Shit,” Slade muttered under his breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Was that an admission of guilt?”

Slade shook his head. He’d known the moment Macy had suddenly needed to go to the ladies’ room a few moments after Mandisa that his scandalous stepmother was up to no fucking good.

“Darlin’, however Macy made this seem, I’m sure she didn’t provide you with an honest picture of what really happened.”

Mandisa nodded and sat down next to him on the bed. “So, there’s a story behind you sleeping with your father’s wife? Good, let’s hear it.”

Slade stood up from his perch on the mattress. He walked away from Mandisa, keeping his back to her. God, he didn’t want to relive this shit again. No matter how he explained things, he’d come off looking weak and shameful. He never wanted Mandisa to think of him in those terms. Not her.

Mandisa was bright, beautiful, and awe-inspiring. For some reason, she saw him in a similar way. Slade knew deep within himself all that would change if Mandisa knew the truth. Unwilling to compromise her view of him, he kept his gaze fixed on the wall before him while she stood behind him.

“Mandisa, I’m not the kind of man to sleep with my father’s wife. I would hope you would be able to tell that much about me in the time you’ve spent here in Austin.”

“Slade, there’s something going on that I’m not aware of. I don’t like feeling as if I’m walking into an ambush. That’s exactly what Macy did to me. She ambushed me in that bathroom. I just want to know how to protect myself, protect you.”

His heart jumped at those words. He was six-feet-four, a hulk of a man—he shouldn’t need protecting from anyone or anything on this earth. Yet the sound of those words on her lips gripped him so tightly he had to steady himself.

“Please,” he whispered. “Just let this go.”

“Slade, I’m sorry, but I’m not comfortable—”

“I said drop it!”

He whirled around, his lungs tight with anger as he struggled for air. He regretted his outburst the moment he saw her step back from him, folding her arms across her chest, retreating into herself.

“Darlin’, I’m sorry.” He attempted to step closer to her, but she retreated, deliberately maintaining what felt like a chasm between them. “Mandisa, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to speak to you like that. Talking about my father and his wife is very difficult for me. There’s a lot of family drama and history that I just don’t want to dredge up. Please, can you respect that?”

He watched her chest lift as she took in a deep breath through her nose. When she looked at him again, the anger he saw building was replaced by a slight wariness. She blinked a few times, her dark, full lashes fanning her cheeks. When she opened her eyes again, she walked to him, taking his hands, wrapping them around her body, and burying herself in his chest.

“For now, Slade,” was all she said before going up on tiptoe and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. She stepped out of his embrace and climbed into his bed. When she was settled, she held up the end of the bedding and gazed at him. “Coming?”

* * *

Mandisa knew she was alone in bed before she opened her eyes. The now-familiar way Slade blanketed her with his body was gone. He literally curled around her, covering almost every inch of her with his big, warm physique. She always felt so secure and treasured when the early rays of the sun pulled her from slumber. Not so today, though.

Whatever this deal was with Slade, Macy, and Bull, it made all Mandisa’s warning signals ring in her head.

She reached over to the nightstand and grabbed her phone. Opening a browser, she was just about to type all their names in the search engine when she heard the pain in Slade’s voice from the previous night.

There’s a lot of family drama and history that I just don’t want to dredge up. Please, can you respect that?

Guilt began to set in. She’d promised him to leave it alone, and here she was not even a full day later looking to get the goods on the internet. Whatever this thing was had changed their easygoing dynamic, and Mandisa didn’t like it one bit. Really, girl? spying on him? If you can’t trust him with this, how are you going to do it long distance when you go back home?

She closed the browser and tossed the phone back on the nightstand as she made a final decision. Whatever this family drama was, she wasn’t about to let it change what was quickly becoming something significant between her and Slade. He meant too much.

She pulled herself up against the headboard and crossed her arms. “All right, Slade. We’ll play it your way…for now.”

She swung her legs out of the bed, showered, dressed, and headed downstairs. In desperate need of a hit of Indira’s coffee, Mandisa headed directly for the kitchen.

Her first footfall into the room, Mandisa met a smiling Indira holding a cup of the treasured brew.

“Please tell me that’s for me?”

Mama Indy waved Mandisa to the table, placing the cup carefully in front of Mandisa when she was seated.

Mandisa was halfway through the glorious first sip of the warm nectar when she heard Mama Indy mutter, “Rough night?”

Mandisa blinked away the haze the addictive elixir created and focused on a suspicious Mama Indy. She was standing next to Mandisa, a cup of her own raised to her lips, as the squint of her knowing eyes regarded Mandisa carefully. All that was missing for a classic “I’m waiting” posture was Mama Indy tapping her foot in impatience. Convinced that was the next gesture to come, Mandisa took a quick sip of coffee to fortify herself and returned her gaze to the waiting matron.

“Slade and I had dinner with his father and step-bimbo last night. It was…interesting.”

“I’m surprised she could pull herself away from her shopping and traveling to be bothered.” Mama Indy pulled out the chair across from Mandisa and sat down.

“I get the feeling she lives for as many chances as she can get to be in Slade’s face,” Mandisa answered.

“Did something happen at dinner?”

“No, everyone seemed on their best behavior, but it was obvious something wasn’t right. If the Hamiltons are anything like my family, no matter what the issue is, you don’t act out in front of company.”

Mama Indy pressed a firm hand on top of Mandisa’s, the elder woman’s gaze locked firmly on her as she leaned in to speak. “You are not company to Slade. You mean more to him than anyone at that table last night. If he sat at a table with those two, suffering their company for longer than a second, it was because he cares very much about you.”

Mandisa dropped her gaze to sidestep the woman’s stare. Even without those words, Mandisa knew they were true. Ever since they’d met, every interaction she and Slade shared was always about Slade taking care of her. He was gentle, caring, and always concerned with her wellbeing. Whatever this thing was about, him asking Mandisa to drop it wasn’t about keeping her in the dark.

“Strangely enough, I know that, Mama Indy. I just feel like he needs my help, and I don’t understand why.”

“Slade has suffered a great deal of loss, most of it at his father’s hands. In Bull’s twisted mind he’s making his son stronger. In reality, he’s forced Slade to lock himself in a bubble of protection. The only people Slade’s allowed in are Aaron and me, and now you. I’m sure you want to know all the details, but let him come to you in his own time. Pushing him right now will only alienate him when he needs you more than ever.”

Mandisa circled a single finger around the rim of her coffee mug as Mama Indy’s words weighed on her. Two weeks ago things had been light and fun, and that had scared the hell out of Mandisa. She hadn’t completely trusted all of the lightheartedness she’d experienced in Slade’s presence. Last night was the first time she’d seen him as a real person and not some godlike figure who could make the impossible happen with a wink and a smile.

“Last night was the first time he’d ever allowed me to see him when his control was slipping. He’s always got this million-dollar smile plastered on his face. It’s hard to imagine anything ever bothering him. But last night I saw a glimpse of who he is when things aren’t perfect.”

“Did it make you want to run?”

Mandisa could hear the motherly concern in her question.

“I will return to NY because that’s where I live, where my life is. But I’m not leaving Slade. The only thing last night accomplished was to show me that even a giant needs protection sometimes. Bull may have taken more things than he should have from Slade, but I won’t be one of them. And as for Macy, if she wants a fight, she’d better recognize that a Brooklyn girl ain’t ever scared to take off her earrings and put grease on her face.”

* * *

Slade’s back ached with the repetitive motion of bending and shoveling as he cleaned each stall in the stables. If it had been just the stalls alone, he probably wouldn’t feel it as much, but before that he’d moved fresh bales of hay into the barn as well.

Sore, hot, and sweaty, he thrived on the physical ache and the emotional release it gave him. Aside from his family and his horse, the ability to lose himself in the upkeep and work of the ranch was one of the things he loved most about owning his spread.

Whenever Bull pissed him off, or stomaching his father’s presence became too much of a burden to bear, Slade would work from sun up to sundown until his body had burned every ounce of anger out of him.

After last night, he’d needed an outlet. He’d allowed his anger at Bull to affect Mandisa. Too afraid it would happen again, he woke before dawn and started on the morning’s chores to help himself get a grip on his emotions.

The gentle vibration in his back pocket made him lean his shovel against a stall door to answer his phone. “Aaron?”

“Slade, we’ve got a problem.”

“What do you mean? Is something wrong with our plan for Bull?”

There was a brief pause over the line before Aaron answered. “No. We’re still a go with that, but I won’t be able to be there physically for it. You’re going to have to include me on the meeting via phone or webcam. I can’t leave Brooklyn right now.”

“Aaron, what the hell is going on?”

“I finally located Bull’s man, but by the time I did, it was too late.”

Fear began to swell in Slade’s chest. His father was treacherous, and if Aaron was concerned enough to delay his return to Austin, something dreadful must have happened.

“What did Bull do?”

“His lackey vandalized Mandisa’s Pitkin Avenue store. He waited until Mandisa’s friend Kandi was alone at closing and forced himself in. He tied her up and destroyed the store. I got there in time to subdue him before he could bring any harm to her, but he’d already done his worst to the store by then.

“Is Kandi all right?”

“Yeah. She’s shaken, but all right.”

“Is she there? Put her on the phone.”

“She’s in the back trying to catalogue things. I’ll go get her.”

The line was quiet for a few moments before he heard a hesitant voice whisper into the phone. “Slade?” He could hear her voice shake with uncertainty as she spoke.

“Kandi, are you all right?”

“Yeah. Thank God you sent Aaron here to track this guy down. I don’t know what would’ve happened if he hadn’t been here. Slade, why would a perfect stranger want to destroy Mandisa’s store?”

“Kandi, I don’t want you to worry about anything. Aaron and I are going to take care of this. He’s going to stay there with you until the store is up and running, and I’m sure you’re safe.”

“It will take weeks, even months for the store to be fixed. It’s a pile of rubble. We have stock coming in next week, but there will be no place to put it. I need to talk to Mandisa so we can figure out what we’re going to do.”

“No,” Slade barked.

“Slade, whatever the terms of this bet you have going with Mandisa are, she has to be told.”

Slade massaged the back of neck as he quickly attempted to think up resolutions to this situation.

“Kandi, we both know Mandisa will leave the moment she learns of this. She’s down here brokering a deal to expand her company. If she leaves now, she’ll never secure the funds for the expansion. You know how much that means to her.”

“Slade, she needs to know.”

“Kandi, it’s a week. That’s all I’m asking. I’ll hire and pay for a crew to fix everything up. You handle the execution; I’ll cover the cost. Just don’t tell her anything about this until this deal is signed and she’s secured the funding she’s been trying to raise.”

“You’re asking me to lie to my best friend and my boss.” The pitch and volume of Kandi’s previously shaky whisper increased.

“Kandi, please, a week, that’s all I’m asking. In a week, this deal will be done, and she’ll get everything she’s been working so hard for all this time.”

The line was quiet for longer than Slade was comfortable with. He’d do whatever he could to keep Mandisa with him until he neutralized Bull. Neutralizing Bull was the only permanent answer to saving them all.

“A week, Slade. That’s all I can promise. If this deal isn’t done in a week, I’m calling her and telling her everything.”

“A week is all I need, sugar.”

He closed the phone and shoved it back into his pocket, hoping to God his statement was true. He had one week to win over Mandisa and snatch his company back from Bull. Slade closed the empty stall he’d been cleaning and headed out of the stables. As much as he loved working his land, right now he had to exchange his cowboy hat for his corporate one. It was time to end this ugly saga with his father.