Page 236 of The Rebel Billionaire

Love always,

Your Brooke xx

Harper

I’m not familiar with Harper Frazer, though her elder brother, Elijah, was a couple of years younger than me in school. He was a day pupil, not a boarder, so our paths rarely crossed. I know, however, that Kris has just purchased Elijah’s cyber security firm as part of his company’s expansion into Europe. Strange, considering the man stole his fiancée.

Mitch reappears and leans on the doorframe.

“Who are you to her?”

“Dan and I are her protection officers.”

“She really was in danger?”

He nods.

“She’s an amazing young woman,” he says. “She’s not what we expected.”

He laughs at my clear confusion.

“You’re an American. Harper Frazer is quite a character, or should I say was. I think she’s enjoyed the anonymity of being Brooke and everything it has afforded her.”

His words hit a nerve.

That is why she understood.

I always felt it was strange how she could empathise with Enzo and me.

“What now?”

He shrugs.

“That, sir, is completely up to you.”

Keith drives me to Mother’s.

She’s at the door when I arrive. As I get out of the car, she simply turns and walks back into the house.

“You knew, and you didn’t say anything?”

She inclines her head, taking a sip of her iced tea.

“It was for her safety, especially after you employed her as your PA.” She sighs. “I must say, I didn’t see that coming, or the fact that you were going to fall in love with her.”

“I—”

“You’re in love with her. Don’t try to deny it. I’ve got eyes in my head. And whether she’s Brooke or Harper, she’s the same woman. Brooke is just the unfiltered version.” She chuckles to herself. “Although that may be the wrong description. Harper Frazer has never been filtered, at least not in her later years. It was why I was tough on her when she arrived.”

“But you could have told me who she was,” I say. “What did you think I’d do? Throw her out or leave her unprotected?”

She smiles and shakes her head. “No, Sandro, you would have tried to burn down the world for her,” she says. “The moment you two met, I felt it. It was like she unlocked something inside you. Your protective nature would have put her in danger. I made her promise not to tell you, although I know she’d already signed a memorandum of understanding, or perhaps it was a witness-protection agreement. Whichever it was, it required her to keep her identity secret if she wanted to retain her protective team. It set out strict behavioural rules, which that young woman has followed to a tee. I think she’s surprised everyone.”

I sink down onto the couch.

“What now?” I ask.

“That’s up to you.”