Jill Shalvis - The Detective’s Undoing

Cade stood in the opening, his arms braced against the jamb, staring out into the white day, silent, his body fraught with tension.

She knew he’d heard her enter the barn. She also knew he must have witnessed her little chat with the horse, but he didn’t so much as look her way.

“This is new,” she said lightly, as if his rejection mattered in the least to her. “This letting me come to you. Usually you can’t wait to eavesdrop-” She gasped when he whirled suddenly, grabbing her hips.

Before she could take another breath, he’d maneuvered her back against the barn wall, holding her there with his powerful body. “You,” he said, his tone low and rough. She had no idea if he was accusing her of something or speaking in awe.

Given the dark look on his handsome face, she guessed it wasn’t the latter. “Yes,” she agreed, swallowing hard at the sensation of being sandwiched between the wall and Cade McKnight. “Me.”

His hips pressed into hers, and his hands cupped her face so he could stare down into it. “Zoe and Maddie and Ty called me out here last night.”

With him against her as he was, it was difficult to think. But finally his words sank in. “They…they did? The wedding isn’t until next week.”

“The ranch is full come tomorrow. Ten guests. They asked-no, demanded-I come help.”

Delia’s thoughts raced. She knew they were expecting a full house. She also knew they could handle it. Her sisters had done what they’d wanted to last night-they’d called him to come here. “I…didn’t know.”

“I figured.” His thumb played over her lower lip, making it tingle, and then her mouth opened of its own accord. His eyes darkened all the more, two midnight fathomless pools. “They want me to stick around. To set up my office in the house, and be part of the staff when I can.”

Much as she wanted to concentrate on the sensations running through her body at his touch, it was impossible to ignore his words.

Because no matter what his mouth said, she could hear the awe, the fear, the indecision in his tone. And knew, no matter what she wanted, her sisters had done the right thing for Cade. “Are you going to do it?”

“I don’t know.” He stared over her head, as if picturing it. “I’d be taking guests out. We could explore the wilderness.”

She knew that appealed to his sense of wanderlust. She couldn’t blame him; it even appealed to her, the ultimate city girl. Another shock.

He blinked, as if bringing himself back, and sighed heavily. “That’s not why I’m here, though. Delia…”

Right then she knew. She knew by the way his expression filled with regret, by the way he tightened his hold on her so she couldn’t escape. “You have news about my father,” she said in a completely normal voice.

“Yes.”

It was going to be bad; she could feel it in every cell of her body. “Just tell me, Cade. I’m a big girl. What’s the matter-Eddie’s trail harder to trace than you thought?”

“No.” His voice was filled with disgust. “I traced Eddie Kitze just fine.”

“To…Ethan Freeman?” God, she had everything riding on this. With Scott playing his games, she needed something in her corner. Even knowing about his money troubles didn’t totally appease her, because she had no idea if it would matter to the judge.

She needed to be heir, dammit. “Cade, tell me.”

He glanced down and she did, too, seeing with surprise that her hands were gripping the front of his shirt. He covered them with his own. “I found Eddie Kitze. He really existed, and he wasn’t Ethan Freeman. He’d lied about being an undercover cop because he was a rich spoiled brat, out for a good time, slumming, as Dottie called it. He was a coward, afraid of his daddy’s wrath and the loss of his inheritance.”

“Okay.” She wasn’t Ethan Freeman’s daughter. She wasn’t heir. “How did you find out?”

“Paper trails. After we separated in Los Angeles, I went back to good old Dottie.”

“And opened your wallet again,” she guessed bitterly.

He didn’t deny that, which only added to her misery. “She had some insight to your mother’s life-style, which filled some of the holes.”

“Such as why she dumped me? God, she must have been so angry when my father ditched her and left her saddled with a baby she never wanted.”

“She wasn’t angry, not then. Actually, she was thrilled, because it meant they were equals of a sort. But that was before she told him she was pregnant.”

“He ditched her.”

“He denied knowing her first. Her family disowned her, and by the time you were three, she was broke and pretty furious about it.”

No wonder she’d left Delia at a foster home. She’d probably been reminded of her stupidity every time she looked at her daughter. Delia grimaced and told herself enough of the self-pity.

She had Jacob to think of now-and no way to guarantee custody.

Her eyes burned with that knowledge. Her throat became so tight she couldn’t have spoken her feelings if she’d wanted to.

And Cade’s eyes were on her, dark and compassionate. “Delia,” he whispered in a voice filled with too much pity to take. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry-”

“No,” she whispered, flinching away when he tried to touch her.

“You’ll still get Jacob. You will.”

“Yes,” she said, not knowing if she was reassuring him or herself; either way she didn’t believe it. She was incredibly close to meltdown, closer than she’d been in some time, and she couldn’t have him witness it, not when she wanted to be strong. Needed to be strong. “I…I need to go.”

“But-”

“I… Goodbye.”

And she pushed away and ran from the barn, hoping to make it somewhere private before the tears swimming in her eyes fell.

Cade stared after the quickly vanishing Delia. She wanted to be alone, she’d made that clear, but he wasn’t convinced being alone was the best thing for her.

She seemed perfectly in control, but he knew that was what she wanted him to see, that beneath that mask of icy elegance was a woman close to shattering.

And why wouldn’t she be? He’d just destroyed what she saw as her only hope to get her brother, though he didn’t believe that to be true. It went deeper than that, though, which is what disturbed him.

Whether she admitted it or not, she had calculated her self-worth on her past. And discovering she’d come from two selfish strangers who couldn’t care less about the tiny miracle of life they’d created had destroyed her.

It made her feel as though she was nothing, as though she deserved nothing, when in his opinion, she deserved the world. She certainly deserved to have someone love her. Her sisters did, but as hard as it was to believe, Cade wasn’t quite certain that Delia did.

She was probably right this minute heading back toward the house, channeling her loss into that cool calm collected front she’d perfected.

She’d be hell to live with today, he knew. Not that he was a glutton for punishment, but he figured that being the bearer of bad news would not endear him to her. She’d probably go after his hide, rather than silently torture herself all day.

Who was he kidding? He wanted to find her, haul her close and never let go.

He clenched his hands into fists at his sides. The burning ache to hold her in his arms could not be endured. With a heartfelt oath, he left the barn to find her.

Only, she wasn’t heading toward the house as he’d first assumed. No, somewhere along the way, his city girl must have lost a good part of her reserve about the wilderness, because she was heading toward the hills, her long legs striding with purposeful confidence, her shoulders back and proud.