Susan Mallery - Hot On Her Heels

He did. Once he’d believed in them. Lately though, he was more interested in results. An attitude that had cost him a lot but insured the win. And right now winning was all that mattered.

“I have the loan papers drawn up,” Mary Jo said. “Not to keep repeating myself, but you’re totally insane. Jed Titan is never going to accept the terms of the loan. Even if he does need the money, he won’t take it from you.”

“He won’t know it’s me.”

“He’ll suspect.”

“He won’t have a choice. I’m continuing to buy up his company. The shareholders are getting nervous. They know I’m interested, but they don’t know my end game, which is how I want it. Jed has had a lot of bad press lately. The possible treason charges alone cost his shareholders a lot of money as the price dipped.”

Mary Jo glanced at him, then returned her attention to the road. “I find it interesting that the price of Jed’s stock dropped right when you wanted to buy it.”

“Funny how it all worked that way.”

“Tell me you haven’t broken the law.”

“I have in no way violated Securities and Exchange Commissions guidelines or rules.”

“Keep it in the gray area,” his attorney advised.

He’d stepped far beyond that, but not in a way that could be traced to him. Most of his attacks on the Titan family had been more subtle. It kept things interesting.

“What happens now?” Mary Jo asked. “Or don’t I want to know?”

“I go to work and start my day.”

She glanced at him again. “You’re not going to tell me what’s really going on, are you?”

“No.”

She didn’t need to know about his plan to destroy Jed Titan or the fact that Jed was his father. Eventually word would get out. He would be branded the Titan bastard, but by the time that happened, he would own Jed’s ass and everything else. He would have destroyed his father, taken possession of all the old man owned. He would have won.

She pulled up in front of his high-rise condo and parked. She looked at him. “You know you’re my favorite client.”

“I’m your only client.” Mary Jo worked for him exclusively. It had cost several million to get her away from her high-powered law firm, but she had been worth every penny.

“I don’t want to see you in jail,” she said. “You’re scaring me and you know I don’t scare easily.”

“There’s nothing to be scared of.”

She drew in a breath. “Dana’s tough. Tenacious, driven. She’s a lot like you. If she thinks she has something on you, she won’t stop until she gets you. She’s not someone to be taken lightly.”

“She sounds like a worthy adversary.”

“This isn’t a game, Garth,” Mary Jo told him.

He smiled and got out of her car. “Of course it is. Don’t worry-I always come out on top.”

DANA STUDIED THE BLUE fabric of her sofa, not that it interested her, but it seemed far easier to think about slipcovers than deal with the woman sitting across from her. But as the silence ticked on, she was forced to look at her friend.

“It didn’t go well,” Dana admitted, hating to say the words nearly as much as she hated failing. “I took him in and they questioned him for several hours.”

“And?” Izzy prompted anxiously.

“And they got nothing. He was friendly, cooperative and didn’t give up a thing.”

Izzy grinned. “Yes!”

Dana stared at her. “You know this is the man responsible for the explosion that nearly killed you.”

“He’s not,” Izzy insisted, leaning forward in her chair. “He didn’t do it, Dana. I know he didn’t do it.”

“How? Because he told you?”

“Partially. And because Nick believes him.”

Which was the problem, Dana thought, annoyed at the complication. Nick was one of the good guys. He also knew Garth better than anyone.

“I want more,” Dana said stubbornly.

“I want to trust him.”

“Wanting something doesn’t make it so.”

“Neither does denying it.”

“I’ll get him, I swear I will,” Dana grumbled. “I don’t know how, but I’ll come up with something.”

“If he’s guilty,” Izzy said, a warning in her voice, which annoyed Dana. “Only if he’s guilty.”

Izzy was the youngest of the Titan sisters. Lexi, the oldest, had gone through school with Dana, while Skye was a year older than Izzy. They had been raised in wealth and privilege, something Dana refused to hold against them. They were her family. They cared about her and she would do anything for them. Including taking down their half brother.

About nine months earlier, Lexi had encountered some financial difficulties with her day spa. After borrowing money to expand her business, the two-million-dollar note had been called, giving her only twenty-one days to come up with the amount owed. A few weeks later, Skye’s charitable foundation had been accused of money laundering. Their father had faced trouble, as well. His racehorses had tested positive for doping. Through the spring and summer, the situation had only gotten worse, ending with an explosion on the oil platform where Izzy worked. She’d been temporarily blinded by the blast.

The person behind all of it? An angry Garth Duncan.

Dana didn’t care if he went after Jed-the old man had been especially cruel to Garth-but the sisters were off-limits. Not that Garth saw it that way.

“I wish I could arrest him,” Dana said, knowing that putting handcuffs on Garth would make her one happy camper. “Or shoot him.”

“Hey.” Izzy glared at her. “You’re talking about my brother. I know he did a lot of bad stuff, but he swears he had nothing to do with the explosion and I believe him.”

It wasn’t Izzy’s fault, Dana told herself. Izzy had been raised isolated from the real world. She didn’t believe people could be truly bad. Although Dana’s gut kind of agreed with her, which only pissed her off more. She didn’t want shades of gray where Garth was concerned.

“You rich people do love to hang together,” Dana muttered.

“I’m not rich.”

“You will be as soon as your trust fund comes through.” She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes. “I’m surrounded by rich people. How did that happen?”

“You love us,” Izzy reminded her.

“True enough. You and your sisters are my best friends, which only goes to show what an incredibly understanding person I am.”

Izzy laughed. “So was Garth surprised to see you?”

Dana opened her eyes and straightened. Better to deal with Izzy than remember Garth naked and dripping. “He handled the situation well.”

Better than well. He’d been completely comfortable, not the least bit intimidated and almost…well, nearly…charming.

What was up with that? She didn’t find men charming, certainly not men like him. He was an annoying, egotistical, determined bastard who had hurt the people she loved. Not charming. Never charming.

There was a knock at her front door.

She jumped up, grateful for the interruption, and crossed the small room. After flipping both locks, she let Lexi and Skye into her condo.

“It’s actually cold out there,” Skye said as she slipped off a light jacket. “I’m so ready for winter.”

Dana grinned. “It’s sixty-five.”

Lexi rested her hand on her pregnancy bump. “Speaking as someone who is starting to swell professionally, I’m all for cooler weather.” She grabbed Dana’s arm. “Did you get him? Is he in jail, becoming Bubba’s love slave?”

“No. He was questioned and released.”

“Damn.”

“It’s fine,” Izzy said, standing and hugging both her sisters. “I promise. Look, you need to sit down. There’s something I have to tell you.”

Both Skye and Lexi turned to Dana. “What has she done now?” Skye asked.

Dana held up her hands. “This is not my party. I’m simply a neutral location. But you might want to take a deep breath. It’s going to be quite the ride.”

Lexi and Skye exchanged wary looks before sitting on the sofa. Dana stayed by the door, thinking Izzy’s announcement was going to cause an amazing explosion. She wanted to be able to see everything.

Izzy shook her head, then fluffed her curly hair. “I have an announcement,” she began.

“We got that,” Lexi said, keeping a protective hand on her stomach. “What is it?”

“It’s about Garth. As you know, I talked to him right before Nick and I got back together. He took Nick’s side and responsibility for what had happened.”

“As he should have,” Skye snapped. “The man goes out of his way to destroy everything you two had worked toward. It just makes me so mad.”

“Excuse me.” Izzy shook her head. “I was talking. While I was with Garth, I had an epiphany. I realized that he’s our flesh and blood. Okay, I’ve known that for a while now, but they were just words. They didn’t mean anything.”

Lexi look at Dana. “Where is this going?”

“I am staying neutral here.”

Lexi turned back to Izzy. “What’s your point?”

Izzy smiled. “We’ve been trying to defeat him for months and it hasn’t worked. The strategy is totally flawed. We shouldn’t be fighting him. We should be protecting him from himself. That’s what I wanted to tell you both. Garth is our brother and it’s our job to bring him into the family. We’re going to save him.”

Skye and Lexi stared at their sister. They were both wide-eyed with shock. Their mouths fell open.

Dana folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. “Welcome to the show.”

“SAVE HIM?” LEXI SHRIEKED, coming to her feet and glaring at Izzy. “Are you insane? Are you still on some kind of medication from your eye surgery, because you’re talking crazy. We’re not saving him. He tried to kill you. You were nearly left blind. That’s not okay. That can never be okay. And he’s still bent on ruining all of us. Save Garth? From what? For what?”

“You need to stay calm and sit down,” Izzy told her sister. “Think of the baby.”

“You leave my baby out of this. If you were so concerned about my baby, you wouldn’t be worried about a man who is doing everything he can to make our lives hell.” Lexi pushed her blond hair off her face. “Dammit, Izzy, I expect better of you.”

Dana moved toward the sofa. If necessary, she would get between the sisters to make sure things didn’t get too ugly.

Izzy stiffened. “You can expect all you want. What matters is I talked to Garth. He’s family, Lexi. He’s as biologically related to us as we are to each other. He’s been hurt. Dad screwed him and you know it.”

“Fine. Jed was horrible to both Garth and his mother. But that doesn’t give him the right to come after us. We had nothing to do with it.”

“He’s not responsible for the oil rig exploding. I believe him and Nick believes him. Look, think of him like Darth Vader. He needs to be saved from himself.”

“You really think that using movie examples will help your case?” Lexi asked.

Dana glanced at Skye who was listening intently, but not saying anything. Izzy’s strategy was flawed. Skye was the more emotional of the sisters. If Izzy wanted the three of them to cooperate, she should have convinced Skye first. Then the two of them could have worked on Lexi.

“He’s our brother,” Izzy repeated stubbornly. “I saw something inside of him.”

“The ravages of a black and empty heart,” Lexi muttered.

“I saw who he was supposed to be.” Izzy leaned forward. “I saw flashes of the fourteen-year-old boy who begged his own father, a man who had never acknowledged him, for the money to save his mother from a brain tumor. Jed turned him away. Jed threw him into the street. Jed is the reason he wants revenge.”

“We all know this,” Skye said quietly.

“But the person he should have been is still there. Imagine what Garth would be like if his mother had never gotten sick. Imagine if we’d met him when we were ten or fifteen. If we’d grown up together. We would have been a family.”

“It’s too late to go back,” Lexi said flatly.

“But it’s not too late to go forward. If you exclude the explosion, then he hasn’t really hurt us.”

“Not for lack of trying.”

“He wanted me to get together with Nick,” Izzy said.

“He’s the reason you broke up in the first place,” Lexi reminded her.

“Agreed, but he realized he was wrong. He came to me and pleaded Nick’s case. Nick didn’t know he was doing that. Garth had no reason to help us, but he did. He’s not all bad.”

Lexi and Skye looked at each other. Izzy saw the exchange and pounced.

“Why would he do that and lie about the explosion? He admitted to everything else.” Izzy glanced at Dana. “Not in a way that can be used in court.”

“I figured that.”

Lexi sighed and turned to Dana. “You didn’t try to talk her out of it?”

“I tried,” Dana told her. “But she’s very much her own person. Which is mostly your fault. She’s your baby sister. You should have repressed her more as a child. But no. You had to nurture her. This is what you get as a thank-you.”