A Lover's Vow

by Brenda Jackson

  Dalton nodded. Although his condo was a nice size, the living room didn’t have seating for ten people. “I’ll grab some additional chairs from the dining room.”

  It didn’t take long for everyone to be seated. The Grangers turned expectant eyes to Carson. She was about to speak when Dalton’s doorbell rang. “Who in the hell can that be?” Dalton asked, standing.

  “That’s probably my other two men,” Roland offered.

  “Former inmates, as well?” Dalton couldn’t help asking, considering what they’d been told so far.

  “Yes.”

  Dalton frowned as he headed for the door. His gaze met Jules’s, and somehow he could decipher her thoughts, which were identical to his own. Jeez. What was this? The meeting of the former criminals club? What type of business was Roland Summers operating with employees...including Roland himself...who were former inmates at Glenworth? And why was his dad’s attorney involved with them? Dalton didn’t know about his brothers, but he wasn’t feeling too good about this. And what was going on with his and Jules’s thoughts connecting? How did that happen...and why? That was scary as hell. So far she hadn’t had anything to say, but he knew she was listening attentively and carefully observing everything that was going on. So was he. He couldn’t wait to hear what Carson Boyett had to say.

  He opened his door to find two tall, muscular men standing there. They looked like real ass-kickers. “Yes?”

  “We’re here for Carson’s meeting,” one of the men said, seeming to stare him down.

  Dalton started to ask for their names and even thought of asking them to present their ID. But what would be the point? It was late. He wasn’t in the mood, and he had a feeling they weren’t, either. So he just moved aside and said, “Welcome to the party.” He led them toward the living room.

  The moment they entered the living room, Caden glanced their way and was out of his seat in a flash. “Striker?”

  Striker? Dalton glanced at the men behind him, and one of them actually smiled.

  “Yeah, man, it’s me.”

  “Wait a minute.” Jace stood and glanced at Caden and then back at the man Caden had just called by name. “Isn’t that the name of the guy who saved your life that night Grover tried to run you over?”

  “Yes,” Caden said, nodding. He then looked over at Carson. “I want to know what’s going on.”

  Carson inhaled deeply. “What’s going on is that your father believed your lives were in danger, and he requested bodyguards be assigned to each of you,” she said, addressing the three brothers.

  “What?” the Grangers and the wives asked simultaneously, not believing what they were hearing.

  “Are you kidding us?” Dalton asked. “Why would Dad think that? Was this before or after that attempt was made on Jace’s life?”

  “After. Someone sent him an email in prison and told him that if the three of you reopened his case, bodily harm would come to you. He felt he wasn’t in a position to call the person’s bluff, so he told me what to do.”

  “Trust me,” the man standing beside Striker said. “Had I been there, that bastard wouldn’t have gotten close to you, Jace.”

  “But you were there,” Caden said, staring over at Striker. “And you didn’t happen to be out walking like you claimed, did you? You were guarding me that night.”

  Striker nodded. “Yes.”

  “You saved my life. You pushed me aside—would have taken the hit to protect me.” Caden shook his head slowly. “Amazing. You would have lost your life for a job.”

  “No,” Striker said, holding Caden’s gaze. “Not for a job. For Shep. I would do just about anything for that man, especially protect his sons. Your father is one of a kind.”

  Thinking the mood was getting kind of sappy, Dalton said in a lighthearted tone, “Don’t tell us that Dad kept you from killing guards and fellow inmates, too.”

  Striker moved his gaze from Caden to Dalton. “No, he didn’t keep me from killing any of the prison guards or fellow inmates. What he did was keep me from killing Stonewall.”

  Dalton’s throat tightened. Damn, the man was serious. He couldn’t imagine his father keeping Stonewall and this man called Striker from coming to blows. There was a lull in the conversation in the room, and he understood why...at least with his brothers. They were probably wondering how their father had endured being incarcerated for fifteen years.

  He switched his gaze from Striker to the big hulk of a guy standing beside him. “And you are?”

  “Quasar. Quasar Patterson.”

  Dalton decided not to ask what Shep had kept him from doing. Instead, he asked, “And you’ve been guarding my brother? Jace?”

  “Yes, ever since Roland told us what Shep wanted.” He chuckled. “Nice honeymoon, by the way. I enjoyed South Africa.”

  “Let me make sure I understand what you’re saying,” Jules said.

  Dalton rolled his eyes. Why did she feel the need to clarify anything? She wasn’t in the family, so she needed to just keep her mouth shut like she had been doing up to this point. He was about to say so, but when he glanced at Jace, he got his older brother’s warning glance and held his tongue.

  “Are you saying that someone sent Sheppard Granger an email threatening to do bodily harm to his sons if they reopened his case?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Carson said, meeting Jules’s intense stare. “Sheppard immediately requested that I hire bodyguards. I agreed to do so with the understanding that if a situation came up in which I needed to reveal the truth to his sons, I could make that call.”

  “And you made that call tonight,” Jules clarified, understanding completely.

  “Yes. Bobby’s cover had been blown, so I had no choice.”

  “Who wouldn’t want Jace, Caden and Dalton to reopen their father’s case?” Shana asked.

  “Sheppard has no idea, but he wasn’t writing the email off as a prank. He loves his sons too much to do that.”

  “So Quasar has been guarding Jace, Striker has been guarding Caden and Stonewall has been guarding Dalton?” Caden’s wife, Shiloh, confirmed.

  “Except for tonight,” Stonewall answered. “I had personal business to tend to, and Bobby was my replacement.”

  “And I made a mess of things,” Bobby said, with regret in his voice. “I should have been more cautious.”

  “You were cautious,” Jules reassured him. “But I’m a private investigator and an ex-cop. I’m suspicious by nature. When Dalton arrived home, it was easy for me to pick up on the fact that you had followed him. Someone else might not have noticed. Dalton clearly didn’t.”

  She would have to remind him of that in front of everyone, Dalton thought, frowning. He knew how to fix that. “Had I known you were parked outside in the cold waiting on me, Jules, I would have hurried home,” he said in a deliberately seductive tone.

  “Yeah,” Bobby chimed in, grinning. “If you ask me, that was some kiss you laid on her before she could even get inside your house.”

  Dalton frowned. Well, nobody asked him. He didn’t have to meet anyone’s gaze to know their eyes were on him and Jules. Speculating. Wondering. Assuming. He glanced over at Carson. It was time to get the conversation back on track.

  “Regardless of that email my father received, we’re reopening his case. My brothers and I have already discussed it.”

  Carson shook her head. “Sheppard won’t allow it. Like I said, he won’t take a chance with your lives.”

  “Why would anyone not want Sheppard Granger cleared?” Jules asked, her mind turning with all kinds of questions. Dalton could see it in her eyes. Spinning like a whirlwind. Just like the name he’d given her.

  “Only Sheppard can tell you why he assumes that,” Carson said after a brief hesitation.

  “Doesn’t matter,�
� Dalton said matter-of-factly. “Dad has served fifteen years in prison too long. Granddad made us promise to do what we could to get him out.”

  Carson shook her head. “Sheppard wouldn’t want you to do that. He’ll be eligible for parole in a few—”

  “We don’t care about that,” Caden interjected. “He didn’t kill our mother, and it’s time we proved it.”

  “He does not want the case reopened,” Carson stressed again.

  “Do you think we’re wrong in wanting to clear our father?” Dalton asked.

  “No, but my client doesn’t want—”

  “What do you think?” Jace interrupted.

  “It’s not what I think. It’s what my client wants.”

  Jace didn’t say anything for a moment. He’d been observing Carson closely, especially during her exchange with Dalton and Caden, but mostly with Dalton as she kept repeating her client’s wishes. He must still be getting over the shock of learning that she was a woman... a very attractive woman. She was all business. Professional. Straight to the point.

  Suddenly, something hit Jace in the gut, and he couldn’t help breaking into the conversation to say, “A client you’re in love with.”

  The room fell quiet. Everyone stared first at Jace for having the audacity to make such a bold statement, then at Carson, who had yet to deny what he’d said.

  Instead, she drew in a deep breath, met Jace’s direct gaze and said, “Yes. I’m in love with Sheppard Granger.”

  Seven

  “I don’t like this,” Dalton said while pacing Jace’s office the next morning. “Dad should have returned our call by now.”

  Caden, who was staring out the window with his hands shoved in his pants pockets, slowly turned around. “Did you honestly expect him to?”

  Dalton stopped his pacing. “Yes, why wouldn’t he? You think Warden Smallwood didn’t get the message to him like he said he would?”

  Caden braced his hip against the window ledge. “Oh, I’m sure he got the message, but it’s my guess that Dad’s planning his strategy.”

  “What strategy?”

  “How he plans to deal with us,” Caden replied, running a frustrated hand down his face.

  Sitting at his desk, Jace leaned back in his chair and nodded. “I think you’re right, Caden.”

  Dalton crossed his arms over his chest. “And why do you think he’s right?”

  Jace stood and came around his desk to sit on the edge. “Think about it. We’re dealing with our father, Sheppard Granger. A man who ordered his attorney to hire bodyguards to protect us without letting us know. Bodyguards who even now refuse to back off until he gives the word. We’re dealing with a man who would gladly spend the rest of his days behind bars if he thought doing so would keep us safe. I figure Carson has contacted him. She’s told him about last night’s meeting, and now he’s trying to figure out how to deal with us.”

  Caden left his place by the window to stand beside Jace. “And you heard Carson last night just like we did, Dalton. She was adamant about Dad not wanting us to reopen his case.”

  Yes, Dalton thought, he had heard Carson; however, he’d been somewhat distracted. Jules’s presence had made it hard for him to concentrate for most of the meeting. After all, whether he wanted to give her credit or not, she had been the one to notice that Bobby had been tailing him. More than once, his attention had been drawn to her against his will. She’d taken off her coat last night, and the black skirt and red blouse she was wearing had grabbed his attention. For once, he’d regretted that red was his favorite color. He’d been aware every single time she’d shifted positions on the sofa. Hell, she’d even crossed those gorgeous legs and all he could think about was how it would feel to get between them. And although he hadn’t been close to her, that hadn’t stopped him from inhaling her scent. And the more her fragrance flowed through his nostrils, the more he’d thought about sex. The-fuck-through-the-night kind.

  He jumped when Caden snapped a finger in his face. He frowned. “What did you do that for?”

  “Because we were talking to you, asking you a question, and your thoughts were a million miles away.”

  “Whatever,” Dalton said, not wanting to admit that they had been. “What question were you asking me?”

  “What was Jules doing at your house after midnight?”

  He’d wondered when they would get around to asking him about that. “Evidently, I wasn’t the only one not listening to what was being said. I think Jules explained herself. She had been parked in front of my place waiting for me to come home.”

  Caden rolled his eyes. “We know that, Dalton. We want to know why.”

  Dalton slid into the chair in front of Jace’s desk. He had gotten very little sleep last night and was definitely feeling it. “She heard I wasn’t coming to Shana’s dinner party and thought we should discuss it. Of course, it would have been a total waste of her time.”

  “And of course you told her that...after you laid that kiss on her. The one Bobby told everyone about,” Jace said, studying his brother.

  Dalton’s mouth curved into a frown. “That guy talks too damned much. It was a kiss that wasn’t supposed to happen. She told me to pretend I was kissing her.”

  “And of course, you didn’t pretend.”

  A slow smile touched Dalton’s lips. “No, I didn’t.” He couldn’t help remembering how kissing Jules had made him feel. After everyone had finally left last night, he’d gone back to bed determined to pick up on his dream where he’d left off. He hadn’t been able to, because his mind had been filled with memories of their kiss...how she’d tasted and how she’d felt in his arms.

  Realizing his brothers were watching him, he decided to get them off the subject of him and Jules. “Now I have a question for you, Jace.”

  “What?”

  “How on Earth did you know Carson had a thing for Dad?”

  Jace chuckled softly. “She doesn’t have a thing for him, Dalton. She’s in love with him. There’s a difference. One day, you’ll realize the difference when you come to know love for yourself, and then you can easily recognize it in someone else.”

  “I agree,” Caden chimed in. “I caught on when I noticed the look in her eyes whenever she said Dad’s name. I don’t know what his feelings are for her, but I can say she has very deep feelings for him.”

  “I can’t believe you called her out on it,” Dalton said, grinning. “Surprised the hell out of me when you did.”

  Jace took a sip of the water sitting on his desk. “I surprised myself. I was out of line in doing that, and I apologized to her before she left last night.” Jace rubbed the back of his neck. “My only excuse is that there were so many shockers revealed last night—Carson being a woman, the fact we’ve had bodyguards for over a month now and that one even went on my honeymoon, and our very professional and business-minded father’s close relationship with Stonewall, Quasar and Striker. I guess I had one of those moments when I felt the need to reveal something for a change.”

  Dalton didn’t say anything for a moment, thinking that last night definitely had been one big surprise after another. Carson Boyett was definitely a looker, and he could see his father falling for her. He stood up. “So what do we do about Dad? I think we should just get in the car and drive over to Delvers right now.”

  “Oh, so now you want to go see Dad when you haven’t gone to see him in over a month?”

  “Stay off my ass, Caden. I had planned to go see Dad this week, but now I’ll do it sooner. Especially since Stonewall, Quasar and Striker won’t let up until Dad gives the word. I was followed to work this morning.”

  “So were we,” Jace said, “so stop whining. We need to let Dad work this out for himself. But regardless, we will reopen the case, and I think he knows it. He’s worried, and he has every right to be. Let’
s give him the rest of the day, and if we don’t hear from him by then, we’ll go to Delvers tomorrow.”

  Both Dalton and Caden nodded their agreement.

  * * *

  “Well, I must say, Jules, it sounds like you and Shana had a very interesting night,” Ben Bradford said, leaning back in his chair at the kitchen table.

  Jules had just finished telling him everything, including the fact that for the past month Sheppard Granger had assigned bodyguards to protect his sons. The ex-cop in Ben thought the three guys were pretty good if they’d gone undetected until now. And he wasn’t surprised it had been Jules who’d figured out Dalton was being followed. He knew she was good at what she did.

  “You should have seen Shana’s face when Quasar admitted to having gone to South Africa with them on their honeymoon,” Jules said, grinning.

  Ben didn’t say anything as he took another sip of his iced tea. He knew Jules was trying to bring a little humor to the situation, but she knew as well as he did that if Sheppard Granger thought his sons needed protection from professional bodyguards, then things must be pretty serious. It didn’t help matters that by being married to Jace, Shana could also very well be caught in the line of fire.

  “I wonder who doesn’t want Sheppard Granger’s case reopened.”

  He met Jules’s gaze. He knew that she was doing more than wondering. Her mind had already dissected every piece of information she had heard last night, and in addition to that, she intended to do her own research. This time she was driven by more than mere inquisitiveness—her sister might be in danger.

  “I don’t know,” he said, placing his glass of tea aside. Having one daughter who could possibly be in danger was bad enough. He didn’t need two.

  “You researched the case, right, Dad?”

  Yes, he had done his research when he’d known Shana was marrying Jace. He’d known Jace’s father was in prison for killing Jace’s mother and wanted to know more about it. “Yes, and it seemed pretty cut-and-dried. Sheppard Granger’s fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, and he and his wife had been having marital problems. There was even evidence presented that he was having an affair...although no other woman was named. All they had to go on were hotel receipts.”