Page 5 of Cowboy's Sinful Bargain

This was Montgomery Cross?

The older man stopped when he reached the seating area. I could feel his gaze roaming over me without even looking. I swallowed down my fear and raised my eyes to meet my father's.

"Hello, Mitsuaki."

I stood, squaring my shoulders and standing stiff before pressing my hands together and bowing deeply over them. "Good day, sir."

The lawyer stood and held out his hand. "Mr. Cross, I am Harold Sato, Mr. Kaneko's personal attorney. I am here to facilitate the transfer of Mitsuaki—"

"Let me see you, son."

I fisted my hands and then pressed them flat against my thighs. I stood still as my father walked around me. I wasn't exactly sure why the man would want to look at me, but I knew better than to argue.

"Why, you're no bigger than a June bug."

I bowed his head so the man couldn't see the hurt in my eyes. There was nothing I could do about my size. I'd often been told I took after my mother, who had been fine boned and delicate.

I wouldn't know. I'd never even seen a picture of her. After I was born, all references to AkariKaneko had been removed from my grandfather's house. No one wanted to remember her shame.

"You look just like your mother."

My head snapped up. "You knew my mother?"

Duh. Of course he did. This man was my father. He had to have known my mother at least once.

A low grunt from my bodyguard had me quickly lowering my head. I tried to keep my trembling hidden from everyone's view. I'd spoken out of turn. Even worse, I'd asked about my mother. Both actions were forbidden.

I was sure to be punished now.

"I did," my father replied, "and I was sorry to hear of her passing. She was a wonderful woman. I miss her very much."

I missed her, too, and I never knew her. That hole in my heart was one I doubted would ever be fixed.

"Mr. Cross," the lawyer started again, "as I mentioned on the phone, we are in somewhat of a time constraint. If we could—"

"Yes, of course," my father replied as he turned to look at the lawyer. "We're just waiting for—"

I glanced over when the front door opened and then sucked in a deep, painful breath as the biggest man I'd ever seen walked into the house. He shut the door and then turned.

His gaze roamed over everyone standing there until it landed on me, and then I felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. I fought for breath under the intense heat in the cornflower blue eyes that swept over me.

"Here he is now," my father said as he stepped closer to the imposing man. "This is Joseph Nash, my ranch foreman."

"He has agreed to the stipulations in the contract I forwarded to you?"

"I have," the man in question answered in a deep-timbered voice. He never looked away from me. It was more than a bit unnerving.

"If you want to follow us to my office," the older man said as he headed out of the living room, "the judge is waiting."

When everyone started walking toward the back of house, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I stiffened when I felt a hand press against my lower back.

"They're waiting for us, Mitsuaki."

I had to swallow before I could reply. "Thank you, Mr. Nash."

"Jos," the man said. "My name is Jos."

"Thank you, Jos."

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