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She stood up blindly. “Excuse me. I have phone calls to make.”
Late that evening, Trent sat at the computer in the study, brooding. He could no longer ignore the evidence before him. Jesse had been stealing from the ranch. From Mac.
The knowledge made nausea churn in Trent’s belly. Why? Mac would have given Jesse anything he wanted. The old man loved his youngest son dearly. There had been no need to steal.
Cause of death: heroin overdose. The coroner’s report wasn’t fabricated. Jesse had taken drugs at least once. The little brother Trent remembered would never have done such a thing. But Bryn was right…Trent hadn’t been around much in the last few years. Mostly because of a demanding career, but in part because the ranch reminded him too much of Bryn. And the fact that she had slept with his brother, or lied, or both.
He groaned and shut down the computer. If Bryn was telling the truth about Jesse’s drug habit, then Trent had not known his brother at all. But if Bryn was lying, why did Jesse die of an overdose? Neither option was at all palatable.
Bryn thought Mac had protected Jesse by covering for him. Would Mac do that? Out of guilt perhaps…because Etta Sinclair had left her young son when Jesse was at such a vulnerable age?
Trent cursed beneath his breath and flung a paper clip across the room, wishing it was something that would shatter into a million pieces. He wanted answers, needed them. Was Mac strong enough for a showdown? Trent would never forgive himself if he caused his father to relapse.
He got to his feet and went down the hall, treading quietly. His father’s door was open, but the room was dim. Quiet snoring was the only sound. Mac slept like the dead on a good day, and now that he was medicated, he’d probably be out until morning.
Trent retreated carefully, only to find himself staring at Bryn’s bedroom door. A light shone from underneath. It wasn’t terribly late….
Five
She was shocked to see him. It was written all over her face.
“I need to talk to you.” He shut the door behind him and moved into the room.
Her nightgown lay on the bed but she was still dressed. The lingerie was a silky swathe of cream lace and mauve satin. He swallowed, dragging his gaze away from it and focusing on her face. “I have to leave in the morning.”
“So soon?”
“Not for good,” he said swiftly. “But I have to fly to Denver for a meeting that I can’t handle over the phone. I’ll be gone less than twenty-four hours.”
Bryn nodded slowly. “I’ll keep an eye on Mac. Despite what you think, Trent, I love him.”
“Even though he sent you away?”
Her smile was wry. “I’m trying to let go of the past.”
He prowled the small space between the door and the bed. “Some of us don’t have that luxury.”
She stood there staring at him with bare feet and a face washed clean of makeup. Young, vulnerable, sweetly sincere. “You can trust me, Trent. I swear.”
His body hardened, and he groaned inwardly. How could he be sure of her when sex got in the way and clouded his judgment?
He shook his head to clear it. But when he looked at her again, she was more appealing to him than she had been mere moments before. His feet took him to her side. Her pull was inescapable.
She stiffened when he wrapped her in his arms. “I’m not playing this game with you, Trent.”
The quaver in her voice hurt something deep in his chest. “I can assure you,” he said roughly. “This is no game.”
He kissed her because it was the only thing he could do. Because if he didn’t, something inside him would shrivel and die. Because he was apparently weaker than he thought.
She was everything he had ever wanted and didn’t know he needed. Her lips tasted like toothpaste and something else far more exotic. His past and his present woven into one complicated package.
She fit him perfectly, her head tucked against his shoulder, her arms wrapped loosely around his waist. He slid a hand beneath her shirt and stroked the soft skin on her back.
When he tipped up her chin, their eyes met, his searching, hers filled with an emotion he shied away from. He wouldn’t let her twist him in knots. This violent attraction was about sex, nothing more.
