Gambling on a Secret (39 page)

Dylan wrapped her up from behind, offering his strength, and said to Zack, “You don’t believe that, do you?”

Zack shook his head.

Thank God.
Her eyes stung, but the reason wasn’t the smoky air. She fought the tears. If she started crying, she’d never stop. “Wh–Who would want Ella dead?”

Zack met Dylan’s gaze and held it.

She looked from one man to the other, then turned on Dylan. “You know something.”

He swallowed and nodded. After pulling her away from the sheriff and Kyle, he said in a low voice, “Ella approached Zack with a confession.”

“A confession?”

“She told Zack my grandfather’s will is a forgery.”

She stared at him. After she closed her mouth and blinked her eyes a few times, she remembered her conversation with Ella from a few days ago. “Annie.” Gasping on the rancid air, she shook her head to clear it again then looked at Dylan. “Annie’s Leon’s daughter.”

“Yeah.”

After a second pump truck had arrived from a neighboring county, the fire was finally coming under control. With her head on his shoulder, she looked over at the remains of the barn and trembled. In her ear, Dylan whispered, “It’s gonna be okay, Peaches.”

She clung to him. “I did this to Ella.”

He looked down into her face. “No, Charli...”

“I told Ella to tell Annie the truth. That’s why she’s rebelling so much. Annie thinks her father doesn’t love her, but he’d found out Annie wasn’t his child. I explained to Ella that Annie had to know the truth to begin her healing.” She sobbed and tears gushed. “Ella confessed to save her daughter.”

When the black Porsche rolled to a stop behind Zack’s SUV, she sniffed back her tears and moved out of Dylan’s arms. She clenched her fists to her sides. Her heart raced.

How dare
he
show up here?

The old Charli had been a pawn for men like Leon Ferguson, but she wasn’t the same woman any longer.

She knew what true love was, and she wasn’t giving it up.

Leon got out of the car at the same time the other sheriff’s department Tahoe stopped in the drive. As soon as Leon noticed Zack guiding a handcuffed Kyle toward the approaching deputy, he stopped.

Dylan stepped in front of her and squared his shoulders, his hands fisted by his soot-blackened jeans. “Don’t even think about coming any closer, you son-of-a-bitch.”

Leon glanced at the sheriff. For the first time since she’d made the man’s acquaintance, Leon appeared anxious. He shifted his feet and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He looked back at Dylan. “I came by to see if Charli was safe. I saw the glow from Oak Springs.”

Dylan snorted. “More likely you came by to make sure your
tool
did the job right. Tell me,
Uncle
, were you hoping to have us burned to death in our bed, or were you hoping it would just be me?”

“Dylan.” Zack turned toward him. “Don’t say or do anything you’ll regret later.”

Leon smiled stiffly. “Dylan, you really are delusional. I was concerned Charli and you were hurt. I see you aren’t, and if you don’t need anything, I’ll be leaving.” Leon sidestepped so he could see her. “I’ll be seeing you, Charli.”

She took a determined step toward Leon. “You have nothing I need or want, Mr. Ferguson.” Her voice shook, anger and hatred ringing through every word. “I would suggest you get the hell off my land before I make things mighty difficult for you.”

Leon looked as if he’d been sucker punched.

Dylan slid his arm around her quaking shoulders and held her close to his side.

Leon recovered quickly and glowered at her. “When are you going to tell him the bastard you’re carrying is mine?”

Dylan stiffened next to her, but didn’t move away. His voice blew past her like a cold arctic wind. “Then I suppose I’ll be raising your child as my own, won’t I? Because I’ll never let you get this ranch–or Charli.”

Leon clamped down on his teeth so hard his jaw muscles jerked.

Zack finished with giving the deputy a report, then turned to Leon. “Mr. Ferguson, I suggest you do as the lady says. I’ll be by Oak Springs later this morning. I have several questions to ask you about your whereabouts last night around ten PM. So, don’t leave the county.”

Leon didn’t look scared, but he didn’t respond to Zack either. He turned on his boot heel, got back into his flashy car and raced out of the drive, kicking up a dust cloud behind him.

Dylan turned her away from the noisy scene. “Let’s go make sure the horses are okay and then go in.”

Chapter 21

Later in their bedroom, Dylan took Charli into his arms and hung on. They both smelled of smoke, and she was concerned about his injury. He kissed her forehead, her eyes and finally her mouth in a tender, loving way that healed her.

When he pulled away, he gazed into her eyes. “Let’s take a shower and get some sleep. The rest of the day’s going to be as hellish as first part, if I’m any kind of prophet.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. “Dylan, I swear on everything holy I never slept with Leon.”

He pressed his lips to hers to still them. “I know.”

She pulled back. “We can have a test done...”

He smiled and shook his head. “I trust you, Charli. I’ll admit I didn’t at first, but I know now the baby’s mine.”

She sagged against him, and he held her. After a while, they walked into the bathroom, where she insisted on cleaning the burn on his back and checking his legs for more. He flashed a wicked grin when he dropped his tattered jeans. He stood before her naked. She bent to examine the raw spots on his legs, instructed him to sit on the stool by the vanity, and winced at the red splotch on his back.

“This burn isn’t bad, but you should have it looked at by a doctor. You could still get an infection.” She gently touched a cool, clean washcloth to the red puckered skin.

“It’ll be all right.” With his chin tucked to his chest, Dylan sounded muffled. “I’ve been through a lot worse. Once we’re done showering, you can slather some burn cream on it and put on a bandage.”

While she rinsed the cloth, he stood, took the washcloth from her and laid it on the counter. Slowly, he began undressing her, removing her tank top and then her shorts. She hadn’t bothered with panties or a bra. As he lightly rested his hand on her bare belly, she closed her eyes.

When she opened them, the love in his eyes brought a flood of jumbled emotions, and the dam broke, long-held truth flowed freely. “I was a cocaine addict and a prostitute. I worked as a stripper and went by the stage name of Bambi Deere in a Las Vegas dive called Cat Call. Ricardo Rodriguez wasn’t my legal husband, although I didn’t learn that until–until later. He was my pimp and the leader of the gang I belonged to.”

“Charli,” he whispered next to her ear. “I don’t care.”

She ignored him and went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “He’s now in prison because I–I turned state’s evidence on him. He owned the Cat Call, but his main income came from drug dealing and prostitution. I served a–a year in prison for–for...”

His face hadn’t changed in expression. How could he not be surprised or repulsed?

He feathered the fingers of his free hand over her cheek.

She trembled at the gentleness of his touch.

“Charli, I don’t care what’s in your past.”

“I helped Ricardo murder six men because he threatened to stop supplying me with cocaine if I didn’t spy on his rival gang leader. I was only convicted of helping with one of the murders. But if I hadn’t led him to Tyrone’s hideout, those other five men wouldn’t be dead.” The words hurt as she pushed them out. “I should have served more time. I was sentenced to five years, but paroled after a year. I didn’t know Ricardo was going to kill them. He didn’t tell me what he planned to do, but I should have known. I should have known...I should have...” She collapsed, but he caught her before she slipped to the floor.

Dylan held her as she sobbed with both shame and relief. He hadn’t walked away from her. At last, the sobs stopped and she hiccoughed. He pulled back to look down into her face and brushed away her tears with the pads of his thumbs.

He gently pushed her chin up with the side of his calloused index finger, forcing her to look at him. “You thought I’d walk away because of your past?”

She nodded, drained. “I–I didn’t think you could ever love me. No man ever truly loved me before. Not Danny when I gave him my virginity. He promised he could take away my pain. But all he wanted was for me to steal from my grandfather. D.J. didn’t love me when he took me to Las Vegas. Ricardo and Leon told me they loved me only to get what they wanted.”

She hiccoughed again and shuddered at how close she’d come to losing him. “Leon threatened me. He wanted the ranch, but he also wanted me to agree to marry him. He said he’d fix any paternity test I took to make him out to be the father of our baby. I told him I’d tell you about my past and about his threats. But then he threatened to have you killed and make it look like I did it.”

She sniffed back a sob, and he held her tightly against him. “I love you so much, Dylan. How could you love someone like me? And yet, you show me every day you do.”

His warmth seeped into her, warming places she hadn’t even realized were frozen. After kissing her temple, he smiled and it was like rays of the sun after a long violent storm. He gave as much as he took.

“I love you, Peaches. I don’t care what was in your past. I figured out a long time ago you were probably a stripper–best case scenario, a prostitute–worst case scenario–when I found out you were a runaway and lived in Las Vegas. I even figured this Ricardo yahoo was probably your pimp. Dear God.” His voice grew gruffer as he spoke. “You were so young. It tears me up inside to think about what you’ve lived through.”

He kissed her softly on the lips. “I understand why we’re so drawn to each other. I once told you we had probably more in common than either of us could imagine. I was right. How could I hold your misguided involvement in the murder of that drug dealer against you, when I ordered my men into a situation where I wasn’t sure about the dangers?”

He rubbed her back, and she clung to him. “We have a future together.”

She blinked as tears flooded her eyes.

With his thumbs, he wiped away the moisture on her cheeks again. “I love you with all my heart and soul.”

He kissed her again, the tender kiss deepening when he licked her upper lip. She touched her tongue to his, and he moaned. He plunged into her mouth, filling her with his sweet forgiveness.

When they broke apart, he leaned his forehead on hers. “Now, let’s get that shower and some sleep before I fall over from exhaustion.” He grinned wickedly, and pressed his hardening erection into her low belly. “Or I decide I’m not tired after all.”

Despite the fatigue creeping up on her, she leaned against him, threaded her fingers into his dark hair and puckered her lips into a pout. He awarded her with a groan, and backed her up toward the shower stall. Once inside, the warm water washed away much more than the grime from the fire.

He claimed her mouth and kissed her thoroughly. She broke away to catch her breath, skimmed her lips against his beard-roughened chin to his throat and pressed her mouth to his strong, steady pulse.

Dylan moved his hands from her hair and down her back, over her ass. Moaning, she let her head fall back when he reached between her legs. His mouth caught one of her nipples and suckled while gentle fingers stroked her to a feverish height, but before she climaxed, he backed off and cupped her behind with his hands. When he pulled her up onto her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He backed her against the wall and shifted his weight slightly onto his left leg.

No words passed between them, but they didn’t need words to hear what was in each other’s hearts. She lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist. He gave her a soft, peace-filled smile as he lowered her onto his erection, filling her with serenity. When he was buried deep inside her, he whispered against her lips, “I’m nothing without you, Charli. But
with
you, I’m whole.”

She cried his name when he withdrew and thrust into her again. The orgasm shattered her and built her back up again, transforming her.

And when he growled her name as he found his own release, they had become something more, something beautiful.

* * * *

The ringing phone on the bedside table jarred him awake. Dylan groaned and lifted his head. The time on the alarm clock read 9:45 AM. Bright mid-morning sun filtered around the closed curtains. When Charli shifted beside him, he smiled. She lay against his side with her arm draped over his back.

The phone rang again. He picked it up. “Yeah?”

“Dylan, it’s Zack.”

Instantly alert, he sat on the edge of the bed. Charli kneeled behind him and rested her hands on his bare shoulders. He mouthed “Zack” over his shoulder. She nodded, but didn’t move away. Into the phone, he asked, “What’s going on?”

Zack let out a long breath. “Ferguson fled the area. Half the law in Texas is looking for him, but he hasn’t turned up at either his business or penthouse. I’ve called Mrs. Ferguson, but his mother hasn’t seen him either. And neither has his lover Elizabeth Sinclair.”