But when Louise told him Mellie wasn’t there, that she’d gone to the apartment to finish cleaning up, he breathed a small sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to make his case in front of an audience. He wasn’t thrilled at the thought of her being in that place at night, but Louise assured him that she had her cell phone and her alarm button and that the security company guy who’d been parked outside had said that his relief was rolling into place at the apartment even as Mellie was backing out of the drive.
Bart spared a moment to update Will, then headed over to the apartment, still with no idea exactly what he would say. When he pulled into the parking lot, he made his way up the stairs, preoccupied with his internal debate over what approach would work best.
But when he knocked on the door, Mellie took a long time answering, and when she did, she seemed preoccupied. “Bart, this, uh, this isn’t a good time.”
No surprise she wasn’t happy to see him. “Look, Mellie, I know I was harsh on you, and I was wrong. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I see that I overreacted. It’s just that my dad— Let me in, and I’ll try to explain.”
But to his surprise she only gripped the door more tightly. “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter.”
He frowned. How could it not matter? He’d given her no chance, just condemned her without a trial. “You’re wrong,” he said softly. “I care about you, Mellie.”
Instead of softening, however, all she did was become more rigid. “I said it wasn’t a good time, Bart.”
He took a good look at her and realized that her face was drawn tight with strain, her eyes shadowed by fear. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
At that instant, he saw a shadow move behind her. “Who’s here?”
Mellie flinched, and Bart thought he saw the barrel of a pistol. He shoved the door open, and Mellie tumbled back.
“No, Bart, run! He’s got—”
A stocky man yanked her against him and brandished his weapon. “I told you to send him away,” he growled.
Mellie let out a yelp of pain. Bart lunged for the man’s gun hand and shoved Mellie to the side.
The man got off a shot before Bart took him to the floor, then aimed a vicious chop at the man’s wrist to dislodge the weapon.
That only seemed to enrage the man further, and he landed a punch to the side of Bart’s head. Bart reeled backward.
Mellie raced for the door and screamed for help.
Bart lunged forward with a solid jab that snapped the man’s head sideways. The man swung wildly at him, then used a foot to hook Bart’s ankle. As he fell, Bart grabbed the man by the throat, and the two of them rolled over the floor, each one fighting to gain the upper hand. Bart was in better shape, but the man was obviously accustomed to violence, and Bart knew he was in for the fight of his life.
Will charged through the door and waded in. Bart and Will subdued the man in record time. Soon the wail of police sirens sounded in the distance.
A few minutes later, Mellie’s attacker was in police custody, and Mellie was in Bart’s arms. “Are you hurt?” she asked, frantically running her hands over his body.
“My thickheaded brother?” Will scoffed. “Honey, the Branch twins know how to hold their own.” He grinned at Bart. “Not like we didn’t have plenty of experience getting into fights as kids, huh?”
But Bart couldn’t join in on the teasing. He was still remembering Mellie with a gun to her head. “It took years off my life, seeing you at his mercy,” he murmured to her.
She shivered and wriggled closer into his chest. “I was trying to get rid of you. I didn’t want him to hurt you or Lily.” She tensed and looked up. “You’re sure she’s all right?”
Bart nodded. “There’s no evidence of any partner, but the police are keeping an eye on Louise’s place. As soon as the medics have checked you out, we’ll drive right over to get her.”
“Checked me out? I wasn’t the one who—” She pressed her lips together. “You stopped him. You saved me. You could have been killed.”
“But I wasn’t.” He closed his arms around her more tightly. “I said you were safe. I’m sorry. I should have kept you with me, but I lost my temper and left you at his mercy.”
“You did not. You hired someone to watch over me. It’s not your fault.”
He tipped up her chin. “I’m insisting now. You’re staying with me,” he said fiercely. “You and Lily are not leaving my sight.”
“That’s completely unrealistic. You have a championship to win, and you can’t afford to be distracted, Bart. I’ll figure something out.”
“I want you to come with me to Homestead.”
“I have a job.”
He arched a brow. “That you were going to skip out on, remember?”
“Now, now, children,” Will interrupted. “You can stay with us, Mellie.”
“The hell she can,” Bart exploded. “You have to race next weekend, too. Go home to your wife and stop meddling.”
Mellie stepped away from him. “I’ve been taking care of Lily for most of her life. Don’t order me around, either of you.”
The sharp edge of panic stabbed into Bart, but he had the sense that he could lose her right here and now if he didn’t get a rein on his protective instincts. He glanced at his brother first. “Scram, Will.”
“But—” Will shook his head and held up his palms.
“Fine. Screw this up, though, and you’ll be answering to the rest of the family.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Bart exhaled. He sent his twin a silent message of thanks. “Beat it.”
“You’re welcome.” But Will squeezed his shoulder as he left. He paused near Mellie and leaned down, murmuring something to her that Bart couldn’t hear.
Whatever it was, Mellie’s lips curved. She gave Will a quick kiss on the cheek. He smirked back at Bart and left.
“What was that about?”
She cocked her head and studied him. “He said you like to think you’re the smart twin, and he lets you believe that because he doesn’t want to hurt your feelings, since he’s also the better looking.”
Bart tried to lighten up and respond in kind, to let go of his fierce need to protect her, but he couldn’t. “I’m smart enough to know that I should never have taken out my father’s bad behavior on you. You and Lily are as much his victims as anyone else in the family.”
She looked sad at that. “Lily’s your family, but I’m not.”
“You obviously don’t know my mother very well,” he said, drawing closer to her. “She’s already laid claim to you as one of her chicks.”
“Really?” Wistfulness swept over her delicate features. “I miss my mother so much,” she said softly.
“Tell me about her.”
“It won’t bother you? I mean, in light of—”
“Hilton deceived her more than anyone. I knew he was low, but to take advantage like that…”
“He honestly seemed to love her,” Mellie said. “He lit up every time he saw her—” She halted. “I’m sorry. You don’t want to hear that.”
“My mom’s much happier without him. It makes me mad as hell to say it, but she was only a means to an end for Hilton. He married her for her money. Chuck treats her the way she always deserved to be treated, like she’s the queen of the universe and the highlight of every second he’s with her.”
“It must have been so awful for all of you, what happened.”
Forget it, he started to say, but for the first time since his father’s betrayal, he actually wanted to talk about what had happened. “Our whole world collapsed. Everything we thought we knew about our family and ourselves just—” he snapped his fingers “—up in smoke. I mean, he’d never been around much and my mom really raised us, but he always acted like he was so proud of us, like we were something special.”
“You are something special,” she said.
She made him feel that way. “We’re a hell of a bunch, I have to say. We pulled together, all of us, even when eve
rything looked pretty dark. We made it through, no thanks to him.”
“Do you think you’ll ever forgive him?”
His gaze snapped to hers. “Why should I?”
“For your own sake,” she said, reaching out for his hand. “It would make you feel better. As long as you’re holding a grudge, you’re not moving on.”
He removed his hand from hers, stung. “On that,” he said tightly, “we’ll have to agree to disagree.” Then he shook off the bad mood that thoughts of his father always generated and softened his expression with a smile. “Let’s go see the medics and get them to release us. Lily’s probably asleep, right? But we could at least look in on her.”
Mellie hesitated, then nodded. “I’d like that.”
He tucked her under his arm and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “And then I’m taking you home with me, Miss Mellie.”
“Bart…”
Just then, the detective in charge approached. “Mr. Branch? Ms. Donovan? I have more questions.”
Bart felt Mellie stiffen against him. “Of course.”
“The name he gave us doesn’t turn up in any of our databases, and it’s clear that he’s more afraid of the people he works for than of going to jail.” He exhaled. “But that’s not unusual. When the FBI gets hold of him, he may change his tune. We’ll see.”
“So there’s nothing we can do to make them go away?” Mellie asked.
Amelia, he reminded himself. “I’ll keep you safe, I swear it.”
The detective cast sympathetic eyes on her. “We’ll maintain watch around here.”
“What if I left town? There’s no reason I can’t go, right?”
Bart went rigid. “You aren’t running away.”
But she ignored him. “You can’t make any promises,” she said to the detective. “Correct?”
“Ms. Donovan,” he replied with exaggerated patience.
“This was a complicated case from the beginning.”
“I understand. But that’s why I have to be realistic. I have Lily to care for.”
Bart had to fight his own possessive instincts. “What if she went to Dallas and stayed with my mother?”
The detective shook his head. “Now that they’ve found her and the connection to your family is clear…”
“She’ll have a full-time bodyguard,” Bart said. “He’ll dog her every step. No more keeping watch from a distance.”
“That’ll help,” agreed the detective.
Then it struck Bart what would probably help most.
“I’ll go talk to my father.” He never wanted to lay eyes on the man again, but if Biscayne Bay could get word to Hilton, surely the channel of communication could be reversed. “He’s done too much damage. He has to clean up his mess.”
“Bart—” Mellie tried to interrupt, but he was having none of it.
“There’s a possibility that could work, right?” he said to the policeman.
The man nodded. “We’ll keep after the henchman. He already admitted that Ms. Donovan seemed to know nothing.”
“Then we’ll send out the message from another direction,” Bart decided. “And meantime, she’s going to be under constant guard.” If Mellie looked pained at the prospect, well, too bad. It was for her own good.
The detective lingered for a couple more minutes, asking additional questions, then departed.
“You ready?” Bart asked her.
Her expression was preoccupied. “I guess.”
He led her, silent and withdrawn, to his truck. She’s had to deal with a lot. But everything will be all right now.
Bart settled her inside his truck, then rounded the hood and got in, ready to move on to the next chapter.
MELLIE SAT IN HIS PICKUP, her mind racing. He was a good man who only wanted to take care of her. Hadn’t she wished for that desperately over the past several months? Hadn’t she prayed for a savior?
But now that she’d witnessed an example of the price he could pay for caring about her, how could she let him? Even if he had any business getting into the middle of this mess, he was only six days away from the most important race of his life.
Somehow she made it through Louise’s worried hug and watching the sleeping Lily without breaking down, but when Bart urged her to come home with him…
How she longed to crawl into his arms, into his bed, and let go of all responsibilities. Bart was a take-charge kind of man, and he would willingly take her on as a pet project.
The Care and Feeding of Lily and Mellie.
She couldn’t do it. Couldn’t let him throw away his shot at something he’d worked for since he was a small boy.
What was the right thing to do? Go with him and risk the bad guys coming after him, too? Or run away and have him worry—because he would, she knew that.
All the way to his place, she wrestled with the dilemma. How could she find a solution that would keep Lily safe but not distract him? Allow him peace of mind to pursue his dream of a championship?
She’s already laid claim to you as one of her chicks.
The solution hit her. “I’ll go with Lily to spend this week with your mother, if you think she’d be okay with that.”
Bart’s gaze whipped to hers. “I’d rather have you with me at Homestead.”
She shook her head. “I can come down with her to the race, but if I’m there all week, all you’ll do is feel obligated to entertain me or keep me in mind when you need to be focused on other things.” At his frown, she played her trump card. “Lily doesn’t know them yet, and she’s too little to appreciate the experience, anyway, if we came with you. She isn’t ready to hang out at the racetrack.”
His look of chagrin gave her hope. He exhaled. “It’s not what I want, but you’re right.” He glanced over again. “At least if you’re with Mom and Chuck, I know you’ll be safe.”
Mellie breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she could accomplish both goals she sought: be there to cheer Bart on so he wasn’t worrying about her, yet still keep an eye out for an opportunity to lead the bad guys away from a family that had suffered enough.
Her heart squeezed so hard she could barely breathe at the thought of leaving Lily behind as she must once she’d helped her sister get to know them, but Lily loved Bart, and Mellie had no doubts that the Branches would take excellent care of her. She would miss Mellie at first, but she’d blossom under their care.
Please, she murmured a silent prayer, help me find a way to come back one day soon and see my little sister again.
“It’s the best option,” she said, knowing that however angry he would be, she was choosing the right path for all of them.
He squeezed her hand. “Thanks, Mellie. I feel better about this. If I can’t have you with me, that is.”
She squeezed back, aching over once again deceiving a very good man.
Then they arrived at his condo. He turned a more relaxed face to hers. “So what do you think, Miss Mellie? Can we put away everything just for this one night?”
She wanted to, desperately. One last time to be with a man who made her heart soar, who was every dream she’d ever had. For this once, could she put away everything else but the man in front of her, the one who could so easily be her Prince Charming if only she didn’t bring so much baggage with her?
His eyes softened into pools of longing and temptation. “What do you say, sweetheart?” he murmured. “I could use the chance to be close, and I think you could, too.”
Mellie studied a face that had already become beloved to her, then nodded. “I want that, too.”
His was a smile that lit up the night. He drew her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I love you, Mellie.”
Even as her conscience pricked her, she answered with total honesty. “I…I love you, Bart.”
“Then everything’s gonna be just fine, you’ll see.”
It will, she thought. Because I’m going to make sure of it.
CHAPTER NINE
SAWYER’S GIRLFRIEND, LU
CY, had offered to keep the kids—Will’s twins, Penny’s daughter and Lily—during the race with the help of a nanny the Branches had hired. Newly pregnant, she said she needed the practice. Sam was old enough to go with the adults and wouldn’t have missed seeing his uncle Bart race for the championship, to say nothing of how devoted a fan of his dad’s he was.
“Lily,” Mellie said as she put her sister to bed the night before the race, “you know I love you.”
Lily was busy playing with the die-cast car Bart had given her, a replica of his own from which she refused to be parted. “Bart loves me, too.”
Tears pricked at Mellie’s eyes. “He does. And Grammy Maeve.”
Lily looked up. “And Lucy and Sawyer and Will and Sam and Grandpa Chuck and—”
Mellie had to smile at the recitation of family members Lily had taken to instantly.
As they had taken to her. Mellie had been right; Lily belonged with them, would have a fine life under their care.
But her own heart was breaking in two at the thought of leaving. However many times she’d wished for the chance to be young again and free of responsibilities, as the prospect loomed, it wasn’t enticing at all.
Because she would be alone.
Lily wouldn’t, though, not ever. The Branch family was full of love, which Mellie herself had lapped up like rich cream. Maeve had dismissed any possibility that Mellie would escape being cradled into their bosom just as much as Lily had been.
She loved Bart’s mother already. Yes, it was complicated, their past, but Maeve made it seem so simple to just go on, to move forward into the future.
And she clearly expected Mellie to become a member of the family legally, as well.
As Bart’s wife.
Mellie couldn’t recall the last full night’s rest she’d gotten as she wrestled with her longing to stay, to be part of them. To spend her life with Bart, even to one day have children with him.
Not that he’d proposed. Or that she’d let him, not as long as the specter of Biscayne Bay loomed.
She could remove that menace from them.
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