Maisey Yates - Last Chance Rebel

“When did you find out?” Colton crossed his arms across his broad chest, and this time Gage put a little bit of thought to the fact that it was entirely possible his younger brother could take him in a fight. Well, depending on what sort of fight Gage treated him to. He was never going to fight his little brother the way he’d learned to fight on the rodeo circuits, and in the bars. He didn’t want to kill him, after all.

It wasn’t just years that stood between them. It was experience. Colton might have earned some facial lines here in Copper Ridge, but Gage had earned scars all across the country.

“I’ve known.” He could remember clearly being introduced intimately to the shady underworld of their father’s empire. Finding out who the man beneath the façade was. It was clear that his father had taken a similar approach to indoctrinating Colton into his world as he’d taken with Gage. And that made him think a little bit differently about his brother.

“Interesting,” Colton said.

“Why is it interesting? You clearly know.”

“Oh, I found out on accident. We’ve all known about Jack for about a year now.”

Just like that, he found himself reevaluating again. “So Dad didn’t tell you?”

“No.” Colton frowned. “Did he tell you?”

“It was one of the payments I needed to understand. Before I left he was priming me to take over the business. You know that.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with his dirty secrets. He didn’t tell me.”

Gage lifted his shoulder. “Yeah, I imagine he figured he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, seeing as I took off after I found out what a gigantic prick he was, I imagine he figured he wouldn’t let you in on the secret. Losing one heir is a problem. Losing two just starts to look careless.”

“That’s why you took off? Because you found out what a terrible person Dad was?”

It was damn sure close enough. “Yes. I was poised to become king of his trash heap. And it wasn’t what I wanted.”

“And you think it is what I want? Did you think for one second what kind of position it would put me in? Mom?”

“No,” he said. It was honest. When he had taken off he had been eighteen years old, full of self-loathing and anger. All that had mattered was his pain. It had been unique to him, of course. And nothing anyone else could possibly understand. Because he had been eighteen. So, he had been a dick.

“Yeah, I didn’t think you did.” He took a deep breath. “Thanks for not lying about it, though.”

“There’s no point. I didn’t come back here to be the hero of the story. But I did come back here to take care of what I was asked to. Dad’s lawyer contacted me and said that I’m still the person Dad has written down to be the executor in case he was incapacitated.”

Colton shook his head. “I’ve been the one here taking care of things.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t messed up. I’m just telling you how it is.”

“So, now you’re going to step up?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s it? Whether I think you should be here or not?”

Gage pushed his hat back on his head. “Look. Nobody asked you. And I can understand why you’re not happy about it, but that doesn’t change anything. I have some things to take care of here, and I damn sure intend to take care of them.”

“What will that entail? Are you going to deal with Mom’s emotional fallout when she finds out that she’s destitute?” Colton took a step forward. “That’s what I’ve been dealing with. The fact that Mom is always one major incident away from a complete emotional meltdown. And Sierra is pregnant.”

“I know. I mean, I noticed at the hospital.”

“She’s a woman. When you left she was a kid.”

Gage’s face heated. He felt like a fire had started in his chest and spread outward. Anger, pouring through him like molten metal. “I know.”

“Madison... You have no idea what she’s been through. The things they say about her... She could have used you here. I could have.”

“What happened to Madison?”

“She’s going to have to tell you about it. You don’t get to come in and learn all of our secrets right off the bat. We’ve been here. Taking care of Mom, taking care of each other. All you took care of was yourself, Gage. So forgive me if I can’t just accept the fact that you’re here. And that you think you have a right to step in and start handling family business.”

Gage pressed his hand against one of the supports on the deck. “This isn’t about rights. It’s about responsibility.”

“You haven’t cared about responsibility at all in more than a decade. Why are you starting now?”

“Because I was asked to.”

Colton didn’t say anything to that. Instead, he rocked back on his heels, looking toward the inside of the house.

“That woman is your wife?” Gage asked, suddenly realizing that he didn’t know much of anything about his siblings. Beyond Sierra’s very obvious pregnancy.

“Lydia,” Colton said. “And yes. She is.”

“It doesn’t seem right that you’re married. I remember you being sixteen.”

“Hate to break it to you, but time marched on while you were gone.”

Gage suddenly felt hideously old. And a little bit like something that might be found on the bottom of his boot. But then, he imagined that that was Colton’s goal. He couldn’t say he didn’t deserve it.

“Yeah, I guess it did.”

“What exactly are you going to do? About that debt?”

“I’m going to sell off as much as I can. My goal is to preserve the business and the ranch. I assume you’re good with that.”

He could tell Colton was good with it, and more than a little annoyed that he couldn’t disagree. “Yes. I mean, that’s what I would do.”

“I don’t have a sinister agenda, here. All I want to do is what I was asked to. And then, I’ll get right back out of your life.”

“I don’t feel like Mom is going to be very impacted. Unless she goes through and counts all the assets.”

“I guarantee you the only thing she goes through and counts is her pills.”

His brother’s stark words hit him hard. He’d known their mother was fragile. He’d always known. But this...this hurt. “That bad?”

Colton shook his head, his expression suddenly softening. “She does her best. But, Dad was bad enough that you left. I don’t know what you’ve been out doing, but whatever, you had the skills to do it. Can you imagine being stuck with him? There’s nothing else for her.”

Horror streaked down his spine. “He doesn’t... He’s never laid a hand on her, has he?”

“It isn’t like that. But she’s stuck. She’s completely dependent. And he’s... He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. You know that. Everything is justifiable as long as Nathan West is comfortable. We found out about Jack this past year.” Gage had a feeling his mother had known a lot longer than that, but he didn’t see the point in correcting Colton on that score. “We all found out,” Colton continued. “Now her husband, who I think she hates as much as she loves, has had a stroke. And you’re back.”

“She doesn’t know that yet, does she?”

“No,” Colton said. “Stay away until we’re ready to deal with it.”

Gage took a step back. This command from Colton was more convenient than he’d like it to be. The edict to stay away from his mother, from his father, for a while suited him more than he’d like to admit. “You have my word on that.”

If there was one thing he was good at, it was staying away.

CHAPTER THREE

REBECCA WALKED OUT of her bedroom door and onto the deck, wrapping her fingers more tightly around her cup as she stared out at the lake. It was chilly this morning, mist hovering over the water and on her breath.