ShatteredTrust_w5401 Read online

  “I went to Vegas. It’s gone.” He sighed. “Along with the other payments.”

  “Other payments?” she echoed, her voice rising.

  “He wanted me to keep quiet, make me go away, I made sure it cost him.”

  Dread swept over Marley. Dale’s odd question in her office the other morning, about Nate leaving town, suddenly made sense. “You’re blackmailing him?”

  His eyes closed at her furious question. “I was. But then—”

  “I don’t believe this,” she raged, leaping to her feet.

  “There’s more,” he said quietly.

  “Well, of course there is. I mean, after everything else, how could there not be?”

  She waited for him to continue. When his gaze met hers, she froze at the terror she saw in his eyes. He held out a trembling hand, then sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

  “Nate, what is it?”

  He shook his head.

  “Tell me.”

  “I-I think I did something.” He looked up again, striking terror in her heart to match the fear in his eyes. “I—I went to see Karl Hunter a few weeks ago.”

  Chapter 15

  Marley went numb as her thoughts raced. Karl Hunter had died almost three weeks ago. And Nate looked scared to death.

  What had he done?

  “No,” she said. Her voice sounded foreign, as if someone else had spoken. But she didn’t want to hear any more.

  “I didn’t mean to. Honest to God, Mar, I didn’t.”

  She was at his side without having consciously moved. Scared as she was, he needed her. Her protective instincts kicked in, and she sank down to put her arms around him. With every fiber of her being screaming for her to shut up, she asked, “What happened?”

  “I just wanted to know why Dad mentioned him—how much he knew—that’s all. Turns out, he knew it all. The affair, about me, even the money Dale paid me. Ironically, Mom tried to blackmail him after I was born. They even did a blood test for proof. As I was talking to the old man, he suddenly lost it…threatened to bury us—said he’d fire us both if we dared tarnish the Hunter name, and make sure neither of us could get a job anywhere in the state.” He took a deep breath and continued his disjointed speech. “I got so mad that I-I-I pushed him and he fell.”

  Marley closed her eyes.

  “He fell against the wall, but he was alive when I left, I swear. Knocked out, but I felt a pulse.”

  She sighed with profound relief and sat back a little. “Nate, the obituary said it was a heart attack.”

  “But what if I caused it?”

  She shook her head, needing to believe it as much as he needed to hear it. “You didn’t. I remember Bonnie once said he had heart problems. He was on medication.”

  For his blood pressure, she suddenly remembered. The confrontation very well could’ve triggered the heart attack. A chill swept through her as Nate looked at her with hope in his eyes.

  “He was? So it wasn’t my fault?”

  She shook her head, unable to actually speak it. Standing, she offered him a hand so he could rise as well. He swayed, and she helped steady him. “You need to get some sleep.”

  “I am tired,” he agreed.

  She turned him toward the hall. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”

  “Okay.” He took a few steps and then stopped. “You’ll be working.”

  That’s right, tomorrow was Friday. Justin would expect her at the office. Not that he’d want her there, but he’d expect her. She rubbed a hand over her face and turned to look out the patio doors. “After, then.”

  She had to face Justin in the morning. How could she do that, knowing what she now knew?

  “Mar?”

  She spun around to find Nate watching her from the hall.

  “Thanks.”

  She nodded, but he didn’t leave. Instead he asked hesitantly, “Do you like him? I mean, really like him?”

  He meant Justin. Was it really any of his business? Hell, maybe it was. Justin could be his half-brother.

  “I wouldn’t sleep with just anyone,” she admitted.

  “I should know that.” He dropped his gaze as if he were ashamed. “I do know that.”

  She started to turn away again.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I—well, about earlier—about everything.”

  She regarded him for a moment. She wasn’t going to tell him it was okay, because it wasn’t. None of it was. The way he’d been acting. The blackmail. The gun. “We’ll work it out—now go get some sleep.”

  He went and for a second she wished he’d come back. She didn’t want to think right now. She didn’t even want to feel right now. It hurt too much. After the past half hour, she was afraid her life would never be the same again.

  She wanted to yell and kick and scream at the unfairness of it all but in the end she simply opened the door and went to sit on the patio in the cool evening air. A light breeze blew under her over-sized shirt. Justin’s shirt.

  Justin. Nate’s half-brother. She’d almost slept with her brother’s half-brother. She covered her face with her hands.

  Events replayed in her mind, and she groaned. God, Nate had almost shot his own half- brother! She thought about her mother, with Dale Blake. If it were true, it would explain a lot. Her father’s bitterness…the split between him and Dale…

  She sat up straighter. Were they ever friends? Her father had said Dale stabbed him in the back, so it seemed it could be true, but everything else Dale Blake had told her had been a lie. All the while he’d been using her to find things out about Nate because of the blackmail. Upon reflection, Justin’s description of his father was dead on—not that Nate was a saint by any means.

  She sat for awhile longer, trying to figure out what to do.

  ****

  Marley dressed in jeans and a fitted, light green knit top. Then she brushed her hair and left it loose, added a light touch of brown mascara, and a swipe of clear gloss on her lips. Nate would give her a ride and work his mechanic magic on the scrap metal she called her truck.

  Her brother didn’t say a word as they walked out the door, but she knew he noticed her ‘new look’ by the expression on his face. She ignored it and stuffed her bag with Justin’s things at her feet on the passenger side. How she dressed and wore her hair was her business.

  When she told Nate to go to the Hunter offices, he paused. She remembered he didn’t know what had happened in the past week and proceeded to catch him up on the drive. He didn’t say much so she couldn’t tell if the news upset him.

  Then she pulled herself up short. Who cared if it did? He’d blown over fifteen thousand dollars in Vegas when what he should’ve done was paid on school loans, something that would’ve made him taking the money somewhat easier to swallow.

  Nate drove past Justin’s Jeep in the parking lot and her stomach turned over in a nauseous mix of anticipation and dread. She tried to ignore it as they parked, and Nate turned the key in the ignition of her truck before popping the hood for a look. After a moment of inspection, he rolled his eyes.

  “Your battery cable is loose.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yep.” He reached in to tighten it. “All I need are some jumper cables to start it. I’ll drive yours home so the battery charges on the way, and you can bring mine home after work.”

  She hovered as Nate connected the jumper cables between the two vehicles, started his truck and after a minute, started hers as well. He put everything away before handing her his keys. Time to go inside. Still, she stood on the sidewalk, clutching the shoulder strap of her bag. “Thanks.”

  He paused while getting into her truck. “I’ll see you later, then?”

  She nodded.

  “I’m going to class today, then I’ll start looking for another job.”

  She nodded again before finally turning away.

  “Thanks, Mar.”

  She swallowed, felt like a stupid nodder doll, and waved over her s
houlder without looking back. She needed to prepare. The elevator ride was too damn short. She offered Bonnie a weak smile and made her way into her office, wishing her nerves would settle down.

  This really wasn’t that big a deal. It wasn’t like she’d lie to him, she just wouldn’t tell him what she knew. Other people did stuff like this all the time.

  Too bad her conscience wasn’t buying what she was trying to sell.

  She heard Justin’s voice through the open connecting door and couldn’t help but glance through on her way past. Her step faltered. He was on the phone, half turned toward her with one booted foot propped on his desk as he leaned back in his chair. He’d dressed more casually than usual—even for him. A pair of extremely faded jeans encased his legs and a plain black tee shirt clung to his shoulders, molding his broad chest and enhancing his tan. His short blond hair looked like it might have been combed that morning, but had since seen his hand a time or two.

  In the middle of a sentence, he turned his head and their eyes met. A jolt like she’d never experienced before shot through her. Marley stiffened as her heart leapt into overdrive.

  Oh, God. No.

  He pulled his foot off the desk and started to face her, so she hurried past the door. It was hard to draw an even breath. She braced her hands on the desk and shook her head. But the possibility that had just scared the hell out of her wouldn’t go away.

  No. She did not have feelings for him. It wasn’t possible.

  Distantly, she heard his conversation continue, his deep voice rumbling over her as effectively as a bulldozer.

  She’d only met him two weeks ago—twelve days to be exact. And he’d lied to her! With good reason. No, that didn’t make it right. But just as quickly, she realized after the past week of working with him at the office, she didn’t resent his deception at the beginning. She even understood.

  Still, twelve days was not enough time to develop deep, heart-pounding feelings for someone. Sure, he was the first man to kiss her, really kiss her, the first to touch her intimately, and the first she’d ever thought about sleeping with—

  Ah, ha. That was it. Her inexperience was confusing physical attraction with something else. Finally, she took a breath of air that actually sent oxygen to her lungs. She was in lust, nothing more.

  The tightness in her chest eased somewhat. She could handle lust. Especially since any physical attraction was sure to be one-sided after last night’s events with her ‘whacked out’ family.

  “Good morning.”

  Justin’s deep, suggestive sounding greeting from the doorway brought her head up with a snap. The room seemed to shrink in on her and that damned lightning bolt struck again as his heated hazel gaze reminded her of the intimacy they’d shared the night before.

  Heart slamming against her ribs, she opened her mouth to return the greeting.

  “I quit.”

  Chapter 16

  Justin blinked and barely kept from asking, “What?” He knew what this was about. She was embarrassed about last night. Then he considered her expression and thought maybe angry was more likely. Well, that wouldn’t last long.

  “Guess who was on the phone,” he said.

  “Didn’t you hear me? I quit.”

  “Tess Kemen from Jenkins Associates.”

  “I don’t care. Here are your things.”

  She practically threw a small duffle bag at him. He caught it, but irritation flared when she avoided his gaze and scanned the top of her desk. A few items were stuffed into her briefcase before she walked to the drafting table.

  “We got the job.”

  “Good for you,” she tossed over her shoulder without the enthusiasm he expected. Dropping the bag back on her desk, he stepped forward and took hold of her arm. She stiffened as he turned her around.

  “They want to break ground next month already.”

  She stared at his hand. “Don’t touch me.”

  Her sexy voice, the one that usually slid over him and seeped into his pores to heat his blood, nearly gave him frostbite. Its husky timbre was tainted by a hint of emotion he couldn’t define. He released her arm. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” She lifted her briefcase and started for the door.

  “Hold on a minute.” He barred her way. “You can’t just quit.”

  “Watch me.”

  “What about your design?”

  “Keep it.” She tried to move past him, but he sidestepped in front of her.

  “The whole point of the job was to make sure you were compensated for your work.”

  “Send me a check—whatever you want.” She shifted impatiently. Almost desperately. “I have to go.”

  He’d had enough. It was time to get to the real issue. “If anyone has the right to be angry about last night, it’s me.”

  “This has nothing to do with that. Please move.”

  She had yet to look him in the eye, so he moved closer and accused, “Liar.”

  Now her gaze lifted. “No. And that’s exactly the reason I can’t work for you. Move.”

  He frowned. “I thought we put that behind us.”

  “Move or I’ll scream.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  Eyes locked with his, she drew in a deep lungful of air as if preparing to make good on her threat. Fine. With a mocking smile—partly directed at himself—he shook his head and stepped back out of the office, sweeping his arm wide. She wanted to leave that fricken bad, let her.

  He watched her stalk away, his gaze lingering on the curve of her hips and her long-ass legs. If only he could smack himself the way she’d smacked him that one day, maybe he’d be able to—

  “Where’s she going?”

  Justin glanced toward Jordan’s office to find his brother watching Marley the way he had been. His fist clenched at his side to keep from smacking his brother and he shoved both hands into his pockets for added security. “She quit.”

  Jordan’s jaw dropped as the elevator doors slid closed with Marley inside. “What if we get the job?”

  “We got it already. I just got off the phone with Tess Kemen.”

  “Then why’d she quit?” He rounded on Justin with an accusing look. “What did you do?”

  Justin leveled a dark glare at him before turning for his office. “Nothing. Not a gol’ damned thing.”

  “Justin—”

  He spun around, gripping the door hard to keep from slamming it in his brother’s face. “You want to chase her and beg her to come back, go ahead. I’m not doing it again.”

  “And the Jenkins job?”

  “Figure out what you want to pay her for the design and send her a check.” When Jordan looked ready to protest, Justin added, “Her suggestion, not mine.”

  He lost the battle and let the door fly. It closed with an unsatisfactory bang that shook the pictures on the wall.

  What right did she have to be mad? He was the one who’d been deliberately seduced, shot at and then ordered to leave! About the only thing she could’ve taken offense to was him calling her family crazy. But where the hell was the comparison in that? If you asked him, they were darn lucky he hadn’t called the cops on their NRA-loving butts. He glanced at the door as he sat at his desk, wondering if Jordan had gone running after her.

  “Work,” he mumbled, reaching for a project folder. “That’s what I need to focus on.”

  He spent more time in the next half hour telling himself to get to work than he did actually working. A knock at his door brought welcome relief, until a second later when he wondered if Marley had come back. Sitting up straight with his heart thumping, he told himself it didn’t matter. But if it was her, she owed him an apology.

  A Wade entered his office, but it wasn’t Marley. The resulting surge of disappointment mocked him, fueling his aggravation with himself and the man invading his space.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Justin growled as Nate shut the door. He rose to his feet, prepared to toss the guy right out of the buildin
g.

  Looking a bit nervous, Nate hesitated.

  Justin started around the desk, smiling grimly when Nate took a step back.

  “Not so brave without that damn gun,” Justin said.

  Nate drew himself up. “For the record, I didn’t shoot at you. The gun discharged when you grabbed my hand.”

  “You saying it’s my fault?”

  “No. I’m saying that I…” Nate stopped. “You know what, I’m not here to argue or make excuses. I came to apologize.”

  Justin acknowledged a grudging measure of respect for the younger man.

  “I shouldn’t have taken out my anger over…certain situations…on you,” Nate continued. “I’ve been dealing with a lot of things lately, and with the alcohol, well, I didn’t react like I… I wasn’t rational.” His gaze met Justin’s squarely. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  Justin almost laughed as he sat back against the front edge of his desk. Of course it wouldn’t. One, he’d never let Nate get the jump on him again, and two, he wasn’t so sure Marley would ever see him again.

  Finally, he nodded. “Apology accepted.”

  “Thanks,” Nate said. But instead of looking relieved, he shifted restlessly on his feet, his eyes cast downward.

  “Something else?” Justin asked.

  “Um, yeah. I’m sure you know Marley fired me last week.” He lifted his gaze and paused.

  Justin nodded confirmation so he would continue.

  “I was late more than a few times, but I’m hoping you’ll give me another chance. I promise I’ll do it right. I won’t be late. I’ll work harder than anyone else, and—”

  Justin straightened. “Is that why you apologized? To get your job back?” The edge in his tone brought Nate’s chin up.

  “No.”

  Justin considered his solemn expression and relaxed again.

  “I know you need the help out there,” Nate said. “Without me, Marley, and you, the job’s three men short.”

  “I’ve already filled those positions.”

  “Oh.” Nate looked deflated for a moment, then squared his shoulders. “Well, I had to ask. The apology still stands, of course.”

  Justin automatically accepted Nate’s offer of a handshake.