Back at the Ranch

by Em Ashcroft

  He grimaced. “She didn’t seem at all concerned about losing her bridegroom.”

  “Believe me, she was.” Ladonna had been furious, not grief-stricken. She wouldn’t let Chester spoil her vacation she’d said. They’d already paid for it, and it was non-refundable, so she was going. Before, Thea hadn’t been upset about her sister’s decision to bail out, but now? Having made her decision, a sense of loss invaded her. From now on Thea would have to distance herself from her sister.

  “He could have been your bridegroom.” Blade touched his lips to hers in the barest but sweetest of kisses. “I’m glad he wasn’t. He didn’t deserve you.”

  Tears springing to her eyes, Thea turned around and moved away, using her breakfast as an excuse. “Thanks. You’re right, he didn’t. I can hardly believe he took me in so thoroughly.” In fact she’d been longing for love. She recognized that now. Lonely because of a sister who cared about nobody but herself. Uncertain of her future, grieving the future she’d planned for herself, Thea had fallen into Chester’s arms like a ripe plum.

  She knew better now.

  She poured the coffee from the French press and added the right amount of cream to hers, taking two cups over to the chairs next to the windows. Blade was sitting, watching her. This would be the worst of her ordeal. When she’d sent Blade on his way, she wouldn’t see either of them again.

  Renaud was falling for her. Blade wasn’t. Thea refused to become the crowbar that levered the men apart. If she accepted Renaud as her husband, Blade would be more than displeased. It would probably lead to their breakup.

  She knew how it went now. She’d been reading. Breed partners could live apart, only coming together to make children. The partnership between Blade and Renaud was particularly strong, and it had lasted most of their lifetimes. Renaud had crossed continents to find Blade and had given up his own family to live here. Oh, she knew what they said, but now she also knew how they felt.

  No way would she break up that partnership. Now, sitting by the window with one of the two men she loved, her heart broke. She couldn’t do it, couldn’t hurt them that way.

  Rather than that, she’d hurt herself.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Renaud crushed the letter in his hand. She’d written to him and Blade. He hurled the balled-up paper at his breed partner. “Read it.”

  Blade unfolded the note and smoothed it on his knee. He sent Renaud a quizzical glance before he turned his attention to the note. Already Renaud knew it off by heart. “I should have known something was off this morning.”

  Blade read it aloud. Just to rub salt in the wounds.

  To Blade and Renaud Goldclaw.

  Thank you for the best time ever. You made everything so much better for me. I feel good now, ready to tackle everything I need to.

  You two are great fucks. You taught me a lot, and the next shape-shifting breeding pair I meet, I’m going straight for the burn. Who knew two men could be so much fun in bed? And your apartment—wow!

  Ladonna bet me I couldn’t get both of you into bed, but I proved her wrong, didn’t I? And I got a great place to stay instead of that crappy room with three other girls. She said I’d be better off sharing with two hunky men! I’m going on vacation with her now, and don’t you worry, I know exactly how to get that money back. I’m going to every nightclub in the city in the next month, and I’m going to get me somebody else. After all, I got you two, and I got Chester, who turned out to be no prize, but I can do it again. Maybe Nassau has a few interesting prospects.

  So thanks, guys. You taught me a lot about fucking and what a man wants.

  Dot

  “She’s nothing but trash,” Renaud said disgustedly. “She was playing us, her and her sister. She just wanted a better place to stay.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. How stupid was he?

  He couldn’t believe it, but he knew her handwriting. She planned to sleep her way back to her money. And she could do it, too. There was a word for that, a not very nice one, but if the shoe fit. “Whore. Putain”

  “Hey—”

  Instead of answering him directly, Renaud crossed to the big desk and opened his laptop. The screen flashed into life. “Come and look at this,” he said.

  Blade watched the film Renaud had snagged from outside the ranch. Renaud needed to present proof to his breed partner. They watched together as Thea dragged her suitcase to a waiting taxi and loaded it in the trunk. Ladonna followed her and did exactly the same thing. Then the sisters embraced before they got in the car.

  “They went to Houston International Airport. Yes, I asked. Where they will have caught the plane together to the Bahamas.” Disgustedly he turned away from the screen. “I’m catching up with you. You were right when you said it, mon cher. Women just want us for what they can get out of us. Money and a good time.”

  When Blade put his hand on his shoulder, Renaud shook his breed partner off. But Blae persisted and, this time, put both his hands on Renaud’s shoulders, urging him to meet his eyes. Renaud took a deliberate step back. He didn’t particularly want anyone to touch him right now. Not until he’d had plenty of baths to wash off what he’d done, that he’d trusted Thea so blithely.

  “This is my fault,” Blade said.

  Renaud gave a harsh laugh. “Oui? How do you work that one out?”

  “I didn’t come to my senses in time. She didn’t mean any of that.” Blade flicked the note. “You know who that sounds like? Ladonna.”

  Renaud turned his mouth in a sneer. “Sisters, or birds of a feather?”

  “Know what I think?”

  Renaud shrugged. “I guess you’re going to tell me anyway.” Once Blade was set on a course, distracting him took far too much effort. He might as well hear him out.

  “Thea overheard us this morning. When you were in the kitchen and I was in the study. We were careless, not checking she was still asleep, bro. And I was feeling very sore.”

  “Sore?”

  Blade’s wry smile was reflected in the expression in his eyes. “I was getting too close to Thea, ready to commit after a few days. And it scared me. I’ve been trapped before, more than once. Do you remember Nona?”

  “Oh yes.” Renaud’s lips twitched. “I told you she was no good. But you didn’t listen.”

  Nona had wanted both men and had gone all out to get them. A petite bombshell, she’d knocked them both over at first, but Renaud had come to his senses first. Not before Blade had proposed to her. It had taken them a lot of time and even more money to get rid of her and stop her suing for breach of promise. Of course Blade had asked Nona to marry him in the middle of a crowded restaurant. But Renaud had done the research into her and found out what she was, and the path of boyfriends she’d left littered in her wake.

  “I listened to you eventually.” Blade rubbed the back of his neck before returning his attention to Renaud. “Now it’s my turn to bring you to your senses. Properly. You’re angry, are you not?”

  “Fucking furious,” Renaud admitted. His tempers didn’t last long, but they were fierce. That letter had sent him into a rage that had pushed him to strip and run. He’d startled quite a few guests when he’d streaked past them. Joggers didn’t usually encounter huge tigers roaring out their anger. It had taken several circuits of the grounds before he’d returned back to civilization. And all the time, in his mind’s eye, he’d seen the sisters laughing at him. He was still fuming.

  “Start thinking again. Since when has Thea called herself Dot? She did that to rile you, my friend. She knew you were the most susceptible to her. At least, that was what she thought.” Blade bit his lip. “She was wrong. I want her back, Renaud. She only did this because she thought she was breaking us up. But she’s our woman, our breedmate.”

  That brought Renaud down better than a punch to the jaw. Wide-eyed, he stared at his breed partner. “I was talking about marriage before. Not bonding.”

  Bonding took more commitment, and if it occurred at all, it usually happened a few
years down the line. Unlike marriage, it was irreversible.

  “Well, while I was greeting that CEO today, seeing how he looked at his wife, it reminded me of what I could be throwing away. I’d planned to ask for more time. If Thea stayed with us, we had that, but deep down, I knew. I’ve always known. She’s for us, bro. I have never been so sure of anything in my life.”

  “After that?” He indicated the laptop and the letter, now lying next to it, unfolded but still crumpled.

  “Oh yeah. So she hugged Ladonna. They’re sisters, dude. It doesn’t mean any more than that. All they have is each other, and as far as Thea is concerned, it’s been them against the world. And she left that letter. That wasn’t her speaking, that was her sister. Remember what Thea told us? It wasn’t lies. We were in her body and her head. We knew her.”

  Renaud moved away and strode to the window, staring out at the Texas sunshine, so bright the windows in the hotel weren’t just one-way, they were polarized. Otherwise everyone would be squinting all the time. It was beautiful out there, the only place he wanted to be.

  Renaud turned his back on the window and leaned against the sill, folding his arms.

  Blade stared at Renaud for a long time without speaking, and his breed partner waited. Renaud had always known Blade’s susceptibilities, which had never included black-haired, full-figured sirens. Not until now. Love had hit him hard, and with it, his doubts had risen, the problems that always plagued him when he was getting in too deep.

  His parents had lost a son before Blade was even born. Blade never had any siblings, and because of their pain when his brother had died so young, they had never allowed themselves to get too close to him. Mason had died of a heart defect, a one-in-a-million birth problem that had affected the tiger and the human part of him. There was no escape.

  Blade always felt bad about not grieving for Mason and had assumed he was missing something, tenderness, maybe, and had taken the other route. Live for the day had been his life’s motto. He threw himself into affairs because he knew he could do it and then walk away without too much trouble. And Renaud had been okay with that. More than okay, considering Nona.

  Until now. Until Thea.

  His anger wasn’t directed at her betrayal, but at her for leaving before he’d had time to tell her. Before he’d suggested that they explore what they had. Shit, he was ready to tell her he loved her.

  He still was.

  He buried his head in his hands, and shook with emotion. What had he done? He could have gone after her, should have. “So what do we do to get her back?”

  “While you’ve been running over the plains, I’ve been working.” Blade returned to the desk and hit a few keys on the laptop. “And just look at what I found.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  All Thea did when she got home was kick the pile of mail aside and go to bed, heartsick. But life went on, and the best thing she could do was get back to work. She wouldn’t cry. She didn’t dare. Otherwise, she’d never stop.

  The next morning, with the New York sun trickling through her windows, she got up, showered, dressed, and went down to the room the sisters used as a home office. Time to get to work. If she blocked off her emotions, she could carry on. Eventually the wounds caused by Blade and Renaud would ease, and then she could examine them, when it didn’t hurt so much. One day she might heal, although she doubted it.

  Most of their mail either went electronically or was sent to the office in Manhattan. Another expense she might have to rethink. Having a Manhattan office hadn’t been half as rewarding as Chester had said it would be. That would save a few thousand bucks every year. Everybody worked online these days.

  Sighing, she sifted through the pile of mail she’d found behind the front door and tossed the bulk of it away, leaving several official-looking letters. She opened the one from her bank first. Get the worst over with.

  That letter only confirmed what she knew already. Her personal account was overdrawn by five thousand dollars and the bank wanted to meet with her to discuss repayment.

  She put her head in her hands and forced herself to concentrate. She’d get her laptop out of her luggage soon and start to add up how much they owed.

  On the plane home, she’d been forced to admit the possibility that she and Ladonna would have to let their remaining asset go. The house. Giving up the Manhattan office and selling their house would give them enough to pay their debts to Goldclaw Ranch. Maybe she’d spare the five thousand for her overdraft. The house didn’t count as company assets, so she could do what she wanted with her half of the money. She’d have to find somewhere else to live, but she’d cope in a small apartment. That would save her some bills, too. Ladonna could find somewhere of her own.

  Because Thea didn’t think she could carry on working so closely with her sister. They would have to split their responsibilities properly and ensure they did equal work. Ladonna’d had it easy for far too long. Time to make her big up and start doing her share.

  They had assets back at the office. Some equipment, a white metal garden arbor, for instance, stuff like that. Although since they’d started concentrating on boutique weddings, they had bought props and stuff as they’d needed it. They were selling their expertise, not objects.

  Her heart lifting a tad, she tore open the second envelope.

  There had to be something wrong here. Surely this couldn’t be true. Could Ladonna do that?

  Ten minutes later, she’d retrieved her laptop from her luggage and plugged it in, navigating to the right site.

  Ladonna and Chester had mortgaged the house.

  They had no assets, zilch. They owed money. The company was dead. Thea would have to work for years to get out of the hole Ladonna and Chester had put her in. They had forged Thea’s signature, so she would have to prove that, but a whole bunch of legal stuff, not to mention the bills, was waiting for her. If she wanted her share back.

  What was she thinking? That was the old Thea. This one would fight for her rights, spend the next ten years if she had to claiming the money she was owed. No fucking way would Ladonna do this to her.

  Leaning on the desk, she buried her face in her folded arms.

  That was when Thea really cried.

  * * * *

  Nassau was beautiful at sunset. Despite the hordes of tourists, the place had an air of leisure, of taking time to appreciate the good things in life. While Renaud appreciated that, as he had before, he had no time for it now. Following the research Blade had done, the two men made straight for the honeymoon hotel, where they confidently expected to find their quarry.

  Tourists jostled them, but intent on their mission, they took no notice. A quick internet search before they left had told them where to go. The huge hotel overlooking the ocean, to be precise. The penthouse there, to be even more precise. When they’d discovered that, both men had seethed, but that was just another thing to add to the tally of grievances they had to settle.

  Both were at the boiling point after they’d discovered Thea’s last-minute flight booking for New York. They had barely arranged the niceties before they’d left Goldclaw. Renaud was all for coming straight here and tearing Ladonna apart, but Blade had restrained him. “And they call me the reckless one,” Blade had said before they’d headed out for the jet. Not that he felt at all levelheaded right now.

  Renaud barely felt the heat of the sun or the blinding light that scored through his dark glasses. The sea was blue, the sky cloudless, and the huge cruise ships floated in the bay. This seemed like a busy place for a honeymoon. It wouldn’t be his choice, lovely though it was. He’d prefer somewhere quieter and more private. Bonded couples often enjoyed the exhilaration of the chase, a kind of mock-hunt. They could hardly indulge in that in a place like this. Two fully grown tigers chasing a naked woman would probably draw a few eyes on that crowded beach.

  Even thinking of the possibility sent his cock throbbing, once he imagined Thea in the role of the chased bondmate.

  But they
had much to achieve before that. This was only the first stage.

  Blade and Renaud strode through the entrance to the hotel, relieved the lobby was full and they were less likely to attract attention. They’d done their best to dress down, in jeans and polo shirts, but even then, they drew attention from the people they passed. The men ignored them, entered the elevator, and Blade hit the button for the top floor.

  The penthouse containing their quarry was on a floor containing half a dozen similar ones. When the section containing the one they wanted was deserted, Blade shielded Renaud while he scanned the key card they’d brought. The door opened, and they stepped in.

  “Put the food by the window,” called a familiar female voice. “I’ll be right out.”

  Renaud exchanged a glance with Blade. The large living area had only one exit, which suited them fine. They were too high up to allow any escape from the window. They had her.

  Out of the bedroom came Ladonna, her bikini-clad body covered by a blue and green silk sarong. She halted, her mouth and eyes wide, staring at the men.

  “Hey, honey,” Renaud said brightly.

  “What are you doing here?” she demanded, her voice unsteady.

  “We have unfinished business,” Blade said mildly. “A matter of fifteen thousand dollars.” A budget wedding by Goldclaw standards, but an amount that would save Thea’s company.

  Ladonna shrugged. “You came all this way to collect?” She sashayed to where Blade stood and smiled, tilting her head to one side. The flirtatious gesture left both men unmoved. “You know I don’t have it.”

  Renaud spoke first. “You owe your sister a lot more than that.”

  “I owe her a lot.” Her mouth turned down in a pout. “But I needed this vacation. I was so upset when Chester ran off like that.” She glanced to the bedroom. Renaud guessed that was where she’d left her phone. Careless of her.