Read Online The Heir of the Castle (Harlequin Romance) by Scarlet Wilson - Free Book Online Page A

someone who had been dear to Callan. His experience was totally different from hers.
    Something registered in her brain. She looked up at the castle.
    It was hard to believe but as a potential inheritor of Annick Castle she hadn’t even given a moment’s thought to how much it could actually be worth.
    She gulped. The figures dancing around her brain made her mind boggle. She turned to face him. ‘How on earth could you afford to buy a place like this?’ She held up her hands. ‘I have no idea how much Annick Castle would cost, but what kind of job do you have?’
    She couldn’t even begin to understand how someone could make enough money to buy Annick Castle. Her question probably seemed cheeky, but she was the kind of girl who usually said what came to mind. And she wasn’t going to stop just because she was here.
    ‘If I tell you will you be able to reply in one hundred and fifty characters or less?’
    It took a few seconds for the penny to drop. She couldn’t help it; her mouth fell open.
    ‘You? You own Blether?’ She couldn’t believe it. The Scottish equivalent of Twitter, with a slightly longer letter count, had started as a rival company six or seven years before. It had taken the advertising market by storm. Those ten little letters made all the difference, but still allowed short, sharp messages.
    He gave a rueful smile and nodded. ‘Guilty as charged. I owned an Internet search engine before that. Blether came about almost by accident.’
    She was stunned. Everyone knew exactly how successful the company was, but she’d never really heard anything about the owner. ‘How so?’
    ‘I was annoyed one night and came home and spouted off to Angus about it. He told me to stop bellyaching and do something about it. He challenged me to make something bigger and better.’
    She shook her head. ‘And the name?’
    He shrugged. ‘How could it have been anything else? Blether—the Scots word for people who talk incessantly.’ He raised his eyebrows at her. ‘You should be able to relate.’
    Her reaction was automatic; she elbowed him in the ribs. ‘Cheeky.’
    They sat quietly for a few more seconds as she tried to take in everything he’d just told her. He must be worth millions—no, probably billions—and here he was, sitting at Annick Castle for a crazy Murder Mystery Weekend. It just didn’t make sense.
    ‘So, your background is in computers, then?’
    He shook his head. ‘It should be, but it isn’t. I did pure mathematics at university.’
    ‘You did?’
    He smiled and looked up at the castle. She could see the fondness in his eyes, see the memories flit across his face. ‘I wasn’t doing too well at school before I met Angus. My father didn’t believe in homework. And as a child I had other skills that were my priority.’
    Something about the way he said the words sent a chill down her spine. He hadn’t emphasised them, or been too explicit, but it was almost as if the skills he was hinting at were survival skills.
    ‘Once I started spending time with Angus he used to sit me down at the kitchen table at night and go over my homework with me. He was methodical—and strict. He discovered I had a natural aptitude for maths and he bought me textbooks and journals that challenged me.’
    ‘So you did your homework here?’ It seemed the safest question to ask, without prying too much.
    ‘Pretty much. Angus helped me with my exams. He even helped me fill in my application for university.’
    ‘Where did you go?’
    ‘I got into Cambridge—and Oxford, but in the end I went to Edinburgh. I didn’t want to leave Scotland.’
    ‘You didn’t?’ She didn’t mean to sound so surprised; it just came out that way. It hadn’t even occurred to her for a second to turn down her university place at Cambridge. Did people actually do that? And how distracted would she have been if she’d met Callan at university?
    He stood up and arched his back, obviously trying to relieve some tension.