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“I wish I’d gotten to this point faster.” Frustration ground in her voice. “I desperately want to make sure things are right for everyone who got hurt in the cons. I want them to have justice.” She scrunched her eyes shut. “And I need to see my brother and father again. Not only to hold them accountable for their actions, but to ask them why. Even if I can’t understand, I need to know.”
Given everything she’d said, he hoped she’d be pleased with what he’d already done. “The day you told me everything”—the day she’d begun to trust him—“I hired an investigator to search for any other victims of your father’s schemes.”
She clutched him fiercely, her gaze avid. “What have you found out?”
“The feds have done a lot, but my guy is continuing to follow the money trail.”
“Which means he hasn’t found anyone.”
“Not yet. But we already know most of the capital was returned. My guy has learned a few things.” Daniel had talked to his investigator while Tasha took the puppies for a quick walk this morning. “It turns out that while the feds already had an eye on the resort, it wasn’t until they found a wire transfer to your web design company that they started hitting the venture hard, because the name Summerfield had come up in connection with previous scams.”
“So you’re saying that in a way, I was the one who got my father caught.”
“Roundabout, yes.”
His heart throbbed with the aftereffects of an adrenaline rush as he waited for her response. He’d been worried about her reaction, that it would only heap more guilt on her. Yet he had no right to keep the truth from her.
Finally, she raised her clear
blue gaze to his. “If I blame myself for not seeing the truth and somehow putting an end to the scam, then it doesn’t make sense to blame myself because the money he paid me is what led the investigators to him, does it?”
Relief whooshed through him. “That’s pretty much what I was thinking.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“I should have told you earlier. And I probably should have let you know about the investigator before I called him.”
“You don’t want me to beat myself up for needing time to process. And I don’t want you to beat yourself up for being a take-charge kind of guy.” She nestled closer, and the feel of her was like finding total acceptance. “It’s who you are. You do what you think is right and ask questions later.” She paused for a second. “Is your investigator looking for my brother and father too?”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t take things that far without your permission.”
“Please help me find them, Daniel.”
He stroked the hair from her face, trailing a finger down her cheek. “Anything for you.”
With all his heart, he held her tight. Yet the question weighed heavily between them.
She hadn’t said whether or not she’d come home with him.
* * *
Their time together rewound through Tasha’s brain. They’d laughed. They’d made glorious, sexy love. They’d peeled away layers of the past, layers of emotion. She’d never shared so much of herself with a man and now she knew why—sharing her body was nowhere near as intimate as sharing her thoughts, her feelings, her fears. She’d even told him about Eric. She had no more secrets.
She adored the Mavericks, and she wanted so badly to meet all the other people who loved Daniel. After hearing his stories, she’d practically fallen in love with his family herself.
But she’d made such huge mistakes in the past. She’d trusted when she shouldn’t have. She’d seen only the good in people until the bad had been shoved down her throat.
How was she supposed to know?
Really know?
His arm tight around her, he drew her up until she tilted her head to look at him, his lips achingly close. “I didn’t ask you to come with me to pressure you. I needed you to know what I’ve been thinking. Just because I’m there already doesn’t mean I expect you to feel the same.” His beautiful smile made her heart flutter when he added, “Yet.”
His confidence, his certainty—they were two of the things she loved about him. He always knew what he wanted and never gave up, going for his dreams with integrity, without screwing people over.
Daniel had taught her so many things in the past few days. After three long months of darkness, he’d shown her how to see the bright side again.
With his heartwarming stories about his mom, dad, sister, and the Mavericks, he’d proven that even if there was pain and struggle, family could still be loyal and trustworthy, that dishonesty wasn’t the norm.
