Aaron Cameron shook hands with Tyler Brogan across the width of his desk.

"Have a seat, Mr. Brogan," he suggested while making a quick appraisal of his guest. Here was a man who made things happen. There was no sign of softness in the dark eyes and firm jaw line. His handshake and proud bearing proclaimed a self-confidence that Aaron was willing to bet had been gained through experience and hard knocks.

For an instant he thought the younger man might refuse the invitation to sit, but then they both settled into chairs and continued an intense perusal of each other.

Aaron's innate ability to judge a man's character was one of the reasons for his phenomenal success in the business world. His wealth and power were legendary. It wouldn't be unusual for an ambitious executive to seek him out, yet the man facing him

claimed to have come on personal business. Aaron still hadn't a clue as to why the young California executive should seek him out, but his curiosity was thoroughly aroused.

"When I spoke with you on the phone you said you had a private matter to discuss with me," Aaron began. "I'll confess, I'm intrigued. Should I know you?"

"Ty gave a terse shake of his head. "You don't know me, and until a month ago, I knew of you only through your business reputation." Tension was evident in the rugged features of his face and rigid set of his shoulders as he began to explain.

"My mother asked me to get in touch with you.

In fact, I made her a deathbed promise. She was battling a fatal illness and in a great deal of pain.

She sometimes hallucinated, but she was adamant that I find you and have you corroborate her story."

Aaron nodded. He was a man who kept promises and respected the code of honor in others. His curios--ity intensified. "What was your mother's name?"

"Sarah Brogan, but if what she told me is true, you would know her by her maiden name, Sarah

Holloway."

Ty watched intently as Aaron's eyes widened and grew dark with emotion. Tyler was an expert at seeing through phony reactions, but Cameron's was genuine. His blood chilled.

Aaron could never forget Sarah Holloway. Despite the fact that he hadn't seen his old girlfriend for nearly thirty-three years, she'd been his first love, and he'd been her first lover.

"I remember your mother well," Aaron replied.

"We were engaged to be married when I joined the

Army, but she jilted me for another man. At the time,

I thought I'd die of a broken heart or find some way to win her back, but I did neither."

Ty paled beneath his naturally dark skin. It wasn't the answer he'd hoped to hear. Intense emotional strain was clearly visible on his features. He gripped the arms of his chair, the knuckles of his big hand going white.

"She told me that you were my natural father,"

he announced bluntly, his displeasure evident in his ragged tone. "My dad had been dead for a year.

When faced with my mother's death and her insis--tence that my biological father was still living, I

promised to see you just to pacify her. I only wanted to honor her wish." His tone hardened. "I really hadn't expected you to admit you'd known her."

Aaron had gone pale, too. He looked closer into eyes just a shade darker than his own brown. Bro--gan's thick, dark hair lacked streaks of gray but was the same color and texture of his own. Brogan was taller and more solidly built, but there wasn't much difference in their size and frame.

"When were you born?" he asked, his voice rough.

Ty closed his eyes and dragged in a deep breath.

If Aaron Cameron wanted to know his date of birth, then there was a strong possibility his mother had told him the truth. He gave the older man the month and year, then stared directly into his eyes as he watched the mental calculations.

Aaron was shaken, but tried to control of his emotions. "I was with your mother nine months before your birth," he declared. "I did officer's training in California and lived there for several months. Then I was sent to Vietnam. She wanted to get married, but I asked her to wait. I was stunned when I got her Dear John letter and learned she was marrying someone else."

Ty looked down at his hands, loosened his grip on the chair, and was annoyed at the tremor that shook him. His mother had been a proud woman. She'd loved Aaron Cameron, but had refused to trap him with the knowledge of her pregnancy.

That's the way she'd explained it, and Aaron seemed to be confirming her story, but Ty still didn't want to believe it. He'd loved and respected his dad, despite their differences. He still grieved--for his dad, his mother, and the absolute trust he'd given them. Why had they never trusted him with the truth?

"Did she tell you that she married your father because she was pregnant with my child?" Aaron forced himself to ask.

Their gazes locked and tension between them was almost palpable. Neither could deny the facts, yet neither was prepared to accept such a shocking truth.

"She said that my dad, Timothy Brogan, was in love with her and willing to take responsibility for her child. She told him her baby's father was dead. As far as I know, she never told him the truth. Neither of them ever hinted at it to me."

"Until she was dying and forced to leave you an orphan," Aaron said.

Brogan grunted derisively. "I'm hardly an orphan. I have my own life, my career, and my independence. I don't need a parent. I had two. They're gone, but that doesn't leave me needy."

Aaron had his doubts, but he wasn't going to argue the point with a grown man. "Would you be willing to have some blood tests?"

Tyler frowned. "I really don't see the point.'"

"I'd consider it a tremendous favor," Aaron said. "You might not want or need a father, but I'd like to know if I sired a son."

Under similar circumstances, Tyler would want the truth, too. He agreed to the blood tests.

Tyler Brogan strode through the elegant foyer of Cameron Industries without a glance at the people occupying the ground floor. He headed straight for the elevator like a man with a mission, unconcerned by the many sets of eyes that lingered on his tall, muscular form.

He drew eyes everywhere he went. It used to bother him, but his experience in the corporate world had taught him to ignore the unwanted attention. He'd never understood the curiosity anyway. He was just another man in an expensive business suit.

What he didn't realize was the infinite appeal of his aristocratic carriage; striking features, wide shoulders, and lean, athletic body. He was a man with the kind of magnetic energy that would always attract attention, keeping the onlooker wary, yet fascinated.

Ty entered the elevator and punched the button for the top floor. Then he waited impatiently to be deposited at Aaron Cameron's reception area.

"Mr. Cameron, Mr. Brogan is here to see you." Mildred Mason was mature, polished, and professional, but even she spared Tyler Brogan more than a passing glance.

Aaron glanced at his watch. It was exactly one o'clock. "Send him right in, Ms. Mason."

He rose from his chair as the other man entered his office and extended a hand in greeting over the top of his desk. Their handshake was firm but brief.

Tyler had stayed overnight in Chicago at Cameron's request. Blood tests had been quickly and discreetly arranged. The call at his hotel last night to confirm their relationship hadn't really surprised him.

Aaron hadn't been surprised, either, not after hearing Tyler's story. He had a son. He'd spent a long, sleepless night battling a multitude of conflicting emotions; fury at being denied his son, self-disgust for not being aware of Sarah's plight, and a slow-dawning jubilation at her parting gift of love.

"As I told you last night, the tests were conclusive. You're my son."

Tyler nodded, but didn't say anything. He wanted to hear what Cameron had on his mind.

"Do you have any siblings?" Aaron asked. He remembered Sarah had loved children and wanted a big family. He felt sure she'd sent her son to him for protective reasons, but he knew that Tyler wouldn't appreciate the idea.

"I have two brothers and a sister. They're all single and living at our family home in California."

"You're all close?" Aaron prodded. He didn't like to think that his son had suffered the life of an outcast in his own home.

Ty's three siblings shared a special relationship and many friends, but he'd never belonged to their elite crowd.

"Yes, we're close, but I've never had the same interests as my brothers and sister. I live alone, travel a lot, and don't see them much anymore."

Aaron nodded in understanding. Brogan was a loner. He could empathize. His own scientific thirst for knowledge and restless energy had driven him as a young man and left him little time for socializing.

It was almost too much to absorb. He had a son; a man who was strong, intelligent, self-assured. Yesterday he'd wondered if Tyler was trying some kind of scam to gain money or power, but the younger man's attitude wasn't the least bit ingratiating. He didn't seem at all pleased with the idea of having him for a father.

"Before I came to Chicago to find you," Tyler told him in a low, even tone, "I did some checking."

Aaron smiled slightly. His son was blatantly honest.

"You have a daughter," Ty continued tersely. "I guess I have a half-sister that I didn't know existed."

For the first time since their initial meeting, Aaron's expression became shuttered. He studied Ty with a calculating intensity that would have unnerved a lesser man.

Was Tyler Brogan utterly trustworthy? Dare he share his most guarded secret? If he didn't, his newly found son would doubtlessly create havoc with his questions. If Brogan tried to ferret out his own answers, the results could be devastating.

Aaron didn't know what the other man intended to do with the knowledge of their relationship. "My daughter's name is Chantel." That much he probably knew. "She's several years younger than you, but she's not your sister."

"How can that be?" Ty asked grimly.

Aaron's expression was equally grim. He had never discussed the circumstances surrounding Chantel's birth.

They stared at each other until Ty finally broke the tense silence. "If I am your biological son and Chantel's not my sister, then she can't be your daughter."

Aaron remained mute on the subject, trying to decide whether or not he could trust his judgment in such an important matter. Was Brogan as honest and straightforward as he seemed? What was the best way to handle the situation?

"I have to know."

Ty's hard, flat statement was the deciding factor. Chantel was twenty-eight and no one had ever questioned her parentage. An investigation of any sort could only stir up trouble and heartache. It would also pose questions he didn't want asked or answered.

"I guess there's a secret you'll have to know," Aaron ground out roughly. "But I want your word of honor that you'll never repeat what I'm about to tell you."

Intrigued, yet wary, Ty wondered if he could handle any more secrets. He wasn't anxious to take on more emotional "baggage. He chose to stall. "How do you know my word can be trusted? You're a powerful and wealthy man. I could use your secrets for blackmail."

"Sometimes a man has to make a judgment strictly on gut instinct," Aaron declared, feeling ridiculously pleased when Brogan's eyes glinted with respect.

"Can I trust you if you give me your word?" he asked the younger man.

"You can trust me."

"And I have your word that you'll never repeat what I'm going to tell you?"

Ty was growing more intrigued. "You have my word."