The man who’d loved her so tenderly, who’d champed at the bit to take action on her behalf, that man was capable of a gesture he would see as bolstering her position.
Be honest, Anne. That’s exactly what it did.
She stood up and wobbled, dizzy from a stuffy nose after all those tears. She had to talk to him. Find out the truth.
Oh, please. Let Charlotte be wrong.
She made for the bathroom to wash her face, restore her makeup. At the sink, however, she faltered. Stared into the mirror.
Was she honestly ready to deal with a man again? Give him entry into her life? She’d adored Remy, but any relationship required work and compromise.
William was a full-grown man with his own habits and preferences and needs. Even if she weren’t kidding herself by assuming this offer wasn’t about double-dealing to achieve a goal, the truth remained that he’d lied to her. Just how well did she know him, anyway, if he could see her as someone to work around rather than a woman who could stand on her own?
Because she could. Had. If he could pay lip service to her strength but not respect it, then they were in for a rough ride.
And if the truth were worse, and he’d actually deceived her, seduced her as a means to an end—
She shoved away from the counter. He was due here in thirty minutes, and she couldn’t wait that long to find out. Too much was at stake.
She crossed into her living room. Stared at the phone. Rejected it.
This was a conversation to be had in person.
Let him look her in the eye and explain himself.
Then they would see if there was anything to be made of this attraction between them. He could not love her and lie to her, not now.
At the door, she paused. Steadied her breath. Searched for the strength that had brought her this far in her life.
She was afraid of what she would hear, yes.
But there would be truth between them.
Or there would be nothing.
BLOUNT’S CELL PHONE RANG, disturbing his poker game. “What?” he barked.
“Something’s up at the hotel, boss.”
His trusted lieutenant. “Explain.”
“Ricky was checking out spots for the fire, just like you asked, while I was keeping tabs on the Marchand woman. She gets around a lot, you know that? Talks to a lot of people.”
“Like who?”
“You know. Tourists and stuff. Everybody’s crazy about her.”
Blount rolled his eyes. “I’m in the middle of something here. Get to the point.”
“Oh. Yeah, well, remember you told us to pay attention to that guy Carter? The one working for Dumb and Dumber?”
Blount’s mouth twitched. The Corbins sometimes did resemble the bozos in that movie, but it didn’t pay to underestimate them. “So what’s he doing?”
“He saw Ricky. Bumped into him. Watched him some.” When Blount didn’t say anything, he continued. “We’re wondering if someone told him about the plans for the fire.”
Blount counted to ten. “They’d better not have. I don’t trust those two to carry it off. That’s why I put Ricky and you in there to make sure the damage is limited.”
“Think we should pay him a visit, see what he knows?”
Blount wondered if the Corbins could be so rash as to share the details of their business with someone under them. If so, Carter would have to be taken care of.
But not yet. “Keep an eye on him. See if he does anything funny. I wouldn’t put it past those two to try an end run around us. Not that they’d succeed, but we don’t need anything screwing up this close to the end. That all?”
“Uh, no. There’s more.”
“Like what?”
“Something’s got the daughters all upset. The whole bunch went to their mother’s quarters, and when they left, some of them were crying.”
Blount smiled. “Maybe they see the writing on the wall. Know they have to sell.”
“Guess so. But then Mrs. Marchand was in there a long time, but now she’s leaving in that hot Corvette she drives.”
“So?”
“I heard Armstrong say he’d pick her up at seven.”
“It’s six-thirty.”
“Maybe their plans changed, but she didn’t look happy. Oh, and the tap you got on that lawyer’s phone?”
“Lawson.”
“Right. Well, Jackie says Charlotte Marchand knows about Armstrong’s offer.”
“Hmm.”
“Yeah. And Armstrong’s daughter paid her a visit this afternoon.”
Armstrong’s daughter and Marchand’s daughter. What were they cooking up? “I don’t like it.”
“What do you want us to do, boss?”
The Corbins were losing control of the situation, that much was obvious. They needed to be cut out of the pack and isolated before everything went to hell. “Who’s on the Corbins?”
“Lou’s on Dan, Sally’s on Richard.”
“Find out what they’re doing and bring them in.”
“You got it.”
“And tell everyone, eyes sharp on the Marchands.”
ACROSS TOWN, Dan Corbin listened to a message from his brother. “Charlotte Marchand and Judith Armstrong met this afternoon. They’re going to cut us out of this, bro. Or Blount will. I tried it your way, but can’t wait any longer. I’m taking action.”
“Holy hell, Richard,” he murmured. “What have you done?” He punched his brother’s cell phone number.
The phone went direct to voice mail.
ANNE WAITED for the valet to retrieve her car for her and stared sightlessly into the distance. She should probably wait for William to arrive and have a calm discussion about Charlotte’s news. Give him a chance to explain his thinking.
But she didn’t feel the least calm. The more she considered, it didn’t matter if he were deceiving her for a beneficent reason or a malevolent one.
Deceit was deceit. He knew—he knew how she felt about the topic. Hadn’t she poured her heart out about what Remy’s dream meant to all of them? How critical it was to her and her girls that they preserve the work of nearly forty years?
Her work, damn it. She’d labored alongside Remy, strained herself nearly to the bone. Juggled family and business, worrying every second that she’d fail both. That she couldn’t be enough for everyone she loved.
William was accustomed to getting his own way. To ruling his world. Master of all he surveyed.
And love was something, yes. Something big. But respect was as critical.
By the time she’d reached his house, her anger was a slow, smoldering coal, ready to ignite with only a faint breath.
She parked the Corvette on the street. Strode up the walk. Averted her gaze from the spot on the porch where she’d kissed him.
Giggled with him when they’d been caught.
The door opened before she could knock.
He looked…guilty. Unsettled.
“I tried to call you.”
She shrugged. “I’m here. Beat you to the punch.”
He went silent while he examined her. Looking, perhaps, to assess her mood.
She couldn’t speak herself. The sight of him brought too many memories rushing in. Making her question every last one of them.
The moment was still…but not empty. Pregnant with the sense that everything could change, here and now. That what had been between them could vanish with a word. Her ears wanted to pop with the pressure of it, as on a plane, during ascent, when simple air seems unlikely to bear the weight of all the hopes and plans of the passengers.
“Will you come in?” he said with extreme politeness.
“No. I don’t—” Hated moisture hovered there, just behind her eyes. He wasn’t rushing to deny any of it. “I can’t. Not after what you’ve done.”
Astonishingly, though, his chin jutted. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what you think that is.”
Unbelievable. Her mouth gaped. “You defend it?”
; His arms crossed over his chest. “I do.”
She snapped her mouth shut. Shook her head. “Are you sorry?”
“If I hurt you, yes. But it was necessary.”
She shook her head to be sure she was hearing right. “You truly don’t understand me, do you? You don’t have the slightest sense of who I am. What’s important to me.”
“You’re wrong about that,” he said softly. But no penitence.
She stared at him. “So you were aware, but you decided you knew better.”
“Anne, sometimes—”
“Answer me. You heard me tell you, over and over, that I wanted—no, needed, to handle this myself. But King William, empire builder, decided that the little woman couldn’t—or shouldn’t, doesn’t matter—possibly manage to work her way out of a fix, so he set his own plans into motion.”
“You make me sound like a villain. I was only trying to protect you.”
She could draw little comfort from knowing that she was right and Charlotte was wrong about his motives. “So you and your daughter weren’t playing some game with Charlotte and me?”
He frowned. Looked guilty again. “Judith proposed an idea, but I…” He shook his head. “Never mind. It’s not important.”
“Not important? Just as what I needed, what I wanted, wasn’t? You sat there, you listened to me, you—held me, for God’s sake, and dried my tears, all the while hatching your own plot?”
“Anne, that’s unfair. I was only—”
“Unfair?” The flames flared in one quick spark. “You lied to me, William. You told me you loved me—”
“I do love you,” he interrupted.
“—and deceived me with every breath.”
“Deceive is a harsh word, Anne.”
She threw up her hands. “I’m leaving before this gets ugly.”
“Ugly?” A strained laugh escaped. “This isn’t? You throw my love in my face? Discard everything good between us because I tried to help you? You expect me to love you and just stand by with my hands in my pockets? I protect those I love, Anne. It’s who I am.”
“I can’t talk to you now, William.” She turned to go, her legs shaky. She had to focus on each step as she struggled to maintain some sense of dignity.
He followed her. Clasped her arm and began to turn her. “Anne, don’t do this. Calm down and we can reason this out. I’m sorry that you’re hurt—”
She wheeled on him. “But are you sorry you did it?”
His gaze ranged over her features, and she could see the war in him.
Abruptly, she decided she couldn’t bear to hear his answer.
So she tore herself away.
And ran.
WILLIAM ITCHED to go after her, but he was honestly unsure if it would help. Maybe he should give her some time instead, no matter how much he yearned to take her in his arms and restore them to the footing they’d had.
But somehow he couldn’t stop himself from following her steps. Watching her until she was out of sight.
She got in the car. Lowered her face to her hands. Her shoulders shook.
Screw it. He would go to her, anyway. Do whatever was required to make her see why he’d done it. Hell, he’d apologize. Give her the answer she wanted. Even though he would do the same thing again, in similar circumstances.
She started the car. The best thing that had ever happened to him was driving away from him, and he couldn’t bear it. They’d shared laughter and the beginnings of love. Somehow he would make her see. She could yell at him, rain down curses on his head, just—
Forgive me, Anne. Please. It was a calculated risk.
And I lost. But I can’t lose you.
He took a shortcut through his yard, hidden behind a privet hedge for a few seconds.
He heard a scream. Frowned and sped up. Emerged from a gap in the shrubbery and caught a glimpse that nearly stopped his heart. “Hey!”
The door of her car gaped open.
A man was dragging Anne from it.
She was fighting him, but she was so small.
“Anne,” William shouted, and began to run. “Let her go—”
The man whirled and spotted him.
Anne scraped her nails down his face.
He cuffed her on the side of the head. Hard.
She clung to the car. Kicked at him.
“Anne, let go. Let him take it,” William shouted. “It’s only a damn car.”
The man shot a glance at him. Seemed to change his mind and shoved at her.
If he got her inside— Dear God, help her.
William had run for exercise for many years, but right now, his legs seemed to be pushing through molasses as he stretched out to close the gap. His lungs burned with the strain, but he couldn’t let her be trapped in that vehicle. He’d never be able to catch them.
Just as the man grabbed Anne again, she gouged at his eyes.
He screamed and dropped her.
William poured everything he had into narrowing the distance.
The man rose awkwardly. Aimed a kick into Anne’s side where she lay.
A howl like a berserker rose in William’s throat.
She was scrambling to rise when the man wheeled in William’s direction, something in his hand.
William leaped. Spotted the muzzle flare.
A blow to his chest felt like he’d been rammed by an elephant.
“Anne—” I love you, he tried to say.
But everything went black.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ANNE CRAWLED toward William, sobbing his name.
“Bitch,” her attacker screamed. “Look what you made me do.”
She scooted as fast as she could to get between him and William, even though the rage on his face terrified her. “Get away from him.” Something resembling a growl emerged from her throat.
He started in her direction. “You will pay for—”
“What’s going on here?” A new voice. “I’ve called the cops. You’d better let her go or—”
She saw the gun rise again, toward the neighbor. Gathered her strength and shoved him.
He grabbed her hair and took her down with him.
Sirens screamed in the distance.
“Goddammit—” The man cast her aside. Leaped to his feet. “This isn’t finished, bitch.”
He ran to a car parked just down the block and took off.
“Are you all right, lady?”
“Help…get him help,” she pleaded as she crawled over to William.
The police arrived. “Back. Everyone back—”
“There’s a man who’s been shot,” her rescuer said.
“Call EMS, Charlie,” one cop said, racing to her side. “Ma’am, I need to look at him.”
But Anne couldn’t leave him. “I can’t tell if there’s a pulse. He’s hurt. He’s so hurt.” She brought her face to his. “William. Oh, love, please—”
William’s lashes stirred.
“Ma’am, please move aside.”
She scooted around but couldn’t let his hand go. There was blood, so much blood. “William,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I love you. Please don’t leave me.”
For a second, his eyelids parted. The blue was so hazy that she couldn’t be sure he saw her.
“You’re going to be okay,” she said, though she couldn’t imagine how he would be. “You hold on. Stay with me, William.”
His lips parted, but no sound emerged.
“Don’t talk. Oh, don’t talk. I’m here. I won’t leave you. Please—” she bit back a sob “—stay with me, William. I need you. I’m sorry, so sorry that we—”
His eyes slid shut.
“Ma’am,” said a new voice. “I’m a paramedic. I have to ask you to step back. I can’t save him if you won’t give him to us.”
“If I let go, I’ll lose him. I lost Remy when I wasn’t there. Maybe if I’d—”
A hand to her shoulder. “Move around to his head, then. Talk to him but don’t touch,
just until I’m done.” All the while, competent hands moved over William’s body. Incomprehensible terms were tossed about.
Anne knelt behind William’s head, restless and itching to make contact. She gripped her hands tightly to still the trembling and keep from breaking her promise, haunted by the memory of the awful words she’d flung at him only minutes before.
Please, she prayed with everything in her. Don’t let those be the last words we say to each other.
You make me sound like a villain. I was only trying to protect you.
A sob erupted, acid in her throat.
No, my love, you’re a hero. And I’m so scared I’ll never get to tell you.
Tell him now, ma belle, said a voice in her head that could have been Remy’s. And nearly broke her.
She shivered with fear but kept digging until she found steel. She swallowed hard and squared her shoulders.
Bent to William’s ear. “You saved me, William, just as you were trying to protect me before. I’m sorry, so sorry I didn’t stay and let you explain.” Her voice cracked. She took a second to recover. “But I’ll listen to every word, I swear it. Put my pride aside and trust you. Let you have your turn to yell—” Her nostrils flared as she mastered another sob.
“I love you, William Armstrong. Stay with me. Give me the chance to tell you. Please.”
“Okay, ready for the gurney. On three—” The paramedics loaded William and turned to race him to the ambulance.
“Where—” She ran to catch them. “Where will you take him?”
One of them glanced back. “You want to go?”
“Yes.” She nodded through her tears.
“I need to talk to her,” said the cop named Charlie.
She turned anguished eyes on him. “Please. I’ll tell you anything, but—”
His eyes were kind as he nodded. “We’ll meet you at Mercy. Get yourself looked at, too, ma’am.”
“Let’s haul,” shouted one of the paramedics. “Call it in.”
Anne scrambled inside.
The paramedic turned to her. “If you’ll stay back about hip-level on him, you can hold his hand.”
The tears she’d been fighting spilled over then. She groped through the haze of them, feeling for William’s hand.
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