Apparently, Patrick was headed to Israel for a week or two. And I was the last to find out.

I stood at the back of the room, watching as everyone wished him well, him and the girl dangling off his arm like some sort of accessory. She was beautiful, but not really my type. Clearly, however, she was Patrick’s type because he’d barely taken his eyes off her all morning.

“What happened?”

I glanced at Jack, the question I’d been dreading finally given voice.

“Had a little accident in the bathroom in my hotel room.”

Jack’s eyebrows rose, but he had no comment. “The bank thing going well?”

I nodded. “Nothing more than escorting the executives back and forth. They’re working at the hotel right now, but I’m supposed to drive the boss back to the bank in an hour or so for a meeting.”

“Yeah, Patrick’s been keeping me in the loop.” He gestured toward the guest of honor. “He’s really excited to reunite with his sister. Funny what a hold family has on us sometimes.”

I crossed my arms because I couldn’t fit my bandaged hands in my jeans pockets. “I suppose.”

“How’s your family?”

I shook my head. “Struggling. But I’ve got it under control.”

“You don’t have to do it all alone, you know. You’re part of the Stone family now, Quentin.” He slapped a hand on my shoulder. “Anything they need, you just let me know, and I’ll make sure they’re cared for.”

“I appreciate it, Jack.”

“But you’re proud people.” He smiled a small smile. “I get it. But, you know, even we proud people need a little help from time to time. My father…” He hesitated, clearing his throat. “Let’s just say, if he’d talked to me or one of my siblings, things might be different now, you know?”

I just nodded, not sure what he was referring to, but sensing it was something he didn’t share often. We both turned to watch Patrick for a minute, laughing at something Ruth had said to him.

“She’s really blossomed recently, really coming out of her shell.”

Jack’s smile became big and proud. “I’d like to take the credit for it, but I think that would be a little selfish.”

“You’ve made her happy. That’s a big thing.”

“I suppose so.”

Looking at Ruth, remembering the girl she was when we were in high school together, made me think of Neri and Malaika and Rowena and all these other women in my life. And my mother. It felt like the weight of all of them was resting on my shoulders, the weight of their emotions and their safety and their futures. It was a weight I knew I couldn’t carry.

What had I gotten myself into here?

“Well, I should get back to it.”

“Jack? Do you have a second? I think I might have some information on the Guardians that you should hear.”

Jack was instantly interested. “Come to my office.”

He sat behind his desk and watched me with naked curiosity in his eyes. I stood near the door in his tiny, temporary office, focusing on the back wall instead of him.

“The lady in charge of the audit at the bank? Malaika Gray?”

Jack lowered his head. “What about her?”

“She’s discovered a lot of discrepancies in the bank’s practices under Lloyd Truesdale, and she thinks the Guardians are behind it.”

“Why?”

“Because of the nature of the discrepancies. Because of a bid that recently came in on one of the bank’s foreclosed properties. She thinks someone outside of Ellaville is pulling strings through Truesdale.”

“Does she have names?”

“Not yet. But she told me she expects to very soon, and she’s happy to share them with us.”

“You know this means we might be able to get a name.” Jack nodded enthusiastically. “That’s great! If we have a name, we’ll know who we’re fighting!”

“There’s a lot of financial stuff involved here,” I said, glancing at him. “Malaika can explain it better than I can. But I get the impression that, if this is true, if there is a leader of the Guardians outside of Ellaville pulling all these strings, this could be a lot bigger than we thought.”

Jack sat back, his hands resting on his stomach. “But it’s true. They aren’t finished yet.”

“No, I don’t believe they are.”

“Keep careful watch over this Ms. Gray. If they figure out what she’s up to, it’s possible the Guardians could come after her.”

“I will.”

Jack stood and came around his desk, holding his hand out to me. “I have to get Patrick and Rachel to the airport. Please keep me up to date on all of this.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jack slapped me on the shoulder again. “Thank you, Quentin. I know working at the bank touches on some personal stuff for you. I appreciate your professionalism.”

He walked off without waiting for a response. I watched him go, wishing I could be even a little bit like Jack Stone. He was composed under all circumstances and generous to a fault. I had no doubt that if I asked him to help out with my parents, he would. And if I asked him to help me secure the ranch again, he would. That’s why I couldn’t ask.

 

 

Malaika was quiet when she came out of the hotel, once more dressed in a professional suit that hugged her curves deliciously. I opened the car door for her, watching as she strode toward me with that official, executive’s expression on her face.

“We’re not taking the SUV?”

“I figured since it was just the two of us, this would be more comfortable.”

“I appreciate the gesture, Mr. Forrester.”

“Of course, Ms. Gray.”

She climbed inside, laying her cell phone in her lap. I followed, pulling into the minor amount of traffic that was downtown Ellaville’s lunchtime rush, slipping my hand over her knee as we drove the short distance to the bank.

“My boss has instructed me to remain close to you while you’re in town.”

“Has he?” She glanced at me, her lips still slightly puffy from a particularly heated make-out session in the shower this morning. “Why’s that?”

“I told him your suspicions related to the Guardians. He’s concerned they might come after you if they figure out what you’re up to.”

“Are you concerned?”

I slid my hand a little further up her knee. “Any excuse to spend more time with you works for me.”

We pulled into the parking lot beside the bank. She leaned over, her lips grazing my jaw. “We have all weekend to explore one another, Mr. Forrester. But my team should be done with their audit by Monday morning—at least, they better be—and then we’ll be headed back to Albuquerque to make our report.”

“And then?”

Her hand slipped up my thigh, moving between my legs, the side of her hand pressing hard against my crotch. “Then I move on to the next failing manager, and you move on to young Ms. Truesdale.”

She kissed me, her tongue lingering deep in my mouth. And then she pulled away and left the car without waiting for me to escort her inside.

Woman was stubborn as all hell!

I did my quick check of the perimeter, then headed inside, only mildly surprised to see Rowena sitting in a chair outside her husband’s office. She glared at me when she spotted me near the doors, but my attention was caught by Malaika and what appeared to be a heated conversation she was having with Truesdale.

They faced each other across his desk, his hands resting on the desk’s surface as he spoke to her, veins popping out on his temples and forehead as he did. She stood back, her pose falsely relaxed, her hands resting at her sides. But I could see the tension on her face as she listened to him, allowing him to voice his opinions that weren’t going to change anything about what was happening to him.

This went on for several minutes, his face turning redder and redder, her stance never changing. I knew he was losing it. I could see the same panic, the same desperation on his face that had been there when I confronted him a year ago. He was about to blow.

I crossed the room, aware of the customers coming and going, the employees going about their business except for the ones who were more interested in the show taking place in the glass-walled office. Rowena seemed to be the only idle person in the building who hadn’t noticed the argument. She was watching me, her eyes narrowed, and her fingers playing at her throat.

“I could call the police, you know,” she hissed at me as I came close. “You left marks on my neck.”

I ignored her, my eyes on Malaika and nothing else.

“You could be arrested, held on assault charges. What do you think of that?”

Truesdale suddenly straightened, slamming his fists on the tops of the desks. I could feel the pain that came with that reverberate through my own bruised and cut hands. And I could see the way it caused Malaika to flinch.

I opened the door to the office just as he burst around the desk, his hands raised. He reached for Malaika, but I grabbed him and threw him against the wall.

Truesdale began to laugh.

“How appropriate that it would be Quentin Forrester to come to your defense! Neither one of you has any idea what it is you’re getting into! You have no idea what they have planned here!”

“I believe the lady just relieved you of your duties, Truesdale,” I said. “You have two minutes to get your shit and walk out of here before I escort you out.”

“Listen to you, the big man on campus! If it weren’t for you, none of this would be happening.” Truesdale moved toward me, trying to get in my face. The problem was, I had four inches on him, making it look more like a child trying to challenge a much older brother. “You think I don’t know they’re here because of you? Because you sent letters to my superiors? Because you badgered them until they chose to do this audit? Do you think I don’t know that you’ve been bad-mouthing me all over town? Sleeping with my wife? Damn whore! Doesn’t deserve half of what she’ll probably take in a divorce!”

“Back up, Truesdale!”

“Does she know that about you?” He gestured toward Malaika. “I know you’re fucking her, too, or, at least, you want to. I see the way you look at her. You want me to think you’re sniffing after my girl, all while you’re sleeping with the woman trying to ruin my career! Is that how you’re getting your revenge, Forrester? Fucking every woman in my life?”

“You’re embarrassing yourself, Truesdale,” I told him, gesturing to the windows, to the workers following every word coming out of his mouth.

“You think I care? I’m dead after this, do you get that? People more powerful than you wanted me in this job, wanted me to do the things I’ve done. When I’m gone, they won’t let me live!”

“It’s just a job, Truesdale,” Malaika said. “I told you, come to Albuquerque, and we’ll find you something else within the company.”

He didn’t even acknowledge her. He kept his eyes on me.

“You got what you wanted. You took everything from me. But the thing is, it wasn’t my choice! I had to do what they said. They’d already taken it all from me. Don’t you see that?”

He broke right there in front of me, his shoulders slumping, his head falling. He might have hit the floor if I hadn’t grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the door.

“Time to go,” I announced to both him and his wife.

Rowena stared at her husband, then at me, as confused as she was disgusted by her husband’s sudden weakness. Truesdale’s secretary moved to Rowena’s side and whispered something in her ear, then shoved her purse into her hands. Rowena reluctantly followed after me, watching from a few steps behind as I dragged her husband to his car.

“Stay off bank property until the audit’s over.”

Truesdale looked up at me. “I’m truly sorry about your father and your ranch, Forrester,” he said, his voice deep and thick. “I never wanted to hurt your family. I liked them.”

“You made your choices, and I made mine.”

He nodded. “I don’t blame you. I might have done the same thing if I had balls as big as yours.” He glanced at Rowena. “She deserves someone with balls. Someone who could stand up for what’s right. I was never that man.”

Rowena had nothing to say.

“Go home, Truesdale,” I said, feeling a pity I never thought I would. “Go home and nurse your wounds. Think about Malaika’s offer.”

He nodded, but there was no conviction in the motion.

I glanced at Rowena. “Take him home. Take care of him.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Because he’s your husband!” I slid my hand over her jaw, tangling my fingers in her hair as I twisted her head around. “Do the right thing for once. Pretend you remember why you married him in the first place!”

Hope burst in her eyes until I pulled back, tearing out a few strands of hair as I yanked my hand away. I could feel her watching me as I retraced my steps and walked back into the bank.

I hoped that was the last time I ever had to see either of them.

 

 

Malaika was sitting behind Truesdale’s desk, looking through the contents of his drawers.

“Do you want me to get some boxes so you can put that stuff away for him?”

She shook her head. “I’m just looking for bank property. I don’t want him to show up and take things that don’t belong to him.”

I walked around the desk and perched on the edge, watching her work. Her hands were shaking, but she was trying to hide it. What had just happened had shaken her more than she was willing to admit.

I took her wrists and pulled her hands into my lap, my body preventing anyone still watching from seeing.

“You okay?”

“Not really.”

“Why don’t you leave this for now? I’ll put a lock on the door, and we’ll come back later today, or tomorrow, and handle it.”

She looked up at me, her emotions raw on her face for a long second. And then she pulled herself together, straightening up and freeing herself from my touch.

“This is my job. It’s my responsibility.”

I just nodded, learning quickly that once she had her mind made up, it was made up. There was no talking her out of anything.

I went to the door and closed it, giving us that little touch of privacy. Then I took up my post there, watching her, but not commenting, not disrupting. But I think my presence reassured her enough that the shakes soon went out of her hands.

She gathered everything, emptying out Truesdale’s drawers and leaving the personal items in nice piles on the desk. For the rest—ledgers, file folders, paperwork he hadn’t disclosed before—she let me get those boxes I’d offered before and packed several of them full with bank property. We loaded them into the trunk of the Dodge and left the curious—and a few angry—stares of the bank employees behind us.

“Some executives seem to get off on doing that sort of thing,” she told me over a plate of enchiladas at a local restaurant. “I’ve never found much pleasure in it.”

“I’d worry if you did.”

She glanced at me. “Would you? After everything you did to make sure this man lost his job?”

“I just brought your attention to something I knew couldn’t be right. You said yourself what he’d done to my father was wrong.”

“I did.” She picked up her fork and then set it down again, looking at the food like it was the most unappetizing thing she’d ever seen. “Right now, I’m just ready to go bury my head somewhere and take a step back.”

I slipped around the booth and slid my hand along her thigh. “I can think of a few places where you could bury your head.”

She laughed, but she didn’t pull away. She snuggled against my shoulder, breathing a few hot kisses against my shoulder. I kissed the side of her head, my hand sliding deeper up along her thigh. She sighed when I squeezed, my hand rubbing against that hot, moist place that had so much potential for pleasure.

“Can I get you anything else?” the waitress asked, sidling up to our table.

“No, thank you,” I said, not bothering to look up. “I think we have all we need right here.”