’t see me anymore. She wouldn’t say why. I tried to get in touch with her, but she’d taken the boys and gone away. She wrote me and told me she was serious about us being over. That she wanted me to get on with my life, to find someone I could have a real relationship with.”
“She left because she was pregnant with me,” Dani said.
The moment was too surreal, she thought. She’d wondered what her first conversation with Mark would be like, but now that she was having it, she felt almost disconnected.
“That would be my guess,” he said.
“So that means you really are my biological father.”
Before Mark could answer, the door to his office opened and a woman entered. She gave Dani a quick glance, then looked at Mark.
“Senator, you have a call from Mr. Wilson. He says you know what it’s about and that it’s urgent.”
Mark shook his head. “His definition of urgent and mine differ, Heidi. Tell him I’ll call him back later.”
Heidi, an attractive woman in her early forties, nodded and left the office.
Mark turned back to Dani. “I think it’s very possible I’m your biological father.”
The interruption had thrown Dani. It took her a second to mentally recreate the emotional storm that had been swirling inside of her. But the senator seemed very calm about the whole thing.
“You didn’t know about me before?” she asked.
“Your mother never said anything and I never considered she could be pregnant.”
And if you had? But before she could ask that, the door opened again and Alex entered.
“I’ve run a preliminary background check on her,” he said as he crossed the room. He stopped in front of Dani and looked down at her. “No felonies.”
“You mean that bank robbery conviction from last week hasn’t posted yet? The federal government is just so busy these days.”
“This isn’t a situation I find amusing,” Alex told her.
Dani stood. Despite the dangerous heels, she was still a good six inches shorter than him. “You think I do? I spent my whole life thinking I was one person and suddenly I may be someone else. Do you have any idea what it’s like to question your very existence? I’m sorry if my search for my father gets in the way of your daily schedule.”
She was mad. Alex could see the fire in her eyes. She was also scared. She tried to hide the latter, but it was visible, at least to him. When he’d been very young, he’d learned what it was like to live in constant terror and the ability to recognize it in others had never left him.
But was she who she claimed? Her timing made him more suspicious than normal and he was, by nature and training, a cautious man. With him, trust had to be earned and once broken, was never given again. He doubted there was anything Dani Buchanan could do to make him trust her.
Alex studied her, searching for similarities to the senator. It was there, in her smile, the shape of her chin. But how many random strangers had a passing resemblance to each other? She could have stumbled across some information about the senator’s affair with Marsha Buchanan and decided to use that to her advantage.
“We’ll need to do a DNA test,” he said flatly.
“I agree,” Dani said, meeting his gaze with a steady look of her own. “I want to be sure.”
“I’m sure,” Mark said as he stood. “But testing will confirm everything. In the meantime, Dani, I’d like us to get to know each other.”
Dani’s smile was both hopeful and apprehensive. “Me, too. We could go to lunch or something.”
“No public meetings,” Alex said.
Mark nodded. “He’s right. I’m a public figure. Having lunch with a pretty young woman would get people talking. We don’t want that.” He thought for a second. “Why don’t you come over to the house for dinner tonight? You can meet the family.”
Dani physically took a step back. “I don’t think so,” she murmured. “I’m not ready for that. Your wife doesn’t know about me and—”
“Nonsense. Katherine is an amazing woman. She’ll understand and want to welcome you into the family. Alex and Julie don’t live at home but there are still six Canfield children for you to meet.” He frowned. “Not blood relations, of course. Katherine and I adopted all our children, but then you probably know that.”
“I did some research on the family,” Dani admitted.
And found out there was plenty of money, Alex thought cynically.
“You could have a few meetings here,” he said. “Before you take Dani home.”
But the senator had made up his mind and he was rarely convinced to change it. “No, dinner will work. Dani, you might as well find out the chaos you’re getting yourself into right away. Besides, Katherine will adore you.” He glanced at his watch. “I have a meeting I can’t be late for. Alex, give Dani the address. Say six tonight?”
Alex nodded. “Are you going to tell Mom or should I?”
Mark considered the question. “I’ll do it. I’ll leave a little early.” He smiled at Dani. “See you tonight, then.”
“I, ah, all right,” Dani said, sounding a little shaken.
Mark left the office.
Dani clutched her handbag so tightly her knuckles turned white. “The family. I didn’t expect that.”
No, she’d probably thought she could weasel her way into Mark’s good graces without having to face his children.
She turned to him. “What about your mother? Is this going to bother her?” She briefly closed her eyes, then opened them. “Stupid question. Of course it will. I know they weren’t together when he had his relationship with my mother, but still. A kid from his past can’t be easy to accept. I don’t want to make trouble.”
“Too late for that.”
She tilted her head. “You don’t approve of me.”
“You don’t want to know what I think of you.”
Surprisingly, she smiled. “Oh, I can imagine.”
“I don’t think so.”
He didn’t frighten her, which annoyed him. He was used to intimidating people.
“So when’s the DNA test?” she asked. “I assume you’ll be hiring a lab?”
“Someone will be at the house tonight.”
“Will they be using a cheek swab or would you prefer dismemberment?”
“I don’t want you hurt,” he told her.
“No. You just want me gone.” She sighed. “I wish I could make you believe that I’m just looking for my father. I need that connection. I don’t want anything from him other than to get to know him. I’m not the enemy.”
“That’s only one person’s opinion.” He moved closer to her, hoping to crowd her into stepping back again. She didn’t. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into, Dani Buchanan,” he said coldly. “This isn’t a game. My father is a United States Senator who is considering a run for the presidency. There is more on the line than you can imagine. You will not be allowed to compromise him in any way. I’m not the only dragon at that particular gate, but I’m the one you’re going to have to worry about most.”
She leaned toward him. “You don’t scare me.”
“I will.”
“No, you won’t. You assume there’s something I want, which means you have leverage over me. But you’re wrong.” She shifted her handbag onto her shoulder. “It’s okay. I respect what you’re doing. In your position, I’d do the same thing. Protecting family is a big deal. But be careful about how far you take things. You don’t seem like the kind of man who enjoys apologizing. I’d hate to see you have to come crawling back to me when you discover how wrong you are about me.”
She had guts. He had to respect that. “You’d love me to come crawling with an apology.”
She smiled. “I know, but I was trying to be polite.”
Chapter Two
DANI WALKED THROUGH the main dining room of Bella Roma. The tables were set for lunch with the white linens in place and fresh flowers on the tables. She paused to randomly pick up a couple of glasses and held them to the light. They sparkled the way they were supposed to.
She’d only been working at the restaurant a couple of weeks, which meant she was still on the steep side of the learning curve. The good news was Bella Roma was a well-run restaurant with an excellent staff and a great menu. The better news was that her boss, Bernie, was a terrific guy to work for.
After setting down the glasses, she walked into the kitchen where low-key chaos reined. The real activity wouldn’t begin before they opened for lunch in twenty minutes. For now there was the prep work. Penny—her sister-in-law and possibly the best chef in Seattle, not that she would ever mention that to Nick, the head chef here—always said that a kitchen lived or died by its prep work.
Three huge stockpots simmered on back burners. The scent of garlic and sausage filled the air. One cook chopped vegetables for salads while another sliced meat for the sandwiches and antipasto platters.
“Hey, Dani,” one of the cooks called. “Come taste my sauce.”
“That’s not what he wants you to taste,” another cook yelled. “She’s too pretty for you, Rico. She wants a real man like me.”
“You’re not a real man. The last time I had your wife, she told me.”
“If my wife saw you naked, she’d laugh so hard, she’d hurt herself.”
Dani smiled at the familiar insults. Restaurant kitchens were usually loud, crazy places where the constant pressure meant everyone had to work as a team. The fact that the majority of workers were men meant a challenging situation for the average woman. Dani had grown up hovering around the kitchens at the various Buchanan restaurants, so she was immune to any attempts to shock her. She waved at the guys, then checked the list of specials Nick had posted against the menu inserts for that day.
“The panini sounds delicious,” she told the head chef. “I can’t wait to try it.”
“I have something better for you, sweet cheeks,” one of the guys said.
Dani didn’t bother turning around to find out who was speaking. Instead she picked up one of the large carving knives. “I have a set of these myself.”
A couple of the guys groaned.
Nick grinned. “As long as you know how to use them.”
“I do.”
That would back the cooks off for a while. She knew that as long she did her job and they learned they could depend on her to respect them and not do anything to make their work more difficult, they would come to respect her. It took time to build a good relationship with a kitchen staff and she was more than willing to put in the effort to make that happen.
“You want to make any changes to the specials?” Nick asked casually.
Dani wanted to laugh at the ridiculous question, but kept her expression carefully neutral. Nick didn’t really want her opinion. If she tried to give one, he would rip her head off…probably just verbally. The division of labor was very clear. The head chef ran the kitchen, the general manager ran everything else. Dani’s position of authority stopped the second she stepped through the swinging doors.
“No,” she said sweetly. “They look great. Have a good lunch.”
She pushed through the doors, back onto her turf. She and Nick had to work together. Either of them could make the other’s life a living nightmare. As the new kid, it was up to her to prove herself, which she was happy to do.
One of the advantages of her new job was how it helped her focus. After her meeting with Mark Canfield, she’d found herself unable to concentrate, until she’d come to work. Alex Canfield had gotten to her, invading her brain on a regular basis. She tried to tell herself that he was completely uninteresting, not the least bit attractive and not someone she would waste her time on but she knew she was lying. There was something about him that compelled her. The fact that he was her biological father’s adoptive son added a level of confusion that told her she needed to run in the opposite direction. Considering the past year in her romantic life, it was advice she should listen to.
She walked through the dining room to her office. On the way she passed the wine cellar, where she did a quick spot inventory on two different wines. The number of bottles in the bin matched the number on the list from her computer.
“Excellent,” she murmured as she stepped back into the hall. So far working at Bella Roma was a dream. There was nothing she wanted to—
“Dani?”
She turned and saw her brother Walker. She grinned. “Here to figure out how to do things right?” she asked as he pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.
“You wish.”
Walker, a former Marine, had recently taken over the Buchanan empire, such as it was. He ran the corporation that owned the four family restaurants. He’d been pushed into the leadership role when Gloria, the Buchanan matriarch and grandmother to Dani’s three brothers, had suffered a heart attack and broken hip. Weeks into the job, he discovered it was his calling.
Dani was happy for him. Walker was a hell of a guy and he was doing a great job. She never actually wanted to run the business, she’d just wanted to have a chance to prove herself running one of the restaurants. While Gloria had put her in charge of Burger Heaven, she hadn’t let her move up at all. After years of trying to please a woman who actually seemed to hate her, Dani had been told the truth. In blunt terms, Gloria had explained that Dani wasn’t a real Buchanan. That her mother had had an affair and Dani was the result.
With Gloria as the matriarch of the family, Dani wasn’t related to her at all. As Gloria had only ever been critical and distant, Dani should have been relieved.
But she wasn’t. Despite their lack of blood connection, Dani knew Gloria would always be her grandmother—at least in Dani’s heart. Gloria’s past behavior meant being close was unlikely.
Dani told herself she didn’t care. At least there was a bright side.
Now that she knew Mark Canfield could be her real father, she had a whole new family to bond with. The downside was she’d spent her whole life as a Buchanan and she didn’t want to be anyone else.
Walker released her. “How are things going?”
“Great. I love it. Bernie’s the best and the kitchen staff is only terrorizing me a little. That means I’m starting to win them over. Of course if they weren’t terrorizing me at all it would mean that they hate me, so it’s a delicate balance. What are you doing here? Looking for a decent meal for a change?”
The slam made him grin. “You think pasta with red sauce can compete with anything Penny can come up with?”
Penny had married their oldest brother, Cal. She was an extraordinary chef and worked at The Waterfront, the seafood restaurant in the Buchanan stable.
“If you’re going to put it like that,” Dani grumbled, knowing Penny was a genius. “But we have a lot of great stuff you don’t offer. Now that I think about it, we need to open an Italian place. It’s very popular and the profit margin is fantastic.”
Walker stared at her. “I’m not here to talk business.”
“But an Italian restaurant is a great idea.”
“An excellent one, if you want to ignore the fact that you’re trying to talk me into competing with your current boss.”
Oops. Dani glanced around to see if anyone had overheard her. Damn. When was she going to remember that she wasn’t a Buchanan anymore? That she didn’t owe them any loyalty and that she should be putting all her energies into Bella Roma?
“Okay,” she muttered. “Point taken. So if you’re not here for the garlic bread, what’s up?”
