Dream Lover (Denim and Spurs Book 2) (16 page)

Laciee lifted her head and pinned her light gaze on him. He could read the exhaustion in her gaze and stepped toward her. “Mr. Raines,” he said, breaking the silence.

“Mr. Travers, I thought you were out on the range.”

“I was,” he said, sitting on the chair next to Laciee and staring at the man she’d let slip was her father. He didn’t see any of her in him. “What do you need, Mr. Raines?”

The man clenched his jaw, and Judd knew he didn’t like being questioned.

“I’m trying to speak with Ms. Dupree here.”

“Who calls their daughter Ms. Dupree? Why don’t you call her Laciee? Aside from the fact you’ve been a deadbeat who doesn’t deserve to have her as his child.”

Laciee leaned into the hand he planted upon her shoulder. “He was just leaving.”

“No, I want to tell you how sorry I am this happened to you.” Mr. Raines tugged on the sleeve of his suit.

Laciee stood and Judd did so as well, right alongside her. He wasn’t about to let her face this alone. “We have nothing to talk to one another about. I spent years trying to get to know you and you wanted nothing to do with me. I don’t need you now, no matter if I was in an accident or anything. Go peddle your false sympathy elsewhere. You may have contributed to my birth, but you are
not
my father.”

Laciee moved away and headed inside, not even bothering to look back. He noted how Gian trailed after her.
Like a damned whipped pup.
Judd focused on the businessman on his property. “Leave her alone,” Judd warned.

“She’s my daughter,” he bloviated.

“She’s a woman who wants nothing to do with you, which makes you not welcome on my ranch.”

“You need to stay out of this, Travers. I know what’s been going on around here.”

His grin bordered feral. “As do I. I was on my way to take care of that when I saw your car. You have five minutes to get the fuck off my property, Mr. Raines. And you aren’t welcome back until Laciee tells me otherwise.” He gestured to his half-brother who’d stepped out. “Make sure he finds his way off my property.”

“Consider it done, brother.”

Judd headed inside and found Vic beside Laciee. They had their heads together, and Laciee’s expression was the one he recalled from the hotel while Vic’s was furious. Her friend definitely didn’t hide her feelings. The room exploded in a flurry of Italian and Judd walked to Laciee.

He moved Vic to the side and captured Laciee’s chin in his hand. Sure, he had a man he needed to get to the cops and one other to have put behind bars. “Come on,” he rasped, not giving her a chance to argue with him.

Judd led her to the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind him with a decisive move. She stood in the middle of his large room, still bearing the bruises of her accident, holding her cast close to her side.

“Talk,” he ordered.

“About what?” She lifted her head and pinned him with a glare.

She’s angry at me?
“Why are you mad at me?” He ripped his dirty shirt over his head and launched it toward the bathroom where he’d stuff it in the hamper on his way to shower.

Her pupils dilated and her nose flared. “Because you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I have a ranch to run, and I can’t sit around here waiting for you to come out of your pain med haze just to talk.” He undid the button on his pants as he toed off his boots. “Not to mention you have your Fed boyfriend out there. I’m sure he’s more than capable of doting on you.”

A flash of pain flickered before the anger replaced it. “Is that what you think?”

“Why not? He’s here.”

“And you’re not.”

He shoved his jeans down his legs and stepped free. “No, I’m not.”

She walked toward him and paused.
Smack.
Her hand ricocheted off his jaw. “You could have just called me a slut to my face instead of hiding it in your thoughts and thinking worse of me by the day.” She left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

He shook with the combination of his own anger and fear. Cursing, he went to shower, then dressed in some clean clothing. After that had been accomplished, he swiped his phone and headed out to the main part of his house where his brother stood.

“Where is she?”

“Gone out with Vic and her brother.”

He growled low in his throat. “Let’s get this finished.”

“I placed the call, and the state police will meet us there.”

He nodded and reached for his truck keys. The man who’d been killing his cattle lay trussed up in the bed of the truck. Judd gave him a cursory glance to ensure he wouldn’t be going anywhere. “Let’s go arrest us a Sheriff,” he said to Cian as they climbed in the cab.

Chapter Sixteen

“Staring at your fingers is an odd way to spend your afternoon.” Vic’s words punctured the bubble of solitude Laciee had around her.

“Lost in thought is all.” She looked up and smiled as her friend walked across the apartment to collapse at her side on the futon.

Vic rested her head on Laciee’s shoulder. “You’re not happy here.”

“Not true. I love New York.”

“Except it’s missing one very large, important thing. A man from Texas who goes by the name of Judd Travers.”

Pain lanced Laciee’s heart at the mention of his name. “He pretty much called me a slut. I’ve spent my childhood fighting the stigma of my mother’s claim to fame in that town. I don’t need it from the man I fell in love with.”

“About damn time you admit you love him.” Vic spun so her head rested on Laciee’s thigh. “Ma says we’re due for dinner in two hours. Let me go shower and I’ll come back to finish this conversation.”

“You mean you’re all lying on me dirty with sick people germs on you?”

Vic wriggled closer. “Hell yes. Why do you think I came to your apartment first? Let the germs fall off and keep me all clean for my place.”

“Bitch,” she sassed lightly. Her heart wasn’t totally into going to the Carracci household for dinner but since she’d returned to New York, they’d been smothering her more than usual the last week since she’d been home. She loved them and didn’t have the heart to refuse.

“I’ll be back.” Vic rolled to her feet and strolled to the door.

“I’m sure I’ll be here.”

The moment Vic vanished through the door out into the hallway, Laciee curled up with the pillow beside her and sank farther down on the cushions. Everything had been in a whirlwind since that night the man who contributed to half of her DNA makeup showed up at Judd’s ranch.
After all those years of believing I needed to have him in my life to make it complete, it was surprisingly easy to tell him to leave.

Judd had been much more forceful than she’d been. But she’d never been overly outgoing, having learned that had a tendency to bring more attention to oneself and when you spent your days trying to blend in, it was easiest to roll with the punches.

Judd.
Her gut clenched once more at the thought of him.
Why are you sitting here moping, Laciee? You’re the one who left him.

And she had. After his comment, she’d just gone and left, too tired and defeated to do anything else. The information Gian had given her, combined with Judd’s comment, had toppled her over the edge and sent her down this road she still lingered on.

“Ready?” Vic questioned.

Pushing to a seated position, she gave her best friend a wan smile. “I suppose so.” She stretched her neck as she got to her feet. “Let’s go.”

Vic canted her head to the side. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Her humorless chuckle embodied how she lived her day-to-day, empty and hollow. “Nope. Let’s get going.”

They caught a cab and rode to the Carracci home with Vic filling up the time talking about work and the person they’d paired her with until Laciee could get back to work.

“Sounds like you and Deek are getting along,” she commented offhand, while she stared out along the skyline of the city she’d run to all those years ago to become a no one.

“He’s okay. I’d prefer to see you, but at least it’s not Susan.”

She chuckled lightly as she thought of the last time Vic and Susan were in the same room with one another. Drinks were tossed, punches thrown. An all around good time.

Laciee’s pocket vibrated with the alert she was receiving a call. Digging for it, she stared at the screen when she withdrew the item from her coat pocket. KARIS.

“You may as well answer it. You know she’s not going to let up,” Vic said, leaning close to read the screen.

“I know.” She swiped her thumb along and accepted the call. “Yes, Karis?”

“You’ve been avoiding me.” The accusation stung.

“Not true. I’ve been recovering. Just sleeping and settling back in to life in the city.”

“Don’t you fucking lie to me, Laciee Dupree. I know you’ve been avoiding me. No way you’re sleeping every single time I’ve called. It’s been all hours of the day. I wake up and sneak out of my bed, leaving my husband, to call you so I don’t wake him.”

“Then don’t call, Karis. I didn’t ask you to do that.”

Vic slanted her a look of concern while Karis’ sharp breath reminded Laciee how bitchy she was being. At the moment, she didn’t give a damn. She wasn’t about to let Karis guilt her into doing something else. Especially by saying she left her husband in bed just to try and get her on the phone.

“Crawl back into bed with your
husband
and forget about me. Seems that’s what your family does anyway.”

Vic narrowed her gaze and Laciee turned her head away, staring back out the window.

“I never once treated you less, Laciee, that’s not fair.” Pain wove around Karis’ words.

“Yes, you did, Karis. You didn’t argue when I had to enter through the back of the house. Hell, you didn’t even stand up to your mother when she refused to let me be your maid of honor. I’m important when you want something, but otherwise, I’m relegated to the back of the bus, so to speak. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. Be happy, Karis.”

She ended the call and shoved her phone back into her pocket.

“Stop here,” Vic said. “We’ll walk the rest of the way.” She paid the driver and urged Laciee out to the sidewalk. “Come on, let’s go grab a drink.”

“We have to get to your parents’.”

“We will be fine, you need this.” She slipped her arm through Laciee’s.

“Thanks, Vic.”

“You know I have your back. I’m sorry about this rift between you and Karis, but perhaps you need your space for a bit longer.”

“Perhaps.”

The sourness in her gut gave her more than a bit of doubt on that subject.

* * * *

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Judd asked Cian.

“Scared of having me near by, bro? I’ll try not to hog all the women. Although it will be hard for them to resist my Irish charm.” He stared down at his chest and affixed the badge. “I’ve been meaning to have something a bit slower in my life and seems like life in Branchwater is a lot slower than what I’ve been doing for the past six years.”

Judd crossed his arms and stared at the man who was becoming Branchwater’s next sheriff. “I don’t need any women, thank you.”

Cian finished fixing the star on his chest and returned to packing up Randall Bolton’s personal effects. Judd stared out the window and up the street. Changes had come to this town. Bolton had been taken out in handcuffs for his part in the cattle rustling and poisoning. Two of his deputies had also been arrested. That side of his life had since calmed down. What hadn’t was the need he had in his body for Laciee.

There’d been no communication with her since the night her father had shown up on his property.
Laciee.
He’d been swamped with running his ranch and getting it back on track after all the other side distractions that had been going on. Rosa continued to give him the silent treatment, and he wasn’t sure what to do with her. He realized she missed Laciee, but he wasn’t the one who left. That had been all Laciee, vanishing with nothing more than a note.

He clenched a fist.
Off somewhere with that Italian bastard.

“You know you could just go after her,” Cian offered his opinion.

Whirling to face him, Judd lifted an eyebrow. “Go after her?”

The man flashed a smile. “Stop acting like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Or rather who. Laciee.”

“She left.”

“What is it with men and being too fucking scared to go after what they want?” Derision filled the feminine voice that spilled into the room.

Vic stood there in another body hugging dress that accentuated her curves in stunning fashion.

“Vic,” he said. “Is Laciee with you?”

“No. She’s in New York, pouting like you’re doing here. I’m tired of it. I’m seconds from kicking you in the balls for what you said to her so you have three seconds to explain yourself.” She flicked her eyes over Cian. “Irish.”

“Hello, gorgeous.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Judd protested.

“Bullfuckingshit. You said something about her and my brother.” Vic stepped closer, and he nearly covered himself in defense. “Let me let you into a little secret. Gian is more likely to come after you than he is Laciee. She’s one of my family. We took her in when she arrived in New York. She’s one of us. Hell, my mama wanted her to change her name to Carracci, but Laciee said she was keeping Dupree. Either way, she’s family. You basically called her out, saying she’s no different than her mother, just because she was around a handsome man. Laciee isn’t anything like that and since again, she’s too gentle, here I am back in this damn town to try and make her happy.”

“You can make me happy,” Cian added in.

“I don’t think you can handle this, Irish,” she said, without missing a beat. “So, I need to know if you’re going to grow up and go after what you want, or do I have to get her back down here? I’m tired of the tears from her and the despondent behavior from you. You’re the key to her happiness because she’s in love with you, but given how much rejection she’s had in her life she won’t put herself out there again, it won’t happen. I’m sure she’s going to be pissed I came here, but I am at the end of my giving a damn rope.” She poked him in the chest. “Be a man and go get the woman you want.” She tossed her hands up. “Christ, couples are too damn much.”

Pivoting on her heels she strode back to the door.

“Need a ride, gorgeous?” Cian called.

Vic stopped in the doorway and glanced over her shoulder. “Aren’t you busy, Irish?”

“Never too busy for you. Besides, I think my brother could use some time to think something out for himself.”

Her lips kicked up slightly. “Let’s go then.”

Judd watched Cian hurry to the door and Vic before they both vanished. He didn’t care. All he’d focused on was the fact she’d said Laciee loved him.

He swiped his hat off the desk and went for the door in a few long strides.

* * * *

Ding. Dong.

Laciee slid the tray of baked ziti into the oven and bumped the door shut with her heel. Pushing the button on the timer, she left her phone there and padded to the door to answer it. She wasn’t sure who it would be. Vic had a key to her place and tended to walk in without asking prior.

For the second time in one year she was stunned to see the person on the other side of her door. Karis. Her half sister’s tatty jeans fit her in a way only Karis could pull off. Her oversized sweatshirt made her look smaller still and the tips of her brown cowboy boots peeked out from the bottom of her pant legs.

She glared at Laciee and pushed by her, letting herself into the apartment.

“Come on in, why don’t you,” Laciee said.

“I don’t know why the fuck you thought hanging up on me would mean the conversation would be over.” She dropped her bag on the floor and shoved the door closed with her hand. “I would think after all these years you would know me a bit better than that. So, if you want to act like the spoiled brat, then fine, I’ll be the adult and come to you. That way, when you’re done with this fucking self-pity I’ll already be here to talk.” Karis crossed her arms and dared her with nothing more than a look to say anything.

“Wyatt know you’re up here?”

“Unlike you, who runs off in the dark, I told him.”

The jab was a good one, and she fought the wince. “Is that what this is going to be, you pointing out how pathetic and bad I’ve been? Because if it is, pick your goddamn bag up and get out.”

“No.” Karis took herself to the couch and stretched out on it. “I’m staying. Like it or not, Laciee, we’re family. You don’t just get to decide we aren’t anymore. It doesn’t work that way.”

“Apparently it does if you go by your father’s actions.”

Karis exploded from the sofa and glared at her, hands propped on hips. “He’s not perfect. I get that. But at least he tried, Laciee.”

She rolled her eyes. “Too little, too late for me. I don’t need him now.”

“Of course not, the almighty Laciee Dupree has done it all on her own and needs no one in her life.”

“Exactly,” she snapped.

“You’re so full of shit. If that were the case, you wouldn’t be so close to Vic and her family.”

Laciee fisted her hands. “So what, I’m not allowed to have friends now, mom? If I’m not going to talk to the family, I should be in my room alone?” Sarcasm dripped off her tone.

“Christ, you’ve become a whiny bitch. Get over it. Shit happened. I never stopped loving you. I’m sorry that when I was a teenager I didn’t stand up to my father or mother to defend you. Okay, I was horrible. I get it, and I’ll most likely burn in hell.”

“Oh stop trying to be a goddamn martyr. It’s not at all becoming.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

“Because I’m allowed, goddamn it! Not you. Not you, who grew up in the large house with the servants. Me, the one who grew up in the clapboard house with the whore drug addict mother that tried to sell me to feed her habit. Me, the one who lost her grandmother, the only one who protected me. The one who then had to fend off the guys at school because they wanted to sample something of the Dupree line.” She took a deep shuddering breath. “The one who ate alone in the cafeteria because I wasn’t allowed to sit with others. That’s who.”