Chapter Four: Hypocrite

Gia

HYPOCRITE

Performed by Alana Springsteen

Normally, I chased down every leadon the Lovatos with a fierce and unforgiving determination. But as I stared at the letter with Ryder Hatley’s name on it, I wanted to run far away in the opposite direction. It irritated me. It shamed me.

Still, I stared at the letter without opening it until the little girl had fallen asleep.

Then, I forced myself to break the seal, scanning the letter with a heart that banged so fiercely it threatened to escape my chest. A heart that fell, twisting and turning, as I read the contents. At least the letter explained why Ryder had never mentioned to a single human that he had a child—he hadn’t known. And yet, here was a girl, seven years old, named Addy according to the letter, who was his.

I didn’t know if I felt sorry for the man, angered on his behalf, frustrated I’d have to investigate him all over again, or a bit panicked at the idea of seeing him once more. No man had ever made me feel the complicated waves of emotion he had. Attraction so strong my body felt it might die of neglect the longer we went without touching. Lust that had burned me from the inside out when our lips had briefly met. Annoyance that he saw me as some meddlesome journalist. Irritation that he treated me—like all women who weren’t his family—as if I should come with a warning label.

I’d have to bottle up every single one of those emotions he caused to rip through me because I would definitely be seeing him—and sticking around because I wasn’t handing the little girl off to someone and walking away. I wasn’t letting Addy out of my sight until I knew exactly what she’d seen and how much danger she really was in. And if there was even a remote chance she had the information the letter insinuated her mom had left behind, that danger could be extreme. So, I’d stay with her until I was one-hundred-and-fifty-percent sure she was safe from the long reach of the Lovatos.

Anna’s letter had indicated she’d collected an insurance policy to use against the cartel that Addy would have. But the way the room had been ransacked, leaving nothing but a handful of clothes and the little girl behind, it meant the killer had likely taken whatever leverage Anna had gathered with him. Frustration bled through me. Every time we got a solid lead, it disappeared.

Beneath the blue emergency blanket Ramirez had brought in, Addy still wore her blood-stained clothes. We’d need to collect those and get her cleaned up, but it could wait until she woke, and until I could call my boss and figure out how to get the girl to the Hatleys and what exactly I could tell them about the situation.

I stepped just outside the door where I was still visible through the clear glass in case Addy woke and panicked. I wanted her to know she had someone here who would protect her.

To do so, I had to keep any knowledge of her and her whereabouts to the absolute minimum. I’d already stressed that fact to Officer Ramirez, asking him to pass the word along to the crime scene tech and lead detective at the scene—a message I’d also make sure extended to their chief.

I called Rory before my boss. “I’m sending you a photo of a woman who signed into a motel in Denver under the name Anna Smith. She’s had facial work done. We need to deconstruct it and get a clear image of what she looked like before.”

“Good evening, G. Long time no hear. How are you? I’m fine, thanks.”

I sighed. “I’m sorry I don’t have time for pleasantries, Rory. This is top priority.”

All teasing left her voice as she asked, “You actually found the elusive Anna?”

The woman who’d written the letter had signed her name Ravyn. I wasn’t sure that was her real name any more than Anna was.

“Too bad she’s dead,” I said, letting out a frustrated sigh.

Rory was silent for a beat before she said, “Well, hell. Are you sure it’s her?”

“While the name is common enough, the way she was murdered, the vicious cuts down her torso, is classic Lovato. Plus, she left a letter.”

“Damn. Does Leland know?”

“He’ll be my next call.” I hesitated, chest constricting as I debated telling Leland and Rory about Addy. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust either of them, but the only way to keep a secret was to tell absolutely no one. Everyone, even the best secret keepers, eventually told someone. Unfortunately, I needed my immediate team to know why I was heading to Tennessee in such a hurry, and I needed their eyes and ears listening for any talk of a child on the Lovato end. So, I took a deep breath and said, “We found a little girl in Anna’s room.”

Rory inhaled sharply. “Was she—”

“She’s alive. I think she saw it all while hiding under the bed. She’s not talking yet. Seriously traumatized and scared, but she was still savvy enough to pull out a hidden letter her mom had left in case of an emergency. Whoever Anna was, she’d sunk in to the child what to do if the worst happened.” I went on to explain what the letter revealed about Ryder and the information Ravyn had been collecting, but that it was probably gone along with Anna’s laptop. Rory swore under her breath.

“So, you’re taking her to Willow Creek?”

Rory hadn’t been with the NSA when I’d been in Tennessee last summer, but she’d been brought up to speed on every aspect of our case with the Lovatos, including the possible connection to the Eastern Dude Ranchers Association and my time exploring the five-star resorts. Nothing had panned out, but we still had task force members undercover at regular cattle ranches across the country and several undercover with Lovato street gangs.

“Yes. At some point, Child Protective Services will need to get involved,” I answered. “But that means paperwork and a shit ton of people who would know about her. I don’t know how Anna Smith…or Ravyn…or whoever she really is kept the girl off the Lovatos’ radar, but she did. We need to do the same until we know exactly what Addy saw. I don’t even want to tell the task force. You, me, Leland, and the couple of local cops who helped me sneak her out of the hotel are it. I’m hoping that taking her to her father and helping her feel safe might get her to open up about what happened.”

“The poor little thing,” Rory said softly. “Legal is going to have a fit once they find out you took her without notifying CPS.”

“Hopefully, everyone will be so happy we’ve brought the Lovatos down that it’ll slip through the cracks.”

“Good luck with that.”

My chest tightened another notch. Doing this, keeping her hidden, could end up costing me my job if it went wrong, but I knew with an instinct that had kept me safe many times before that we needed to conceal her for a little longer. I’d deal with the consequences later. “Keep me updated on any progress you make with Anna’s image.”

“Hey, G?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for trusting me with this.”

I heard the remaining insecurities in her voice. The doubts that had been placed there because she’d stumbled into a Lovato operation that had gone bad. But Rory was damn good at what she did, and she couldn’t have done much differently without understanding the full scope of evil that trailed the cartel. “I brought you in for a reason. Not only can I trust you, but I also know you won’t stop until we end the cartel once and for all.”

We hung up, and I placed a similar call to my boss, who was at home with his wife, daughter, and two sons. Ken Leland had once been a top NSA operative in the Special Collection Service. But after he’d met his wife, he’d asked to be transferred to headquarters so he could stay closer to home. While I respected what he did as my boss, he no longer had any of the thrill—or the satisfaction—that came from being in the field. The intense, holding-your-breath moments that made my pulse quicken were exactly what I’d craved ever since I’d seen my first spy movie.

I’d told Leland once that I didn’t know how he’d given it up, and he’d simply said I’d understand someday when I found my partner. But I had no intention of falling in love and letting feelings for another human dictate my life choices. I’d seen what it had done to my mom, how she’d given up everything to traipse around after my dad and his military career. And as much as I loved my father, I certainly wasn’t going to do to a family what he’d done to us.

Love was a burden I didn’t want or need. I certainly wouldn’t risk the career I’d built for it.

Blue eyes glowering below the brim of a cowboy hat flashed at me once again, as if taunting me, but I simply pushed the image of Ryder Hatley aside. As tempting as he’d been, sex with him would have been a mistake. Letting even a tiny iota of a thought that there could ever be something more between us take hold would have been an even bigger one. Not only because of who he was, and how his family was tied to this case, but because our worlds would never meld. It was more than me being a city girl and him being a country boy. It was my career choice and vagabond lifestyle versus a man with deep-seated roots.

If I had a choice, I’d never go back to Willow Creek and the temptation he posed. But right now, the only thing that mattered was keeping Addy safe. Hiding her out in the middle of nowhere was a good idea. If I could find out what exactly the Hatleys had to do with Anna and the Lovatos at the same time, even better. And if there was a chance the little girl still had the insurance policy Anna had talked about, I’d find it.

When I said as much to Leland, he agreed, and we made the necessary plans.

After we’d talked through all the next steps, I turned back to the glass door and watched Addy sleep. Something in my chest threatened to crack open. Doors I’d firmly held shut. I wished I could take away what she’d been through. I wished I didn’t have to make her relive it by asking her what had happened, but we needed her story. Not just for the case, but to protect her. But how the hell was I going to get her to open up when I knew nothing about kids?

The crime scene tech who’d been at the scene hurried down the hall toward me with a black backpack in hand. He held it out.

“This must be the little girl’s. I thought she might need something familiar, so I got the okay to hand it off to her.” My heart leaped, wondering just what secrets it might hold, before the hope was whooshed away as he continued, “There’s nothing much in it except some kid clothes, a Nintendo Switch, and a couple of books. We documented everything and fingerprinted it all. There were a couple of long black hairs that could be the vic’s or the girl’s. We’ll need her prints and DNA to exclude it.”

I’d go through the items myself. See if there was anything hidden in code. “Thanks. Did Ramirez tell you we can’t talk about her?”

He nodded.

“I’m not a crime scene expert, but I can collect her clothes and the samples if you get me the supplies.”

“I’ll bring everything back.”

He darted down the hall and returned with a paper bag full of items. When I walked into the office, Addy was awake. Wide, teary eyes peeked out from beneath the edge of the blanket.

“Hey,” I said quietly in Spanish. “You hungry?”

She shrugged. I handed her a water bottle Ramirez had brought in with the blanket.

“At least drink some water.”

She looked at it warily, and my stomach churned some more. How bad had her life been that she already doubted beverages given to her?

I poured some of it into a coffee cup on the back counter, drank it, and then handed her the bottle. She accepted it and drank thirstily before her eyes landed on the backpack I had flung over one shoulder.

“This is yours, right?” I asked, sliding it off and bringing it to her.

She reached out and pulled it to her.

“It has some clothes in it. I need to take the ones you have on for the police. For their investigation. It would really help if you could tell us what happened.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head so violently I thought she’d pass out.

“Okay,” I said softly. “But we still need to get you changed and cleaned up a bit.”

She looked down at her blood-stained hands and clothes, and tears welled in her eyes once more. Then, she stood up, her gaze darting around, and I wasn’t sure if she was trying to figure out a way to escape or looking for a bathroom.

“Let’s go find a bathroom,” I offered.

I glanced out the door and did my best to keep her hidden against the wall as I led her to the women’s restroom.

I locked the door behind us and then talked Addy through the photos I needed to take and the scraping of her hands for evidence. After a moment of hesitation, I skipped the DNA test. I couldn’t afford to have her in the system yet. While she went into a stall to change into clean clothes, I took everything out of the backpack. The books would have to be scanned. The Switch searched. But nothing here seemed to scream insurance policy.

As Addy came out of the bathroom, I took the bloody clothes and bagged them along with the rest of the items I’d collected. The little girl stood near the sink, and I was hit again by how small she was. She couldn’t even reach the faucets. I lifted her up onto the counter, and she caught sight of herself in the mirror and froze for a moment. Then, she reached for the soap and water, scrubbing her face and hands as more tears rolled down her cheeks.

I thought my heart might break.

The entire scene was brutally sad, but it also proved just how resilient the fragile-looking girl was. Not a bird with a broken wing, but a hooded pitohui bird, looking beautiful and innocent but containing one of the deadliest toxins on Earth.

I’d need her strength—that poison—to help me bring down the cartel.

We’d been searching for the key for years. None of us would have expected it to come in the form of a seven-year-old girl.

? ? ?

When I was on the job, I normally moved fast, efficiently, and silently. A combination of the four J-named spies that I’d grown up loving. Traveling with Addy meant slowing down enough to explain every step to her.

She refused to talk about what happened in the hotel room—basically refused to talk at all—and I didn’t push. Not even when the Denver police chief had huffed and puffed and tried to thrust his limited power at me. I needed the child to trust me, and I might not know a lot about kids, but I knew being a bully wasn’t the way to do it. Instead, I had to prove I was safe. Prove that I had her best interests at heart. That meant doing what her mother had wanted by taking her to her father.

When I told Addy the plan, she seemed nervous, but there was also curiosity in her eyes. I wasn’t sure what Anna-Ravyn had told her daughter about her father, but she obviously hadn’t known he lived in Tennessee as she’d been surprised when I told her that was where we were headed.

Leland arranged for an agency plane to pick us up in the middle of the night at the Space Force base outside Aurora. I drove us straight onto the tarmac, leaving the government-issued SUV for someone else to take care of. Addy’s gaze darted around as she took in the airfield, the plane, and the steps leading into it, but she slid her hand into mine and let me guide her inside. The pilots were already seated behind closed doors when we boarded the plane. They wouldn’t be able to identify their passengers if questioned, which was exactly what I’d needed.

I’d picked up burgers, fries, and shakes at a twenty-four-hour fast-food place close to the base, and we spent the first few minutes of the two-hour flight eating in silence.

“You’re not allergic to any of that, are you?” I belatedly asked, continuing in the Spanish that seemed to resonate with her the most.

Her tiny lips twitched, but she shook her head.

I wanted to ask if her mom let her eat junk food but then decided bringing up the woman she’d seen viciously murdered probably wasn’t the best idea.

“Do you know anything about your dad?”

She hesitated, head tilting sideways before saying, “Bueno.”

I almost choked on the fry I was eating. Thoughts of all the ways Ryder Hatley could be good struck me—many of which were not appropriate for a conversation with his tiny daughter.

“I’ve met him,” I told Addy, and her eyes grew wider. “His family owns a ranch.”

At the word ranch, panic washed over her face, and she dropped her food, shrinking back into her seat and bringing her knees to her chest again. Another puzzle for me to try and figure out, but it had me thinking the task force’s search for the Lovato leader on a cattle farm wasn’t as far off as some members might have thought.

“Your dad’s brother is the county sheriff. He’d be your Uncle Maddox,” I continued as if Addy hadn’t closed down. “He has a little girl a year or so younger than you. Her name is Mila. I guess that makes her your cousin.”

The fear retreated from her eyes as curiosity regained strength.

“She’s quite a little character,” I said with a grin, thinking of the blond-haired whirlwind I’d met several times when staying at the Hatley Ranch. Mila had introduced herself, shown me all the horses, and tried to convince me unicorns were real all in a matter of a few minutes. “She’s kind of the opposite of you. A bubble full of energy. Really loud. Talks superfast. She’s at the ranch all the time, helping her grandmother—your grandmother—make pies and stuff. You’ll never have to worry about carrying on a conversation if she’s in the room.”

This time, I got an actual grin before it slipped away again.

“Anything else you want to know about your dad or your family?” I asked.

She looked like she had a thousand questions but, instead, shook her head.

My phone buzzed, and I saw a text from Rory. It was a modified image of Anna-Ravyn that she said she was running facial recognition on. The woman’s bridge line had been altered significantly as well as the line of her cheeks and the tilt of her nose. I wanted to show it to Addy and ask if it was what her mom had looked like before, but until the medical examiner finished with the body, I wasn’t sure how long ago the work had been done. Addy might have only known her mom the way we’d found her.

“You should probably get some sleep,” I told her, nodding toward the couch behind us.

She looked at it but didn’t do as I’d suggested. Instead, she opened her backpack and pulled out the Nintendo Switch. She held up a charger, looking around. I helped her find a spot to plug it in and then asked to see the device before she played. She handed it over hesitantly.

I snooped around the files on the device, hacking into the code, but there didn’t seem to be anything there. I dug around the menus and code some more while Addy watched me with more patience than any kid I’d encountered. I wanted to go through it some more, but I was afraid if I did, it might mess up the little girl’s games, and right now, this was the only thing she had left from her old life. So, reluctantly, I gave it back to her.

We spent the rest of the trip lost in our separate electronics.

When we landed outside Knoxville, the pilots waited inside the cabin while Addy and I gathered our things. I had her pull the hood up on her sweatshirt and led her down the steps to where Leland had another SUV waiting for me. It was a black Escalade that looked almost identical to the one in Denver, except this one had a child’s booster seat in the back. I hadn’t even thought about needing one when I’d driven Addy from Denver to the Space Force base. Clearly, no one was going to award me any gold stars for parenting.

Addy buckled herself in, and we headed toward Willow Creek. My nerves were unaccountably jittery, especially considering I’d been in much worse situations, like the time I’d been surrounded by guerillas in South America. And yet, one little girl and the man I was driving her to had my insides flip-flopping like I was facing an MK47 while holding only a knife.

Needing a distraction from my thoughts, I switched the radio on. A twangy voice and guitar solo filled the air.

“You like country music?” I asked, and Addy shrugged. “The place we’re heading…the people there eat it up like it’s homemade chocolate chip cookies. I like it myself, even when it can be pretty corny. When I was in high school, I made my older brother take line-dancing lessons with me.”

In the rearview mirror, I saw her lips twitch again, and I wanted to make her smile fully, to somehow lighten her load, even if it was only for a few moments.

“My brother swore he hated every second of it and that he hated country music, but I caught him swinging his hips to Carrie Underwood at Christmas. His fiancée gave him a hard time about it too, because she’s a rock star. You ever heard of The Painted Daisies?”

She nodded her head furiously, lips quivering upward.

“His girlfriend is Leya, but I’d bet a deluxe tablet that you’re an Adria Rojas fan,” I said, and she nodded again. “Badas—cool drummer. You look a bit like her.”

That got me a full smile. It was sweet and stunning and beautiful.

I wanted to tell her she looked more like her mom than Adria and that they both made the drummer look ordinary instead of the beauty queen she’d once been. And I’d know. I’d met her in person once as part of our joint operations with the CIA. She was gorgeous, no question about it, but Addy and her mother had something hard to name. The altered image of Anna that Rory had shown me had made the woman more stunning instead of less.

I understood completely why a man like Ryder Hatley would have been attracted to her, slept with her, and made a baby with her. What I didn’t understand was the spike of pain it sliced through me at the thought of them together. Neither Ryder nor Anna-Ravyn had anything to do with me, and certainly not years ago when they’d made Addy. I would have been in college—still fresh-eyed and idealistic. Even back then, Ryder was not the kind of guy I would have been drawn to. Grumpy and growling had never been my thing. I liked wide smiles, humor, and easy-going demeanors.

Eventually, Addy nodded off, her little head dropping to the side. It wouldn’t take us long to get to Willow Creek, but she’d at least get a couple hours of rest. With only the quiet of the radio breaking the silence, I turned my thoughts to the best way to tell Ryder about his daughter. The truth was, no matter how I said it, he’d react badly. He didn’t trust me, so telling him about Addy would go over like a skunk at a birthday party. He’d reject the idea as fast as I introduced it, and I didn’t want the tension between Ryder and me to make Addy feel like her dad didn’t want her.

The idea of her being hurt by him curled through me like a venomous snake. In mere hours, I felt more protective of the kid than I did anyone but my family. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. It could impair my judgment if push came to shove. I’d just have to keep that fact in mind.

As we neared Willow Creek, I realized there was an easier way for me to deal with Ryder. Someone he’d believe way more than me. So instead of driving directly to the Hatley Ranch, I headed for the sheriff’s station and Ryder’s brother. The Hatley siblings were close. They looked out for each other in the same way my brother and I did. If Holden showed up with news I had a kid, I’d believe him even if it was physically impossible for me to have had one and not know. I shuddered at even the possibility of having a baby.

It was hard enough figuring out what to do with the seven-year-old in the back seat, who’d only be my responsibility long enough to ensure she was safe. Right now, that meant trusting the sheriff with the truth and hoping to hell my instincts about him were right.

From Anna’s letter, it didn’t seem like the Hatleys were connected to the Lovatos. Instead, it seemed like Anna was trying to protect Ryder and his family from them, but the Hatleys had still had two close brushes with the cartel. It was suspicious enough for me to keep my guard up. Suspicious enough that I’d have to dig through their pasts and their finances all over again. If someone in the family, or even near them, worked for the cartel and heard about Addy, they’d make a beeline for Tennessee to grab her. If they thought she had something on them that Anna had left behind, they’d do even worse.

That wasn’t going to happen on my watch.

The sun was just rising over the horizon as I drove down the cobblestone streets of Willow Creek and pulled into a slot at the sheriff’s station next to a department-issued F150 I’d seen Maddox driving. It was early for him to be at work, but I was relieved to find him there. When I turned off the car and looked back at Addy, she was rubbing small hands over large eyes. It took her a minute to figure out where she was, and raw anguish crossed her tiny face before her gaze met mine.

“It’s going to be okay,” I told her. “I know you’re scared and sad. I know you’re hurting. You’re probably going to feel that way for a long time, but I also know, it’ll get better.”

I was speaking out of my ass. I hadn’t lost anyone close to me. I’d had a couple bad breakups over the years, but that wasn’t the same. The only people in my family who’d died were my grandparents on my mom’s side, but that had happened when I was little more than a toddler. I’d loved them in a distant way you were supposed to love people who were related to you, but I hadn’t grieved them. Not the way this little girl was grieving for her mom.

I swallowed hard, got out of the car, and went around to open Addy’s door. She jumped down, shouldering the backpack that was almost as big as her, and slid her hand into mine. It screamed a trust I certainly hadn’t earned yet. My throat closed a bit as we headed toward the station doors.

As we entered, an older woman with pale-gray eyes and hair so white it was almost see-through rose from behind the counter. She looked from me to Addy and back.

“Can I help you?”

“I need to talk to the sheriff,” I told her. I flipped out my badge, showing it to her. “It’s urgent.”

She scanned the badge, raised a brow, looked down at Addy, and then headed for an office door at the back. She was only inside a few minutes before she came out again, followed by Maddox Hatley. He had a leaner frame than his brother and dark-blond, almost caramel-colored hair, whereas Ryder’s was dark-brown chocolate. But they shared a tan, square jaw, aquiline nose, and clear blue eyes. I’d never seen the sheriff’s gaze spark with danger the way Ryder’s had, but then again, I’d never been on Maddox’s bad side the way I’d been on his brother’s.

“Is there somewhere Addy can wait safely?” I asked the two adults.

They exchanged a look, and then the older woman held out a hand to the little girl. “I’m Amy. We have donuts and hot chocolate in the break room. You interested?”

Addy squeezed my hand tightly, stepping closer to me. I squatted down and looked straight into her eyes in a way I hoped would be reassuring. “I have to talk to the sheriff before we can take you to your dad. I won’t be long. I promise, and I’ll be right there.” I pointed to the office door. “If you feel worried or scared, you just come barreling in there no matter what, okay?”

It took her several seconds before she gave a slow nod.

When she removed her hand from mine and took a tentative step toward Amy, I felt a strange loss I couldn’t explain. Loss that was followed by worry as I watched the older woman lead Addy down the hall to an open door revealing a fridge and a microwave. I reminded myself that she was safe here. No one knew who she was, and yet the same nervousness I’d tried to shake on the drive pounded through my veins even stronger.

Maddox waved me toward his office, and I followed him in. When he went to shut the door, I asked him to leave it open. “Just in case she needs me.”

He nodded.

“It’s Gia, right? You stayed at the ranch last year. Got under my brother’s skin a bit.” His eyes twinkled as if the idea brought him a lot of joy.

“I did.”

“Thought you were an agricultural journalist or something like that. Amy said you had a fed badge.”

“NSA, Special Collection Service. I’ve been undercover for a while.”

“And you were looking for something at our ranch?” He crossed his arms over his chest, immediately defensive, causing the tension in the room to grow.

“Yes.”

“What the hell?”

“You’d just had a good tangle with the Lovatos, and I’m part of a multi-agency task force slated with bringing them down.”

He rubbed his stubbled chin and made his way to his desk, lowering himself into the seat behind it. I did the same to the hard plastic one in front.

“The man running the West Gears made the mistake of trying to hook up with them. Since he died, the bikers have returned to their normal stupidity. Irritating stuff but nothing serious,” he acknowledged.

I didn’t agree or disagree, and that annoyed him.

“What brings you back with a little girl in tow?”

I told him the basics. How I’d been chasing another lead and found a woman dead in a hotel room in Colorado. Then, I told him how the little girl had been hiding and had likely witnessed the whole thing.

“Okay?” he prompted with confusion written on his face.

“The little girl had a letter that basically said if anything happened to her mom, we were to take her to her dad.”

“And he lives here? Is he a member of the West Gears?”

“No,” I responded, hesitating for a beat. “He’s your brother.”

Shock trailed over Maddox’s face for a second, and then he started laughing.

“Oh hell. I almost believed you for a moment. Who put you up to this? Ryder? Sadie? Jesus.”

I pulled a copy of the letter from my pocket. The original was with forensics in Denver, but I’d photographed it and made several copies. I pushed one over the desk at him.

“I wish I was kidding.”

His smile disappeared, and he picked the letter up as if it was a hairy-legged tarantula. As he read it, his expression turned dark.

“If there’d been any other name on that letter, I still would have insisted you were kidding. But Ravyn? Fuck.” He shook his head. “Ryder would never use her as a joke. None of us would. We don’t even speak her name. She nearly destroyed him when she took off two days before they were going to be married, with a chunk of the ranch’s cash in her pocket. She left nothing behind but a letter that said she’d lost his baby. Fuck…fuck, fuck, fuck.”

He banged the desk, emphasizing the words, and the sound echoed through me.

No wonder Ryder Hatley didn’t trust women all that much. No wonder he’d looked at me like I was the devil when he’d caught me snooping. No wonder he’d kissed me and all but tossed me aside, afraid to get close to someone he knew was lying and looked like she’d been stealing.

I hadn’t stolen, but I had lied.

And I would again.

And he knew it.