One Secret Night. Yvonne Lindsay

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      This book is dedicated to dear friends who helped me brainstorm when my brain was a tranquil place with nothing happening—a lovely thing to have but not when you’re nutting out a plot!

      Nalini, Peta and Shar—big thanks for all your help.

      One

      His mother was alive.

      Ethan Masters walked blindly through Adelaide’s city streets, the staggering knowledge continuing to ricochet in his mind. A mind already struggling to come to terms with his father’s recent unexpected death. He’d thought that would be the hardest thing he would ever have to face. But this discovery today, that the man Ethan had idolized and revered above all others had lied to him and his sister for the past twenty-five years, was much worse.

      Grief mingled with a sharp sense of betrayal sliced through him anew—its blade serrated and leaving behind a raw pain that throbbed incessantly deep inside his chest. He didn’t know what to do with the information he’d been given today. Part of him wished he’d never learned the truth. In fact, if he hadn’t discovered an anomaly in his father’s personal accounts he would still be none the wiser. The family solicitor’s reluctance to explain had only made him more determined to discover where the monthly payments had been going.

      So, now he knew. The woman who had abandoned him and his sister, Tamsyn, had accepted money to stay away, happy to let her children think she’d died in the car accident that had spared their lives.

      Even worse, his father’s siblings, Ethan’s uncle Edward and aunt Cynthia, had colluded in the lie.

      It went against everything—every family institution—he’d been brought up with. Bad enough that his memories of his parents had been tainted. But to know that so many people he trusted had gone behind his back…it was more than he could take. Maybe he should have gone straight home after his meeting in the city—confronted his aunt and uncle, told Tamsyn the truth. But if he himself found it next to impossible to weigh the information he’d received today, how could he expect to face his sister with the news?

      The very idea of telling Tamsyn sent a shudder down his spine. Tamsyn was, by nature, a caretaker. She wanted everyone to be happy, and she worked darn hard to achieve that goal. Always had, even as a child. It was one of the reasons why her branch of the family business was so sought after and came so highly recommended. This news could well destroy her. He couldn’t bear to see that happen. He hadn’t spent the past twenty-five years of his life being her champion to fall at this hurdle now. No, this was his problem to deal with and he needed to work out his next move before facing everyone. He’d reach that decision a darn sight faster without the various demands of the family business, not to mention his extended family buzzing around to distract him.

      A flicker of exotic color and movement caught his eye. A young woman who stood out from all the somber office workers marking the end of their working week by spilling from nearby buildings. Small, slender and blond, her dress a multihued swirl that clung briefly to outline her buttocks and thighs as a passing vehicle threw a gust of air in her direction. An incongruously large and cumbersome pack was settled on her back, yet she carried it as if it weighed nothing at all. Intrigued, Ethan watched as she slipped through the doors of a nearby pub and out of sight.

      Without a second thought, Ethan followed her footsteps. He pulled himself up short as he entered the building and firmed his lips into a grim line. For someone who hadn’t wanted distraction he’d certainly found it in the noisy confusion of pub patrons—a blend of tourists, students and office workers. For a second, he considered leaving. But what the hell, maybe concentration would come more smoothly after a drink. Straightening his shoulders, he headed to the bar. He scanned the crowd all the while, but he saw no sign of the colorful butterfly that had drawn him here.

      Minutes later, Ethan listened to the beat of the music energizing the people on the dance floor—people whose lives were clearly far less complicated than his had so rapidly become—and deftly swirled the red wine in his glass. He watched as the rich ruby liquid ran in tiny rivers down the inside and inexorably into the bowl.

      “Not to your taste, sir?” the barman asked from across the gleaming wooden bar.

      “It’s fine,” Ethan admitted, belatedly adding his thanks.

      He continued to scan the crowd reflected in the mirror over the bar, and allowed his thoughts to wander. Rolled the truth around in his head that the life he’d lived since the accident had been based on untruths.

      Looking back, he remembered that his father had been different after the crash. That bit more remote, that bit more stern and demanding of excellence in those around him. That bit less trusting. But once he’d recovered from his own injuries, Ethan, in his six-year-old