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She ripped the paper from him and turned away.
“That’s it, huh?” he shouted at her back. “You sure were quick to replace me.”
Her fingers squeezed the strap of her purse. “I wasn’t trying to do that,” she yelled back at him. “Butyouwere. I’m not that stupid, Lacy—I saw that woman, and I happen to know that she wasn’t the only one you were cheating with.”
“Porter? Is that his name?” Lacy asked. “He’s a big fish in a small town, and I’ll fry him like I did his brothers. The only way he can go up against me is if he makes a deal with that devil of a brother of his, and then I’ll own Porter just like I own his twin. West and I—we’ve got an agreement.”
That couldn’t be true. It couldn’t.
Lacy’s steps quickened. He cut her off. “Or this can go a different way. I can take all my new land here and give it to you… as a wedding present.”
He was talking marriage? When he used it as a threat? She pinched the edges of the glossy paper and pushed open the yellow door leading to Emily’s place.
“I’ll give you until Wednesday to think about it, and then I won’t be as nice,” he said. “I’ve got an army of lawyers.”
She slammed the door on him and marched up the stairs, praying that he wouldn’t go after her because if he did, she’d turn violent. Her fingers fumbled for her cellphone and she called Porter on her way into the apartment. He answered on the first ring. “Porter,” she cried out, “I just talked to Lacy. West is going to trick you…”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down. Is Lacy bothering you again?”
“He was just outside.” Cadence moved to the sliding glass door and peered down at the street below.
“I want you to come to the ranch,” Porter said. “It’s too dangerous staying there by yourself.”
“No, I can’t do that,” she breathed. She didn’t want to bring trouble to Lily. She watched Lacy slam his Mercedes’ door shut and, in the next instant, he drove away. “He’s gone now. It’s okay. I’ll be okay.” She steadied herself. She’d called Porter to warn him. Though it sure felt good to hear his voice, she needed to be strong. “He said that he’d send an army of lawyers after me and also… he said that if you tried to get your brother’s help against him, that it would be a trick. The two are working together. He called West the devil.”
Porter let out a grunt. “Yeah, so what? Is he scared we’re stronger as a team? We Slades stick together.”
She lowered into a chair, feeling sick. “So youaregetting your brother’s help!” The few times she’d met West, he’d put her defensives on overdrive. She didn’t trust him at all. “And what will he ask for in return?”
Porter hesitated. “It doesn’t matter. You and I can be together.”
This was worse than she’d thought. Lacy had given her a head’s up with his meddling. “What are you planning?” she demanded.
“Relax, it’s nothing too crazy. Tell me what you’re doing tomorrow night.”
“I’m helping Liv take tickets at Emily’s concert, but if you need me…?”
“No, no, listen to me, okay. That’s perfect. I need you to stay close to Liv. You understand?”
Cadence felt like crying again. “I’m not letting you do anything dangerous for me.”
“Nothing dangerous, believe me, but someone has to stand up to Lacy or he’ll run this town, and he won’t leave you alone; he won’t leaveanyof us alone.”
“Porter!”
“It’s okay. I’ll come meet you at the concert tomorrow after all of this is through. We won’t be long.”
She pressed her fingers to her forehead, her thoughts dark and cloudy with anxiety and confusion. “Porter, promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Don’t do any of this for me, because I don’t want you to get hurt. I’d rather lose everything I owned in this world than lose you and the–the… baby.”
He turned quiet before breaking that silence with a grunt. “I feel the same way about you, Angel. I’ll come home to you in one piece. I still am building you that cute little cottage in the country—big enough for you, me, and Jr.”
And also for Jr. Two, but she couldn’t tell him that yet.
“We’ll get Grey and Sky to paint the house for us,” he said with that same touch of humor that she missed from him lately. “They owe us.”
