“Because,” Sawyer offered reasonably, keeping his tone calm and level. “While I might not win the fight, it’s going to take me a while to lose. And neither of us will feel very good when it’s over.”
“You son-of-a-b—”
“You want to talk about this?”
“No.”
Sawyer glanced at Caleb. “We’ll have to have the conversation either way. I’d rather do it before anybody starts bleeding.”
Caleb’s eyes were hard as coal. “You think I’m going to be more reasonable than Reed?”
“You haven’t threatened me yet.”
Dylan stepped up to stand next to Sawyer.
Reed’s tone was icy. “You used us.”
“I did,” Sawyer agreed.
“You seduced our sister.”
“That part’s between Niki and me.” Sawyer had no intention of bringing his feelings for Niki into the argument.
Caleb shook his head. “Not anymore it isn’t.”
Reed took a step forward. “You’re going to make this go away. And then you’re going to go away.”
“I wish it were that simple,” Sawyer told them honestly.
“It is that simple,” said Caleb.
“I need to talk to her.” Sawyer could only hope against hope that she hadn’t already left town.
“That won’t happen,” said Reed.
“If you’ve seen the diary, then you know this isn’t just about me.”
“We know it’s about your uncle.”
Sawyer had always known, though he hadn’t always cared, until now, that more dangerous men than his uncle would go after her. “She’s got bigger problems than us.”
“Not at this moment she doesn’t.”
The assertion gave Sawyer pause. Reed and Caleb didn’t seem worried—at least, not worried enough—given the few things Sawyer knew or suspected about the identities of Gabriella’s other lovers. How could they be so cavalier? And then it hit him.
“You haven’t read it,” he stated.
It was his turn to move closer to the Terrell brothers. He was genuinely confused. “Why haven’t you read it?”
Neither of them responded.
Sawyer could feel his blood pressure rise. “You mean to tell me Niki is the only one who knows who’s out there gunning for her?”
It was one thing for him to be in the dark. He knew he was operating at a handicap here. But Niki’s brothers should have insisted on understanding the danger. How would they have a hope in hell of helping her if they didn’t even know who was after her?
The silence continued.
“She doesn’t have it,” Caleb admitted.
Sawyer drew back. “What?”
“She doesn’t have the diary. She couldn’t find it. She looked everywhere, but…”
Sawyer tried to figure out if this was a sick joke.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked. Then he marched from the porch to the ground in front of Caleb. “Are you kidding me?”
“There seems little reason that I would do that.”
Sawyer felt a vein throb to life at his temple, and he grasped the back of his neck. “She has to find it.”
“Because you need it?” Reed sneered.
“Because she needs it.”
“You don’t give a damn about my sister.”
That might have been true at first, but it wasn’t anymore. Sawyer did care about Niki. He cared more than made sense. Everything had turned upside down inside his head. Making her safe was his new priority.
“We want the same thing,” he told Reed.
“That seems unlikely,” came the man’s frank reply.
“Believe me or not, but I’m on your side.”
“We’re going with not,” said Caleb.
Sawyer nodded his acceptance. “Under the circumstances, I can’t exactly blame you for that. But since you have a very big problem, and since we all know I can potentially help, you might want to find a way to reconsider.”
Caleb stared levelly into his eyes. “What would make us do that?”
“I care about Niki,” Sawyer told them honestly.
“Sure you do.”
“Think about it,” said Sawyer, deciding it was time to put his cards on the table. “I used her real name. I had an almost impenetrable cover set up here. What would cause me to make a mistake like that and use her real name?”
“That doesn’t prove a thing,” said Reed. He stepped closer, jabbing toward Sawyer with his index finger. “And, just so you know, I’m back to wanting to take you apart.”
But Sawyer saw the hesitation in Caleb’s eyes.
Caleb obviously understood that this wasn’t a weakness a man wanted to admit. Who wanted to say they’d fallen so hard for a woman that they’d temporarily lost their mind while making love to her? If there wasn’t so much at stake, Sawyer would have kept his mouth firmly shut on the matter.
“Tell us what you’re proposing,” said Caleb, earning Reed’s glare of disbelief.
“We join forces,” Sawyer replied.
“So you can protect your uncle?” Reed demanded.
“Niki doesn’t want to hurt my uncle.”
“She doesn’t need money anymore,” Caleb told him with conviction. “We’ll make sure she never needs it again.”
“She never needed money in the first place,” said Sawyer. When Niki had told him the money was still there, Sawyer had investigated further. “Gabriella collected more than the two of them could spend in a dozen lifetimes. Dollars were points to her. Points in a game against powerful men. And she won every round.”
“So, why is everyone afraid of Niki?”
“They think she’s Gabriella. They think the game’s still on.”
“Tell them she’s not. It’s not.”
“Without the diary,” said Sawyer, driving home his point. “I don’t know who they are.”
* * *
“Hey, there.” Travis’s soft voice startled Niki.
A few seconds ago, she’d been alone in the living room. Mandy and Katrina had gone upstairs with Asher, while Reed and Caleb were across the highway confronting Sawyer.
She lifted her head to watch Travis saunter in from the kitchen.
“I know what you need,” he told her, a slight but clearly conspiratorial smile on his face.
“A one-way ticket to Alaska?”
“Nothing nearly so dramatic.” He reached for her hand, drawing her to her feet. “You know I think of you as my sister.”
She nodded. She liked that. She was growing very fond of Travis.
“But nobody else knows that’s how I feel,” he continued.
She didn’t understand his point.
“So, I’m thinking. That you and I ought to blow this place, wander on down to the Jacobs ranch and try to take your mind off all the crap that’s going on in your life. We can play ourselves a sappy, funny movie, pop some popcorn, maybe blend up a batch of strong margaritas.”
“Are you asking me on a date?” The suggestion was truly baffling.
“Yeah, I am.”
She squinted into his dark eyes. “Are you sick? Are you running a fever?”
“Right as rain, ma’am.”
“Then, why are you talking crazy?”
“Not crazy, brilliant. I know we’re only friends. And you know we’re only friends. But Katrina thinks we’re a pretty good match.”
“That was last week.”
“She won’t have changed her mind this fast, trust me. Come on down to my place for a while, and I promise you, they’ll stop looking at you with pity in their eyes.”
Okay, now Niki got it.
“No,” she told him flatly. “We are not going to pretend we’re dating.”
“I don’t see why not. It’ll give you some emotional cover until things blow over with the jerk from Washington.”
She firmly shook her head. “Well, I see why not. I’m done with lying, misleading and evading. I have promised to be perfectly st
raight with everyone from here on in.”
“That’s the beauty of it,” Travis noted, his eyes glinting. “We go to my place. We watch a movie, have some drinks, have some laughs, and I bring you back. Believe me, Katrina will not be able to resist asking you what happened.”
“So, what’s the point of the exercise?” Niki asked.
“The point of the exercise is, that you’ll tell her the truth, that we’re just friends. But she’ll never believe you, not in a million years.”
“You,” Niki noted with a mix of incredulousness and admiration, “are really quite dangerous.”
“Or you can wait here until my sisters come down.” He gazed dramatically at the staircase. “And let them fuss over you for the rest of the night.”
Niki’s head gave an involuntary shake. She definitely wasn’t in the mood to be woeful. She wanted to be strong, even if she hadn’t figured out exactly how to do that yet.
“That’s what I thought,” said Travis. “Let’s get out of here.”
She held her ground a moment longer, however, she could hear Mandy and Katrina moving upstairs. They’d be back down in a minute, and Niki really didn’t want to face their well-intentioned sympathy.
“You don’t have to do this,” she told him, even as she retrieved her purse and a sweater.
“I’m a little bored,” he returned easily, silently opening the front door and gesturing for her to exit first. “I figure a chick flick is better than sitting around here with the old, married people.”
“Liar,” she accused, following his lead to a nearby pickup truck.
“Really? After your little caper this summer, you want to throw stones at my honesty?”
Niki clamped her mouth shut.
“That’s more like it.” He held the door open while she climbed in.
But as he hopped in the driver’s side, his expression turned sober. “You know, you’re going to come through this.”
She managed a nod, but she didn’t deserve his help, nor the kindness of these two families. Yet she couldn’t seem to stop herself from accepting it. She reached out to Travis’s hand on the stick shift, squeezing thanks as he pulled in a tight circle to head down the driveway.
The evening went by thankfully fast. By the end of the funny movie and her second jumbo golden margarita, Niki felt a whole lot better about life. Travis ferried her back to the Terrell ranch, helping her out of the truck and up the stairs to the porch. She wasn’t exactly unsteady on her feet, but her head was definitely lighter than usual. Tequila, she decided, was a very good antidote for heartache.
Outside the front door, he stopped, turning her and placing his hands loosely on her shoulders.
“Remember,” he told her. “You’re only obligated to tell the truth. It’s up to everyone else to interpret it.”
She scoffed out a laugh, giving a soft hiccup to go with it. “I’m sure glad you’re on my side,” she told him.
He pulled her into a brief hug, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and rubbing his palms along her upper arms. “I’ll always be on your side, Niki.” Then he pushed open the door, stepped aside to let her go forward.
She pivoted and came face-to-face with Sawyer, the unexpected sight of him causing her to stumble, and her knees to nearly give out in shock.
His angry gaze shot straight past her, settling on Travis.
“What are you—?” Niki sputtered. What was Sawyer doing in the Terrell house?
“I could ask you the same thing.” His hard gaze was still trained on Travis.
“We were at my place,” Travis put in amicably, not seeming the least bit intimidated. “Together. Taking in a movie.”
Niki could have kissed him for shielding her pride in the face of Sawyer. She was an instant and eternal fan of his devious ways.
“We had margaritas,” she added for good measure.
Sawyer’s attention returned to her. “I have to talk to you.”
“Not a good time,” she answered airily. She waggled her fingertips in a wave as she slipped past him.
Travis’s footsteps followed her inside. Rounding the corner into the living room, she found her two brothers.
“Oh, good,” she breathed. “You’re both here.”
“What did you do to her?” asked Reed, but there didn’t seem to be any anger in his tone.
“Nothing,” Travis answered, tracking after her into the room. “We’re just friends.”
Niki snickered. She turned to face him, wagging an admonishing finger in front of his face. “You are very, very good.”
Humor flashed through his eyes. “Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself.”
“What the hell?” asked Caleb in obvious confusion, as Sawyer took up a position near the window, clearly fuming.
Niki turned to face Caleb again. “We’re just friends. Now, what is he doing here?” She frowned, jabbing a thumb in Sawyer’s direction. “I thought you were going to annihilate him.”
“We changed our minds,” replied Caleb.
“That’s really too bad because he’s a cad and a liar.”
“Can we talk?” Sawyer asked her.
Niki fought against the wave of hurt and regret sweeping through her. She tilted her chin. “There’s nothing left to say.”
But her light-headedness was evaporating, and along with it the numbing effects of the tequila. She was starting to feel sick to her stomach.
“I want to help,” Sawyer told her.
“Do I look stupid?” She glanced accusingly at Reed and Caleb. “How’d he get in here?”
“You should listen to him,” said Caleb.
“I’m still on the fence about that,” said Reed.
“I can take you back to my place again,” Travis offered.
“Back off,” Sawyer barked at him, dark eyes glittering with anger.
“We’re just friends,” she repeated, wondering why she even bothered. Friends or more, it was none of Sawyer’s business. It had never been any of his business.
“Can this wait until morning?” she asked no one in particular.
“You have to go back to D.C.,” Sawyer told her.
She rounded on him. “Are you going to tie me up and throw me in a trunk?”
“Tempting.”
“This is getting us nowhere,” Caleb put in. “Niki, how drunk are you?”
“I’m not drunk.”
“She’s not drunk,” Travis echoed.
“Is that what you’re telling yourself?” Sawyer challenged him.
“Really?” Travis took a step toward Sawyer. “Seriously? You’re going to lecture me?”
“Time out,” Caleb called, making a T sign with his two hands. “Niki, Sawyer wants to help you find the diary.”
“Certainly he does.” Her head was spinning just enough to be disorienting.
Sawyer would help her find the diary, and then he’d take it from her and hand it over to his family.
Gabriella had warned her they’d come after it. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Sawyer’s uncle was in the diary. Gabriella had made it clear the diary was Niki’s ace in the hole, and she should protect it from all comers.
“Nobody gets the diary,” she told Sawyer with conviction.
His tone went softer as he spoke to her. “Many people will try.”
“They won’t find it.”
“That’s not the point. They’re terrified of you, Niki. They’ll hunt you until they find you.”
“Like you did?” she challenged.
“Like I did,” he admitted. “I was the first, but I won’t be the last. You’re in trouble.”
“Because of you,” she couldn’t help pointing out.
“Not anymore. I’m on your side now.”
Niki looked to Caleb. Over the past few months, she learned he was cool and smart in any circumstance.
“Do you trust him?” she asked.
“I’ll come to D.C. with you,” Caleb told her.
“You can
’t,” said Sawyer.
Caleb’s lips tightened in a frown.
“If they see you with her, her safety net is gone. Until we straighten this out, nobody can connect Niki with the Terrells.”
“Then, I’ll go,” said Travis.
“Same problem,” Sawyer returned.
Travis squared his shoulders. “Well, we’re not entrusting her to you alone.”
Niki was beginning to feel like a prize in a tug-of-war. “Can we please stop?” This argument was getting them nowhere.
“Have you read the diary?” Sawyer asked her.
“No.” The only reason she told him the truth was because she was sick and tired of lying. It wasn’t because she owed him anything.
He took a few steps toward her. “Here’s the thing. They know who you are, but you don’t know who they are. Step one, is to identify them. To do that, we have to read the diary.”
“There is no ‘we.’” Though she didn’t disagree with the rest of it. She needed to put names to these former lovers of Gabriella’s.
“I know D.C.,” Sawyer offered reasonably. “I know the city, and I know the players. I can keep you safe there.”
“I don’t need your help.” She wanted to get out from under this threat. But she didn’t want anything more to do with
Sawyer.
Instead of answering her, he looked to Caleb, Reed and then Travis, setting his gaze on each of them. “If I hurt her in any way, I know you’ll come after me.”
“Damn straight,” said Reed.
“And I have complete faith in your ability to annihilate me.”
“Don’t doubt it for a second,” said Travis.
“Does anybody care what I think?” As Niki glanced from man to man, she realized they didn’t. The living room contained more testosterone than the Giants starting lineup.
“Fine.” She agreed. Though she wasn’t giving in. Instead, she was taking control.
The threat was in Washington, and to Washington she would go.
* * *
Niki watched the clouds slip past below them from the window of Caleb’s private jet. She understood the wisdom of not traveling on a commercial airline, but she hated being cooped up all alone with Sawyer for hours. She wished she’d thought to tell him to take a commercial flight, coach, an inside seat with screaming toddlers on either side.
Reed probably would have gone for it. Then again, given what she’d learned about the Layton family, Sawyer would have simply called in his own jet. That might have kept him away from Niki, but it would have done nothing for her revenge fantasy.
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