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Rafael struggled to sit up. “Heard my bride walking around the courtyard earlier.”
“She’s not your bride any longer,” Daniel said curtly.
“Wh-what?”
“You heard me.”
“She isn’t going to want to marry you,” Rafael snarled.
Daniel didn’t respond. He’d wanted to hurt her, so he’d lashed out, but he’d regretted the words almost the minute he had said them. He wasn’t certain what would happen or how he’d feel in the morning. Still, she wasn’t having sex with him and then marrying his brother. That much he wouldn’t tolerate. If she was that full of smarm, she didn’t deserve to have either of them. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to want to see her every day.
Rafael’s face twisted. “What did you do?”
Daniel sighed. “She wanted to marry me.”
“You told her about your father.”
“No.” He hadn’t needed to. She’d found out on her own. “But I doubt you want my leavings.”
Rafael sucked in a deep breath and his eyes glittered. “You bastard. She was mine.”
“She was never yours,” said Daniel.
Rafael pushed to his feet and wobbled.
Which was too bad, because Daniel would have loved to punch him for getting him in this mess.
“I can’t believe you stole her from me,” Rafael said.
“I told you it was a bad idea for me to spend so much time with her.” Daniel’s chest burned. “But if you hadn’t got yourself shot, she might still be yours.”
“Was that her in the office earlier poking around? I thought it was you, but Juanita said you were out all day. Did she find out how much money you’re making with your fruit?”
God, how bad could it get? Had she tried to inspect their books, learn how much they made, how much he sold his fruits for?
“No. She couldn’t have looked at them. I locked the ledgers in the safe.” He’d done that shortly after he’d shown her around the house. The way she kept looking at them had concerned him. If only he had paid closer attention to his intuition.
And she couldn’t have gotten in the safe. Only he and Rafe knew the combination, and it wasn’t written down anywhere.
Now the papers she’d liberated from his mother’s strongbox were secured in the safe, too.
He’d spent the past hour reading and rereading the will, the surveys, the bill of sale and the original land grant from a representative of Spain. The words had just been blurs on the page. His thoughts were much more on Anna. Her gasping, her twisting, her coming for him.
Rafael leaned his palms against the lid of a barrel and bent forward. “If you compromised her, then you have to marry her.”
“Don’t go all noble on me now,” said Daniel. “She knew what she was doing.” The knot in his gut loosened. But he wasn’t going to show Rafael how deeply her money-grubbing nature hurt. “And she’s tough. She can take care of herself.”
Rafael rubbed his chest. “I know.”
What Daniel needed to know was what she would do now. Would she stick with her scheme to marry him and try and convince him to claim the ranch? Or would she try to go back with Rafael?
“You’re standing and talking better. You’re going to pretend to have come home tonight. And remember when you talk to her, you couldn’t possibly have had this conversation with me.”
“So I get to be told twice that she doesn’t want me? That will be novel.” Rafael cast a wry glance his way. “Or maybe she’ll change her mind when she talks to me.”
“If that’s going to happen, I’d rather know now.” Daniel tried to make it sound like a joke, but it wasn’t. “But you’re still not going to marry her.”
Rafael took a shaky step. “I’m not sure I can carry off being uninjured.”
“Go back to your room. I’ll get your stuff. You can tell her you’ve been up for three days straight and are exhausted. Besides, the lawyer will come tomorrow, and I’m not sneaking you around to see him.”
“When I get better, we’re going to have this out,” said Rafael.
Was that scheming woman going to destroy his relationship with his brother? Rafe had been the only one he could count on, the only one he thought cared about him since his father had died. “You can get another bride. Only the next time you need to write your own damn letters. And tell her you’re poor as a church mouse, but you’re a hard worker. Maybe that way you won’t get saddled with a woman who is only after the ranch.”
Rafael stared at him. “So you’re going to claim the entire ranch,” he said tightly.
How the hell had Rafael gotten that out of what he said?
Daniel swiped up the bedding from the floor. Wouldn’t hurt his brother to think that for a while. He’d show him the will tomorrow and that his father had wanted Rafael to have a hundred head of cattle or the cash equivalent and the use of a couple thousand acres of the north pasture—the Spanish land grant hadn’t allowed the land to be split. No doubt if he’d lived long enough for US laws to apply, he’d have wanted Rafael to have the land permanently.
“Are you going to kick me off your land, too? Ma will be so angry.”
“Damn it, Rafe. This is your home. I’m not getting rid of you.” Unless he decided to marry Anna, after all.
Daniel shook off that thought. No, that scheming little hussy was not more important to him than his brother was.
* * *
Anna hadn’t slept, and when she’d finally worked up the courage to go to Daniel’s room, he wasn’t there. She was sick with worry that she’d messed up everything, even her chance for a respectable marriage.
Daniel had let her believe he would marry her. He’d said they were together, that he wanted to make love to her again, but he hadn’t actually declared himself or asked her to marry him. For all her bravado, she couldn’t imagine holding a rifle on a man to get him to the altar.
A sob welled up from deep inside her, but she stuffed her fist in her mouth to keep it from escaping.
She’d known that giving herself to him before marriage was a mistake, and she’d gone in eyes wide-open. He’d even warned her it would change everything.
She managed to get herself dressed and entered the main room quietly. She waited for the looks of shame to come her way. Instead, Mrs. Werner was bustling around the table, her arms laden with platters of eggs, tortillas and thin strips of steak. Juanita set plates on the table. Five plates.
Mrs. Werner beamed at her, just as the door to the courtyard opened. “See, I tell you my Rafael will be home before the priest comes. You will be married soon.”
Daniel walked through the door, and his eyes narrowed on her. She could see Rafael behind him, but she watched Daniel for an objection or a correction. He must have heard what his mother said, but he didn’t say anything. Merely pressed his lips together.
A shaft of pain seared through her. She swallowed hard and lowered her gaze to her empty plate, fighting the sting in her eyes.
Rafael took his seat with a small grunt.
“Are you not glad to see your future husband?” asked Mrs. Werner.
Anna raised her gaze to Daniel and said, “Yes.”
He ignored her.
Her face burned.
Juanita poured coffee into her cup.
Was he just going to pretend nothing had happened? Had he decided he didn’t want her and was just going to abandon her to Rafael?
Mrs. Werner gave her an odd look.
Anna turned to Rafael. “Did you find the robbers?”
He twitched, and his hand went to his chest. “No. Tracked ’em to the border.”
“And you didn’t follow them across?”
He put up his hand. “Don’t you worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it? I’ve been worried— We’ve all been worried for days.”
“He tell us later,” Mrs. Werner said blithely.
Anna frowned. Mrs. Werner didn’t sound as if she’d been worried, and she beamed at Rafael.
Rafael gave her a heavy-lidded smile. “Have you been worried about me, Anna?”
She wanted to scream. She opened her mouth to say she’d been worried about the robbers getting away. Daniel kicked her under the table.
She stared at him. Why hadn’t he said anything? Her mouth worked, and she lowered her head.
“I’m here now, sweet. Everything will be all right.” Rafael patted her hand.
She jerked her hand back into her lap and then looked him in the eye. “I thought you knew where your cousins live in Mexico.”
“We don’t know it was our cousins,” said Rafael.
He hadn’t been here. He didn’t know about the drawing for the wanted poster.
“Yes, we do. Juanita identified the drawing of the shooter.”
“Let’s not talk about that at the table,” Rafael suggested. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I hope my brother was keeping you entertained.”
