Page 19 of Crimson Heart

“I saw it this morning. Jude had new papers made for Danielle. I saw the driver’s license when she accidentally dropped it. It wasn’t her real name on there.”

“Well, of course not. She would have taken Jude’s last name after the mating. No big deal.”

Eve shook her head. “No, not like that. The name on the license was Danielle Smith Beaumont. Not Danielle Powell Beaumont.”

“Smith? But we all know that her last name was Powell.”

“Exactly! So why would they do that? Jude made it sound like it was standard procedure for an alpha’s mate. To protect her, or whatever. He wasn’t exactly very forthcoming with information.”

“Hmm. That’s indeed a little odd.”

“Right? So what does she have to hide now? I mean, we know she’s my half-sister, because the DNA test confirmed it, so why take the name Smith? She could have insisted on taking the Gallagher name instead.”

“I think your dad would have something to say about whether he would allow her to take his name.”

And knowing the old philanderer, he could just as easily say no to that. Nobody had any idea whether he’d found out by now that everybody knew who Danielle was. At least, nobody had admitted to having spoken to him since he’d been exiled to Canada. Of course, it was entirely possible that one of his kids could be in contact with him without admitting it. The reason was clear: nobody wanted to get on Jude’s bad side by communicating with the former alpha and would therefore hide any evidence of being in contact with William Gallagher.

“That’s beside the point,” Eve said, sounding exasperated.

“Then what is the point?”

“Don’t you think that by taking a name like Smith and dropping her real last name, she’s trying to wipe out her past? As if she had something to hide?”

“The only thing she had to hide is the fact that she’s William’s illegitimate daughter. And that secret is out of the bag. I know you can’t stand her. You never could, but that doesn’t mean there’s something nefarious in her past. Or do I have to remind you that you thought she was your father’s mistress? As we all know, that conspiracy theory didn’t pan out.”

“Conspiracy theory?” Eve’s voice took on a higher pitch. “I had a suspicion. And it could just as easily have been proven as true.”

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself to get through the day…” He shrugged.

Lately, he and Eve had butted heads on more than one occasion.

“You—”

Eve was interrupted by the chiming of the intercom.

“What the fuck is going on today? Are you gonna get that?” Eve asked, pointing at the intercom.

Her commanding tone riled him up. “Who am I? The butler?”

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, making it clear that she wouldn’t lift a finger.

Spencer looked at the small monitor and saw a taxi waiting in front of the closed gate. He stabbed his finger on the button to speak into the intercom.

“What now?”

“Uhm… I have a Miss Charlotte here to see her brothers, Jude and Austin,” the taxi driver announced.