“Stop it.”

“Truth hurts?”

“Lies hurt, Stephanie.”

“Yeah. They do. And we’ve been a lie from minute one. I’m sorry I forgot about that.”

She nodded toward the door behind Alec. “Better get back to your job. My brothers can let me know what they decide.” Then she turned, searching for every scrap of dignity she could muster as she paced down the stairs.


As Alec reentered the house, the faces staring at him from the dining room table alternated between condemnation and frank curiosity.

“We stopped them from going after her,” Amber informed him.

“I’m sure you did.” Alec could well have imagined Jared and Royce’s first reaction was to rush outside and save their sister from him. “Thank you,” he finished, including both Amber and Melissa in his gratitude.

“We’re not selling the jumping stable,” Royce informed him, clearly ticked off.

Alec shook his head in disgust. When he’d planned his little speech, he’d planned it all the way to the end, where he revealed his master plan and became Stephanie’s hero. He hadn’t counted on her being so dogged in her interruptions. And he sure hadn’t counted on hearing such a painful truth about her feelings for him.

He’d been looking forward to getting back to Montana from the minute he left Stephanie at Brighton. Now all he wanted to was get the hell out of the state.

He dropped back into his chair. “I want you to sell the jumping stable to me.”

They all blinked at him in silence.

He threw up his hands, spelling it out in detail. “I’m married to Stephanie. It’ll be half hers. This way, Ryder International won’t be stuck with the financial liability, but she’ll still-”

“Did you tell that to Stephanie?” Amber asked.

He glared at her but didn’t answer the question. “I can afford the cash drain. I’ll be a silent partner.”

Jared snorted. “That’s why you don’t want her to have voting shares in Ryder International.”

“She’s going to be a little busy with other interests,” said Alec. That, and he’d selfishly assumed she might want a little time left over for him.

“You need to tell her,” said Melissa.

“So she’ll be grateful?” His voice was sharper than he intended, and Jared frowned at him.

“Sorry,” Alec apologized. “You all know my marriage to Stephanie is a sham-”

“Say what?” McQuestin seemed to come back to life.

“She’s pregnant,” said Alec, not willing to keep any more secrets.

“And you did the right thing?” asked McQuestin, lined face screwing up as he narrowed his eyes, sizing up Alec as if he was debating getting his shotgun. A little late for that.

“I did the right thing,” Alec confirmed. “I’ll live up to my responsibility, including providing for her and my child by buying and financing the Ryder Equestrian Center. But there’s nothing more than that between us.”

“Are you sure?” asked Amber.

“Positive,” said Alec.

Royce looked to Jared. “Yeah. Except that he’ll shoot any man who touches her.”

Jared’s eyebrows shot up, and he turned his attention to Alec. “You poor bastard.”

“What?” asked Melissa.

“It’s a joke,” said Royce. “A bad joke.”

“Explain,” demanded Amber.

Alec gathered his paperwork. Jared and Royce’s pity was the final straw. If a man had to have his heart broken, he could at least do it in private. “I’ll leave a copy of my recommendations for your review. You are, of course, welcome to use or discard anything.”

“Explain,” Melissa echoed.

Jared gave in. “You know, when Dad murdered Frank Stanton-”

McQuestin rocked forward. “What?”

Royce jumped in. “It’s a barometer of how much you love your wife.”

“Alec’s in love with Stephanie?” asked Melissa.

“Alec is saying goodbye,” said Alec, turning for the door.

McQuestin jumped into the fray. “Your father didn’t murder Frank Stanton.”

Everybody went silent and stared at McQuestin. Even Alec froze then turned back.

“It was self-defense,” said the old man. “Your mother had changed her mind. She refused to leave with Stanton. Stanton got mad and shot at your dad. He hit your mother by accident in the shoulder, and your father shot back. Your father was rushing her to the hospital when the truck went into the river.”

“Then why did Gramps hide the gun?” asked Jared.

“Make it look like a robbery.” McQuestin gave him a stern look. “Trials are unpredictable.”

And the affair would have been public knowledge. Alec didn’t agree with the action, but he thought he understood the motivation. Still, it didn’t change anything for him. His hope of a future with Stephanie was over. The sooner he got back to Chicago, the better.

The room went silent as everyone digested the revelation.

“I’ve got a plane to catch,” Alec put in. He didn’t exactly have a ticket, since he’d been hoping to stay here with Stephanie. But nobody needed to know that.

“If you leave,” Amber ventured, cocking her head sideways. “How are you going to shoot any man who touches her?”

“Nobody’s shooting anyone,” he returned. And Stephanie didn’t want or need his protection.

Royce came to his feet. “You’re just going to abandon her?”

“What part of marriage of convenience don’t you understand?”

“The part where you fell in love with my sister.”

Alec opened his mouth to deny it, but he found he couldn’t lie. There was no point in even attempting to salvage his pride. “She doesn’t love me.”

“Are you sure?” asked Amber.

Alec gave a sharp nod.

“Then change her mind,” Jared put in mildly. “Melissa didn’t start off loving me.”

Royce grinned. “And Amber took some convincing.”

Amber socked him in the arm. “I loved you, dummy. I just didn’t tell you about it.”

It was painful for Alec to watch the interplay. “It’s better if I just leave.”

“You sure?” McQuestin put in gruffly, his pale gaze boring into Alec. “Because if you’re wrong, and you break that little girl’s heart. I’m the one who’ll be shooting at you.”


Two miles from the main ranch, Stephanie jerked her car to the side of the muddy road and brought it to an abrupt halt.

Her hands were shaking. Her stomach ached. And she couldn’t seem to muster up enough strength in her leg to push the clutch and gear down for the hill.

What was she going to do?

She’d come home with such high hopes. But the days and nights at Brighton now seemed like a cruel dream. She’d fallen fast and hard for her husband, and it had seemed like he was falling for her. She’d even dared to hope it was love.

But he didn’t love her. He didn’t even like or respect her. Why else would he have stripped away her business?

There had to have been other options.

Why was it her who had to sacrifice everything?

She gripped the steering wheel, her anger reviving, blocking out her heartache.

But then she remembered Windy City Bizz. Amber loved that magazine. Yet, she’d quickly agreed to sell it. And Royce had offered up the jet. And Jared had spent years building up their Chicago property inventory. He had huge plans for construction in the next decade, yet he was looking at selling.

Stephanie swallowed, a horrible thought creeping into her mind. Had she just let her brothers down? Was this why they kept secrets from her? Did they think she couldn’t handle the hard truths?

She sat back, shoulders drooping, considering for the first time in her life that she might have some responsibility to turn a financial profit, not just to provide theoretical PR and goodwill. She had an obligation to her family. And she had an obligation to Alec.

Another ranch truck rocked to a halt beside her. But she didn’t even look up.

Moments later, Amber banged on the window.

“Stephanie!”

Stephanie blinked blankly at Amber. Her pride was in tatters and her heart was broken to bits.

She loved Alec.

She realized he wasn’t trying to hurt her. He was trying to treat her like an adult, a functioning partner. He’d done her the courtesy of telling her the hard truth about her stable, instead of trying to sugarcoat it so she wouldn’t get hurt.

She loved him, and he respected her. And she’d just destroyed any chance they might have had at building a future together.

“Will you open-” Amber grabbed the door handle and yanked the driver’s door wide. “You have to come back.”

Stephanie shook her head. She couldn’t go back. She was mortified by her behavior, and she needed to go home and bury her head.

“He’s leaving,” Amber rushed on. “He’s leaving now. McQuestin threatened to shoot him, but he’s still leaving.”

“What?” Stephanie managed to say, completely confused by Amber’s agitation.

“Stephanie.” Amber took a breath. “Listen to me. Alec wanted to sell the stable-”

“He was right,” Stephanie nodded, swallowing her pain.

“-to himself.”

Stephanie struggled to make sense of the words.

“He was going to buy it. You were going to run it. Hell, you were going to own half of it, since you’re his wife.”

Stephanie felt the blood drain from her face, while the roar of a hurricane pounded in her ears.

Amber grabbed her hand, tugging on it. “You have to come back. Now.”

Stephanie fumbled with her seat belt catch. “I don’t understand.”

“He loves you.”

“Who loves me?” Stephanie pushed off the seat, landing on the muddy road.

“Alec. He loves you.”

Stephanie didn’t believe that for a minute. And even if he had, he didn’t anymore. Still a little part of her heart couldn’t help holding out hope. “He said that?” she dared ask as Amber bundled her into the passenger seat of the other truck.

“He said he’d shoot any man who touched you.” Amber swung into the driver’s side and put the truck in gear.

“That’s not exactly the same thing,” Stephanie pointed out.

“It’s some kind of a joke. But Royce says it means he loves you. But he’s convinced you don’t love him. And he’s heading for the airport. From there, with his job, who knows where he’ll end up.” Amber glanced across the seat, voice lowering. “So, if you love him, Stephanie…”

Stephanie stared back. She slowly nodded.

“You need to tell him. And you need to do it right now.”

“I’m sorry,” Stephanie mumbled. “I wasn’t thinking. You gave up the magazine. Royce offered the jet. Of course I’ll give up the stable. I didn’t mean to sound so spoiled and selfish back there.”

Amber unexpectedly smiled. “Me giving up the magazine is nothing compared to you giving up the stable. Your brothers were never going to let that happen. Of course, as it turns out, that wasn’t what Alec meant anyway.”

“He wants to buy the stable?” Stephanie turned the revelation over in her mind.

“And he made it clear you’d be half owner. And he’d be a silent partner. And he was doing it to provide for his wife and his child.”

“Oh, no.” Acute regret slid through Stephanie’s stomach.

“But it’s good news.”

Stephanie blew out a sigh. “I said some things. To Alec. When I thought he was out to get me.”

“What things?”

Stephanie groaned. “He must hate me.”

“What things?”

“That I only slept with him the second time-”

“You slept with him a second time?”

“And a third and a fourth and a fifth. Maybe more. I kind of lost count.”

Amber laughed. “Well, that sounds promising.”

“No.” Stephanie shook her head. “I just finished telling him I’d only done it because he bought Blanchard’s Run. It was gratitude sex, and I didn’t find him either handsome, funny or charming. I may have said I didn’t like him. I definitely implied he should get lost.”

“Do you think he believed you?”

“I was pretty convincing.”

“But you’re in love with him?”

Stephanie moaned, bending forward around her stomachache. “Yes.”

“Maybe try telling him that.” The truck rocked to a halt. Stephanie looked up to see Jared, Melissa, Royce and McQuestin standing in the front driveway.

She glanced frantically around for Alec, opening the door, stepping out.

“He’s gone,” said Jared.

“How long?” asked Amber.

“Twenty minutes, at least.” Royce shook his head.

“I’m going after him,” Stephanie decided. Amber was right. While Stephanie had been dead wrong. She owed him an apology, and she was going to suck up her pride and tell him she loved him.

She was sure it would be nothing but a lesson in abject humiliation, because no man was going to love a woman who’d behaved the way she did. And despite his joke to Royce, she was sure Alec would be happy to put as much distance as possible between himself and her.