Dirty Little Secret

by Jennifer Ryan

  She hadn’t stopped thinking about what he really asked her last night: did she want to be his wife? It felt like a secret whispered in the dark, too precious and fragile to hold up in the light of day. But that was the old Roxy who didn’t believe dreams come true.

  Now those whispered words in the dark felt like a promise. She knew he wanted more time with her. She wanted more of him.

  Which meant she needed to get her priorities in order.

  Maybe she’d pick up a sweet treat at the bakery and take a night off. She’d have to make it up later, but making Noah happy was worth it.

  She didn’t expect Noah to ask her to marry him any time soon, but it was coming. And that lovely thought made her belly flutter with anticipation and her heart soar higher than she ever thought possible. She could see herself so easily as his wife. And though she’d never thought about children past the initial thought of, yes, I want them, she now pictured herself with mini Noah’s in her arms.

  Noah would be an amazing father. Annabelle a wonderfully caring and fun aunt. Adria, Juliana, and Sonya would spoil a niece or nephew rotten.

  All that love and family for her children. Everything she never had but wanted.

  It was hers now because Noah loved her, and her father left her a family of her own.

  She never thought she’d be this lucky, or her heart could feel this full.

  She couldn’t wait to get home to Noah.

  She pulled into the grocery store lot and parked right in front. Her high spirits plummeted with one look at the woman walking out of the store, heading right for her as Roxy made her way to the door.

  “Roxy, can we talk?” Lisa hefted the shopping bag strap up her shoulder. She looked around, but they seemed to be alone on the sidewalk in front of the store.

  “It’s been a long day. I’m not really in the mood for a fight.”

  “You and Noah are always harpin’ on me about taking an interest in Annabelle. Can’t you spare a few minutes to talk about my daughter?”

  Roxy bit back her irritation and the notion that this was a waste of time.

  “Please.” Lisa seemed earnest, even if Roxy didn’t believe her intentions were good.

  Roxy crossed her arms and cocked a hip, settling in for another futile conversation. “Fine. What about Annabelle?”

  Lisa glanced over to the café next to the store. “Let me buy you a cup of coffee and we’ll chat.”

  Roxy gave in, wondering why she felt the need to be nice to a woman who had been sneaking around with Tom plotting God knows what to get control of Annabelle’s inheritance.

  She followed Lisa, who dropped her bag in a chair at an outdoor table. “What can I get you? My treat.”

  Somehow she’d pay for this, but Roxy gave her order. “Small caramel macchiato.”

  Lisa rushed inside, leaving Roxy to take a seat and wait. Instead of leaving like she wanted to, she reminded herself this was for Annabelle. To kill time, she checked her email.

  Roxy hit send on a particularly technical reply to a business email, then looked up surprised to see Lisa had deposited her coffee in front of her and sat down across the table. “Sorry. Work.” Roxy held up the phone, then dropped it back in her purse.

  “I find it funny that John was your mother’s John.”

  Roxy didn’t even crack a smile at the absurd attempt at a joke. “What does that have to do with Annabelle?”

  “Everything.”

  Roxy stood to leave.

  Lisa grabbed her hand. “Sit down. Drink your coffee. Let me have my say.”

  Roxy dropped back into her seat, picked up the coffee she really needed if she planned to stay up late with Noah, and took a sip. The sweet, hot treat helped calm her simmering anger, so she drank more and waited for Lisa to say whatever the hell was on her mind. She’d hear her out and leave. Nothing she said would change anything.

  Roxy could rest easy knowing she’d given Lisa a chance for Annabelle’s sake.

  “Good, huh?” Lisa held up her own coffee.

  “Yes. Thank you. Now, what do you want?”

  “How is Annabelle?”

  Roxy sighed and took another sip. “She’s fine. She works part-time for our vet.”

  “She’s rich. Why the hell are you making her work?”

  “I’m not making her do anything. It’s a chance for her to explore being a vet before she applies to college.”

  Lisa shook her head. “That’s two years away.”

  “Which is why she needs to decide. If she hates working for the veterinary clinic and working with the animals, she’ll figure that out on the job. As it stands right now, she loves it. But she’s young and might change her mind next week and want to do something else.” Roxy shrugged, then rubbed her forehead, trying to clear her vision. She wrote off the blurriness as too many hours on the computer and focused on her conversation with Lisa. “If she wants to try something else, I’ll help her with that.”

  “By making her work.”

  “How else will she learn? She needs to . . .” Roxy took another gulp of coffee, hoping it would wake her up. All of a sudden, she felt very tired. “Annabelle is happy. She likes the job and working with the horses.”

  “What about boys? I’ve heard you’ve had a string of high schoolers in and out of that house. Not to mention your friends.”

  Roxy shook her head and blinked her eyes. “Uh . . . Annabelle’s got a handle on her curious friends. She’s set them straight about me. My sister is coming back in a few days.”

  Lisa leaned forward. “Are you okay?”

  Roxy grabbed hold of her purse. “I’m not feeling that great.”

  “Drugs.” Lisa gave her a knowing look.

  “I don’t do drugs.” Roxy stood, but had to grab the table to steady herself.

  “No one will believe that when I’m done with you.” Lisa tossed both coffee cups in the garbage.

  Roxy could barely make out Lisa’s face or take a step. No way could she drive. She reached for her purse to call Noah. Her heart raced along with the thoughts she was having trouble holding on to longer than it took one to form and disappear from her mind.

  Lisa yanked Roxy’s purse away. “You think you’re so smart. Who’s the one in charge now?” Lisa took her by the arm and helped her across the lot to Roxy’s car where she shoved Roxy into the passenger seat. Roxy tried to grab her purse. The only thought she could hold on to now was to call Noah. He’d come get her. He’d help her. She needed help.

  Lisa tossed the purse in the backseat and slammed the door. Moments later she slid behind the wheel and started the car.

  “Call Noah.”

  “Fuck Noah. That self-righteous asshole. He thinks he can have everything and I get nothing. You’re making crazy money off that place and you deny me my alimony. I earned it, bitch: on my back, fucking your old man. So Annabelle wasn’t his. Big fucking deal. He got the child he wanted. He loved her. The least he could do is pay me.”

  Roxy rolled her head toward Lisa and tried to focus on her because the outside world looked like it was racing past in a bizarre haze that left trails of color. “You sound just like my mother.”

  “I bet she fucking got paid.”

  “If . . . if you want . . . money . . . fine. I’ll pay . . . you. T-take. Me. Home.”

  “You live at a fucking whorehouse.”

  No. Noah was home. She needed to get to Noah.

  “I’ve got plans for you, bitch. I told you this wasn’t over.”

  She should have known Lisa was just biding her time, waiting for her opportunity to strike. Candy had mastered that tactic, always waiting for the best moment to make the greatest impact to mess up Roxy’s life.

  Lisa shoved Roxy’s shoulder, sending her crashing into the passenger door. Roxy knocked her head against the glass and came awake with a startled cry. For a moment, she had no idea what happened. Then Lisa dragged her out of the car. Stumbling toward a door and a place she didn’t recognize, terror seized her thro
at and sent her heart pounding into overdrive.

  Roxy did not want to go through that door.

  In a desperate attempt to get away, she pulled free of Lisa and swung, hitting Lisa in the face with a satisfying smack. Lisa stumbled back, holding her hand to her cheek. Roxy tripped and fell to her knees. Pain radiated up her legs.

  Lisa fisted her hands in Roxy’s shirt and hauled Roxy up on her wobbly legs. “You’re going to regret that, bitch.”

  Her body lacked the strength and coordination she desperately needed to flee. Her mind seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to process a single thought, if she could even hold on to it with the fear masking everything with the overwhelming need to run.

  Lisa unlocked the door and shoved her into a dark room that smelled of stale cigarette smoke and pine cleaner. Roxy staggered and bounced off the edge of the bed and landed on her butt on the floor. She turned and backed into the end of the bed. Shag carpet brushed between her fingers. She tried to focus on the dirt-brown floor, hoping to stop the room spinning.

  Time seemed to stop and go with one horrible snippet of reality or dream that all felt like a horrible nightmare.

  Lisa pinching Roxy’s nose and dumping water down her throat. It drizzled and dripped on her chest.

  Lisa pulling Roxy’s shirt over her head.

  Things getting even fuzzier.

  The door opening, letting in a dark figure that chuckled like some canned laughter in an amusement park funhouse echoing in her head.

  She wanted off this ride.

  Lisa telling the dark figure to, “Put her in the chair.”

  He dropped Roxy into the seat. She stared down at the glass of whiskey and several pills lying on the table. Several flashes went off. She blinked against the blinding light.

  True to her word, Lisa set her up to look like a drunk, drugged-out whore and there was nothing she could do about it.

  “Move her to the bed.”

  The shot of adrenaline those words unleashed gave her a blast of strength, but it didn’t help her escape the hands grabbing at her or the heavy body that pinned her down.

  “Get off her.”

  A knee wedged between her thighs and roughly pushed against her center. The friction made her realize she still had her jeans on. Thank God.

  But she couldn’t move. At this point, she could barely open her eyes.

  A hand clamped onto her jaw and someone leaned close. “How’s it feel to have my knee in your crotch?” He jammed it into her again hurting the soft, sensitive flesh. Not as badly as she’d hurt him.

  Tom.

  It had to be him, though she couldn’t make out his hazy face.

  If he wanted his revenge, he certainly had her right where he wanted her. Which made the room make sense. They had her stashed in a seedy motel.

  And she couldn’t get out of here on her own.

  Terror squeezed her heart and choked her throat. What did they really want?

  Her mind didn’t work enough to even conjure one nightmare beyond the obvious.

  And though she feared what they would do to her and she tried desperately to stay alert, her eyelids fell closed like thousand-pound weights.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Noah had a bad feeling. Roxy never turned off her phone. She was never late. She always left word about where she was going and she’d never miss dinner and not call. Something happened. He wished he knew what, because he was going stir-crazy in the house.

  He wasn’t doing any good standing in the foyer watching the road. He went back into the office. He’d given her desk a cursory look, but now he went through her papers, looking for anything, a note, an itinerary, something that said where she’d gone and why.

  Nothing jumped out at him or hinted to an appointment or errand she needed to run. All the papers told him was that she had too much to do and worked too hard. Her laptop and tablet were both password protected. If she kept an electronic schedule, he couldn’t get to it.

  “Noah, what are you doing?” Mary asked from the doorway.

  He shoved his hands against the piles of folders on the desk and stood straight. “Nothing. I can’t find a damn thing that tells me where she went.”

  “She never made it to the store.”

  “What?”

  “I called and asked the manager to check with the cashiers. None of them checked her out.”

  “Maybe they forgot?”

  “Forgot a woman who looks like Roxy?” Mary shook her head.

  Annabelle walked in behind Mary. “Have you heard from her? Where is she?” Her eyes glassed over.

  He held his arms out. Annabelle rushed into them and he held her to his chest, trying to keep his emotions in check as his mind conjured one reason after the other, one worse than the last for why Roxy hadn’t come home. Why she couldn’t call.

  Because if she could, she would.

  “Call the Ranch. See if she’s there,” Annabelle suggested.

  Mary nodded, thinking it a good idea, too.

  He thought about it earlier, but hesitated to reach out to anyone at the Ranch because Roxy tried so hard to keep that part of her life separate from them.

  He released Annabelle and pulled out his phone to see if an emergency sent her back there. He had to Google up the number. Mary and Annabelle stared intently at him as he made the call.

  “Thank you for calling the Wild Rose Ranch. How may I help you?” Seemed like a normal way to answer a business call, but the husky, sultry voice made him believe she’d do anything to “help” him.

  “Hi, this is Noah Cordero. Is Roxy there?”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Cordero, Roxy isn’t on staff, but we have a lot of other beautiful women ready and willing to satisfy your every need.”

  “No. You don’t understand. I’m Roxy’s boyfriend. She owns the Ranch. Candy is her mother.”

  “Please hold.”

  Noah didn’t want to wait. He wanted answers now. He should have called Roxy’s sisters but he didn’t know their numbers or even their last names. When Roxy got home, he was going to make her write down all the information for the people in her life so this never happened again.

  “Hello, sugar. I have to say, it’s a real surprise you’re calling me.”

  “Candy?” He never expected to talk to her.

  “The one and only.”

  “Is Roxy there? I can’t find her.”

  “Lover’s spat?”

  “No. She went out to run errands this afternoon and never came home.”

  The long pause unsettled him. “She’s not here, but let me check the girls’ house and see if she’s with Adria and Juliana.”

  “Can you give them my number and tell them to call me if they hear from her?” Noah rattled off his phone number.

  “I’ll call you back as soon as I talk to them. It’s not like Roxy to disappear without a word. She’d never make anyone worry about her.”

  “No, she wouldn’t.”

  “Why would you think she came here? Last I talked to her she said she wouldn’t be back until next month because she used up her days she’s allowed away from your ranch. Do you want her piece of the ranch so bad you’ve done something to my girl?” The intensity in that question knocked him back.

  He didn’t expect Candy to be so ferocious on Roxy’s behalf.

  Noah hadn’t thought about the will’s stipulations. If Roxy didn’t come home soon, she would in fact be in violation of the terms.

  “I would never do anything to hurt Roxy.”

  “We’ll see. I’ve never known a man to stick around long.”

  “Maybe they’re not the problem,” he shot back, pissed she’d question his dedication to Roxy and their relationship.

  “Touchy. Maybe she needed a break from you.”

  “Candy, I don’t have time for this. Roxy and I are great together. She’s happy. If she wasn’t, I’d do anything to fix it because we belong together.”

  Another long pause frayed his nerves. “I
overheard her tell Sonya about some trouble with others in town. Close-minded hypocrites. You know they’re all smokin’, drinkin’, and having sex like the rest of us. And if they’re not, they’re probably doing a lot worse.”

  Noah rolled his eyes. “Please ask Adria and Juliana if they’ve talked to or seen Roxy.”

  “If someone hurt my girl, you better make sure they hurt worse.”

  “Count on it. And that goes for you, too.”

  Candy giggled. “I like you.”

  “Great.” He couldn’t give a shit. “Call me back.”

  Noah hung up and bit back a string of swear words.

  “Was that Roxy’s mom?” Annabelle asked.

  “Yeah. She’s not there, but Candy is going to check with Roxy’s sisters.”

  “So we still don’t know anything.” Annabelle hung her head.

  “Candy said something that makes sense. If Roxy doesn’t come home tonight, she violates the terms of the will.”

  “She’d never do that. No.” Annabelle shook her head. “She loves it here. She loves us.”

  Noah hugged Annabelle to his side. “Yes, she does. So there’s only one other person who would benefit and who would do something underhanded to make sure you and I got Roxy’s share of the ranch.”

  Annabelle’s eyes flooded with tears that cascaded down her cheeks when she looked up at him. “My mother.”

  Noah nodded. “I don’t know anything for sure, but Lisa and Tom were talking about needing to do something because Lisa’s running out of money now that she doesn’t get anything from the ranch.”

  “This is all my fault. If they hurt Roxy . . .”

  Noah tipped Annabelle’s face up and stared down into her grief-stricken, guilty eyes. “You didn’t do anything wrong. We’ll find her.”

  His phone dinged with a text.

  His heart leaped with joy when he saw that it was from Roxy, then stopped when he read the message.