Love Untrusted

by Tressie Lockwood

  “It doesn’t work that way.”

  Miguel’s eyes narrowed. The man behind the desk tugged at his collar, and moisture rolled down his neck. It was too darn hot in Texas to wear a suit.

  “Senor Torres—David—gave express instructions in his will that the ranch passes on to you, and that you are not allowed to write it over to any of your family unless it is upon your death.”

  Miguel cursed in Spanish and jumped to his feet. “What kind of game was he trying to pull? Does he think some convoluted inheritance is going to force me to stay in Texas?”

  “I can’t say what his intentions were. However, I can say that his will won’t prevent you from selling the ranch to someone outside the family.”

  All went silent. Miguel sank slowly to his seat. When he didn’t speak right away, Mr. Hernandez went on, explaining all the ins and outs of David’s last will and testament. “There are more specifics to each individual of your family, private words I am to read each one, including you, Ms. Small.”

  “Me?” She gasped.

  “Yes, but the first item on my list of instructions was for Senor Torres here. At the conclusion of our meeting, he can step outside, and you and I can talk.”

  After that Jasmeka said nothing. She hardly paid attention to what was said. The only impression she got through a haze of shock and confusion was that Miguel was still fuming at David’s decision. They left the attorney’s office and drove to a family restaurant Jasmeka knew of not five miles outside of Stump Valley.

  Miguel wasn’t so lost in thought that he didn’t move to hold her chair for her. His hand brushed her arm for a second, stilling him, and he stared down at her just inches away. She froze, not yet sinking to her seat but not moving either. After what felt like an eternity, she managed to pull herself together and sit down. Thoughts of David and his reasoning flooded her mind.

  “I don’t understand what he think he’s doing,” Miguel growled. “If he thinks I’m going—”

  He stopped, and she leaned toward him across the table. “Are you going to sell the ranch?”

  His jaw clenched. “Just because I don’t want the responsibility doesn’t mean I will snatch it away from my family.”

  She nodded. “And maybe David knew that. He wanted you to give it another chance, to build a good relationship with your dad and brothers.”

  Miguel’s expression said he contemplated murder, but when she shivered, he seemed to make an effort to rein it in. “I’m going to look into getting this stupid will overturned. If I want to sign the ranch over to one of them, I will!”

  “Who?”

  “To Antonio and Angel equally, to be managed under Aunt Rosa’s guidance until they turn twenty-one.”

  “Not to Thiago?”

  “As far as I can tell, signing over the ranch to David was the one responsible act my dad did in his entire life. Regardless, I’m surprised to find it still in business.”

  She glared at him. “Is that a dig at David, because I’m here to tell you he was a good man! No one could run that ranch like he did. No one!”

  “You were a fan of his. I apologize if I offended you.”

  “You don’t seem convinced.”

  He shrugged, and she gave up on persuading him.

  “You don’t care what anyone thinks of you, do you? It doesn’t bother you if someone hates you or misunderstands you.”

  “It doesn’t.” To her surprise, a crack of humor broke through his dark countenance. “Are you saying you hate me?”

  “What? No, of course not. I don’t know you well enough.”

  He reached across the table and brushed a thumb over her hand. She was so tempted to leave it where it was, but she withdrew and curled it with the other in her lap. He took a long swallow from the cola the waitress had brought him, and she watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down that thick column of a neck. His features were similar to David’s but still sharply different. Miguel gave off a far greater danger and power than his older brother.

  When he set his glass down empty, he signaled to the waiter for another. “Are you seeing someone?”

  This must be the morning for her to be constantly thrown off balance. “I…loved…someone. I’m not sure I’m over him.”

  “You broke up,” he said, nodding. “He’s a fool.”

  She grinned. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “And you?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “Just before I came here I ended something.”

  “I’m not sure how to take that. Don’t you want to get married some day and raise a family?” She was so out of line with that question, and it was none of her business. This wasn’t a date after all.

  Never mind that he’s coming on to me all the time like he wants something.

  She wasn’t offended knowing Miguel found her attractive. A lot of men had showed interest in her. Most she didn’t give the time of day. Miguel was interesting, and she wasn’t ashamed of her attraction to him. Just careful.

  At her mention of marriage and a family, Miguel flinched as if she’d slapped him. However, he didn’t answer the question. She knew the type and resisted rolling her eyes.

  “Okay, safer topic,” she said. “Why is there so much bad blood between you and your family? You can see it a mile off.”

  He snorted because he got that she was just being facetious. His family problems were not even close to being lighter conversation. Her dry humor loosened him up, which she expected. If she did say so herself, she was good at making people feel better.

  “To answer your question, the person I have most of an issue with is Thiago.”

  “You mean your daddy?”

  He looked at her as if she’d told him to eat a bug. Come to think of it, he looked like he must have been a stubborn little boy. She resisted telling him so. “Thiago has had a drinking problem since I’ve known him. You’re saying he’s had it since before you left?”

  His jaw tightened. “If it were only a matter of the drinking…”

  He reddened. She’d heard stories, but she wasn’t sure of everything. To try to ease the tension, she thought she’s share what she knew. “Your mom was his second wife, right? David was so much older than you.”

  “Fifteen years older. Thiago married his mom at twenty-one, and they had David that same year. He lasted with her until he was thirty-six, which was when he got my mother pregnant. I’ve heard he loved my mom so much that he divorced David’s mother and married her before I was born.”

  The sour note in his tone came through. “That’s terrible. Poor David.”

  He glared at her, but he had warmed up to his subject. “When he was fifty-two, his eyes wandered again. This time, it was with the twins’ mother. Things didn’t go as smoothly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Something flashed in Miguel’s eyes, but she couldn’t tell if it was amusement, anger, or something else. “Have you ever noticed that he’s missing his little finger on his right hand?”

  “Yes, of course. I’m almost scared to ask what happened.”

  “I don’t know the details myself. Jewel—that was her name. She tried to kill Thiago when he refused to leave my mother for her.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “No. At some point, Jewel was deported, but she went to prison for a while. She wasn’t a citizen. My mom stayed with him just a year, but then she left. I went with her. I was seventeen at the time.”

  “The same age as the twins are now.”

  He nodded. “My understanding is that Thiago married Jewel while she was still in prison, out of some warped sense of responsibility. As far as I know they’re still married.”

  “But Aunt Rosa, your dad’s sister, raised the twins.”

  He nodded.

  She reached across and touched his hand. “I can see why all of that devastated you at a young age. You wanted to be with your mom during that difficult time, but what about David? You’d spent all those years with your o
lder brother. And you had the twins.”

  He grunted in anger and charged to his feet. “The last time I was here David was on the same path as Thiago. The twins didn’t know me, and as far as I was concerned they didn’t need to. I wanted to put this place—this state—behind me.”

  “Now you’ve been called back, and you own the ranch. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for you.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’ll straighten it out.”

  “And be gone?”

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  “You haven’t touched your burger.” She looked at her own food, wondering when it had come and at what point she had eaten half of it. Usually, she loved to take her time with food, savoring the flavors and picking out what seasonings were used. Miguel’s crazy family history had consumed all of her attention. She didn’t even feel right telling him he needed to let go of the past and still try to build something between him and the two siblings he had left.

  He said nothing but arranged for To-Go containers for them to take their leftovers. Rather than argue, she rode in silence alongside him back to the ranch. All the way there, she wondered what the others would have to say about the will. Did Thiago already know David’s plans to turn over the ranch to Miguel? Did Aunt Rosa or the twins?

  One could only guess at the emotions that would fly about when the truth became known, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

  Chapter 5

  Miguel drew up to the house and stopped the truck. As he watched Jasmeka gather her purse and prepare to get out, he couldn’t help noticing her shapely legs with smooth chocolate skin. A desire to touch her came over him as it did from the first moment he saw her at the airport.

  When she got him to talking about the past and about his family, his mood had plummeted, but he was tempted to forget all of that. She was willing. He could see it in the way she responded at the tiniest touch. Hesitant, nervous, but definitely interested. All he needed to do was nudge her along a little. He liked the light-hearted kind of woman she seemed to be, not weighted down by society’s dictates.

  He grabbed her hand and jerked her toward him for a swift kiss. To his satisfaction, her lips parted, and he pushed his tongue inside. Just as he expected, her mouth tasted like honey. He deepened the kiss, wrapping an arm around her and molding her upper body to his. Desire leaped to life inside him, and he considered forgetting about talking to Hector as he planned and just taking her up to his room.

  Her hands came up to his chest, and she gave the tiniest of pushes. He backed off a couple inches, looking down at her. “You want this.”

  She bit her lower lip, drawing his attention to it, and looked away across the yard. “Don’t you think it’s a little disrespectful? I mean…”

  He leaned back in his seat and faced forward. “My family has never respected anything. Why should I care what they think now?”

  “You mean Thiago, but I thought you didn’t want to follow in his footsteps.”

  He growled in disgust. “On my lowest day, I’ll never be like him.”

  She opened the door and climbed out, but then she leaned in again. “We can meet on the porch tonight if you want.”

  The sight of her cleavage made him think tonight wouldn’t be soon enough, but he controlled himself. He wasn’t an animal after all. “Sounds good.”

  Her brilliant smile lit up her face, disorienting him for a second. She slammed the door and sashayed to the house. A light jog up the steps, and she disappeared. Miguel took time to pull himself together before driving around to the back part of the property where the stables were. He parked and climbed out of the truck. Sure enough Hector was there, checking the shoes of one of the horses.

  “Hector, como estas, mi amigo?” Miguel smiled as he walked toward Hector.

  The older man with the leathery skin, bronzed from years under the Texas sun, straightened and took a stance Miguel could only identify as subservient. If he wore a hat at the moment, he’d probably be holding it respectfully between both hands. “Jefe, it’s been a long time since we see you.”

  Miguel chuckled. “Yeah, so long you forgot you used to call me Miguel.”

  “Si, you all grown up, Senor Miguel. Buen hombre.” He bobbed his head in affirmation of his compliment.

  “Gracias. Hector, I want to talk to you about the ranch and its future.”

  “Si.”

  * * *

  The rest of the day dragged on with Miguel distracting himself by working with Hector. It took a while to make the man relax and just treat him as one of the guys. After a while, they worked in harmony, talking only when necessary and sweating nonstop.

  When the sun started to dip below the horizon, Miguel straightened, and stretched his arms over his head. His muscles had a satisfying ache, which was a good thing since he didn’t have a chance to go to the gym while he was there.

  He parted ways with Hector to head toward the truck but found it gone from the spot where he left it. Wincing, he rubbed his neck. Jasmeka had probably taken exception to the fact that he had commandeered it as his own. He really would need to rent one, especially if this mess with the ranch took longer than he liked. His instincts had been head on when he put in for the leave of absence.

  As he walked toward the house, the last of the light waned. A shadow moved ahead of him. He went on alert out of habit, but he wasn’t worried it was anything other than a family member or one of the workers. Nothing ever happened around here. Crime was almost non-existent, and even when mischief stirred up, everyone knew who’d done it. At least that’s how it was when he was home.

  “Ugh, I’m starting to think like a Texan.” He’d almost heard that southern drawl he worked to drop the second he stepped foot in New York. All he needed was to speak it out loud, and he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

  “We know what you’re up to.”

  He stopped walking at the sound Antonio’s voice. Two shadows now, and he identified them as belonging to the twins. They blocked his path to the house. Not very dangerous but definite attitude. Miguel waited to see where this was going.

  “Yeah, we’re not stupid.” Angel’s voice this time.

  Was this about the ranch? Had they already heard? He steeled himself to deal with the outbursts, the protests that he had no right after all this time. Miguel could smell their dislike of him from a mile off. He didn’t hate them, but they were spoiled, and if they were in his care, he’d straighten them up quick. They were almost men after all. Time they learned the way of the world.

  Miguel started to walk by them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, hermanos, but I’m tired. What say we have this discussion in the morning?”

  One of them blocked his path again. “She’s pregnant!”

  Miguel froze. His blood ran cold. “Qué?”

  “Tony,” Angel whispered in a fierce tone and punched his twin’s arm.

  Antonio straightened, ignoring Angel. “You heard me. She’s pregnant. I’m talking about Jas. She’s having our brother’s baby.”

  Miguel felt sick. He ran a hand over his face and drew in a long, slow breath. For a moment, he forgot to let it out to harness his emotions. Antonio wanted to provoke him, and he couldn’t choose a better way. Yet, that didn’t mean he was lying. Miguel willed himself to calm down and to examine his younger brother’s tone so he could determine if he had a tell that said he was making up all he’d said. It would have helped if he could see Antonio better.

  “I assume you’re talking about David.” Miguel was proud of himself that his voice sounded even. “Unless of course Thiago has more news for me.”

  “Who else would it be?” Antonio took a step closer to him and stabbed a finger into Miguel’s chest. Miguel felt a vein twitch beside his right eye, but he recalled who was talking. His snot-nosed little brother didn’t know any better, but if he kept pushing, Miguel might teach him something before he left for good. For now, Antonio kept flapping his gums. “She was David’s, so you better back
off. You don’t look like the kind of man who would want another man’s leftovers.”

  Miguel caught the stabbing finger, and Antonio let out a small yelp. “Who’d you hear that from?”

  Antonio didn’t answer, but he could imagine the boy paled. Trying to be big and use insults he didn’t have the cojones to fling around was a mistake. “You’ve said your piece,” Miguel bit between his teeth. “Now get lost.”

  Angel tugged at Antonio. “Come on, Tony. We don’t want to push him too far.”

  Antonio made a noise of disgust. “I’m not scared of him.”

  “Come on!”

  They went, and Miguel remained where he was standing a little bit longer tamping down his anger. He kept telling himself it was too farfetched, too unlikely, but didn’t she say she’d been in love, and she wasn’t over the guy? Miguel had assumed her lover had broken things off, but he should have seen it. David died. Of course he wouldn’t give her up, not a woman that looked like Jasmeka, with her personality to boot.

  The more he thought about how she defended his brother, the angrier he became. She let him come onto her, knowing she’d been with his brother, maybe just before he died. Swearing, Miguel paced. He pushed a hand through his hair, feeling it tangled wet from the day’s hard work. A shower was the farthest thing from his mind. He’d said he would meet her on the porch.

  “No, don’t do it,” he argued with himself. “Just walk away.”

  His feet directed him toward the house. He willed himself to stop. Maybe she wasn’t there yet. It wasn’t that late. She might be attending her duties in the house somewhere. He could go up to his room and—another curse dropped from his lips. He wasn’t the type of man to slink off in hiding.

  His boot had hardly thunked against the bottom step when the screen door squeaked open. She stood there with a plate of food in her hand. Her usual bright grin broke out on her beautiful face. He saw her pretty well because she’d turned on the outside lights.

  “I thought you were still at it down there, and I was going to bring you dinner.”