Susan Mallery: Hot On Her Heels

Dana smiled. “I’d like that.”

Izzy put her hands on her hips. “You be nice to him.”

“I won’t leave any scars,” she promised instead.

“No bruises, either.”

Dana sighed. “No one lets me have any fun.”

GARTH’S PHONE BUZZED.

“There are two ladies here to see you,” his assistant said through the speakerphone. “They don’t have appointments, but said that you, and I quote, ‘wouldn’t mind taking time from your busy schedule to be with loved ones.’”

He only knew one person who talked like that. “Izzy and one of her sisters?”

“Ms. Skye Titan, sir.”

“Send them in.”

He rose and walked around his desk. Why would Skye and Izzy come to see him? Not to gloat. His time with the Dallas Police Department had hardly been a victory.

Seconds later Izzy breezed into his office. Her long, dark curly hair tumbled past her shoulders. She smiled as if they shared a delicious secret. Skye trailed behind her, looking less convinced this was where she wanted to be.

“An unexpected pleasure,” he said, motioning to the sofas by the window. “Can I get you ladies anything?”

“No, thanks. We’re here to talk,” Izzy said as she plopped down on a sofa cushion. “Lexi had other obligations. That’s what I’m supposed to say. Reality is, she’s still not sure about you. I said you were fine, but only Skye really believes me.”

He turned his attention to the curvy redhead in a tailored suit and pearls who had taken a seat near her sister. “You’re sure about me?”

Cool, green eyes stared into his. “I said I was willing to consider you weren’t completely evil. There’s a difference.”

“I agree.” He turned his attention back to Izzy. “What are we talking about?”

“You. Saving you from yourself.” She frowned. “You don’t remember? We discussed this before.”

Izzy had said some sentimental things about him being her brother and the sisters being his family-a fact that didn’t change anything. He’d dismissed her comments as the babblings of a broken heart.

“You were upset about Nick,” he said.

“Oh, please. That didn’t affect my brain.” She settled into a more comfortable position and patted the cushion next to hers. “Come on. Join the party. As I said the other day, you’re family. This path of destruction you’re on is just plain stupid. So we’re going to save you.”

“Against my will?”

“If necessary.” She smiled. “We can be very persuasive.”

“Izzy wants you to join the family,” Skye said.

“By Christmas,” Izzy added.

He remembered her saying something like that before. “Thanks, but no.”

“You don’t get a choice.”

“Part of saving me against my will?”

“Uh-huh. Come on, Garth. We’re your sisters. Didn’t you ever wish you had someone to braid your hair?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Ignore him,” Izzy told her sister. “He’ll come around.”

“And if he doesn’t want to come around?” Skye asked. “This is not a well-thought-out plan.”

“When has that stopped me before?”

Garth couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so uncomfortable in the presence of two women. Just as strange, he couldn’t define the cause of his unease.

He forced himself to walk closer and take a seat.

Skye turned to him. “While Izzy can be wild and impetuous, she’s actually a fairly good judge of character. She says you’re worth it.”

“I’m not,” he told her, knowing that the further the conversation went, the harder it would be to ruthlessly take over the Titan world.

Skye studied him, staring intently, as if she tried hard enough, she could read his mind.

“I understand why you went after Jed,” she said after a few seconds. “What he did was horrific. I’m ashamed of his behavior and I apologize on his behalf. Not that my apology has any validity.”

“None at all,” he said easily.

“Fair enough. But why us? What did we do to deserve your contempt?”

He didn’t like the word contempt. It implied emotion, not rationality. “You were easy targets,” he said. “If I hurt you, I hurt Jed.”

“By now you must be aware that Jed doesn’t give a damn about any of us. He’s not much of a father.”

She said the words easily, but he heard the tight pain in her voice. She might have accepted the truth about her father, but it still had the power to wound.

Garth shrugged. “If it distracts him, that’s enough for me.”

“No, it’s not,” Izzy said. “Come on. You didn’t mean for it to get this messy. That’s not your style.”

Her assessment annoyed him-probably because it was true. “You don’t know my style.”

“I can guess. You want a clean victory,” Izzy told him. “When you started this, you thought we were one happy family. Cut one and we all bleed. You thought you could weaken Jed by going after those he loved most. Which was quite the miscalculation, big brother. Feeling a little foolish now, are we?”

“No.” Foolish didn’t exactly explain what emotions he’d experienced.

The ruthless side of him said that he should tell them the truth. That their father had come to him, offering him the chance to run Titan World on the condition that all three of Jed’s daughters never get a penny.

But he didn’t say the words. There was no reason to hurt them further. Jed would do that well enough without any help.

“We’re not your enemy,” Skye said. “We don’t want anything from you.” She glanced at Izzy, who was shaking her head, then sighed. “Izzy wants you to be part of the family, but that’s different. We’re not after power or money. We just want to live our lives in peace. Is it that you can’t believe that, or you’re in too deep to back off now?”

Before he could answer, Izzy moved from her sofa to his and sat next to him. She angled toward him and touched his arm.

“We’re sorry about your mom. I don’t understand how Jed could be so callous and cruel-which I guess are the same thing. Or maybe I do understand and it scares me. He’s my father, too. Why does he have to be so bad?”

Garth didn’t want to think about his mother or what had happened to her. He drew back. “This isn’t going to work. I’ve made my decision. I know what I want and I’m going to get it.”

Izzy only smiled. “You can’t. We’re your family. Not Jed. He deserves what he’s going to get, but not us. You know we’re innocent. You know we don’t deserve what you’re doing to us. Every time you act against one of us, you’re becoming more and more like Jed, and that’s not who you are.”

He felt the truth of her statements but didn’t say anything.

“You’re pressuring him, Izzy,” Skye said. “You have to stop. Enough with the emotional blackmail. Let’s deal with facts. If you didn’t arrange the explosion on the oil rig, who did? Or was it an accident?”

Garth appreciated the change in topic. “The preliminary reports all suggest a man-made cause. Someone did it on purpose.”

“If not you, then who?” Skye asked.

“I’m working on that.”

“Why do you care?” Izzy asked.

“I’ll take responsibility for what I did, nothing else.”

“With all you’ve been doing,” Skye said, “you’re a likely suspect.”

He nodded. “I know, but it wasn’t me. Explosions are too dangerous. There’s no way to control all the outcomes. I always know the end game.”

“I don’t suppose you’d take a lie detector test,” Skye said.

He chuckled. “No.” Although he would be open to intense questioning by Deputy Dana, he thought humorously. She intrigued him with her determination and irreverence.