Seven Reasons Why

by Neesa Hart

  “So why—” she pursed her lips in an unconsciously seductive expression “—did you agree to come here? Surely you could have found a vacation spot that offered a little more entertainment than Keegan’s Bend.”

  His hand traced the line of her bottom. “I doubt it.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  He could tell from her expression that she was warming to the conversation. Inwardly squirming, he tried to head her off. “August, it’s not a big deal. Jansen wanted my help. I respect the man. In many ways, he’s been like a father to me. I needed a place to go, and he had one.”

  A frown puckered her brow. “I think you should tell me about the day you got shot,” she persisted.

  “Why do you want to hear about that?”

  He saw a softening in her gaze that tugged at his heart. She laid a warm hand against his face. “I’d like to understand why a man like you decided to help my kids.”

  Zack searched her eyes. There was something, something just beneath the surface, that he couldn’t quite define. He sensed a certain danger in the way she was probing him, as if she were looking for something other than the simple explanation. Her clear gaze held his with a steady calm. With something of a shock, he realized that the turmoil he’d felt over Joey’s betrayal seemed to have stilled. August made him feel safe from the turbulent frustration that had torn at him for the past few months.

  “I was defending Joey Palfitano,” he said, testing the words. They came with surprising ease.

  “I knew that. He was accused of murdering a police officer.”

  Zack nodded. “I want you to know that I’ve never taken a case when I didn’t believe the client was innocent.”

  August tipped her head to one side. “All that evidence, Zack? The press made it sound very incriminating.”

  “You only heard the public image. There were plenty of extenuating circumstances. I took Joey’s case because I believed he’d been framed by a crooked cop in the New York Police Department.”

  “Jack Garrison,” she said.

  It didn’t surprise him that she’d heard the name. The case had been widely publicized. “Jack Garrison. He’s dirty, maybe not in this case, but he’s definitely dirty.”

  “So why did you think he’d fingered Palfitano?”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I may have believed in Joey’s innocence, but that doesn’t mean I thought he was a choirboy. He’d been involved in plenty of shady, if not downright illegal, stuff before, but this time, Garrison had gone too far.” He wiped an agitated hand through his hair. “I took the case because I have a fundamental belief that the law is supposed to protect people. Nobody, even a creep like Joey, should be sent to prison for a murder he didn’t commit.”

  “But he wasn’t innocent?” she asked quietly.

  Bitterness swamped him as he remembered the report his investigator had handed him just minutes before the verdict. “No. I didn’t even know until it was too late to do anything about it. Either because of my own stupidity, or my willingness to overlook the obvious, I helped a guy guilty of killing a twenty-five-year-old police officer walk away a free man.” He met August’s gaze. “The hell of it is, if I go to the police with what I now know, I could be disbarred for violating Joey’s attorney-client privilege. And here’s the part you’ll love. If it hadn’t been for what happened after, I don’t even know if I would have cared.”

  “You would have,” she said.

  He ruffled his fingers through her hair, gently smoothing it away from her face. “Don’t have so much faith in me, querida. I don’t deserve it.”

  “Zack, you can’t beat yourself up over this. You didn’t know he was guilty, did you?”

  “No.”

  “Then all you did was your job.”

  “I allowed him to deceive me. How do I know I didn’t want to be misled?”

  She frowned at him. “That’s ridiculous. You were betrayed by a client. Anyone would be hurt by that. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “The shooting was” he said quietly, confessing for the first time what he’d told no one, what he’d barely admitted to himself.

  August’s eyes widened. “What?”

  “The shooting. It was my fault.”

  “I can’t believe—”

  He shook his head. “No.” His voice had grown hoarse. “It was. I was suspicious of Joey from the beginning. I put one of my investigators on the case. During the course of the trial, he turned up incriminating information that implicated one of Joey’s former associates in a concurrent case. I had the information relayed to the prosecuting attorney on the other case, because it gave credence to Joey’s defense in my own. Garrison’s connection to the defendant was concrete. I knew that if news of Garrison’s corruption became public, I’d have a better chance of proving his link to the murder. I never even thought about the consequences, never waited for the rest of the evidence. I wanted to win. I was willing to do anything to make it happen.”

  He shook his head. “It does strange things to a man when he realizes he’s lost every ounce of principle he ever possessed.”

  “Stop it.” She shifted so she sat facing him on the bed. “That is not true.” As she tucked the sheet under her arms, Zack watched the way her jaw set into the same determined line he’d seen when she defended her kids. August had more goodness in her heart than most of the world put together.

  Self-recrimination flooded him as he realized that, once again, he’d pushed aside every shred of decency to get what he wanted. He’d wanted her in his life, in his bed, and he’d pursued her ruthlessly. Even emotional blackmail hadn’t been beneath him. He thought again of Margie’s fax, and found a perverse pleasure, a sort of selfflagellation, in knowing that August would see him as he really was when he told her the truth.

  Her small hand lay in the center of his chest. “You can’t keep blaming yourself for this,” she urged. “You couldn’t possibly have known what was going to happen.”

  “You don’t think so?” He felt the hard edge in his voice. “Because of the information I gave that prosecutor, John Burgesson went to jail. He knew that only Joey could have turned state’s evidence on him. I didn’t even consider that Joey had deliberately left the information for me to find. I just plowed ahead, determined to win.

  “Burgesson wasn’t about to take Joey’s betrayal lightly. He put out a hit on Joey, and the day we walked out of the courtroom, the day I found out that Joey really had killed that officer, Burgesson’s man opened fire in the corridor at the courthouse.”

  “Oh, Zack.”

  “You want to hear the worst part?” He wiped a hand over his face. “Joey’s family was in the courtroom that day. His daughter, she’s beautiful. Looks just like my sisters did at her age. She was running across the corridor toward Joey when this guy fired the first shot. Joey just stood there. His child was between him and the gunman, and he stood there. God.” Zack dropped his head back against the headboard with a pained groan. “It sickened me. He’d have let her get killed. And I helped him walk away from a life sentence.”

  “But you saved her.”

  “I got shot in the leg when I pulled her out of the way.”

  August’s strong hands cradled his face. “You can’t take responsibility for this. It’ll eat you alive.”

  “It already did,” he confessed. “I looked at myself that day and realized I hated the person I’d become. I’d turned my back on everyone and everything I ever cared about to build a career that consisted of defending sleazeballs like Joey Palfitano.”

  With a soft sigh, August pressed herself to his chest. She seemed to be trying to absorb his hurt. “So you came to Keegan’s Bend to get away from New York.”

  “This seemed to be as far away as I could get. August—” he trailed a hand up her back “—I want you to know that being here, being with you, has helped me find a center again. I’d forgotten how much my family meant to me.”

  “That’s why you called your brothers,”
she said. He heard the dawning understanding in her voice.

  “Three weeks ago, it never would have occurred to me to ask for their help. I’m glad you helped me find that again.”

  “I’m glad, too,” she whispered. When she met his gaze once more, he saw a deep compassion that affected him as nothing else could. With a slight groan, he pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. “Don’t go looking for heroics where there aren’t any, August. You’ll just get hurt in the long run.”

  “Hmm. Why don’t you just let me worry about that?” She rubbed her breasts against him, and he felt his body stir.

  August traced a random pattern on his chest. “But from a strictly medical perspective,” she continued, “I’m wondering how an injury like your leg wound would affect your stamina.”

  His fingers tightened on the soft flesh of her bottom. “Is this leading where I think it’s leading?”

  “I’m a doctor,” she insisted. “I’m concerned.”

  “You’re a vet. And if I’m not careful, I’m afraid you’ll be chasing after me with one of those three-foot needles.”

  “What if I just chase?” She moved to press a kiss to the underside of his chin. “No needles.”

  The breath left his body in a whoosh. “What are you going to do when you catch me?”

  She slid along the length of his torso. Her full breasts scored his chest. When she pressed a kiss to his abdomen, his stomach clenched. “I don’t know,” she whispered, circling his navel with her tongue. “I suppose I’ll think of something.”

  Before she finished, he rolled her onto her back with a low growl. “You’re probably going to be the death of me,” he muttered.

  “What a way to go.”

  She was still laughing when his lips found hers.

  August awoke to the sound of laughter. For long minutes, she savored the gentle breeze that wafted through the open window. There was an unaccustomed warmth at her back, and she shifted against it. A delicious languor steeped through her body as the sounds and sensations of the morning slipped through her veil of sleep.

  Her boys, she realized, were playing outside. She heard their voices mingled with other, deeper sounds. Snuggling under the sheet, she felt the tightening of a band at her waist. Her fingers found the rough texture of a man’s arm. At the bend of her neck, the warm slide of his mouth tickled her flesh.

  Her eyes flew open. Zack.

  He sensed her sudden awareness. With a warm chuckle, he whispered, “Good morning.”

  August leaned into him with a luxurious yawn. “Good morning.”

  His mouth trailed the top of her shoulder. “Sleep well?” he drawled.

  “Hardly.” She turned in his arms to align her body with his hard length. The slight ache in her limbs brought a flood of delicious memories. “Someone kept waking me up.”

  He nuzzled the curve of her ear. “Must have been damned inconvenient.”

  August giggled. “You could say that.” She gave herself long minutes to enjoy the sensations of waking up with Zack Adriano. In the night, he had proved to be an extraordinary lover. He had learned her body with tender, gentle hands that left her aching for him. Playful when he wanted to be, intense when the sensations created a sensual storm, he had given her an uninhibited passion. His morning kiss was long, thorough. Incredibly, her body still hummed beneath his hands.

  She pulled her mouth from his with a soft sigh of regret “The boys are up,” she told them. “Hear them?”

  Zack lowered his lips to her neck. “Um. They’re playing outside with my brothers. They’ll be fine.”

  “I think we have about five minutes before they storm over here.”

  “I gave instructions,” he insisted. “Nobody’s coming over.” One of his long legs slipped between hers.

  She laughed when he softly bit her shoulder. “Zack.” She gave him a slight push. He swiped his tongue in the hollow of her throat. “We can’t spend all day in bed.”

  Finally, he lifted his head. “Why not?”

  “Because I—”

  “Zack!” Miguel’s commanding shout sounded from the yard.

  With a groan, Zack rolled from the bed. “This better be good,” he mumbled.

  August’s throat went dry as she watched him stroll, naked, to the window. He gave the shade a hard yank. “What?”

  “We got company,” Miguel told him.

  Zack’s shoulders visibly tensed. He glanced over his shoulder at August. “Get dressed, honey. It’s Snopes.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  When they reached the yard minutes later, Zack took one look at the terror on Teddy’s face and felt his pulse shoot to the moon. “I warned you, Snopes,” he snarled, stalking across the yard. He’d paused only to tug on a pair of jeans before hurrying downstairs. August trailed behind him, wearing her skirt and one of his shirts. He ignored the prickly feel of the gravel on his bare feet as he advanced toward George Snopes.

  August’s fingers curled into his bare arm. “Zack, don’t.”

  “Don’t try to stop me,” he told her. “I’ve had enough of this.”

  George Snopes hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of his dirty work pants. “You can’t stop me from taking that boy,” he said. “My lawyer said so. He said I could sue you for slugging me.”

  Zack managed to shake off August’s arm. “Is that a fact?” He took three more long strides, then grabbed Snopes’s shirtfront. “Then let’s give him something to get worked up about.” He would have slammed his fist into Snopes’s fleshy face, but Miguel’s fingers clamped on his wrist. Zack glared at him. “Move,” he ordered.

  Miguel stood his ground. With a brief nod of his head in the direction of the boys, he muttered, “They’re counting on you. Think with your head.”

  Zack glanced at the boys. Rafael held a straining Lucas by the shoulder. The boy’s dark eyes were determinedly fixed on Snopes. Chip held fast to one of Rafael’s legs, while Bo peeked around Sebastiano’s thigh. Sebastiano held a hammer in one hand, while the other curved protectively around Bo’s head. Scattered pieces of lumber and tools in the yard mapped a trail to a half-finished tree house. Teddy lay on the plank floor, looking down on them with unspeakable fear. With a deep, calming breath, Zack forced the tension out of his arm. He gave Snopes a hard shake before he thrust him back against the fence. “Miguel, please take the boys in the house.”

  August’s hand touched his arm. “Zack—”

  “Take them inside,” he pleaded. “I’m not going to hurt him.”

  Snopes muttered a low curse. “It’s not me she should be worried about, pretty boy. I should gut you like a fish.”

  Zack smelled the liquor on him, knew he was unpredictable. He didn’t need to look to know his brothers were closing ranks. “I don’t think so,” Zack told him. “I don’t know why you came here this morning, but you’re not. taking Teddy.”

  Snopes gave him a menacing look. “You can’t stop me.”

  “The hell I can’t.” Zack took a step forward. “I’m about an inch from hitting you, Snopes, and if you’re smart, you’ll get out of here before I lose my temper.”

  Snopes wiped a forearm across his mouth. “You’re not going to stop me from getting my money,” he said. “No matter what you do.” Before Zack could stop him, his hand shot out and captured August’s wrist. “You want the lady and those kids to stay safe, you’d better make sure I get it.” He gave August’s wrist a hard wrench.

  With a muttered curse, she kicked him in the shin. “Let go of me.”

  He would have slapped her then, but Zack grabbed his fingers in a bone-crushing grip. With a quick twist, he had Snopes’s arm hitched behind his back. The man howled in pain. Zack gave his arm a quick yank. ”August, take the boys inside,” he said. “Snopes is leaving.”

  Blissfully, she chose not to argue with him. She indicated the back door with a tilt of her head. With a little prodding from Zack’s brothers, Lucas, Bo and Chip headed for the door. August made her way across the yard to Te
ddy’s perch in the tree house.

  Using his grip on Snopes’s arm as leverage, Zack ushered him toward the beat-up truck sitting in the driveway. “Get in,” he ordered.

  “You can’t push me around.”

  Zack jerked open the door. “Don’t count on it.”

  “I’ll tell my lawyer—”

  “You do that.” He shoved Snopes into the driver’s seat. “You tell your lawyer that you violated a restraining order to come over drunk and threaten my kids, and you see what he has to say about that”

  Snopes’s face twisted into a mask of resentment “I’m going to get that money.”

  “And while you’re talking to your lawyer,” Zack continued, “you tell him that the court doesn’t take real well to bribery. Don’t think I don’t know why you want Teddy.”

  “He’s my kid.”

  “And somebody’s paying you to come after him.”

  Snopes frowned. “That’s not—”

  Zack wrapped his fingers in the man’s collar so that he could pull his face closer. “I’m on to you, Snopes. And you’d better trust that lawyer a whole damn lot, because if I have my way, I’ll have you behind bars.”

  “I ain’t going to prison.”

  “Then back off my kids.” He thrust him back against the seat. “Now get the hell out of here.”

  Snopes glared at him as he jammed the truck into gear. “This ain’t over,” he muttered, then squealed out of the driveway. Zack felt the tension pouring through him as he watched the retreating truck. He’d been right. Snopes hadn’t actually said Odelia’s name, but Zack was willing to bet bad odds that the money he was talking about was coming from Odelia.

  She’d had her lawyers locate Snopes, then offered him money if he succeeded in getting Teddy away from August. Anger, hot and blinding, ripped a milewide path through his common sense. Odelia had just played her last card. Nobody screwed around with Zack Adriano’s family.

  God, he wished he’d hit the bastard.