Tara was fierce. “You don’t understand, Tatiana. You didn’t hear her. He lied to me. He told me that he saw a beautiful dress in New York and that he got it for me. But he didn’t. She did. That wicked, wicked woman bought it. The way she buys the clothes for all of his women!”
“Oh, Tara, this is so hard. But you’ve told us how vicious she is. How do you know that she was telling you the truth? Think about it, darling, if she’s as viperous as you’ve said she is, she could easily make up those horrible things she said.”
“Don’t you see? She wouldn’t dare. She’d know that Griffin would fire her. But it wasn’t just the dress. She said the only reason he gave it to me was to win me over. Get me to support his development. Oh God, if you could have heard him tonight. He actually implied to the governor that we might be working together. I . . . I thought he meant it.” Overcome by her emotional turmoil, Tara burst into tears.
Tanya sank down on the edge of the bed and didn’t hide her anger. “I don’t want to be the canary in the coal mine, Tara. I know you were crazy about him. But what if the witch is telling the truth? After all, Black is an arrogant son of a bitch if there ever was one. Remember, he thought he could march into the Bitter n’ Twisted and drag you out of there in front of all of us. Then he made you ride on a motorcycle when you’re scared to death of them.”
Tatiana shook her head. “I’m sorry, Tanya. I know you are worried about Tara, as I am. But I think we need to give Griffin a chance. I, for one, think he’s crazy about her.”
At that moment, they heard the sound of an automobile roaring into the driveway and come to a hard stop. Tanya rose to her feet and muttered, “It’s a good thing that Ryker and Dad came when we called them. Not that I need any help to tell the ever-so-arrogant Mr. Black he isn’t coming in anywhere that I don’t let him.”
With a fierce nod, she motioned to Tatiana to stay with Tara and headed out to take care of the man who hadn’t begun to know he’d met his match.
Griffin rapped sharply on the front door, then shoved it open. Almost running into a very determined Tanya Trouble, he glared at her and then said as calmly as he could, “I know Tara is here, Tanya. I need to talk to her. Now!”
Tanya drew herself up to her full five-foot-four stature. Glaring up at the man who towered over her, she spit out her words. “I know you are accustomed to running roughshod over everyone and anyone who gets in your way, Mr. Black. Unfortunately, you are now facing a deputy sheriff who goes by the name Trouble. Which is what you will be facing unless you stand the fuck down.”
At that moment, Ryker strode into the hallway with a grin on his face. Capturing Tanya in his arms, he held her back tight against him and murmured, “Down, girl. Give Mr. Black a break. Can’t you see he’s hurting?” Turning to Griffin, he said, “Take a breath, man. It appears Tara needs a little girl time, and as you can see, my woman intends to see that she gets it.” Ryker added, “My sense is that she’s correct. And, buddy, you look as though you could use some guy time. It just so happens that the sheriff and I are sharing a hell of a bottle of Macallan on the deck. How about you join us?”
Griffin looked at Tanya, who was facing off against him, her hands on her hips, her eyes dangerously narrowed. Not able to contain a wry smile, he said, “Hmm. I can see that the Trouble temper runs in the family.”
“At least among its distaff members,” a deep voice declared from behind Ryker. Griffin turned to see a stern-faced Sheriff Trouble standing in the doorway. Before he could respond, Titus spoke directly to him.
“Ryker is correct, Griffin. Tara needs her sisters right now, even more than she needs you.” He pointed to the deck. “Please join us.”
Griffin glanced at Ryker, who shrugged. “The sheriff has spoken, man. And when the sheriff speaks, we listen. Hell, even his daughters do.”
Griffin raised his hands in defeat. “Like I don’t know a lost cause when I am one . . . ” Turning to Ryker, he said, “I just hope you have a second bottle of Macallan, dude. It’s going to take a shitload of booze to calm me down.”
****
Quaffing the rest of the amber liquid in his glass, Griffin held it out to Ryker, who obliged him and refilled it, then did the same for his and the sheriff’s. Griffin turned to Titus and appealed to him. “Goddammit, Sheriff, you know what I’m up against. You know the damage destructive women can cause. Christ, man, I need your help. You have to know how much I love Tara.” He gave a disconsolate sigh. “I knew Jia was a bitch, but I didn’t realize how truly wicked she is. Or that she would dare go after Tara the way that she did, spewing a passel of outrageous lies.” He ran his hand distractedly through his tousled hair, then said in an agonized voice, “But Tara believed her! How could she? How could she possibly believe that wicked woman? How could she think I would betray her? Holy hell, doesn’t she know how much I love her?”
Before either Titus or Ryker could respond, he railed, “So help me God, if I never do another thing in this life, I will make that bitch pay for the damage she’s done.”
Titus stopped him. “For what it’s worth, Griffin, I do believe you. Like you, I’m well aware of the wreckage a destructive woman can leave in her wake. But more important, I know that you love my daughter. And most important, I know that she loves you.” Turning to Ryker, he said with slight smile, “How about you go call off your attack dog, Agent Thompson? Tell her that her father and, incidentally, her sheriff says that the indomitable Mr. Black is allowed into the bedroom.”
****
Striding past the unrepentant deputy sheriff, whose fierce glare confirmed that he was riding a thin rail, Griffin nodded to her, then closed the door solidly behind her. Tara was huddled in a ball on the bed wearing only her underwear. He spotted the white dress and stiletto shoes in a crumpled heap on the floor. That she’d thrown them off confirmed that she had believed Jia’s ugly lies. Griffin was struck by how angry he was. Not only at Jia but also at Tara for believing the spiteful woman’s mendacities.
Coming up to the side of the bed, he reached for her. When she tried to push him away, he grasped her hands in his, then sat down on the edge of the bed and dragged her onto his lap. When she struggled against him, he tightened his grip. “Uh-uh, Tara. Forget it. If you think you’re going to get so much as an inch away from me, you couldn’t be more wrong.” Ignoring her irate insistence that he leave her alone, Griffin was fierce. “No, dammit, the last thing I’m going to do is leave you alone. Not in this world or the next several universes. But first, before we do another thing, you are going to tell me how you could have possibly believed a single word of what that vicious woman said to you.”
Sitting her up on his lap, for the first time, he saw her swollen eyes and tear-ravished face. His anger dissipated like an ice cube of fury melting in the firestorm of her hurt. “Oh God, sweetheart, let me hold you. Tara, I’m sorry, so very sorry. I knew that Jia was a vicious woman, wicked even. But I never dreamed that she would take off after you like she did. You have to understand, she’s crazy. Christ, she’s insane. I never knew how truly unbalanced she was until tonight.” Holding Tara tightly against his chest, he couldn’t help but go back to the genesis of his angst. “But, honey, how could you possibly have believed her? How could you believe the vicious things she said?”
For the first time since he’d picked her up, Tara tried to respond, her words contorted with tears. “You don’t understand, Griffin. She said that she bought that dress, like she always does for your women. So that I wouldn’t shame you, look like an idiot in my bargain basement clothes. I . . . I felt so dirty, so used . . . ” The rest of her sentence was lost in an inconsolable sob.
Horrified at Jia’s cruelty, Griffin was chagrined that at least part of Jia’s diatribe was true. He felt compelled to tell Tara if only to confirm how different she was from the other women in his life. “Christ, honey, I have to admit that in the past I did give Jia that questionable assignment. But not for you, never for you. I saw that dress and those shoes in New York and couldn’t wait to see them on you. And, sweetheart, you looked even more beautiful than I knew you would.”
“But why, why would she say such hateful things? Things that she knew weren’t true. That surely you would dispute?”
“Because, Tara, for some crazy reason she thought I cared for her. At least she’d convinced herself of that. But even she wasn’t so crazy that she didn’t see how much I cared for you—that I love you. Which is why she attacked you the way that she did.”
Tara sat up straighter and seemed to get her emotions at least somewhat under control. “She said you were only trying to buy my support for the project. Were you, Griffin? Please tell me the truth. I can’t bear any more lies.”
Griffin’s anger flared at her accusation. He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Dammit, Tara. Do you think I don’t know how passionately you believe in your core values? That no one, including me, could ever buy your support. But what is so goddamn frustrating to me is that I was beginning to think that we could work together. That you could help me make Shadow Peaks a showplace of ecologically aware development. And, goddammit, I didn’t give you those things to ‘buy’ you. I gave them to you because I knew they would be beautiful on you and, more important, because I love you.”
Many long minutes later, after they’d both come to grips with the ugliness of what should have been a spectacular evening, Griffin asked, “Will you come home with me tonight, Tara? I need to hold you. Let you know in every way possible how much I care for you.”
Tara surprised herself when she shook her head no. “I can’t, Griffin. I need to come to grips with what happened. I admit I allowed myself to believe the horrible things she said, which I knew in my heart weren’t true. Please understand. I need to stay here with my sisters and frankly with my dad.” Seeing his frown, she added, “Honestly, Griffin, this isn’t about you, it’s about me. I have to deal with the fact that I allowed that vicious woman to get to me. The only people beside you who can help me do that are the people who know me best: my family.”
Griffin breathed out a hard sigh, not wanting to admit that her seeming rejection hurt him as much as it did. Instead, he did his best to acknowledge her feelings. “I understand, Tara. I wish I didn’t, but Jia hit all the possible fissures in our relationship. I think we both need time to think those through and decide how to ensure that it never happens again.”
At the doorway, he turned back. Tara was startled at the fierce expression on his face when he said, “Trust me, Tara, Jia will never spew her vicious vitriol again. She’s done. She has no idea what the repercussions of her hateful rant are. But she will soon.”
He put up his hands in defeat. “I love you, Tara. I need you to believe that.” He turned and left the room.
With a sinking heart, she heard him rev up his powerful car and speed out of the driveway. Hours later, she would castigate herself, be horrified that she had sent him on his way rather than beg him to take her with him. If only she’d been brave enough to go with him, their lives might have been different.