“This is about making sure Garth doesn’t win.”

“He’s already got you beat.”

“Don’t be so sure, Dana. Garth has a lot to lose.”

WHEN GARTH FINISHED with Jed, he had trouble locating Dana. She wasn’t with Nick, or with Skye. Eventually he found her with Lexi who was seated on a chair by the wall while Cruz hovered nearby.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” he said to Lexi as he approached.

She smiled. “I wanted to see Dana dazzle. We’re only here for a few minutes.” She put her hand on her belly. “Someone else wants to party.”

He frowned, not sure what she meant. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer.

“The baby’s kicking. You can feel it.”

There were a whole lot of things he would rather be doing than touching her stomach, but he couldn’t figure out a polite way to refuse. Then his palm was against the surprisingly hard curve of her belly and he felt a jab right under his thumb.

He looked at Dana. “Have you felt this?”

She nodded, then looked away.

He grinned at Lexi. “It’s really a baby.”

“The alternative was that I was developing an unnatural affection for fast food.”

An older couple joined them and started talking to Lexi and Cruz. Garth stepped back, then put his arm around Dana’s waist and led her away.

He’d thought she might resist, but she went with him. When they were relatively secluded beside a large leafy tree in a massive pot, he released her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

The right word, but she wouldn’t look at him. He stared at her.

“You followed me.”

She drew in a breath and finally looked him in the eye. “He could press charges.”

“He won’t and that’s not the problem.”

“No, it’s not.”

He couldn’t figure out what bothered her. “You were shot at. I couldn’t let that go.”

“If the person with the gun had wanted me dead, I’d be dead now. It was a warning.”

“Just being a warning doesn’t make it okay.”

“But it’s perfectly fine to hold a knife to someone’s throat?”

“Is that what’s bothering you?”

“It doesn’t make me happy.”

“Jed isn’t someone who responds to quiet conversation. Dana, he can’t be allowed to think there aren’t consequences. Jed has never had to answer to anyone before. Now he has to answer to me.”

“Vigilante justice is still illegal.”

“I’m not interested in breaking the law.”

“No. You just want to win at any cost. You’re more like him than you think.” She drew in a breath. “Has he had any contact with Kathy since the surgery?”

“No, why?”

“He said something.”

“You spoke to him?”

“Mostly he wanted to tell me I didn’t belong here, with you. Which isn’t important. He implied there was something he owed the Duncans. Not just you.”

Garth swore. “As far as I know, he hasn’t spoken to her since I was born. Certainly not since the surgery. Her caretakers would have told me.”

“You have someone watching her?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” She looked around. “I can’t be here right now. I’ll see you back at the condo.”

She was leaving? Just like that?

He wanted to tell her she couldn’t. Or that he would take her home. But something about the set of her body, the way she held her purse so tight that her knuckles were white, made him stay silent.

“I won’t be late,” he said quietly.

She nodded and then left.

Garth watched her go, wondering how everything had gotten so screwed up and how, if he didn’t understand the problem, he couldn’t possibly fix it. First Jed threatened Dana, now his mother. In addition to adding security, he would talk to Kathy’s caretakers. Explain a little of what was going on. He could have a guard move into her house until this was wrapped up.

DANA SAT CURLED UP on the sofa in Garth’s condo. The lights of Dallas seemed to twinkle in the light rain, but she wasn’t enjoying the view. Her stomach hurt and she had a strong sense of dread. Telling herself that she was safe, that nothing bad was going to happen, didn’t make her feel any better.

Cruz and Lexi had driven her home, and because they were good friends, they hadn’t asked what was wrong. She’d changed into sweats and a T-shirt, washed off the makeup and slipped on thick socks. Now all she had to do was wait.

Garth was going to want an explanation. The real question was did she tell him what was wrong, or did she come up with some half truth to put him off? Could she even talk about what she was feeling?

If he’d been one of the guys she usually dated, none of this would have been an issue. No one she knew would be willing to take on Jed Titan that way. In all her other relationships, she was the one in charge. Now she wasn’t so sure.

She heard a key in the lock and straightened, braced for Garth’s temper.

He walked into the condo and tossed his keys on the small table in the entryway. He closed the door, then locked it, shrugged out of his jacket and pulled off his already undone tie. Then he crossed to the living room and sat on the coffee table in front of her.

“I’d never hit you.”

She did her best not to wince. Talk about getting it right in a single guess.

She drew in a breath. “When I was fourteen, Jed wanted to put Lexi into these after-school classes. They pretended they were something different, but it was basically a charm school for rich kids. She didn’t want to go, but Jed insisted. Finally she agreed, but only if I went with her.” Dana shook her head. “It wasn’t much of a win for me.”

Garth watched her without speaking.

“Some of the guys there were from our school, but a lot were from a prep school I’d never heard of. They wore blazers with patches on the chest pocket and gray flannel slacks. They were our age, but they seemed older and a lot more sophisticated.”

She drew her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. “There was this one guy. He was really good-looking and funny and I liked him a lot. I guess he was my first crush. He would always dance with me. One day we snuck out of class and were hanging out behind the building. He kissed me, which was fine, but then he tried to take things further.”

“What did you do?”

“Kicked him in the balls. It was just a reaction. Apparently I nailed him really good because they ended up taking him to the hospital. I got thrown out, Lexi refused to go back without me and Jed…”

She looked out the window, but instead of the view, she saw the familiar book-lined study and a younger Jed looking both stern and amused.

“Jed told me that it was a man’s world and the sooner I figured that out, the easier things would be for me. I knew he was probably right, but I didn’t want easy. I wanted safe.”

“Because of your dad.”

She nodded, still not looking at him. “I never knew when,” she whispered. “I’d be sitting at the kitchen table, doing my homework and he would walk by. Sometimes nothing happened. Sometimes he jerked me to my feet and started hitting me. He hit hard. There’s a sound a fist makes. I’ll never forget it.”

“I’d never hit you,” he repeated.

She did finally look at him, at the familiar dark eyes, the full sensual mouth that knew secrets about her body even she hadn’t discovered.

“I know, but sometimes knowing isn’t enough.”

“You’re not that scared little girl anymore.”

“I haven’t been for a long time,” she agreed. “But that doesn’t mean she can’t influence me. We can talk and talk, and you’ll never get it. You don’t understand the fear. I control it through training and my job. I’m in better shape than you, but if it was a fight to the death, you have sheer size and strength on your side.”

He stood up suddenly. The coffee table went skidding back a few feet. “I’m not that guy,” he yelled. “There’s no fight to the death. Are you going to spend the rest of your life hiding because the alternative is to take a risk?”

“I’m dealing with the aftermath of having my father beat the crap out of me for years. It will probably always be something I wrestle with. What you did tonight, with Jed…I get it. I know why you did it. I understand the motivation, the fury you feel. I totally get the desire to protect those around you.” She’d almost said “protect what’s yours,” but that was yet another place she wasn’t willing to go.

“You did what you thought was right,” she continued, standing. “But there are consequences to every action.”

“Meaning now you don’t trust me?”

“Meaning I never saw you as physically dangerous before,” she admitted. “I have to figure out what I’m going to do with that information.”

He walked to the end of the kitchen, then turned back. “Dammit, Dana. Don’t do this. Don’t go there. I’m not a violent man. I’ve seen violence. I’ve lived it.” He ripped open the front of his dress shirt, exposing the scars. “I still have nightmares. Not that often, but they come. And I wake up soaked in sweat, trying not to give in to the terror.” He hesitated. “I know what it’s like to live with fear and how hard it is to let it go.”

He crossed to her and cupped her face in his hands. “I’d never do that to you. I’d never do it to anyone.”

She saw the pain in his eyes and behind it, a truth. That ugliness changed a man forever. It couldn’t be helped. But how the change happened was determined by the man’s character. Garth hadn’t given in to the darkness that could have claimed him. If anyone had reason, it was him. Even his revenge against Jed had been civilized and thought out. He didn’t need to hurt someone physically to feel like a man.

“There’s a part of me that wants to fly to Florida and have it out with your old man,” he admitted, still staring into her eyes. “I want him to feel what it was like.”

“Would you do that for me?”

He didn’t hesitate. “No. He’s old and it serves no purpose. It wouldn’t change the past. If he were still a threat to you, I’d take him on in a heartbeat, but he’s not. Empty violence teaches nothing.”

“You used violence on Jed.”

“I used fear. There’s a difference.” He dropped his hands to her shoulders. “How much have I screwed up things?”

She touched his chest, traced a scar. “Not as much as you’d think.”

“Yeah?”

She looked up at him and smiled, then raised herself up on tiptoe and kissed him.

She’d been avoiding physical contact with Garth as much as possible, telling herself that she’d imagined the passion between them.

But now she was unable to resist the feel of his mouth on hers. She needed to be close to him, to touch all of him and be touched by him. Their connection had been broken and she wanted it restored.

He didn’t disappoint. The second her lips met his, he kissed her with a hunger that burned. His arms tightened, then they were straining together, as if trying to climb inside each other.

She parted for him, then groaned as he plunged his tongue inside of her mouth. She met him stroke for stroke, wanting to excite him as much as he excited her. Wanting turned liquid and flooded her. Even as they kissed, she tugged at his shirt. His hands swept under her T-shirt and found her breasts.

His fingers were warm and knowing. He cupped her curves, then brushed across her already tight nipples. Even through the fabric of her bra, the gentle touches aroused her.

She touched his back, then rubbed her hands up and down his chest. It wasn’t enough. They had to touch more.

“Wait,” she gasped, pulling back.

She jerked her T-shirt over her head, then unfastened her bra. Before she’d even tossed it away, he’d already bent his head and took one of her nipples in his mouth. He sucked deeply, using his tongue to caress sensitive flesh. She clung to him, feeling the tugs all the way between her legs. Her blood pulsed, causing her to swell.

Without thinking, she pushed down her sweats. Her panties went with them. Even as he shifted to her other breast, he slipped a hand between her thighs and found her wet, swollen center. Two fingers pressed against that one spot, then began to circle it.

He straightened enough to kiss her mouth. Their tongues tangled, she held on to his shoulders, all the while his fingers created magic. She couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but feel the pressure. He moved steadily, rubbing over and around. Her body tensed. She wanted to part her legs but her stupid sweatpants were in the way. If she could just open a little more and he kept doing that, she would come in a heartbeat.

She tried to kick them away. He broke the kiss then pushed her back a couple of steps.

“Table,” he said, his voice thick with passion.

She stepped out of her sweatpants and panties. He grabbed his shirt and put it on the wood table, then helped her jump up onto the cool surface. She parted her legs and went to grab his hand to show him exactly where she wanted him, but he was busy unfastening his belt and shoving down the zipper.