by Sharon Sala
Oh God, oh God, this is happening. It’s really happening.
And then the pillow hit her square in the face.
She staggered, tasting fabric and feathers and reeling from shock. “Why on earth did you—?”
He sidestepped her and the question with a grin on his face and swung again. The blow landed on her backside, sending her sprawling facedown on the mattress. She grabbed the other pillow out of reflex, but it was instinct that made her swing and roll at the same time, crowing with delight as it caught Ryder up by the side of his head.
“That’s nothing,” he warned. “You’re no match for me.” He began to circle the foot of the bed.
“I’ll make you eat those words,” Casey cried, and leaped up on the mattress, using it as a bridge to get to the other side and away from Ryder’s intent.
She was turning around as he drew back his arm and let fly.
The pillow shot through the air like a padded cannonball and stifled the jeer she’d been about to make. Within seconds, she found herself eating more feathers. But there was an upside to his latest attack. She now had both pillows.
“Aha!” she shouted, waving a pillow in each hand. The glee on his face made her nervous. When he started toward her, she began to retreat.
“Aha? What the hell is aha? I’ve never been hit with an aha before. Do they hurt?”
Casey panicked, threw both pillows at once and then ran. “No fair,” she screamed.
He caught her in a flying tackle in the middle of the bed, at once mashing her face into the mattress and himself onto her. The weight of him was so great that breathing was almost impossible, and then just when she thought her lungs would burst, she found herself flat on her back and gasping for air. When she could talk and breathe at the same time, she looked up. Ryder was sitting on her legs with his arms above his head in a triumphant gesture.
“I hereby declare this bed has been thoroughly christened.”
Casey doubled up her fist and thumped him in the middle of his belly.
“You cheated,” she said, and tried to hit him again.
“Easy,” he warned, and caught her fist before it could do any more damage. “Justice men never cheat. We just rearrange the odds.”
Casey tried to stay mad, but the grin wouldn’t stay off her face. “That’s priceless.”
“What’s priceless?” he asked.
“Rearranging the odds. Delaney Ruban would have loved you.”
Ryder’s expression stilled. He couldn’t quit looking at the woman beneath him. At the joy in her eyes. The smile on her face. Her hand on his leg.
He touched her. First her hair, then her face. And when she bit her lower lip and looked away, he heard himself asking, “What about his granddaughter? How does she feel?”
Casey felt as if all the breath had been knocked from her lungs. She was all too aware of his weight on her legs, his hand on her face, the need in his eyes.
“I…”
“Never mind,” he whispered, and braced himself above her with an arm on either side of her face. “I think I’d rather find out for myself.”
She knew what the shape of his mouth felt like. They’d kissed before. Once, and just before dawn, in Judge Harris’s front parlor on the day of the wedding. She thought she was prepared for what was about to happen. She couldn’t have been more wrong. The man she’d kissed before had been a stranger. This time it was different. She’d seen this man wearing nothing but a towel—walked into his embrace on the day of her wreck—slept in his arms—laughed with him—cried with him—fought with him. She closed her eyes and tensed as his breath swept her cheek.
The gentle brush of mouth-to-mouth contact was familiar, even comfortable, and all of that changed when Casey’s arms automatically wrapped around his neck. Ryder groaned and then rolled, taking her with him until she was the one on top and he was pinned beneath. She heard him whisper her name. Felt his hands in her hair—down her back—cupping her hips. Urgency sparked between them as their lips met again, then again, and then again.
* * *
Her pulse was racing, his body was betraying him. It was all there—from the wild glitter in his eyes, to the need coiling deep in her belly. She lowered her forehead until it was touching the space just above his heart. In spite of the heat between them she started to shake.
Ryder groaned. They’d gone too fast. But, dear Lord, who could have known they would go up in flames? They’d blindsided each other with nothing more than a kiss. He was almost afraid to guess at what might happen if they ever made love.
“Easy, Casey. Easy, honey,” he said softly, rubbing his hands up and down her back in a slow, soothing motion. “That just got out of hand. I didn’t mean to scare you, okay?”
She rolled off him and got as far as the side of the bed before covering her face with her hands. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God.”
Ryder silently cursed himself for starting something they hadn’t been ready to finish. But he’d gotten his answer. Delaney Ruban’s granddaughter might not love him, but she wasn’t immune to him either. There was something there. He just wasn’t sure what it was. He rolled over on his side and reached out, touching her back with the palm of his hand.
“Casey, look at me.”
When she flinched, he got up with a curse and walked out of the room.
She couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. All she could do was remember his weight pressing her down and never wanting the connection to stop. Of feeling his mouth cover hers, of mingling breaths and racing hearts and resenting the clothing that separated her skin from his.
The phone rang, and the timing couldn’t have been worse. Moments later, Ryder walked back in the room and tossed the portable phone near her leg.
“It’s for you.”
Casey looked up, but he was already gone. She picked up the phone with shaking hands and cleared her throat.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Justice, this is Charles Byner, down at the bank. I just need your authorization to clear a check. It’s quite a large sum above what’s in the account and I need your approval to authorize the draw.”
Casey swept a hand through her hair, trying to come to terms with reality. “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to focus. “What did you say?”
“No problem,” he said. “I’m really sorry to bother you at home, but Mr. Ruban had specific orders with regards to these particular accounts and since you’re now the one in charge, I need authorization from you to clear the check, although it is more than a thousand dollars over the balance.”
Casey sat up straight, her mind immediately jumping gears as she realized what he meant.
“Which account? Miles’s or Erica’s?”
The clerk lowered his voice. “It’s the one in Mr. Dunn’s name. The check is for twenty-six hundred dollars. That’s about eleven hundred dollars above the balance.”
Casey stood. “What is the balance, exactly?”
His voice lowered even more. “Let me just pull that up on the screen. Yes… here it is. The balance as of today is exactly $1,400.17.”
Casey gritted her teeth. “And was the usual amount of five thousand dollars deposited into that account at the first of this month?”
“Ummm, yes, ma’am, it was.”
By now, Casey was livid. Delaney had set a precedent years ago that was about to come to a screeching halt. “Honor the check, Mr. Byner. I’ll have enough money transferred into the account to cover it, but I’ll be at the bank first thing Monday morning to make some new arrangements.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the clerk said, and hung up.
Casey disconnected, then immediately rang the bank back through another department and dealt with the transfer in a no-nonsense voice. When she was finished; she headed for the house phone on the kitchen wall.
“Tilly, is Miles at home?”
“He’s in the pool,” Tilly answered.
“Would you please ask him to meet me in the library? There’s so
mething we need to discuss.”
She hung up to find Ryder watching her.
“You okay?”
Casey’s nerves were just beginning to settle. She hadn’t expected it, but knowing that in spite of what had just happened between them, Ryder was still able to ask about her welfare, made her feel safe.
“No,” Casey said. “But I will be.”
“Need any backup?”
“Are you offering?”
The smile on his face was slight. “Are you asking?”
“It might get ugly,” she said.
He dropped the clothes he was carrying onto the back of a chair.
“Honey girl, the last few months of my life haven’t been anything but.”
Surprised by the revelation, she would have given a lot to continue this conversation. Ryder was closemouthed with regards to anything about his past, and hearing him admit even this much was a definite surprise. But the confrontation with Miles was long overdue, and this latest stunt was, for Casey, the last straw.
“Then come if you want. For better or worse, you are part of this family.”
“Unless I think it matters, you won’t even know I’m around.”
She nodded and started down the stairs, and it wasn’t until they’d entered the house and were on their way to the library that she had fully accepted the impact of Ryder’s presence in her life. The problems within her world were no longer just hers. They were theirs.
She entered the room wearing an expression the board members of Ruban Enterprises would have recognized. It was her no-holds-barred-don’t-mess-with-me look. Ryder had disappeared somewhere between the library and the hall, yet she sensed he wouldn’t be far away. Unlike Miles, he wasn’t the kind of man who went back on his word.
And Miles wasn’t far behind. She could hear the splat of bare feet on marble flooring as he made his way in from the pool. The careless smile on his face was no more than she expected as he sauntered into the library with a beach towel draped across his neck and water dripping onto the floor.
“I’m here. What’s up?” he asked.
Casey schooled herself to a calm she didn’t feel. “I just had a call from the bank.”
If she hadn’t known him so well, she might have missed the nervous flicker in his eyes.
He strolled over to the bar and poured himself a drink, even taking a sip before asking, “And what does that have to do with me?”
“Everything. It seems you wrote a check you couldn’t cover.”
He shrugged. “Oh, that. Delaney never used to mind when—”
“Delaney is dead, remember?”
Miles blinked. It was his only reaction to the cold, even tone of his half sister’s voice.
“And in the grand scheme of things, exactly what does that mean?” he drawled.
“It means your glory days are over, Miles. I don’t know what the hell you’re doing with your money. I don’t even want to know. What I will tell you is that your world is slightly out of sync, and as your loving sister, I intend to do all that I can to bring it back in order.”
He set the glass down with a thump. “What are you getting at?”
“It’s more a case of what are you trying to pull? Any unemployed, thirty-year-old man should not be spending in excess of five thousand dollars a month. Therefore, I am going to do you a favor. As of Monday, you will report to Princeton Hamilton in the legal department of Ruban Enterprises. You have a law degree. You’re going to put it to work.”
Miles froze. An angry flush began to spread from his neck, upward. “You bitch! You can’t run my life.”
Casey shrugged. “You’re right. But I’m running Ruban Enterprises, aren’t I? I covered this hot check, but I won’t do it again. Also, there will be no more instant deposits into your account, because as of the end of this month, it will be closed. No more free rides, Miles.”
Miles was so angry he couldn’t form a complete sentence. His hands were shaking as he yanked the towel from around his neck and started toward her.
The urge to run was overwhelming, but Casey stood her ground as he shoved his way into her space and thrust a finger up against her nose.
“Don’t let your power go to your head, sister dear. Someone might just have to knock you off that pedestal for your own damned good.”
The anger on Miles’s face was impossible to ignore and the knowledge that their relationship had come to this made her sick to her stomach. It hurt to know she was still the outcast when it came to family love. She reached out to him.
“I’m not trying to play God, Miles. You’re my brother. I care for you very much, but don’t you see? You’re wasting the best years of your life,.”
He slapped her hand away and then grabbed her by the arm, yanking her sharply until she came close to crying aloud.
“You’re going to be sorry for this,” he said softly. “You’re going to be very, very sorry.”
He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Casey reeling from the venom in his voice. But his triumphant exit ended four steps outside the library door. Ryder had him by the arm and shoved up against the wall before he had time to call out for help. Miles had seen plenty of angry men in his life, but he’d never been afraid until now.
Ryder slammed his hand in the middle of Miles’s chest, pinning him in place. “You son of a bitch. If I ever hear you talk to your sister again like that, you’ll wish you’d never been born.”
“It’s none of your business,” Miles said, and felt shame that his voice was shaking.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Whether any of you like it or not, she’s my wife. What happens to her is my business. And I’m telling you now, so you’ll be forewarned, if anything ever happens to Casey, I’m coming after you first.”
So great was his fear that if Ryder hadn’t been holding him up; Miles would have been on the floor.
“What the hell do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said,” Ryder replied softly. “You better hope to God she doesn’t have any enemies, because from this day forward, I hold you responsible for her welfare.”
Miles’s eyes bulged. “I would never wish Casey any real harm. I was just mad, that’s all. Hell’s fire, man, she’s my sister.”
“Then start acting like her brother.”
Miles went limp as all the anger slid out of his heart. Truth hurt. “Let me go.”
Ryder didn’t move—didn’t speak—and didn’t turn him loose.
Miles saw himself mirrored in Ryder’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw.
“I didn’t mean what I said to her. And I suppose in a way she’s right.”
Ryder turned him loose, but refused to move back. “Remember what I said. She hurts—you bleed.”
Miles took off down the hall as if the devil were at his heels. By the time he got back to the pool, he’d convinced himself that putting his education to work was not only going to happen, but that it could have its benefits.
Ryder watched Miles until he was out of the house, and then stepped inside the library. Casey was at the window, staring out onto the lawn overlooking the back of the estate.
“Casey?”
She spun, and Ryder wished he’d given in to the urge and punched Miles right in the face before they’d had their little talk. She looked so hurt. So lost. So alone.
“I heard some of what you said to Miles.”
Ryder could tell there was something serious on her mind. He waited for her to continue.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I am forever grateful for your presence in my life.”
He wanted to hold her. He settled for a brief smile instead. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” he drawled. “I’d come near saying that I’m the lucky one. Besides, we Justice men don’t take kindly to anyone messing with our women.”
Casey swallowed a sigh. If only she was his woman in the ways that counted. “So, are you telling me that there’s more than one of you that’s been turned loose on the worl
d out there?”
The smile slid off his face and she knew she’d said the wrong thing. “I’m not who matters,” he said shortly. “I don’t think Miles will give you any more trouble, but if he does, you know where I’ll be.”
He walked out and she had the strangest sensation that he’d just walked out of her life, rather than out of the room. In fact, the thought was so strong that she actually followed him through the house, then stood in the doorway and watched until he entered their apartment.
What did I say? What was it that turned him off and sent him running?
But there were no answers for Casey, at least not today.
However, when the mailman drove away from the Justice ranch outside of Dallas, he gave Royal Justice a clue to solving a mystery that had been worrying him and his brother, Roman, for months.
* * *
“Daddy, Daddy, I bwought you da mail.”
Ignoring the trail of letters and papers she was stringing as she ran, Royal Justice swung his three-year-old daughter, Madeline, up in his arms and kissed her soundly.
“You sure did, honey. You’re getting to be such a big girl.”
“Gwinny helped,” Maddie said, pointing at the baby-sitter who was coming behind at a fast clip, picking up the pieces that Maddie had lost.
“Good for Gwinny,” Royal said. Gwinneth Anderson grinned, handed Royal Justice the rest of his mail, and took Maddie by the hand. “Come on, Scooter, it’s time to feed the pups.”
Maddie bolted, leaving Royal with a handful of letters and a smile on his face. He dropped into the nearest chair and began going through the mail with a practiced eye, discarding the junk and setting aside the bills to be paid. Every now and then one would be addressed to his brother, Ryder, and that one was tossed into a box with an accumulating stack that threatened to overflow. It was all he knew to do. It was Roman who’d saved Ryder’s business from ruin.
Roman had taken over the charter service without batting an eye, claiming he could run his private investigation service and Ryder’s charter business in the same location. He hired two pilots, an accountant, and then dug in for the long haul, convinced that Ryder would be back when he was ready.
