Bernard Taite, Tehya’s grandfather, had been forced to change his will after his daughter hadn’t been found, he had named his only brother, Stephen, as his heir. But there was a codicile in the eventuality that his daughter or her heirs were ever found.
If they were, his estate, in its entirety, would be turned over to her and his brother would be regulated to CEO of the business only.
It would breed resentment and discomfort. Whether Tehya claimed everything or not.
There was also the small matter of an inheritance that only Tehya could collect.
Bernard Taite had created the wealth the Taite family enjoyed, but for the past fifteen years, Stephen Taite and his son Craig had called it their own. They wouldn’t want to relinquish it now, and she couldn’t blame them.
It would give them a reason to reject her. A reason to fear her.
She could turn the companies over to Stephen or his son Craig, but there was a portion of the inheritance, held in reserve that had been set aside in case Taite Industries had ever failed. An inheritance that would, in cash, gold, and bonds, total far more than Taite Industries was worth by now. An inheritance Tehya was determined to hold on to in the eventuality that her dream of being a mother herself was ever realized or that the danger she faced was ever defeated.
“How are you going to manage this without the Taites knowing who I am?” Her fingers curled into the pillow as she held back her tears. She was absorbing the fact that she would have to face the family she could never allow herself to have and possibly to accept.
“You’ve already made a first contact, Tehya. Why are you so frightened to face the rest of the family when you employ your second cousin and have obviously become friends with her?” he said, as she felt her heart sink.
Micah would have run a background check on everyone that walked into that bar before the team ever arrived. Tehya should have thought of that.
“How long did it take you to find her?” he asked when she said nothing.
She closed her eyes. She had wanted to keep that connection to herself, to enjoy it, to relish even this small contact with at least one family member. She hadn’t wanted it tainted by the danger she faced.
“I knew before I arrived,” he revealed. “How long were you planning to make contact?”
“I’ve kept an eye on her for years,” she revealed. “I learned she had come to America to go to college just before the team disbanded.” She almost smiled. “She’s as wild as the wind, Jordan. I didn’t want her getting into trouble.”
“So you came here to watch over her?” he guessed, his tone carefully controlled, as though he knew any show of anger would only ignite another confrontation between them. “She’s a lot like you. She has your temperament. Micah’s report on her is like reading your life if you had been born into that family. A rebel. Independent and stubborn as hell, she and her grandfather are rumored to go head to head often, and according to my sources, the only reason she wasn’t sent to a private girls’ college was because the Queen of England herself intervened and ‘requested’ her father uphold the Taite family tradition of sending the girls to America to complete their education.”
Yeah, that was Journey. She was so young, so damned determined. It made Tehya proud as hell to know her. And she was damned calculating in getting her way as well.
She suddenly realized couldn’t lie there in the bed any longer. That nervous energy building inside her wouldn’t be denied.
Rising from the bed, she glanced over her shoulder, barely glimpsing his curious expression in the dim light of the room.
“Why, it really doesn’t matter, does it?” she asked quietly. “But if your plan is to use Journey in this little plot of yours, then perhaps you should reconsider it. I believe I would be truly upset over that Jordan.”
Jordan almost grinned at the protectiveness Tehya felt for the sharp-tongued Journey Taite. And it didn’t surprise him. The other woman had no idea how much she was like her missing cousin. They were so alike Micah had remarked that they were all damned lucky they didn’t resemble each other. Because there would be no way to hide their familial relationship if they did.
Propping his elbow on the bed, he rested his head against his hand and watched her