"Just who the hell are you?" Mason roared, his face red with fury.
"You remember Thomas Blackhawk, don't you?" The man stood, looked directly down at her father. "You stole the Circle B from him, all ten thousand acres, then had him falsely sent to prison. I'm Lucas, Mr. Hadley. Lucas Blackhawk."
In the second before the coffee cup slipped from her hand, the second before the coffeepot followed, time stood still....
She was nine years old. Standing in this very room, behind the drapes, terrified, watching her father and Thomas Blackhawk. The nightmare had been with her for twenty years. The loud voices...the gun...the explosion...
"Are you all right?"
She felt his hand on .her arm, realized that he'd moved beside her. How had he done that, so quickly, so quietly? Breath held, she raised her gaze to his. Those eyes, eyes that could see not through a person, but into them, into the darkness, into the truth.
She couldn't find her voice, couldn't find the words to answer him. They stood there, eyes locked, her heart pounding so fiercely she knew he could hear it.
Lucas Blackhawk. Here. In Wolf River.
"Get the hell away from my daughter."
Her father's shout brought her back. Spilled coffee, still steaming, pooled around her feet, stained her khaki pants and leather pumps. She bent down, reached for a piece of broken china. His hand was still on her arm as he bent down, as well, and righted the coffeepot.
"I said get the hell away from her, you half-breed bastard," Mason continued to rant. "Your kind ain't fit to be in the same room with civilized people."
Shamed and humiliated by her father's outburst, Julianna looked away.
"You're hurt," Lucas said quietly, ignoring her father's continued verbal assault. "Let go, Julianna."
She glanced at her fisted hand, saw that it was bleeding. Lucas gently pried her fingers open, removed the jagged piece of china she'd clutched tightly in her palm. His fingers were long, his hands large and callused. She shuddered at his touch, then quickly drew her hand from his.
"Keep away from me, Lucas."
A hard, cold glint shone in his eyes. The strong, square line of his jaw tightened. Though it was less than a fraction of a second, she felt and saw the intensity of his anger and rage. It terrified her, and yet at the same time she welcomed it.
She deserved it.
Then, just as quickly, his expression was blank, replaced by indifference. "Still the Ice Princess, Julianna, or is it Queen now?"
His words cut more sharply than the broken china, but she deserved that, too. She'd earned her title well, had sacrificed and struggled to maintain it all these years. How else could she survive? How else could she manage to live through the nightmare, other than to pretend she didn't care, when the truth was she did care. She cared too much. Too damned much.
Lucas rose and turned to face her father again. "As I said, Hadley, you have forty-eight hours to pay off the loan or clear out. And since we both know you haven't a snowball's chance in hell of coming up with that kind of money, you may as well start packing."
"You can't just come in here and make ultimatums, boy. I have a reputation in this community, I know people." Mason slammed both fists on his desk, rattling his phone and knocking over his silver pencil holder. "I'll see you fired from First Financial before this day is through. You'll never work again."
"Your reputation does precede you, Hadley," Lucas said coldly. "As does the stink from a skunk. And the only people you're going to know from now on are creditors, lawyers and the district attorney's office. Oh, and I guess I forgot to mention it, First Financial is one of several subsidiaries owned by Blackhawk Industries, which just happens to be my company. We'll be bulldozing this house and the house by the creek. Maybe build a resort or a business center."
The house by the creek? Dread curled in Julianna's stomach, then tightened her chest.
"The house by the c^eek is mine." She struggled to keep the panic out of her voice. "My mother willed it to me."
Lucas turned to her, his black eyes dispassionate. "Your father's name is on the title. That makes it mine."
She looked at her father, and even through the rage on his face, she saw the truth. He'd taken her house. Somehow he'd stolen the one thing, the only thing, that had ever mattered to her.
An icy chill seeped through her, and she clutched the neck of her sweater, not caring that blood still dripped from the cut on her palm. She wanted to scream at her father, knew that she should, but all she felt was numb. Defeated.
A business center? Dear God, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. When she opened them again, Lucas was watching her, his mouth a hard, thin line.
She couldn't let him see her like this. Couldn't let him know that in his thirst for revenge he'd not only destroyed her father, but herself, as well.
And why would it matter to him, anyway? Mason Hadley had taken Lucas's father from him, had murdered Thomas Blackhawk as surely as if he'd put a gun to his head. He'd destroyed a young boy's childhood, his family, his dreams.
And she'd done nothing to help.
Dimly, she knew that her father was shouting obscenities at Lucas, but Lucas ignored the insults. Instead he kept his eyes on her, staring at her, into her, as if he knew the truth.
"Put something on that hand, Julianna," he said without emotion, then turned and walked out of the room.
Her father was shouting into the phone now, as the Ferrari's engine roared to life, then shot out of the driveway.
Lucas Blackhawk had risen from the past like a demon from hell. Full of hatred and vengeance, he'd come to even an old score. He had every right, and deep in her heart, no matter what the cost to her, she was glad. Because she admired him, because she respected him.
Because she loved him.
Chapter Two
A cold wind blew in dark, angry clouds from the south. Lightning streaked silver against the black sky, and thunder shook the windows of the Four Winds Hotel suite. Rain, which had started only moments ago, already drenched the streets in town, not to mention any poor, unfortunate soul caught out walking in the downpour.
Thankful to be out of the monkey suit he'd had on earlier, dressed now in a pair of faded jeans and his favorite, though well-worn, chambray shirt, Lucas stood on the small, covered balcony of the hotel room and listened to the steady pound of the storm. The scent of rain was heavy; the charge of nature's electricity alive in the evening air. A Texas storm was always a force to be reckoned with, respected and never underestimated.
A fitting end to the day.
A slow, tight smile curved Lucas's mouth. He could still see the shock in Hadley's face, the fury in his eyes. Lucas had waited twenty years to see that look. Twenty years to watch Hadley's recognition dawn, then grow as he realized that the crimes of his past had finally caught up with him. That it was time to pay, and payback was definitely a bitch.
The fact that Julianna had been there, as well, had only been an added bonus. To see her lose her composure had been a surprise. He'd watched the color drain from her beautiful face when he'd taken her hand in his, felt her shake at his touch.
Heard the disgust in her voice when she'd told him to keep away from her.
His jaw tightened. Twenty years had certainly changed nothing for Julianna Hadley. She still thought herself too good for him, probably for any man. Why else had she never married?
Of course, he'd never married, either, but that was a different matter entirely. He'd had a goal, one goal only, and a wife would have been an encumbrance. Very few women would have tolerated the eighteen-hour, seven-day weeks for long. In the few relationships he'd had, he'd made it perfectly clear from the start there was no wedding ring in sight, no children, no happily-ever-after. The few who'd thought to change that had been sorely mistaken. They'd quickly learned that tears and tantrums had no effect on him. If anything, they only irritated him.
But maybe now was the time to consider changing his marital status, he thought. I
t wasn't that he was thinking of settling down exactly. It just might be easier to know where he'd be parking his boots at night, and would certainly erase the necessity of finding a partner in bed.
He wondered briefly who, if anyone, parked his boots under Julianna Hadley's bed at the moment. Wondered if that bed was as cold as the woman.
A knock at the door brought his head around. He'd ordered dinner from room service, preferring the quiet of his room to the noisy restaurant downstairs. He'd wanted to be alone tonight. To think about Hadley. Savor his victory.
So why, then, had he been thinking about Julianna?
And why, when he opened the door, was she standing there?
Her light blond hair was damp, pulled back into a severe ponytail. Rain glistened on her sculptured cheeks and dark, thick eyelashes; drops clung to the shoulders of her long tan trench coat. The black turtleneck underneath emphasized her pale skin and big blue eyes. The effect was stunning, and his gut clenched at the sight of her. A woman like this knew how beautiful she was, knew the effect she had on men. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of anything but cool indifference.
Chin raised, lips pressed tightly together, she clutched a small black purse. "May I come in?"
He looked down the hallway. It was empty, quiet. No lights on the elevator signaling anyone else was coming.
"I'm alone," she said. "But if you're not, if you have company—"
"What are you doing here, Julianna?"
"I need to speak with you, Lucas. I have to—"
"I'll just bet you do."
His hand snaked out, dragged her inside the hotel room and pushed her back against the now closed door.
"Is this when you start screaming?" he asked roughly. "Maybe someone with a camera breaks the door down? Or another 'guest' just happens to be walking by, someone who will claim I attacked you?"
Eyes wide, she shook her head. "I'm alone," she said breathlessly. "And you have attacked me. Now let me go."
He smiled slowly, kept his hands firmly against the door, holding her trapped between his arms. He saw the fear flicker in her blue-gray eyes, but she didn't fight him, didn't push him away.
He told himself it was to intimidate her, not please himself when he leaned in closer. She'd brought the storm in with her. He smelled it on her, resisted the urge to dip his head lower and press his lips to the pulse beating rapidly at the base of her neck. "Has your father sent you to seduce me, Julianna? Convince me to change my mind?"
He saw the anger now, the subtle narrowing of her eyes, the tight press of her tempting lips. "My father doesn't know I'm here."
His laugh was dry. "You're good, Julianna. Real good. I almost believe you."
"It's true. No one except Lily at the front desk knows I'm here. I told her we had a meeting, that you were expecting me."
"Lies come easy to the Hadleys, don't they?" She was a head shorter than him, but still tall for a woman, and she kept her gaze steady with his. "I wouldn't mind if you seduced me, Jule. I'll bet when the Ice Princess steps off her throne, she heats up fast."
Her eyes closed, but not before he saw a shimmer there. Certainly not tears, Lucas thought. Not from Julianna Hadley.
A knock at the door had them both jumping. Her eyes flew open in panic.
"No one knows you're here, huh?" He took her chin in his hand. "Don't you need to tear your clothes or something, mess that perfect hair, cry?"
"Room service," a young, enthusiastic voice boomed from the other side of the door.
She glared at him, knocked his hand away, then turned her back and stepped out onto the open balcony.
Dammit. Lucas jerked open the door, bit back the urge to yell. What the hell, he thought, tolerating the young man's cheerful greeting and food setup. Maybe he did need a minute to compose himself, to control the unexpected and unwanted response he'd had to Julianna. In fact, maybe he needed two minutes.
Julianna forced herself to take slow breaths. She focused on the curtain of water falling from the canopy over the balcony, told herself it was the moist cold that had her shaking, not Lucas's manhandling. His behavior was no less than she'd expected, certainly no less than she deserved. After what her father had put him through, why wouldn't he hate her, too?
At least he hadn't thrown her out. Yet. If only he would listen to her, believe her, then maybe, just maybe, she could save the only thing in the world that mattered to her.
"It's cold out here."
She turned at the sound of his voice, hugged her coat tighter when he stepped closer. Too close. "Lucas, I need to speak with you."
He took hold of her hand, held firm when she attempted to pull away. "Does it hurt?"
"Hurt?" she repeated mindlessly. His fingers were long, callused, warm over her own.
He turned her palm up, circled the rough pad of his thumb over the sensitive, smooth flesh. "You cut yourself today. On the broken cup."
"A scratch, that's all." Every nerve in her palm and up her arm came alive at Lucas's touch. Unable to stop herself, she trembled.
"You're freezing. Come inside."
She shook her head, pulled her hand away. "This won't take long. I just have to—"
"Julianna." He frowned darkly. "Unless you're planning to throw yourself off this balcony in a supreme sacrifice for your father, get inside now."
She almost laughed at the absurdity of his statement, but under the circumstances, thought it best to simply do as he asked. No, she corrected, brushing past him into the living area of the suite. As he'd demanded.
She jumped when he moved behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Just taking your coat." He tightened his hold, then added, "For now."
Bristling, she held on to her coat. "I'm not staying."
"Oh, but you are." His hands stayed on her shoulders. "I insist."
She knew it would be useless to argue, that he would probably only enjoy it if she did. She let him take her coat, then stepped away. The wonderful scent of oregano and basil filled the room, but her stomach only clenched at the smell of food. "Your dinner will get cold."
"Shall I order you something?" He tossed her coat over a barstool. "The food is excellent here. Especially the shrimp Alfredo and the chicken Madeira."
She wondered how he would know that. He'd only been here since this afternoon. Long enough to turn her world upside down and inside out. "No, thank you. I have to get back."
"When I say, Julianna. Now sit." He gestured to the chair across from his plate. "You might not be hungry, but I'm starving. Chianti?"
Even as she shook her head, he poured her a glass of wine and pressed it into her hands. "Sit."
Powerless to stop the humiliation, she took the chair at the farthest end of the glass dining room table. It would do no good to tell him that her father had been raging and half drunk when she'd left, that if he discovered she was gone, he'd only be more furious. And if he'd found out she'd come here...
She didn't want to think about it. She'd deal with that later.
Lucas lifted the metal dome covering a china plate, releasing a cloud of fragrant steam. Steak, baked potato, herbed vegetables. "Sure you won't have a bite? Filet, medium rare."
"You surprise me, Lucas," she said without thinking. "I would have thought raw was more to your taste."
He raised a brow, smiled slowly. "Well, well, Miss Hadley. There is still a little fight in you. But you didn't come here to irritate me, did you? So why don't you tell me why you did come here?"
Dammit. How could she be so stupid? The last thing she wanted to do was irritate him. Along with her pride, she took a swallow of wine. They both burned all the way down. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I...it's the land. The five acres and house by the creek."
"What about it?" He cut into his steak, hefted a good bite into his mouth.
"That property is mine." She struggled to keep the desperation out of her voice. "It was my grandparents', then my mother's. She left it to me after she died last year."
"I already told you. Your father's name was on the title, not yours. Along with the Double H, he signed it over as collateral to First Financial."
"But he can't do that." This time it was impossible to keep the emotion out of her words. "It's mine, Lucas. You can't just take it."
"Why can't I?" He reached for his own wine, kept his eyes on hers as he lifted the glass. "Why shouldn't I?"
"It's useless to you. The roof leaks, the paint is nonexistent, the plumbing and electricity need repair."
"Exactly why I plan to tear it down."
"No." She felt the blood drain from her face. "Let me buy it back from you."
He leaned back in his chair, studied her carefully. "I know every intimate detail of the Hadley finances. You don't have a checking or savings account in your own name, no credit cards. You do own a six-year-old sedan. Are you planning on selling that as collateral?"
"I'll get the money." Embarrassed that he knew so much about her dependency on her father, and because she thought she might explode if she sat any longer, she stood and moved to the bar, keeping her back to him as she struggled to compose herself.
"Why is it so important to you?" he asked.
Could she give him that kind of ammunition? Tell him that the house was the only loving memory she had, the only tangible proof of something that had been good in her life? Would he laugh at her, throw it back in her face? He must hate her as much as her father. His revenge would be complete, wouldn't it, if he destroyed not only Mason Hadley, but his daughter, as well.
What did it matter if he laughed? she thought. If he threw it back at her? She had nothing to lose. He couldn't do anything worse to her than take her house away.
She stared at her own reflection in the mirror over the bar, hated the despair she saw in her own eyes. "My father and mother lived in a small house in town after they were married. My grandparents owned all the Double H land then, and they lived in the house by the creek. My father was always gone on business, but my mother and I used to visit my grandparents almost every day. We'd work in the garden, plant flowers in the front yard, vegetables in the back." She ran a finger over the rim of the crystal wine glass still in her hand. "I used to fish in the creek with my grandfather. My grandmother baked bread and chocolate chip cookies."
Secrets 01- Blackhawk’s Sweet Revenge Page 2