A Brother's Honor

by Brenda Jackson

  “I don’t see why the changes wouldn’t be made. In fact, I’m convinced they will be, right, Jace?” Caden asked.

  When Jace didn’t say anything, Caden glanced over at his brother and repeated the latter part of his comment again. “Right, Jace?”

  Jace shifted his gaze from Shana to Caden. “I don’t agree to anything blindly, so it depends what they are.” His gaze went back to Shana in time to see her flinch. She then stiffened her spine.

  “I don’t expect you to jump at my every recommendation, Jace. But I’m hoping you keep an open mind to know whatever I propose is designed to propel your corporation’s long-term success. I don’t put a Band-Aid on the problem. I fix it.”

  “I understand that.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes.” Their gazes locked, held, as if testing for strength of will. Then Jace added, “You will sacrifice anything to look good.”

  Her mouth spread into a thin-lipped smile. “I am good.”

  One corner of his mouth twisted upward. “Yes, you definitely are.”

  When there was a moment of silence that had extended way too long, Caden cleared his throat. He had a feeling the conversation had somehow shifted from Granger Aeronautics to something he’d rather not know about. It was obvious they’d forgotten he was sitting there, and it wouldn’t be long before one of them said something they’d rather not expose.

  When they looked over at him, Caden smiled and said, “Speaking of good, I noticed the dessert for today is lemon cake with ice cream. The slices are huge. Would anyone want to share one with me?”

  * * *

  Shana entered her condo, turned off the alarm and then set her briefcase and purse on the first table she came to. Why was she so upset with what Jace had said? She wouldn’t expect any CEO to go along with everything she recommended, but she expected him to have an open mind.

  Who said he won’t? her inner mind countered. Why are you making it so freakin’ personal? Was she? Okay, maybe she was. And when he’d made that “good” statement, she had read between the lines and knew exactly what he’d been referring to. They’d ended up sharing ice cream and lemon cake with Caden while keeping up the pretense that all was well between them when she knew it wasn’t. And she blamed it on that damn kiss.

  Knowing she needed to chill a minute before taking a shower and getting in bed, she moved toward the French doors that led to her patio. She loved it here and knew the moment she’d been given a tour of the condo that it was hers. The screened-in patio that overlooked rolling hills and a huge, man-made lake had been a plus.

  Her community consisted of a lot of both married and single individuals. Some were parents, and most were pet owners. Gloria, a flight attendant and one of her best friends, lived on one side of her, and Lonnie, a veterinarian, lived on the other. A married couple, Connie and Bill, lived across the street and were excited about expecting their first child in five months. The other neighbors kept to themselves, and she didn’t know them by name, but she would throw up her hand in a wave whenever she saw them or vice versa.

  Both she and Jules lived within ten miles of their father, although Jules traveled around from state to state most of the time. Still, it was convenient, and usually either of them would drop in and spend time with him. The three of them had always been close, and it seemed so strange that after all this time, he was hinting that he was interested in a woman. She, of all people, knew he deserved to be happy, but she and Jules couldn’t help but be concerned, even if they were a little bit possessive.

  With the darkness settling over the street, there was enough light from the moon as well as various illuminations from the two wooden decks to see a number of couples who owned boats enjoying a night on the water. According to her father, there were fish aplenty in the lake, and he liked coming over with his rod and reel whenever he got bored. She especially liked it when he did, because that meant he would end up cooking what he caught. No one fried fish and cooked hush puppies like her father.

  Thinking she had chilled long enough, she went back inside and was headed for her bedroom when her cell phone rang, and she quickly sifted through her purse hoping it was Charles. She let out a disappointed sigh when it wasn’t Charles but Jules. “And what do you want?”

  There was a pause on the other end before Jules said, “Evidently, you’re in a bad mood for some reason tonight.”

  Shana tapped her foot on the floor. “Yes, I am. I was hoping you were Charles.”

  “Charles Kincaid?”

  “Yes.”

  She heard Jules snort. “Why him? I told you that you can do better.”

  Yes, she could, but at the moment it didn’t matter. “The reason I was hoping it was Charles is because, although he might have his faults, he is a lot of fun, and I need fun this weekend.”

  “Rough week?”

  “Yes. This was my third week working with Granger Aeronautics.”

  “That’s right, it was. And how is the hunky CEO?”

  A frown settled between Shana’s brows. “Who said he was a hunk?”

  “You did...in so many words. You said he was good-looking, which equates to a nice face and a fine-as-a-dime body. Did I assume wrong?”

  All Shana had to do was remember how he had looked when she stepped on the elevator that morning. Like her, he had forgone “dress-down Friday” and had worn a business suit. He had looked damn good in it as usual. Her sister was right. Jace was definitely a hunk, eye candy of the sweetest kind.

  “No, you didn’t assume wrong,” Shana admitted.

  “You didn’t say if he was married.”

  “He’s divorced.”

  “Kids?”

  “No. At least he never mentioned any.”

  “Umm. Sounds like a nice guy.”

  Shana wouldn’t say whether he was or not. Doing so might get her into more trouble with Jules. She knew how her sister’s mind worked. “So now that I’ve been interrogated, what’s going on with you and your case? Any new leads?”

  “Yes, one came in this morning. Someone wanted me to meet him in an undisclosed location. I did. He was a cabdriver and was able to not only positively identify Marcos Rodrigo but confirm that he was traveling with a child. He gave me the address where Rodrigo was dropped off. I guess he figured he had covered his tracks well because he was still there, at one distant cousin’s house and living in the basement.”

  “You got him?”

  Shana heard the smile in her sister’s voice when she affirmed, “Yes, I got him and Little Marco. The first thing the kid did was ask for his mommy.”

  “Has she been told yet?”

  “Yeah, and it took her almost a full hour to stop crying.”

  Shana could imagine. For a mother to be told that her child had died, burned to a crisp in an auto accident, only to find out that he was alive and had been kidnapped by his own father had to have been an ordeal from hell. And what was so sad was that the authorities had closed the case, convinced the ex-husband and child had indeed died in the fire. But Carla Rodrigo had come to Jules and had convinced her to take the case. Jules had done so because of gut feelings that had paid off.

  “Congratulations, Jules. That’s another mystery solved. You’re getting a track record.”

  “So are you, with the ability to save those companies. I’m sure Dad is proud of his girls.”

  Shana smiled. “I’m sure of that, as well.”

  “And speaking of Dad, are you ready to go grocery shopping with him tomorrow?” Jules asked.

  “Yes, and when are you coming home?”

  “Not for another couple of weeks. Ms. Rodrigo is on her way here, but there’s a lot of paperwork to get in. This is another country, so we had to get both the State Department and FBI involved since it was a kidnapping.”

  “Well, you be safe.”

  “I will.”

  After Shana hung up the phone and placed it back in her purse, she tried not to think about Jace Granger and the effect he had on
her, and especially not about the kiss they’d shared that morning. What she needed to think about was Mona Underwood, the woman her father was interested in, and find out everything she could about her.

  The last thing Shana needed was for Jules to come back to town and start digging, whether it was warranted or not. When it came to Ben Bradford, Jules could go over the top and would be a force to reckon with.

  Continuing her trek toward the bedroom, Shana figured that when Charles asked where she wanted to go, she would suggest dinner and a movie. And she would reiterate that he needed to keep his hands to himself. Charles liked to take liberties he shouldn’t at times, which is why she had to put the brakes on their relationship. He figured she was bedroom-ready after the first date, and she had to inform him she didn’t do casual affairs. So for the past three months, he had been trying to wear down her defenses and refused to let her be the one who got away.

  But she would have to admit when he wasn’t focused on trying to get her into bed, he was a great conversationalist and an all-around nice guy. She needed to unwind this weekend, have a little fun. But more than anything, she needed to get Jace Granger off her mind.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Good morning, everyone.”

  Jace glanced up as Dalton walked into the dining room, smiling all over the place and pulling Hannah in his arms for a huge kiss on the cheek that had her blushing and chuckling. Hannah’s smiles had become almost nonexistent since his grandfather’s death, and it felt good to see her smile again.

  “Go on and sit, Dalton, before I take a broom to you,” Hannah warned. “And I baked those biscuits just the way you boys like.”

  “Thanks, Hannah, and you are so appreciated,” Dalton said, smiling and rubbing his hands together as he quickly moved toward the table.

  “I thought you stayed out all night,” Jace told Dalton when his brother had filled his plate and plopped down in a chair across from him and Caden.

  Dalton spread his lips in a silly-looking grin. “I did. I got in less than an hour before you got up. I started to wake you, but Hannah wouldn’t let me. Claimed you needed your sleep.”

  He leaned closer and whispered so as not to be overheard by Hannah, who was dusting the furniture in the next room. “I almost told her you had no reason to need more sleep. I’m the one who had been flexing my muscles most of the night while you were probably just curled up dreaming about doing so.”

  Jace took a sip of his coffee, deciding not to respond but let Dalton have his glory. Caden wasn’t going to let their brother off that easy. “Still the braggart, I see. One day, you’re going to meet your match.”

  Dalton, with a piece of bacon hanging between his lips, grabbed his heart as if Caden’s words had pained him. Jace couldn’t help but smile at the antics. It had always been that way growing up as teens while living here with their grandfather. He was the realist, Caden the idealist and Dalton the airhead who was getting more sex than either of them...or so he claimed.

  Richard would sit at the head of the table with a newspaper held up to his face as he scanned the financial section, while Dalton whispered across the table about his sexual escapades and Jace and Caden hung on his every word. Jace always wondered whether the old man’s attention had been glued to the paper or if he had been getting an earful like the rest of them.

  Jace checked his watch. “Eat up. We need to be on the road in an hour.”

  He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt like a kid about to go see Santa. He made it a point to visit with his father two to three times a year and knew Caden kept in contact even more often than that. Dalton hadn’t seen their father in five years, not since Sheppard had been transferred to Delvers. This would be the first time the three of them would be visiting their father together in over ten years.

  “Dad knows we’re coming, right?” Dalton asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

  “Yes, I talked to him a few days ago. He can’t wait to see us, especially you,” Jace replied.

  Dalton didn’t say anything at first and then he said, “And I’m looking forward to seeing him, as well.”

  A short while later, Jace was back in his bedroom, getting a few items he planned to take with him. He knew his grandfather and father stayed in contact and that Richard went to see Sheppard at least twice a month. He wondered if his father had been aware of the condition the company was in. And if he was, what exactly had Richard told him about it? Jace intended to find out.

  As he clipped his cell phone onto his belt, he couldn’t help but think about Shana. The thought of her going out on a date shouldn’t be getting to him. All they shared was an attraction, and all he’d gotten out of it was a kiss. But it hadn’t been just a kiss, it had been the kiss.

  He traced his tongue across his lips, convinced three meals later that he could still taste her on his mouth. She was supposed to be out of his system about now, but things hadn’t worked out that way. He would admit within himself that he wanted her more than ever. And it wasn’t supposed to be this way. His divorce from Eve was like a rebirth for him, and he’d made the promise that the next relationship he got into wouldn’t boggle his mind and he would be able to handle it. But there was nothing about Shana Bradford he felt he could handle. Even when she was wearing those prim, proper and traditionalist suits, she might as well be wearing nothing at all, because he could see beyond all that to expose the sexy woman he knew she was. The woman who was ruthlessly dissecting his libido bit by bit.

  There was a gentle knock on his bedroom door. “Come in.”

  Caden opened the door and walked in with Dalton following behind. “Ready to ride?”

  Jace nodded as he glanced at the two men. His blood. His brothers. “Yes. Come on. Let’s go see Dad.”

  * * *

  Sheppard stood at the window and glanced out. Delvers wasn’t a bad place if you had to be locked up. In fact, as a trustee, he had more freedom here than most of the guys. Only difference was their sentences were a hell of a lot shorter than his—five years at the max. He had served fifteen years of a thirty-year sentence, making it through the halfway mark.

  It was hard being locked up, denied your freedom for a crime you didn’t commit, and then knowing the person who had been responsible was out there somewhere walking around scot-free. His father had asked Sheppard more than once if he had any clue as to who might have wanted to end Sylvia’s life, but he’d admitted honestly that he had been and still was clueless.

  Shep had known Sylvia’s secrets even when she thought he hadn’t. His wife had been unfaithful to him, and not the other way around like the prosecution had claimed. Her lover hadn’t attended the trial and, to this day, as far as he knew, Shep was the only one who knew of the affair, other than the man’s wife. She had been the one to expose it to Shep. But he couldn’t even say either of them had anything to do with Sylvia’s death, because at the time they were both out of the country together, trying to rebuild their marriage. He hadn’t felt the need to say anything about either of them to his attorney. The last thing he wanted was to smear the name of his sons’ mother.

  “Mr. Shep, I just wanted to come say goodbye.”

  Shep turned and looked into Matthew Fontane’s face, a face that looked somewhat different than the one who’d come to Delvers to serve time five years ago. Shep had been at Delvers only two weeks when Fontane had arrived, furious, full of anger and mad at the world. At eighteen, Fontane had been caught in a carjacking ring. The driver had suddenly had a heart attack and would have died if Fontane hadn’t stayed behind to give the man CPR. For that, he’d received a lighter sentence than the others. However, Fontane felt he should have been able to walk free.

  The warden had assigned him to Shep’s team, and they had butted heads from day one. But it didn’t take long for Shep—through hard work and determination—to make the young man see the error of his ways. He found Fontane, who had dropped out of school at sixteen, to be a highly intelligent and bright kid who just happened
to have a smart mouth and a troubled childhood. Now five years later, while imprisoned, Fontane had gotten his GED and was only a few credits short of having a college degree in criminology. He had already been accepted at Hampton University to finish up his education. No longer was he angry and mad at the world. Today he would be set free, and Shep knew that Fontane would do just fine.

  “I’m going to miss seeing you around here, Fontane,” Shep said, smiling at the young man of twenty-three, almost feeling like a proud parent. “But I know you’ll be able to handle anything that comes your way. You’re a born leader for the right side, the side that knows crime doesn’t pay.”

  Fontane nodded, and then his smile faded to be replaced by a deep frown. “I hate that you’re being left here for a crime you didn’t commit. That’s the one thing I can’t accept as fair.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, but you have fifteen more years to do. I think if I had to be in here one more day I would have—”

  “Found the strength to endure it,” Shep cut in to finish for him. “There was a time when I wondered how I was going to make it, knowing I had left three teenage sons behind, but somehow I found the strength.”

  “But it’s wrong. Someone should have found your old lady’s killer by now. He’s free, and you’re in here.”

  “I’m willing to do the time,” Shep said somberly.

  “Although you didn’t do the crime? Maybe your sons will—”

  “No,” Shep cut him off by saying. “They have their own lives now.” What he didn’t add was that he wasn’t sure just what Sylvia was involved in that would make someone want her dead. And he didn’t want his sons’ lives placed in danger because of it. The less they knew, the better. Jace, Caden and Dalton had been and always would be his primary concern.

  “There you go, Mr. Shep, always looking out for people. I just wish I could do something.”

  Shep’s face creased into a smile. “You can. Do me proud by making something of yourself. Then go out into your community and reach out to another hellion who needs a guiding hand. Give him what I hope I gave to you. A sense of purpose and pride, as well as a belief that you can be better than what those street gangs were offering you.”