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Texas Witness
Barb Han
Six-foot-two of raw masculinity is her best witness protectionFace to face with the woman who jilted him, Colin O'Brien tells himself he's over her. What the charming rancher doesn't know is that the man Melissa Roark Rancic married has forced her—and her infant daughter—to live a charade of love. And now, about to testify to his criminal deeds, she's shaken by rekindled feelings for Colin and scared that he'll discover her child is his.Though angry, Colin vows to protect Melissa from her vengeful ex…while safeguarding his own heart. But once he steps up, he can't step away. No danger can keep Colin from the woman he never stopped loving.


Six foot two of raw masculinity is her best witness protection
Face-to-face with the woman who jilted him, Colin O’Brien tells himself he’s over her. What the charming rancher doesn’t know is that the man Melissa Roark Rancic married has forced her—and her infant daughter—to live a charade of love. And now, about to testify to his criminal deeds, she’s shaken by rekindled feelings for Colin and scared that he’ll discover her child is his.
Though angry, Colin vows to protect Melissa from her vengeful ex...while safeguarding his own heart. But once he steps up, he can’t step away. No danger can keep Colin from the woman he never stopped loving.
He was close enough to see the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Ah, hell. He hadn’t meant to cause that.
“You want to know what my life was like?” she pushed.
“Imagine the worst day you’ve ever had…” Her eyes were wild; he’d never seen her like this before. “And then imagine people were getting hurt all around you and you had no power to stop it.”
“Tell me what he did to you, Melissa,” he said. He needed to hear the words.
“Right now all I can think about is staying alive so that I can take care of my little girl. I get that you hate me. I hurt you and I probably deserve whatever anger you hurl at me. But my life has been hell and I just want this nightmare to end. Nothing else matters until it does.”
Colin couldn’t think of one positive thing to say to calm her down so he threw all caution to the wind, pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
Texas Witness
Barb Han


www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
USA TODAY bestselling author BARB HAN lives in north Texas with her very own hero-worthy husband, three beautiful children, a spunky golden retriever/standard poodle mix and too many books in her to-read pile. In her downtime, she plays video games and spends much of her time on or around a basketball court. She loves interacting with readers and is grateful for their support. You can reach her at www.barbhan.com (http://www.barbhan.com/).
Many thanks go to Allison Lyons, who makes every book better! A deep well of gratitude goes to Jill Marsal, who really is the best of the best and a dream to work with.
Brandon, Jacob and Tori, the three of you light up my life in so many bright and colorful ways. I love each of you even more with every passing year, and it is my greatest pleasure to see the beautiful people you’ve become.
Babe, we’re watching another one of our babies test his wings. We get to enjoy a few more years with our youngest before she does the same. Then it’ll be the two of us again, just like in the beginning... And a whole new set of adventures await. I love you!
Contents
Cover (#ue7d0c325-aa11-5bf8-8dc8-4a2c891f5f47)
Back Cover Text (#uda6a5dac-b262-57b5-aea8-9b27225afeed)
Introduction (#u4137760c-740b-5e77-8ccd-9de6aa304247)
Title Page (#u97179b05-9efd-59c3-8ff1-0824fc8c3592)
About the Author (#uaa87d526-2f8e-5557-9050-1600373400d8)
Dedication (#u008446e7-d787-5036-9c5a-ea1406cfce72)
Chapter One (#u57ac4564-af4b-549c-a426-6b63d9b3f6e7)
Chapter Two (#u0fc1b427-a72f-537f-b9cb-a4a4eda158de)
Chapter Three (#ud7547f5c-a28c-5d6f-b7aa-ca3ca3021902)
Chapter Four (#u6287db0e-162f-5059-aeb6-dcd445e5372d)
Chapter Five (#ucde584fa-2729-594f-99a3-00280009d93e)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ubdfa2a4f-f3cc-5fc4-ae6e-e1877221bb1f)
“I didn’t approve her. I would never do that. She shouldn’t be here.” Cynthia Stoker, the Cattlemen Crime Club’s event coordinator, paced in the kitchen. Her fingers were a braided knot. She was responsible for the guest list at the Spring Fling, the annual end-of-spring fund-raiser hosted by the O’Brien family.
“I know.” Colin O’Brien folded his arms, hiding just how much the thought of seeing Melissa Roark—correction, Melissa Rancic—again twisted his gut. Being the fourth son of the wealthy O’Brien family and with good looks and charm to spare, he hadn’t seen a lot of rejection in his life. Until her. And she’d ripped his heart out. “How’d her name get past security?”
“She asked to come as Carolina Jordan’s plus-one, and since she wasn’t listed as a threat they approved her,” Cynthia said, throwing her hands in the air, worry lines bracketing her mouth. She’d worked at the ranch for a little more than five years. She’d become close with his family and knew that the subject of Melissa was off-limits. “Honest. I thought she moved away a year ago. I had no idea she’d resurface.”
“She did.” The thought that she’d returned to Bluff, Texas, let alone be bold enough to show up at his family’s fund-raiser riding on someone else’s invitation, sat hot and heavy. The heels of his boots clicked on the tile floor as he paced. The last time he’d seen her had been when she’d handed him the engagement ring she’d been wearing—the one he’d given her—and then married one of the biggest jerks to ever blow through town, Richard Rancic. The guy was all flash and no substance, splashing local businesses with his money before taking what he wanted—Melissa—and breezing out of town. The newlyweds had disappeared after the quickie wedding. Apparently, Melissa couldn’t get away from Colin fast enough.
He’d moved on, dated plenty of interesting women since then. The thought of seeing her again shouldn’t hurt this much. And just to prove to himself that it didn’t, he planned to march right into the ballroom and show her just how freakin’ fantastic he was doing since she’d told him that she didn’t love him the same anymore and then walked out of his life.
Cynthia stalked toward the kitchen table, where Colin had seen her cell phone.
“I’m calling security. Don’t worry about a thing. You don’t even have to look at her. I’ll have her escorted out. She shouldn’t be here and Carolina should’ve known better than to bring her. I’m putting them both on the Never Allow list.” Her voice had that shaming quality.
“No need. I’ll walk her out myself and then deal with Carolina personally,” Colin bit out in a low growl.
Cynthia tensed, reacting to his sharp words.
Well, he hadn’t meant to make her do that. He’d apologize later. Right now, he had an important matter to take care of. He didn’t want one of his brothers seeing Melissa first and ushering her out of the building before he got a chance to have his say. No, he wanted to handle this little problem on his own. Carolina might’ve been Melissa’s girlfriend but she’d become close with his family. Colin considered Carolina a friend, too, until now.
Colin stalked out of the room and toward the Great Hall. The place was decorated to the nines for the Spring Fling. Paper lanterns hung from the forty-foot tented ceiling. White candles contrasted against the dark oak beams and wood floors. Round tables with white linens covering them surrounded the dance floor. The place, fixed up, gave a nod to its heritage as an old horse barn and had rustic charm in spades.
Colin’s blood pressure spiked with each step inside the room as he searched for his target. George Strait’s “Baby Blue” filled the air as pairs of boots shuffled around the dance floor in a two-step.
And then he saw her. His gaze fixed. His heart fisted.
Melissa Rancic stood in front of the buffet table, nervously searching the faces in the crowd. At least she had enough sense to be worried even if she also had a whole helluva lot of nerve showing up at his family home.
Colin didn’t want to acknowledge how damn good she looked. Her wavy auburn hair hung just past her shoulders. She’d cut it since the last time he’d seen her when it fell mid-back in large ringlets. She had on a cream-colored sleeveless dress that smoothed along the soft curves of her frame and flared below the waist with two layers of ruffles.
The dress fell mid-thigh, showing off those long legs of hers. Her fingers toyed with the necklace that hung in the middle of her chest, and the huge rock on her wedding finger sparkled in the dim light. She wore light brown boots with blue inlay. The fact that she still owned them at all made him believe she’d stayed somewhere in Texas. Although, she could live anywhere. He wouldn’t know. After the way she’d left things unfinished between them, he’d refused to talk about her again. She’d made her choice and he’d closed up inside, telling himself that he needed to cowboy up and move on. Of course, he’d spent plenty of couch time licking his wounds before he’d had enough of the lovesick-puppy routine.
Memories of her in his arms, her warm, naked skin against his, tried to break through his thoughts as he stared at her. The way she smelled like early morning on a sunny day in spring, all flowers and warmth. Her intelligence. The way she laughed...
Those thoughts had about as much place in his mind as she had in his house. To be clear, there was room for neither. It was about time she knew it.
As he stalked closer, he realized there was more than worry going on in her head. She was anxious, stressed and those weren’t the same things. She had to know this was the last place on earth she should be. Since it had been so easy for her to walk away from him last year and shut him out of her life completely, he figured her apprehension had nothing to do with the possibility of running into him. Was she afraid Carolina had disappeared on her? She was looking for someone. Or looking out for someone. Watching. Weary.
Her weight shifted from side to side like when she was nervous. She kept toying with that necklace, too. Was that a gift from him, from Richard?
Rather than sneak up on her or come at her from the side, Colin took a straight-on approach, and he didn’t bother to hide the intensity in his glare. If she had the guts to come to his house, she could take it.
The second she saw him, her body language changed. Her posture tensed and she stood stiff and uncomfortable. A look of panic crossed her features as her gaze darted around, probably looking for an escape route. With the buffet table behind her and the only other exit to Colin’s back, she was trapped in between.
As he neared, he could see that her pulse pounded at the base of her neck—a neck he had no business looking at in the first place, especially not the exact spot that made her mewl with pleasure when his mouth covered it.
When he was close enough to see the violet streaks in her brown eyes, she tried to duck right.
“Not so fast,” Colin ground out, catching her by the arm.
“Let go of me, Colin O’Brien,” she said, facing toward the east wall, refusing to look at him directly.
Colin wasn’t about to let her get away with that. It was high time she learned that sidestepping a problem didn’t make it go away. He spun her around to face him. They were almost nose-to-nose and the movement brought her scent washing over him, memories crashing into him. His heart double fisted.
“Why are you here?” he managed to bite out, clenching his back teeth.
“I shouldn’t have come.” Her eyes were pleading for him to let go now.
He couldn’t. He wanted—no, needed to understand what he’d done wrong to make her run out on him in the first place. His pride kept him from asking as she shook out of his grip, the diamond on her wedding ring scratching his arm as she jerked free.
“Hold on, Mel—”
Before he could finish, she was gone. She’d dashed across the dance floor, pushed open the double doors to the lawn and fled. All the lines he’d practiced in his head a million times over were a distant memory. He stood there, mute and stupid. Frozen. Just like before.
Dancing had stopped even though the music played on. All eyes were on him now. From his peripheral vision, he saw two of his brothers making a beeline toward him.
Colin wasn’t in the mood for a family meeting, so he reversed course and then ditched them out the back door.
* * *
HEART POUNDING, MELISSA ran to her sedan. She should’ve known better than to show up at the O’Brien’s ranch. Yet, she’d had to see Colin one more time before disappearing into her new identity in witness protection. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard. She had little more than two hours left before saying goodbye to her past life. At midnight, Melissa Rancic would no longer exist. Richard Rancic, her husband and a hardened criminal, had escaped custody and was on the loose. According to her US marshal handler, Tim Davis, Richard was last seen making a run for the Canadian border. That he was so far away had given her the confidence she’d needed to come back to Bluff and see Colin. She’d expected it to hurt but also to comfort her. To give her the strength she would need to do what had to be done in order to protect her daughter.
Hands shaking, she managed to retrieve her purse from the backseat and locate her keys. Getting the right one in the ignition proved a frustrating challenge. After several attempts, she had the engine purring and the Great Hall in the rearview. Not long after that, the entire O’Brien ranch disappeared.
Head spinning, she thought about the fact that Colin hadn’t changed one bit, unless it was possible to look even better. That old saying about absence making the heart grow fonder proved true. His jet-black hair and those intense dark eyes still had the power to make her weak-kneed with one look. There was a deeper emotion present in his eyes now, too, and it looked a lot like hurt.
The past year of living without him had been like living in an Arctic cave...brutal, dark, cold. There’d been no sun. No laughter. No joy. And yet, day after day, she’d had to put on a brave face with her husband and pretend that she loved him. Both her and her daughter’s survival had depended on delivering a good show. A shiver raced through her as she thought about what her life had turned into and the dangerous man she was running from.
Life, like spring weather in Texas, could change in a flash.
The gravity of just how big a mistake it had been to come back to Bluff, to see Colin, had shifted the ground beneath her feet. This whole idea had been a stupid mistake no matter how badly her body had reacted at the thought of never seeing him again, and the panic attack had been almost crippling. Her chest had squeezed until she thought it might burst. When release finally came, her heart filled with an ache so deep she could scarcely breathe.
Even so, it had been rash of her to think that she could get away with slipping into the dimly lit Great Hall and catch one last glimpse of him before someone recognized her and kicked her out. Based on his expression, he would have her thrown out himself.
Memories of spending time at the ranch assaulted her. She and Colin had been so happy, so carefree, so in love...
A sob escaped before she could suppress it. Her eyes blurred as she navigated onto the main road into town. At least she had their daughter. She’d have to hold on to that piece of Colin for the rest of her life and let it be enough. Angelina touched a piece of Melissa’s heart that could belong to no one else. She thought about how unfair it was that her daughter had never met her real father, would never meet him.
But then, this was the way it had to be, she reminded herself. Melissa’s father was old and sick. He’d made his mistakes and they were both paying for them. If Richard had followed through on his threats, her father would live out the rest of his life in jail. She couldn’t allow that to happen no matter how angry she’d become at him for his unethical business practices. And then there were the threats Richard had made about Colin and his family. The man could destroy the O’Briens if their secret was revealed. The bedrock of the family had been their parents’ unwavering love and devotion. If Richard had gone public with the photos he had, the ones of Mr. O’Brien having an affair, the family would’ve been crushed. Colin would’ve been devastated.
In order to save her father and Colin, Melissa had done as Richard had said. Break off her engagement with Colin and agree to marry Richard instead. Save two families. Melissa had naively believed that all she needed was time to figure out how to back out of the arrangement with Richard. It had all come at her so fast. How simple had she been to think that man wouldn’t force her to go through with the wedding or a loveless union?
And then she’d missed her period. Once she’d realized she was pregnant and that Richard would stop at nothing to destroy her if she walked out on him, she’d been too frightened to put up a fight. Scared he’d force her to give the baby up for adoption or, worse yet, do something more sinister, she’d convinced Richard that Angelina was his. She hadn’t realized how a small snowball of a lie could grow and build, gaining momentum until it became an avalanche and destroyed everything in its path, destroyed her.
In her heart, she’d known all along that Richard would’ve moved heaven and earth to find her if she’d left him before the feds became involved. Then he’d destroy everything she loved. The worst part about her whole marriage was that she’d had to persuade her husband that Colin meant nothing to her. Her and her daughter’s lives had depended on Melissa being convincing.
Three days after Angelina had been born, the feds had shown up and told Melissa they were building a case against Richard and his family. She’d been given an ultimatum: help the government or lose her daughter. She’d negotiated to have her father taken into protective custody. He was living in an undisclosed facility. Melissa had secretly helped gather evidence against her husband, living in daily fear of being discovered. And that wasn’t the worst of it. The true hell that she’d lived had been wondering what her life would have been like if she’d married Colin instead...
There was no time for doubts now.
Melissa had done what she’d had to do in order to protect those closest to her, including him. Regretting the past or her actions now wouldn’t change a thing. Witnessing the pain in Colin’s eyes had her second-guessing everything.
Tears streaked her cheeks as, once again, she drove away from the only man she’d ever loved.
Chapter Two (#ubdfa2a4f-f3cc-5fc4-ae6e-e1877221bb1f)
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Klein,” Melissa said as she held out a couple of twenties in her fist, not realizing she was clenching her hand until she noticed her white knuckles.
The older woman glanced at Melissa and smiled before waving her hand. She’d retired and moved to Bluff after thirty years of teaching in the Houston ISD. Her husband’s family was originally from the area, and the two of them had returned to live out their retirement in a small town. She was the perfect neighbor because she didn’t know everyone yet and had no idea about Melissa’s past in Bluff.
“I can’t take all that and especially not for—” Mrs. Klein glanced at her watch “—an hour and fifteen minutes’ worth of work.”
“Please do. I didn’t realize I’d be back so soon and I’ve messed up your whole evening.” Tears free-fell down Melissa’s cheeks now, and they had nothing to do with the words coming out of her mouth.
“Don’t worry about it, dear. Seriously. There’s still time to catch CSI with Bernard if I hurry.” Mrs. Klein’s brow furrowed and she had a mix of pity and kindness on her face. She really was a sweet woman. “The baby was no trouble. She’s been asleep the whole time.”
Melissa told herself to get it together. She would. It had been easier to leave town when she thought she was saving everyone she loved. With everything that she’d been through in the past twelve months, she figured she could endure most anything. Seeing Colin again was too much. She’d been naive to think that she could see him again and then walk away a second time without a few tears. He looked good... unbelievably good. Different, but good. His quick smile and easygoing charm had been replaced by distrust and cautious eyes.
The way he’d looked at her, so angry, so hurt...so final.
For Colin, there wasn’t a lot of gray area. Life was black-and-white. She should’ve known that once she’d left him, he’d be done. Having her fear confirmed hurt. The only consolation was that she’d always have a piece of Colin with her in their daughter.
“At least take something for your time,” Melissa managed to get out before Mrs. Klein could walk out the door.
Melissa flipped on the front porch light. Nothing happened. The electricity in this old house was about as reliable as the cell coverage in town. Both were spotty.
“Oh, great. Now what?” Melissa asked rhetorically as more tears streamed.
“It’s really okay, dear. Don’t make yourself sick over it,” Mrs. Klein said, patting Melissa on the shoulder. “Are you going to be all right?”
Melissa suppressed a sob. “I’ll be fine. It’s been a long day and I just need a good night of sleep. That’s all.”
She wished a few hours of rest could fix all her problems. Instead, she’d be meeting with her handler in a little more than an hour and a half. Her world would never be the same again.
“Whatever’s going on will get better with time. I promise,” Mrs. Klein soothed.
The woman had no idea how complicated Melissa’s life had become.
“At least take something for your trouble.” Melissa held out the fistful of twenties toward Mrs. Klein.
“If it’ll make you feel better.” The old woman peeled off the top twenty and tucked it inside her pocket. She winked. “I’ll take Bernard out to breakfast with that money in the morning.”
“Thank you for everything,” Melissa said. She closed and locked the door after watching Mrs. Klein walk across the street to see that she was safely home. She texted Carolina that she’d left the party.
Melissa was relieved that the older woman hadn’t pressed to find out what was really wrong with her. She’d been mute for twelve long months, save for the conversations she’d had with the feds, and she wanted to shout from the rooftops now that she was free. But she wasn’t really free. Richard was still out there. Somewhere. Melissa shivered at the thought. She was about to leave everything she’d ever known behind for witness protection because of that man. And there was a very real possibility that she would never see Colin again. A sob tried to escape. She suppressed it.
The feds had said that Richard should be somewhere near the Canadian border by now. Melissa had been under so much duress, especially in the past two months since talking with the agents, that she could barely think straight. She told herself that was the reason she’d been misguided enough to think seeing Colin one more time would somehow fill the ache in her chest.
Everything had spun out of control. Her relationship with the feds hadn’t exactly been a friendly alliance. The only reason she’d collected evidence against Richard was because they threatened to take Angelina away from her. Ever since they’d approached her while she picked up the mail that cold January morning, she’d been walking a tightrope.
Richard had been good at covering his tracks, so culling evidence against him had been difficult. She’d eventually gathered the proof needed for the feds to get an arrest warrant. She’d risked her life, not to mention her daughter’s. And what had they done with Richard? Allowed him to escape. No one could save Melissa now if Richard got to her. If it wasn’t for Angelina, for that smiling angelic face, Melissa would’ve lost hope a long time ago.
Melissa was weary, lonely, and part of her felt like she’d never live a normal life again. At least her father was in protective custody. His health was sketchy but he was in a decent facility in the Pacific Northwest. That’s the only information she’d been given and that’s all she needed to know. She wasn’t ready to forgive her father for what he’d done to ruin both of their lives, but she’d felt the need to protect him. And now, she and Angelina would be Bethany and Claire soon. A new life, a fresh start, shouldn’t feel like such a death sentence. But it would be because they’d be living a life without Colin.
Head pounding, heart aching, she closed her eyes before leaning against the door and then sinking until her bottom hit the hardwood floor. She twisted off her wedding ring, noticing the red marks on her finger it left behind because it had always been a little too tight, and threw it across the room. Relief flooded her at getting that thing off her finger. She’d put it on so no one would question her about it. The only reason she’d held on to the ring was because she figured she could sell it if times got tight. The government had made promises to her, but who really knew if they could be trusted? They’d allowed Richard to slip through their fingers and that wasn’t exactly reassuring.
Seconds turned into minutes and Melissa had no idea how long she’d been sitting there when she finally opened her eyes again.
Her father was safe. The baby was safe. Colin was safe. And she was exhausted.
She blocked out thoughts of how much Colin hated her now. She’d seen it in his eyes as he stalked toward her. The anger was so palpable that she’d had to turn her face away. Right then, she knew that he would never forgive her for leaving. And what had she really expected? For him to tell her everything would be okay? A hug?
Maybe it was good that Melissa Rancic would no longer exist in less than—she checked the clock—an hour. Maybe it was time to turn over a new leaf. Maybe it was time to make a new life for herself and Angelina. The thought of causing Colin any more pain was like a knife to her heart anyway. He deserved so much more.
She pushed up to stand as a knock sounded on the door from behind. She jumped. Her heart leapt to her throat and her chest squeezed. That same old feeling of panic, of the walls closing in and the air thinning, threatened to debilitate her. And that same question burned through her mind...had Richard found her?
No. That was impossible. He was probably in Canada by now.
The knocks sounded again, a little louder, a little more urgent.
Her mind spun. All the anxiety crashed down around her, freezing her limbs and making something as simple as taking a breath hurt.
Hold on a second. Richard wouldn’t knock at her front door nor would anyone he sent. That was way too direct. He would slip in during the night and slit her throat.
She glanced around the room, searching for a purse or jacket. Mrs. Klein most likely forgot something and she was returning to get it. The simple explanation was usually the right one no matter how much her brain protested and fear overtook her.
Melissa flipped the switch to the porch light and checked out the peephole. The light was out. Had it been like that before? Melissa couldn’t remember. This was an old house. It belonged to her cousin’s best friend. It had a lot of quirks.
Yes. It had. She remembered a little while ago when Mrs. Klein had gone home that the porch light hadn’t been working. No way was Melissa opening that door without confirmation.
“Mrs. Klein?” Melissa said softly, and then waited for a response.
A high-pitched murmur of acknowledgment came.
As Melissa opened the door, she said, “What did you—”
And then froze.
She gasped as panic roared through her. She quickly regained her bearings and pushed the door, trying to shut it quickly even though it wouldn’t budge. There was something wedged at the base. She glanced down. The toe of Colin’s boot stared up at her.
“Not so fast, Melissa.” He pushed open the door a little too easily and brushed past her.
* * *
“YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE,” Melissa said with more panic than anger, and he noticed that she’d positioned her body between him and the stairs. Was she blocking him for a reason? Was someone up there? Richard?
“I almost didn’t come.” Colin had followed Melissa on a whim. And then he’d sat at the end of the street trying to decide if he should knock or not. Seeing her with Richard would knife him, but maybe he needed that reinforcement to be able to finally let go. He’d been stuck in a place between still loving her and the kind of pain he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy for the past year. Seeing her dredged up feelings he thought he’d learned to live with, or live without, depending on how he looked at it.
“Why did you?” she asked.
“Is he here?” Colin motioned toward the base of the staircase, ignoring her question. That old anger from her leaving him for a flash-in-the-pan guy like Richard renewed.
She looked down and then shook her head.
He didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until that moment. Forcing himself to exhale slowly, he also noticed that she wasn’t wearing her ring anymore and she looked completely wrung out. Had the two of them been in a fight?
Colin shouldn’t want to interfere with a married couple’s business, but part of him needed to know that she was okay. “Did he do anything to you? Hurt you in any way?”
“No,” she said quickly. He couldn’t help but notice how her body was trembling.
He made a move toward her and she flinched. Another sign he didn’t like.
“Why did you come to the ranch?” He pinned her with his stare, letting his anger show in his words. He couldn’t afford to let her get inside his head or his heart.
“I wanted to see you,” she said, looking like she’d had to force the words out. She didn’t budge or invite him in, and she kept glancing toward the door like she expected her husband to walk through at any minute.
“Why?” he asked.
“We’re moving out of the country and I guess I got nostalgic for the past.” The corner of her mouth twitched. She was lying.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
She flashed her eyes at him but didn’t speak. Her body trembled as she brought her hand to her chest, signs that she was in a panic.
Nostalgia? This seemed an over-the-top reaction to being a little homesick.
“Everything going okay between the two of you?” Colin asked, a piece of him hoping she would say it wasn’t. There was so much off about her, he noticed. From her reaction to him to the way she talked about her husband, Colin didn’t know where to start with questions.
She nodded that it was. And that should be enough for Colin. He should walk right out the door and never look back. She’d broken his heart once, and this little visit was reopening old wounds that he had no doubt were going to sting for a long while after she left. If his heart was a muscle, it was memory causing his body to have this reaction to seeing her again, the one where he felt like the world was going to tumble down around him as soon as he walked out that door.
None of those feelings were welcomed. He stared at her, trying to read her to see if he could figure out why she’d really shown up at the ranch earlier. There was a time when knowing what was on her mind would’ve been second nature. But she’d changed. Colin might not be able to tell what she was thinking but he knew fear when he saw it. And she was afraid of something. If not her husband, then who? Him?
“So, he’s treating you right?” he asked, unable to stop pushing for the answers he really wanted but his pride wouldn’t allow him to ask. Like why she’d really ditched him for Richard in the first place.
“I said he was,” she said, and her body language changed. She folded her arms and gritted her back teeth in the way that she did when she was shoring her strength.
“You’re the one who came to see me and now you act like you can’t stand to be in the same room,” he said.
“Time for you to go,” she shot back.
Was she there to torture him? To remind him of what he’d lost? Did she really hate him that much?
A piece of him had to know if she’d walked away because she’d really stopped loving him like she’d said. He stalked toward her and she walked backward until she was against the wall. The stairs were to the left and the hallway to the right would take him into the kitchen.
Melissa’s hands came up in defense and she turned her face away, shutting her eyes.
This close, her heart thumped at the base of her throat wildly. The air changed and electricity pinged between them.
Their sexual chemistry hadn’t dimmed. Were her feelings for him really dead?
“You’re not getting away so easy this time.” Colin used his thumb on her chin to guide her face toward him. His other hand wrapped around the base of her neck. Being this close took a toll on him, on his body. He took in a sharp breath and, by accident, breathed in her scent. At least one thing hadn’t changed about her. She still smelled like sunshine after the first spring rain. All flowers and fresh air. “Why’d you take off your ring?”
She kept her eyes shut.
“I’m not leaving until you look at me and give me an answer.” She’d never been able to do that and lie. A piece of him dared to hope she was done with her marriage, that she could admit it had been a mistake and that she’d never stopped loving him. Colin knew it was his bruised ego wishing for that. Because he had enough pride to realize that he would never love her in the same way again no matter what excuses she gave for walking out. That innocence had been shattered into a thousand tiny pieces along with his heart, and he doubted he could ever love anyone in that same way again, especially not her.
Melissa opened her eyes, slowly, and it was like the sun cresting on the horizon. Those violet streaks like rays, bathing darkness with light. His heart clenched and his muscles corded as her hands came up to his chest. He expected a jab or for her to push him away, but instead she double fisted his shirt and tugged him toward her.
All rationale flew out the window as Colin’s pulse kicked up a few notches. He shouldn’t want to dip down and claim her heart-shaped pink lips again. He shouldn’t want to pull her body flush with his. He shouldn’t want to get lost inside her.
And that’s where he stopped.
Because he could never trust her enough to close his eyes again.
He pulled back, a little stunned at how easy it was to get trapped in old habits. How many times had they been in a similar position? Eager to rip each other’s clothes off and let the feelings they had for each other consume them in a splendid, heated flame until they lay gasping for air, their arms and legs tangled. How easy it had been to talk to her, to laugh with her.
And look where that had gotten him. Rejected. Hurt.
Anger flooded him because she was messing with his mind and the future they would never have—a future he shouldn’t want.
All he needed was to regain his sanity because Melissa was bad for him, and he knew that even if his body said otherwise.
She seemed to quickly regain her composure, and then she ducked out of his grasp.
“How did you know where to find me?” she asked.
“You weren’t hard to follow speeding through town,” he said.
“I have somewhere to be,” she said. “You need to leave.”
Colin glanced at his watch. “At eleven forty at night?”
“Yes,” she said with too much conviction. She was either lying or hiding something.
“Seems late for an appointment,” he said.
“I’m meeting up with someone...with him.” Her face morphed for a split second like it did when she felt guilty.
“Why did you come back?” he asked.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not staying,” she responded.
“Carolina said you wanted to talk to me,” he pressed.
“She’s mistaken.”
He shot her a look.
“I’m the one who made a mistake. I shouldn’t have gone to the ranch. Richard will be livid if he finds you here, so you need to go.”
“Fine.” Was she lying to protect Colin because he could see that she wasn’t being truthful? There was no way to shield him now. Not after what she’d done to him. No one could convince him that she cared for his feelings.
“I didn’t see your parents earlier. Would you tell them happy anniversary for me?” she asked, and he’d almost forgotten about that. They would have been married forty-two years next week.
But, wait, she hadn’t heard the news? Sheriff Tommy Johnson had done a great job of keeping the murder investigation out of the papers, but Colin assumed that everyone knew his parents had died. He glanced down and back before shaking his head. He still had a hard time finding the right words to talk about it.
“What?” She searched his gaze as if what he was about to say would be stamped there.
“They’re gone,” he managed to say.
“Oh, no,” she said with a little more alarm than seemed appropriate under the circumstances. She shouldn’t care about him or his family anymore. “What happened?”
“Tommy’s investigating their deaths,” he said, and a curious look overtook her features. Sheriff Johnson was a close friend and grew up with all six of the O’Brien boys. He was more like family and was taking the murder investigation even more personally as a result of how much he cared for the O’Brien family. Colin couldn’t pinpoint what was pinging through her thoughts but he could almost see the wheels churning. What was that all about?
“I’m so sorry,” she said, and she looked stunned. Maybe a little guilty, too.
Colin had every intention of figuring out why.
“Are you telling me that you didn’t know?” he asked, surprised, his curiosity getting the best of him.
“No.” She shook her head as though for emphasis. Did she really hate him so much that she’d completely cut herself off from any news about Bluff? About his folks? She’d cared about them once. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long. This is just a quick stop on my way to—” she paused and he figured she was about to make something up. “Galveston.” She raked her teeth across her bottom lip. “I’m so sorry about your parents.”
She’d been especially close to his mother. His mom had made sure that Melissa was included in all their family celebrations, saying over and over that it was about time there was a little more estrogen at the table. Mom had said that after being surrounded by six boys—boys that she adored—for most of her life that she couldn’t wait to have a girl in the family.
For a minute, she looked shocked and a little frail, which was unlike Melissa. She must’ve figured out what he was thinking because her defenses flared. “I always cared about your parents, you know that. Especially your mother. I would’ve sent something if I’d realized.”
Her voice broke and a look passed behind her eyes that he couldn’t quite pinpoint when she said that last word.
Did she know something about the murders?
No. No way. She didn’t even know his parents were gone before he told her.
Chapter Three (#ubdfa2a4f-f3cc-5fc4-ae6e-e1877221bb1f)
The only things keeping Melissa upright and on her feet were sheer determination and willpower. The second she’d heard the news about Colin’s parents she’d almost buckled. Had her worst fears been realized? Had Richard gotten to them because of some sick need to punish her? So many other questions swirled. If Mr. O’Brien was having an affair, could that be connected to the murders? Melissa quieted her internal thoughts. It was dangerous to give away her reaction to the news. She couldn’t risk Colin having any suspicion about Richard.
The news would spread soon enough that he was a criminal on the run, and Melissa would be long gone. Her handler, Marshal Davis, had been keeping the situation out of the news until Melissa could disappear. Speaking of which, it was almost time to meet him. If she didn’t show at their rendezvous point, he’d start looking for her and she didn’t need him asking around or giving more cause for concern. There were enough red flags in the air and she’d done enough damage on her own coming to Bluff.
An immediate problem of six feet two inches of raw masculinity stood in front of her. Melissa needed to think of a way to get him out of there so she could grab her sleeping infant and run. A wave of guilt assaulted her at thinking how much Colin had missed—how much he would miss—of his daughter’s life. But with Richard on the loose, it was even more important to keep Colin and the baby separate for both of their protection.
If Colin knew about his daughter, it would be impossible to keep him away or stop him from fighting for custody. Once things settled down, the ranch would be an obvious place for Richard to look. As long as he was on the loose, Angelina was in danger.
But it was Colin’s parents. She had to know if there was even a slight possibility that Richard could’ve been involved. “Like I said, I’m truly sorry to hear about your parents, Colin. When did it happen?”
“They were killed September of last year.” His words were a sober reminder of how dangerous Richard could be. A thought struck. Could she leave Angelina with Colin? The ranch was probably safer than the US Treasury.
No. It wouldn’t work. Richard believed Angelina was his daughter. If he heard or saw her with Colin it would be too easy to put the pieces together. Until Richard was safely locked away or dead, she couldn’t risk it. She mumbled an apology under her breath and a prayer for forgiveness.
“What happened to them?” she asked.
“At first, we believed Dad had a heart attack while driving and wrecked with both him and Mom in the car. Something felt off to Tommy so he ran labs. Toxicology report came back with poison in their systems,” he said.
“That’s awful. How on earth could they be poisoned?” Melissa’s heart broke at hearing the details.
“Tommy doesn’t know. It would have to be someone who had access to both of them. Mom had hosted their annual party for local artists earlier that night, so a few people had admission to the ranch,” he said.
“I’m guessing Tommy already checked everyone out at the party, including staff,” she said, still trying to absorb the news. It was selfish to think about the fact that Angelina would never know her grandparents. There was always some small part of Melissa wishing things would magically work out and she and Colin would end up together. It was a crazy notion that had given her the tiniest sliver of hope in what had been the worst year of her life save for the birth of her child.
“He did. All he has so far is the poison. He doesn’t know how it got in their systems or what the motive for murder could be,” Colin said. “There’s a slight chance that they ingested the poison accidentally.”
“Except what are the chances they both ingested the same thing at the same time?” she said out loud, not meaning to. She shouldn’t add fuel to the fire. Colin might find out the truth about his father and that would crush him. She still could scarcely believe that the man would have an affair. She’d argued with Richard, putting up more of a fight than she knew better to, refusing to accept his accusation at first. And that had led to an even bigger fight between them when he’d accused her of defending the O’Briens because she still loved Colin.
In order to survive, she’d had to swallow her emotions and convince Richard that she loved him. Only him. If someone had told her that she’d be able to sell that lie a year ago she would’ve laughed. Finding out she was pregnant had changed her priorities. Nothing mattered more to her than keeping Colin’s baby safe.
As a mother, she’d found a new well of strength to draw from than she had ever known existed inside her. Angelina’s safety took precedence over everyone and everything.
“It’s late, Colin. I need to go,” she said, using all the courage she could muster to speak those words. Being with Colin again was taking a toll on her, body, soul and mind. She was grateful that Angelina was a sound sleeper. Melissa had a prayer of getting out of this situation without doing any more damage.
Coming back to Bluff had been a mistake. Seeing the pain in Colin’s eyes was heartbreaking. And that would be the last image she would have of him to hold on to. She had hoped to see him happy, to see his charismatic smile. His sexy half grin that had been so good at making her pulse race and her body ache in that perfect way. She hadn’t counted on seeing him still so miserable. Or wanting to touch him so much that she physically hurt.
Blocking out the pain, an act she’d mastered in the past twelve months, she pushed past him and then opened the front door wide. She needed to meet her handler so she could disappear. The thought she was running from her problems struck. She pushed it aside.
Yes, the man standing in front of her was an issue. Yes, he deserved to know about Angelina. Yes, his daughter deserved to know about him. Not now. Not if it meant putting their little girl in danger. Even Colin would agree that Angelina had to come first.
She pushed the door open as wide as it would go.
“Please, Colin, don’t make me ask again.” She prayed he didn’t pick up on the desperate note in her tone.
* * *
COLIN SAT IN his vehicle contemplating the conversation he’d just had with Melissa for a good twenty minutes. Something about the way she’d asked him to leave didn’t sit right. Forget the electricity they still shared, sex had always been a whole other experience with her, and it was muscle memory causing the heat between them to sizzle like it was yesterday. He’d felt the chemistry, loud and powerful, when her back had been against the wall and there wasn’t more than a foot of space between her full breasts and his chest.
She was married to someone else and Colin would never act on his impulses. He’d stopped having sex for sex’s sake when he became old enough to fight for his country. He’d done a tour and then returned home. His reputation for dating around might be true, but he was selective when it came to who he spent time with and even more so with women he slept with.
Colin had an ironclad commandment about not messing around with another man’s wife. Even if he and Melissa had belonged to each other at one time, his rule was etched in stone and applied no matter how much his heart tried to protest. Or tell him that she was still his after all this time.
Logic ruled. It was time to move on.
Then there was the reaction she’d had to the news about his parents and the questions that had followed.
What was the point of worrying about it? She’d said that she was about to move and was homesick. Colin needed to accept it and move on. He was just about to start his ignition and drive off when he saw twin headlights exit the alley. Curiosity got the best of him, so he followed Melissa’s car. All he needed was to see her with Richard to imprint the new reality of her being married to someone else into his brain. Colin was visual and he needed that image in order to stamp out all those other thoughts that kept creeping in. Thoughts of how sweet she still smelled, all floral and sunshine. Thoughts of how soft her skin still was when he’d touched her arm. Thoughts of how rapid her breathing had become when they were standing too close. All of which was dangerous for Colin to acknowledge.
Melissa was married to Richard Rancic. The words sat bitter on his tongue as he cut right, allowing enough distance between cars so that she wouldn’t realize she was being followed. She’d made her choice. She was Melissa Rancic now. It was high time his mind caught up.
Cutting right a few seconds after she did, he was flooded with memories—memories he fought to keep from overtaking his thoughts. Letting go of her wasn’t going to be easy but he’d find a way. He had to. Because a little voice, the one that still knew her, said that once she left town she wasn’t coming back this time. Colin’s heart fisted again. He reminded himself that it was a good thing to acknowledge and accept the situation for what it was.
Melissa made another turn into the parking lot of the lawnmower store at the edge of town. It was located at the edge of the last neighborhood in Bluff before hay bales and country roads dotted the landscape. The lots were one-to-two acres in this area.
On three sides of the parking lot were woods, basically mesquite trees with two feet of underbrush. It was most likely Colin’s military training that had him checking the perimeter for any signs of danger and not the hairs that pricked on the back of his neck. Why would she meet her husband after midnight in an empty parking lot?
Scenarios started running through his mind as he pulled past the lot, turned off his headlights and then made a U-turn. Was it his heart and not his logical mind saying that she wanted out of the marriage? If there had been abuse she would be smarter to meet out in the open in a busy place, like a restaurant. This would be the worst possible spot. Empty, abandoned for all practical purposes. Images of her being abducted against her will assaulted him. And that was most likely his training taking over. Now he really needed to stick around to make sure she was okay.
There was a street lamp in the middle of the empty parking lot, and that was the only light around. The building was completely blacked out. All of Colin’s danger radar flared. He wanted her to park under the light at least.
She didn’t.
Melissa parked at the far corner of the lot with woods to each side. What was she thinking? He thought he’d trained her better than that in personal safety in the time they were together. She might be meeting her husband but any whacko could take advantage of this situation.
Did she really not have sense enough to think this through? Or had he rattled her? He blamed himself for that, figuring their conversation had upset her more than she’d wanted to let on. Seeing her again had certainly done a number on him.
Colin pulled over to the side of the road where he could see vehicles as they entered and exited the lot. There was only one other place a car could turn in and it came from a country road that ended at Sander’s farm a half hour down the road.
He wanted eyes on Rancic. And then he could finally convince himself to let her go.
A light blue sedan turned right into the lot fifteen minutes later. Colin exited his vehicle and moved stealthily along the tree line in order to get a good look at the exchange, telling himself that he needed to be close enough to see their faces. Maybe he was a glutton for punishment, and it seemed his heart would agree with that statement as a knifelike pain stabbed through him with each forward step. He told himself that he was making ground on being able to let go of the grip she had on him, still had on him. That thought carried his steps forward.
The headlights illuminated Melissa’s car and Colin could see her clearly from his position as she exited her vehicle. She should be happy to see her husband, shouldn’t she?
All Colin saw clearly was fear as Rancic parked and cut the lights. Colin moved to get a better look. Melissa’s attention shifted from Rancic to the backseat of her car as she backed away from him.
What was that all about?
Colin’s fear that their marriage had gone sour seemed to be playing out in front of him. Based on her expression, she was scared to death of the guy.
All his instincts told him to walk away. Melissa had made her choice and it wasn’t his place to interfere with a husband and wife. And yet he knew without a doubt that he was about to do just that...interfere. She could thank him or curse him later.
As Colin broke out of the tree line, the sheriff’s cruiser sped across the lot. Melissa used the distraction to lock herself inside the vehicle. Smart. He’d hang back behind her car and let Tommy do his job.
Rancic dove into his vehicle and managed to come up behind the wheel. He gunned the engine in reverse, burning rubber. His tires finally gripped the concrete and he sped backward.
Tommy must not’ve seen the barrel of the shotgun poking out from the driver’s side an inch or two as he hit his brakes, no doubt ready to turn around and give chase. Fire shot out the end as the blast split the air, burning through Colin’s ears as he pushed off the back of Melissa’s vehicle and bolted toward the sheriff’s SUV.
Rancic was out of there by the time Colin reached Tommy.
He pulled his friend from his vehicle and laid him out on the cement. Blood was everywhere as Colin scanned Tommy’s body, assessing the damage.
“Damn shotgun,” Tommy said, and his voice was a little too calm. No doubt, he was in shock.
Colin knew enough about weapons to know just how dangerous shotgun shells were to bulletproof vests. They weren’t rated for those because they didn’t have a consistent velocity. Tommy had taken a bullet to his left side and blood covered his shirt. A red dot flowered. Colin needed to stop the bleeding.
“How bad is it? Be honest,” Tommy said as he searched Colin’s face, no doubt looking for a reaction so he could gauge his injury.
“You’re going to be just fine.” It was the lie every soldier had told no matter how grave the damage looked.
He maintained his game face and could only pray that no major organs or arteries had been pierced as he shrugged out of his T-shirt and then used it to place pressure on the wound.
Suddenly Melissa was there, too, and sounds of a baby crying came from a distance.
“It’s getting colder out here,” Tommy said, already shivering.
“Stay with me, man,” Colin said.
“What can I do?” Melissa asked as Colin looked up at her.
“Call 911. Now,” he said.
Chapter Four (#ubdfa2a4f-f3cc-5fc4-ae6e-e1877221bb1f)
Colin paced in Bluff General’s waiting room after giving his statement to Deputy Garcia. The deputy had gone to speak to hospital staff, leaving Colin to wait alone for updates.
Blue carpet, blue chairs and stark white walls couldn’t erase the bloody images scrolling through Colin’s mind. There was blood on his shirt, Tommy’s blood. Tommy had been shot by Melissa’s husband. Estranged husband, a little voice in his head clarified. Colin could hardly wrap his thoughts around what had happened even though he’d seen it with his own eyes.
Tommy had been immediately taken into surgery, and Colin had called his brothers to deliver the news. His eldest brother, Dallas, was on his way to the hospital. The others would soon follow. Tommy needed all the family around him that he could get, and the O’Briens were a tight-knit bunch.
Personally, Colin had seen the inside of the county hospital a few too many times recently. As far as desirable places to end up went, Bluff General bottomed his list. In the six months since his parents’ murders, several of his brothers had ended up in a room not unlike the one Tommy was in now. Many of his siblings had also found the loves of their lives in recent months, but that was a whole different subject. Colin had believed that he’d found his in Melissa.
If that weren’t enough to make his head spin, Melissa had a baby. Colin didn’t want to acknowledge the anger burning through his chest, considering she’d been adamant about waiting to have children with him.
He forced himself to stop pacing and take a seat.
The thought of Melissa having Richard Rancic’s child hit Colin harder than a battering ram. It made her marriage to another man feel very real. Thinking back to the way she’d acted so cagey at the house and how quickly she’d ushered him out the door had him wondering if she’d wanted to hide her baby from him. Richard Rancic was a criminal and a jerk. For the life of Colin he couldn’t figure out why she’d marry the guy, let alone have his child. Colin stabbed his fingers through his dark hair. Speaking of Melissa, she should be there by now. He glanced around.
Dallas should arrive any minute. Tommy was more like a brother than a friend and he was fighting for his life. Going over the scenario again and again was about to make Colin’s head explode.
Caffeine. He needed a giant cup of black coffee about now.
Colin pushed off the chair as Melissa rounded the corner. A pink blanket swathed a small bundle cradled in her arms. Melissa’s baby was somehow tinier than he’d expected. The child must be asleep because she didn’t move.
“How’s Tommy?” Melissa’s eyes were wide and stress lines bracketed her mouth. She glanced down at her baby and another emotion flickered that he had trouble pinpointing. Guilt?
“He’s in surgery,” Colin said, noticing how she kept one arm underneath the little bundle and her other hand on the baby’s back. How much did it blow his mind to think that Melissa had a daughter?
Damn.
“What happened back there? You told me that you were meeting your husband and then you looked scared to death when he showed. What aren’t you telling me?” Colin asked, taking note of the dark look that passed behind her eyes when he said the word husband.
“It’s nothing. A misunderstanding,” Melissa said, and the corner of her mouth twitched in the way it did when she was scared.
“That’s impossible. Tommy’s lying on a bed being cut open right now and that sure isn’t because of nothing,” Colin said, his voice raised in frustration.
“I didn’t mean—” The little girl stirred and panic washed over Melissa’s features.
He needed to take a minute to calm down.
“I can’t talk about it right now,” she said quietly, motioning toward the baby.
Colin rubbed his chin and turned to face the other direction. He couldn’t help but notice how natural Melissa looked holding her daughter and he shouldn’t want the child in her arms to be his. She wasn’t. That reality crashed around Colin like a rogue wave, unexpected and all-consuming. It caught him off guard, but he couldn’t afford to care right now. Not with Tommy down the hall in surgery and Melissa tight-lipping his questions about her husband.
Part of his anger had to do with his pent-up emotions about Melissa. He’d have to figure out a way to make peace with the fact that she’d married someone else and was now a mother. The thought was going to take a minute to sink in. Seeing the little girl made good strides toward acceptance.
“Have you been happy?” He surprised himself with the question.
“About her?” she asked, and then answered before he could respond. “Absolutely.”
There was so much conviction in her voice that he didn’t question her answer.
“What was all that about back there, Melissa? I saw Richard. I know he shot Tommy,” he said. Her husband’s name sat bitterly on his tongue. “What’s he doing that you won’t talk about?”
She turned away from him.
“The man just shot a sheriff, Melissa,” Colin said, his anger on the rise again. He shouldn’t be frustrated at thinking about a time when there were no secrets between them. She’d betrayed him, he reminded himself, needing to gain his bearings again. Because his heart stirred while standing this close to her, and he didn’t want to care this much about anyone ever again. He told himself that his reaction had to do more with her safety than his own out-of-control emotions.
Melissa bounced her little girl gently, continuing to ignore him while the baby slept. Curiosity was starting to get the best of him. He couldn’t see the baby’s face, which was just a distraction anyway, and he wasn’t sure he could handle seeing the product of Richard and Melissa together. More proof that Melissa had never belonged to him in the first place. Then again, maybe that’s exactly what he needed: a reality check.
“I can’t talk about it with you,” she said.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Does it matter? Either way I’m not talking, Colin.” Again, hearing his name on her tongue brought an onslaught of feelings he needed to ignore.
“Why not, Melissa?” Did she hate him that much?
“It’s complicated,” she said on a sigh, still bouncing as the nervous tick returned.
On closer look, there was so much stress and worry in her eyes.
“What’s going on between you and your husband?” Colin asked a little too loudly, causing the baby to stir again.
“Shhh. You’ll wake her.” Melissa patted the little girl’s back and started humming.
Colin didn’t want to disturb the baby. From what he knew about little ones, which wasn’t much until recently, once they were awake all grown-up discussion ceased.
Maybe he needed a minute to clear his thoughts. His emotions were riding high after watching one of his best friends take a bullet. Seeing Melissa at the ranch earlier had sent him to a dark place to begin with, and watching her now wasn’t improving the situation.
“I need coffee,” he said, stalking out the door, needing to walk away and gain some perspective. He didn’t want to notice how much she was trembling or how hard she was working to put on a brave front. Her eyes had always been her tell, and right now hers said that she was terrified. Of Colin? No way could she think he would hurt her. Her husband was another story and one Colin planned to hear in detail before he let her walk out that door again. And especially now that Richard had tried to kill a sheriff.
The coffee was just how Colin liked it, strong and hot. He took a sip to clear his head. Took another when that didn’t work. There were too many residual feelings coloring his thoughts, not to mention the stress that came with not knowing how Tommy was doing yet. Colin had already checked three times in fifteen minutes before Melissa had arrived.
“Any word on Tommy?” Dallas asked as he walked inside the break room.
“All I know is that he’s in surgery.” Colin gave his brother a bear hug before shaking his head. He poured a fresh cup and then handed it to Dallas. “It could be a while before we hear anything.”
“Well then, no news is probably good news.” Dallas took a sip, worry lines etched in his forehead as he gave Colin a once-over, his gaze fixed on the large red stain centered on Colin’s shirt.
“It’s all his blood. I’m fine,” Colin reassured.
“I might have an extra shirt in my truck if you want to put on something clean,” Dallas offered.
Colin had washed his hands not long after arriving at the hospital when a nurse had tried to put him in a wheelchair and take him into the back for a check. He’d had to lift his shirt to show her there were no marks on his body to convince her.
“I may take you up on that,” he said to Dallas.
“You said Tommy was in the parking lot of Zahn Lawn Mower Supply. Any idea what he was doing out there so late?” Dallas asked. Colin had only given his brother essential information. Tommy had been shot and he was at Bluff General. Richard Rancic was armed and dangerous.
“Good question.” There was another one that would follow.
“What were you doing there?” Dallas didn’t wait long to hit him with that one. That was an even better question. Colin was still trying to figure that out. Dallas didn’t ask about Melissa, but the questions about her were written in his tense expression.
“She ran away so fast at the Fling,” he finally said.
Dallas compressed his lips and gave a nod, saying he understood. It was good that someone did because Colin was still scratching his head over the night’s events. Talk about an evening going haywire. His friend was fighting for his life in a hospital bed and the woman he’d wanted to marry had a child.
“What did she say when you showed up?” Dallas asked.
“I parked to the side, trying to decide if I was going to talk to her or not.” It wasn’t entirely untrue. “Then, I saw her husband pull into the lot and she seemed real uncomfortable. I thought she was supposed to be meeting him.” Colin’s voice hitched on that last word.
“Why would a husband be meeting his wife in a parking lot at midnight?” Dallas asked, and then sipped his coffee.
“I’d like to hear the answer to that question for myself, but she’s not talking.” Based on her terrorized expression when she saw Richard, he was the last person she’d expected to show. It was clear to Colin that she was scared to death of the guy, which made even less sense. Rancic was a jerk and his business reputation said he was cutthroat. Didn’t make him a criminal. So, why did the guy show up and then shoot a sheriff? Obviously, there was a lot going on. Had Melissa left her husband? Was Richard so determined to get her back that he’d shot a sheriff, realized what he’d done and then fled the scene?
“So, she’s here?” Dallas asked.
Colin nodded.
“Have you spoken to her?” Dallas’s eyebrow shot up.
“There hasn’t been much time. She stayed back with officers at the scene. I’ve been busy giving all the information I could to the hospital workers since I was the one who’d been stemming the blood flow and administering CPR. And then I gave a statement to the deputy,” Colin said.
“Garcia?” Dallas asked.
Colin nodded again.
“Melissa just showed up here a few minutes ago and it didn’t exactly go well between us,” he said with a shrug. “Guess I needed a minute to clear my head before taking another go at it with her.”
“It’s hard when you have so much history,” Dallas agreed.
When Colin had been standing close to her at the house, he hadn’t noticed anything unusual on her body. There was no bruising, no other marks of any kind indicating abuse. She still had that same rosy skin, a combination of cream and silk. And yet she was terrified of her husband and that made Colin believe their relationship had been abusive.
“She has a kid now,” was all Colin said. He took a sip of coffee.
“You okay?” Dallas asked. “I can take things from here if you want to go cool off somewhere. Go get cleaned up and come back.”
“I’ll be fine. Me and Melissa were a long time ago,” he said, mostly for his own benefit. “A lot’s changed since we went out, and let’s not forget that she’s married to someone else.”
Dallas did the “tight lip/nod” thing again. “That’s probably a healthy way to look at it.”
“Not much choice, is there.” It wasn’t a question. He didn’t repeat the fact that she and Richard had a child together. Colin could’ve lived the rest of his life without knowing that detail.
Dallas shrugged with an apologetic look.
“Here’s what else I know. Tommy comes roaring through the parking lot soon after Rancic, no lights or sirens. And then I’m really confused about what’s going on,” Colin continued. “The next thing I see is Tommy being shot. Rancic squeals out of the parking lot and I’m trying to save my friend’s life.”
“That’s a lot to have coming at you at once.” Dallas shot a look that said he was talking about more than the incident in the parking lot with Tommy.
Colin studied his coffee cup before taking a sip.
“For the record, I still think it’s a good idea to get some fresh air,” Dallas added.
“I’m not leaving until I know Tommy’s going to be okay and I get a few answers out of Melissa. Who knows when she’ll take off and I might never see her again.” Colin ground his back teeth. He gripped the coffee cup a little too tight.
“You sure about that last part?” Dallas’s brow lifted.
“As sure as the sun rises in the east,” Colin said.
Another one of Dallas’s concerned looks creased his brother’s forehead.
“It might help that you’re here. She always liked you and she never did anything to put a wedge between the two of you,” Colin said.
“Hell yes she did,” Dallas said without hesitation. “She hurt my brother.”
Colin topped off both of their cups before urging his brother out of the lounge. “Let’s go get some answers.”
* * *
MELISSA TEXTED HER handler for the sixth time since the incident in the parking lot and an ominous feeling settled over her. Where was Marshal Davis? And how on earth had Richard found her? He was supposed to be in Canada by now. If Tommy and Colin hadn’t shown when they did she’d be dead.
Her body trembled no matter how hard she tried to settle down. A thought struck. Was there any possibility that Richard was the reason Marshal Davis hadn’t shown?
The US marshal was most likely a victim of Bluff’s spotty cell coverage, but being without contact after everything that had happened caused a cold chill to trickle down her spine. That uneasy feeling gripped her again as she rocked Angelina.
Tommy Johnson was shot and she couldn’t help but blame herself. If she had stayed away from Bluff none of this would be happening. Her stress levels were climbing through the roof and another big part of that had to do with the man down the hall. Colin would be back any second with questions she couldn’t answer. And especially not without speaking to Marshal Davis first.
Angelina whimpered in her sleep.
“It’s okay, sweet girl,” Melissa soothed, wishing it were that simple in all areas of her life.
Thinking about the possibility of Colin realizing the little girl was his daughter sent another tremor racing through Melissa. She couldn’t allow him to put the pieces together, to know about Angelina. She’d done a great job of hiding the little girl’s face so far. Could she keep it up until Marshal Davis showed? He had to show. He was her ticket to a new life, a safe life.
Melissa needed to get out of Bluff and disappear. Witness protection never sounded better. Although, there was no way she could leave without knowing Tommy was going to be okay. And she didn’t dare risk Angelina’s life by walking out the hospital door alone. Melissa was no fool. Richard was out there, somewhere. He would make good on his promise to destroy her and everyone she loved if he saw her.
Suddenly, the walls felt like they were closing in because if Colin figured out that Angelina was his, there’d be no walking out that door without him.
Okay, breathe.
The world seemed like it was crumbling down around her. All she had to do was let her baby sleep while Melissa obstructed the view of her face until her handler called. She could do that. She’d been through so much more in the past year. Melissa wanted to run, to escape in her car and disappear. She wasn’t fool enough to go outside without protection.
Richard had nothing to lose. He was already wanted by the federal government. And now, a sheriff who happened to be her childhood friend lay on an operating table because of Richard—because of her. Icy tendrils gripped her spine as her pulse raced. She checked her cell’s screen again. No messages.
Melissa stood up and then crossed the waiting room. Maybe she could find another place to sit and still be safe? On second thought, she seriously doubted it. The hospital had security but not the caliber she needed to keep Richard at bay. There was no place to hide from him except here with the O’Briens, where Colin could protect her and Angelina.
A panicked feeling made Melissa pace even faster. Everything inside her wanted to run out that door and keep going, except her heart. That stubborn organ wanted to be near Colin because he was the only person who’d ever made her feel safe. She’d taken that for granted when they’d been together before. But then, what had she had to run from? She’d had no idea what kind of monster lurked in Bluff a year ago. Any creature that she could conjure in her mind paled in comparison to Richard. He was worse than a monster. He was pure evil.
The scuffle of boots sounded in the hallway and she didn’t need to turn around to know that Colin had entered the room. She faced him.
“Dallas,” she said, startled. In an attempt to recover, she added, “It’s good to see you again.”
“You, too, Melissa.” Dallas stood behind his brother.
Melissa hoped he couldn’t hear her heart thudding against her ribs at the thought of two O’Briens in the room. If either one of them got a look at her daughter it was over.
It wasn’t a selfish desire that had her wanting to keep Angelina a secret. Although she had that, too. It was survival. Either of them figured out paternity and Colin would follow her to the ends of the earth to find her and his child. But then, she hadn’t really thought this through because this whole room would be filled with O’Briens soon.
Her chest squeezed thinking about it. She was trying to move away from danger, not put everyone in front of the firing squad. As long as Angelina was resting, Melissa should be able to hide her true identity. Sleep, my little angel. Sleep.
Melissa couldn’t allow herself to think about anything but Tommy being okay. Finding her handler ran a close second.
“I take it no one’s come in with an update?” Dallas asked as Colin moved by the window and stared outside.
She desperately wanted to ask him to move away from there.
“Not yet,” she said. “I’m really sorry about what happened to Tommy.”
A few tears free-fell despite her attempts to force them back.
“It’s not your fault,” Colin said under his breath.
She wasn’t so sure.
“I can help you with your daughter if you’d like a break,” Dallas said, offering to hold her.
“No,” Melissa said too quickly. “I just don’t want to take a chance of waking her with everything going on.”
The blanket slipped with movement and she secured it back in place. With Dallas standing close and Colin on the other side of the room, it was going to be a challenge to keep Angelina’s face concealed.
Dallas’s right brow raised but he didn’t immediately comment.
“I never knew how little sleep any of our parents must’ve gotten until my son, Jackson, came into my life,” he finally said, and then motioned toward chairs near Colin. “At least sit down.”
“You have a child?” she asked as she glanced at the chairs and then at Colin. Angelina stirred and Melissa’s heart dropped. Please, little angel.
“And a wife,” Dallas said.
“What?” Melissa didn’t mean to sound so shocked. She smiled at him as she moved to the farthest wall and took a seat.
“A lot has changed since you left,” Dallas said with a glance toward Colin.
“Well, congratulations,” she said. “You looked very happy when you mentioned your family.”
Dallas smiled and took a seat next to her.
“What’s her name?” He motioned toward the baby.
“Angelina,” she said quietly. Out of her periphery, she saw Colin’s reaction as his entire body tensed. It had been a moment of weakness that had her needing to use that name—the name that she and Colin had said they’d use if they ever had a daughter.
Dallas seemed to pick up on the added tension when he changed the subject by asking if Melissa wanted anything to drink.
“No, thanks,” she said. “I’m still shocked at hearing you got married. It’s good. And I think it’s amazing that you have a son.”
“It’s funny how everyone tells you that you won’t sleep when you have a baby, but no one says that you won’t mind,” Dallas said, that O’Brien pride written all over his features.
“I couldn’t be happier for you, Dallas.” She would bet any one of the O’Brien boys would make a great father, and her heart especially believed that about Colin. A wave of sadness crashed into her. She checked her phone again. The sooner she heard from Marshal Davis, the faster she could leave.
“Thank you. He’s a great kid. I hope you’ll swing by the ranch and meet my wife, Kate,” he said, and that comment netted a harsh look from Colin.
“I’d like that,” she said, even though the words were hollow. Liking the idea wasn’t the problem. She’d be Bethany soon enough and would never be allowed to look back. And especially not while Richard was a free man. Probably not after, either, considering he managed a network of ruthless criminals.
Speaking of the devil, she really needed to update Marshal Davis about Richard being in Bluff. She hoped Davis wasn’t waiting at their meet-up, but how could he be? She hadn’t thought about it before but there’d been cell coverage in the parking lot. She’d used her phone to call for an ambulance and yet she hadn’t heard from her handler.
Her cell buzzed, causing her to jump. She checked the text. Relief washed over her and through her when she saw the initials from her handler along with a text message. The second blessing was that Angelina didn’t wake.
New meet-up location: Bluff Motel.
“I have to go.” Melissa dropped the phone into her bag and felt around for the car keys.
Colin moved in between her and the door.
“You’re not leaving without explaining yourself.”
Chapter Five (#ubdfa2a4f-f3cc-5fc4-ae6e-e1877221bb1f)
The baby stirred at Colin’s booming voice. Melissa’s heart dropped. This time, Angelina whined and Melissa knew that her daughter was about to cry.
“Shhh, baby. It’s okay,” Melissa soothed. She needed to get out of there fast before Colin saw her daughter’s face—correction, their daughter’s face. All Melissa’s plans at keeping everyone safe while starting a new life were being threatened. O’Brien men were too honest and too much about family for Colin to stand by while she took his daughter on the run without him knowing where they’d gone or if they’d return. Coming to the hospital had been a huge risk, but what choice did she have? She’d had no idea where her handler was and her daughter needed protection. The storm that had been brewing inside her was developing, swirling, threatening to devastate her.
There was a ray of sunshine, though. Marshal Davis had finally contacted her. He was okay. Melissa needed to get to the checkpoint so she could disappear. Wow, she didn’t expect that word to hurt so much.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” Dallas said. He stopped as he rounded by Angelina and all Melissa could think was, Keep walking, Dallas.
Melissa feared he’d have questions, especially if he made a quick calculation and estimated Angelina’s age. Her heart dropped as one of her worst nightmares threatened to play out before her eyes. She held her breath, waiting. Dallas gave her a look as he passed by but he didn’t say a word.
She let out the breath she’d been holding.
“What’s going on?” Colin’s tone was harsh, his words like daggers being thrown at her.
“Colin, I can’t do this right now,” she shot back under her breath, trying to will her body to stop shaking. “I need to take care of my daughter and I have to go.”

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