“Before you were born,” Dad said slowly, “I was engaged to a woman named Claire.”
“My mother?” I whispered.
He nodded once.
“Until Leonard came along,” Julian said sharply.
The name struck me immediately.
Leonard Hale.
One of the richest developers in the state decades earlier. Hotels. Office towers. Shopping centers. Half the city once carried his company logo.
Dad looked sick.
“Claire married Leonard,” he continued. “A year later, they had a son.”
Julian stepped forward.
“A son with a birthmark,” Dad finished.
My eyes moved to the red birthmark across Julian’s face.
The room seemed to tilt.
“But Dad said you disappeared.”
“My mother took me and left Leonard when I was six,” Julian said.
“Why?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because Leonard was dangerous.”