by Reese Ryan
“Did you lock the door?” he asked.
She shook her head and they both stood motionless, listening for any other sounds.
“Annabel? Are you here?” Frankie called. “Xander brought the chairs you wanted for your office.”
“Shit.” She uttered the word beneath her breath. “That’s my friend and—”
“Your brother. I know.” He retrieved her tank top, handing it to her. “Maybe you should go downstairs and meet your friend. I’m kind of...” He indicated the situation below his waist that would make it obvious what they’d been up to.
Or at least what they would’ve been up to, if not for the interruption.
“Got it.” She slipped her shirt on and called downstairs. “I’ll be right there, Frankie. Just give me a sec.”
Annabel glanced back over her shoulder at Roarke, who’d settled into the chair behind her makeshift desk.
“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting company,” she whispered. “Come join us whenever you can.”
Annabel took a deep breath and made her way downstairs.
* * *
Roarke followed the sound of voices down the stairs once he was comfortably able to stand again.
The large man who shared many of Annabel’s features immediately frowned when he saw him.
Annabel stopped talking and followed her brother’s gaze.
“Xander and Frankie, this is—”
“Roarke Perry. I’m aware.” Xander folded his arms and stared him down. “What is he doing here?”
“I’m her lawyer,” Roarke offered quickly, clearing his throat. The disappointed look in Annabel’s eyes caused a twinge of guilt. “We were discussing some business I’m handling for her.”
“Since when is Sterling Perry’s son your lawyer?” He turned to his sister.
“Since a few days ago.” Annabel ignored her brother’s accusatory tone. She turned to Roarke. “Your timing is perfect. Would you mind helping us bring in a few chairs?”
“Not at all.” He smiled, despite Xander’s frown.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Frankie held out her hand and he shook it. “Don’t mind my fiancé. He’s just your typical overprotective older brother. And after what just happened with Mason...”
“I completely understand.” Roarke nodded, then followed the three of them out to Xander’s pickup truck, where he helped her brother bring in four chairs.
When they’d set the last chair down in Annabel’s office, Roarke’s phone buzzed. He checked the text message. Angela was ready to tell Sterling about the paternity test. She asked that he come out to the ranch.
Roarke nearly ran over Xander, who stood between him and the open door. Annabel and Frankie had gone back downstairs, leaving the two of them alone.
He honestly didn’t have time right now for whatever Xander Currin’s problem was with him.
Roarke slid his phone back into his pocket. “Is there something you need to say, Xander?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what kind of game your family is trying to run on mine—”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Roarke narrowed his gaze at the man.
“First, your sister starts dating my father. Now, I walk in on you with my little sister doing whatever it is you two were doing up here. And spare me the bullshit about talking business. I’m not buying it.”
Roarke didn’t respond to the accusation either way. Instead, he addressed Xander’s initial concern. One he could categorically deny.
“No one is trying to run a game on your family, Xander. My sister and your dad...” He raked a hand through his hair. “I was against it initially, too. But Angela really cares for your father. They seem to genuinely make each other happy. And as long as that’s the case, I’m happy for them both.”
“I accepted my dad and Angela’s relationship. Though I’m less inclined to forgive her for not taking him at his word when he told her there was no way he was your father. But now, not a week after her ex called off the wedding, you’re all over my sister. I can’t help wondering about your timing and your motive. Is Sterling Perry so desperate to get his hands on the oil well he believes he should’ve inherited from your grandfather that he’s sending his children to do his dirty work?”
Roarke was so damned tired of hearing about the oil-rich land that his grandfather had left to Ryder Currin. The property that Sterling felt should’ve been left to their family.
“That’s what you think this is?” Roarke’s face heated and his heart thudded in his chest. “You obviously don’t know anything about me. I would never take advantage of Annabel. And unlike my father, I’m glad my grandfather left that land to your dad. My family is incredibly wealthy, even without that piece of property. But for your family it was life-changing.”
Xander’s gaze softened momentarily, but then he regarded Roarke suspiciously. “All I know is the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
It wasn’t the first time someone who didn’t know Roarke had accused him of being like his unscrupulous father.
“Well, in this case it rolled down the hill and onto the neighboring farm. It’s why I chose to stay in Dallas after law school. And it’s the reason I’ve always refused to work for Perry Holdings.”
Xander’s arms dropped to his sides. “Then what the hell are you doing here?”
Annabel burst through the door as if she’d bounded up the stairs the moment she’d realized he and Xander had been left alone together.
“It’s none of your business why he’s here.” She poked her brother in the gut. “So cut it out. I can take care of myself.”
Xander scowled. He turned toward Annabel and opened his mouth to object, but she folded her arms and pinned him with a stare. He huffed and headed downstairs without a word.
“Love you, too!” She called down the hall after her brother, then locked her office door. “Sorry about that.” Annabel wrapped her arms around Roarke’s neck and kissed him. “Would you mind if I took a rain check for dinner?”
“Not at all.” He stroked her cheek. “Something just came up that I need to handle. Give me a call when you’re ready to reschedule. I’ll let you know as soon as I get a response from Mason.”
Roarke kissed Annabel and went downstairs, bidding Xander and his fiancée, Frankie, a hasty goodbye.
He’d been disappointed when Xander and Frankie had interrupted them. But it had been for the best. When it came to Annabel, he had zero self-control.
Roarke got behind the wheel of his rental and headed toward the Perry Ranch.
En route, he placed a call to the investigators on Sterling’s fraud case. With any luck, they’d made some progress toward clearing his father’s name.
Thirteen
Angela Perry paced the floor in her father’s den after he’d stepped out of the room to make a phone call.
Despite what her brother said, her father needed to know the truth about Roarke’s paternity once and for all. But her reasons for sharing the results with her father weren’t solely unselfish. She was serious about Ryder Currin. The more she was with him, the more she could see a future for herself with him. A future that would be filled with anger and animosity if her father still believed such awful lies about the man she cared for so deeply.
“Angela...”
She jumped at the sound of her father’s voice, not realizing he’d reentered the room.
He frowned, then poured himself another glass of whiskey. “You ready to tell me whatever it is that’s got you walking around here on eggshells?”
“What do you mean?” She raked her fingers through her hair and sat on the leather sofa.
Sterling sipped his whiskey and sat across from her. “Never known you to hold your tongue when you’ve got something to say. I don’t reckon you should start today. Got a date with my favorite show and the rest o
f that bottle, so quit dancing around whatever it is and spit it out.”
Angela clasped her hands and raised her gaze to meet her father’s. She couldn’t stall any longer. Sterling’s impatience wouldn’t allow her to wait for Roarke to arrive. And her brother honestly hadn’t wanted to be a part of this conversation anyway. “All right, Dad. I want to talk to you about a few things. First, you know that I’ve been seeing Ryder.”
Sterling grunted and took another swig of his whiskey. “Because you still haven’t come to your senses yet,” he muttered.
“That isn’t fair.” She shot to her feet. “You’re wrong about him.”
“And what exactly is it that I’m wrong about, Angela? About him stealing land that should’ve gone to this family? The very land that built his fortune?”
“It was Granddad’s land and he had every right to leave it to whomever he chose. Besides—” Angela gestured around the opulent space “—it’s not as if we’re somehow lacking. Look around you, Dad. You have everything you’ve ever wanted or needed.”
“Except that land and the oil well on it.” Sterling hit the table with his fist, causing the whiskey inside his glass to slosh around.
“This isn’t really about the land or the oil well on it, is it, Dad?” She folded her arms. “It’s about you being one-upped by a younger man who came from nothing. A man you didn’t feel was worthy of the things you have. That’s why you resent him.”
“He didn’t deserve that land.” He pointed at her. “And he damn sure didn’t deserve—” Sterling sighed, settling back in the chair.
“He didn’t deserve what, Dad?” She stepped forward when he didn’t answer. “He didn’t deserve Mom?”
Her father’s attention snapped to hers and he frowned. His expression was filled with both anger and pain. “You know about that?”
Angela sank onto the sofa again. “Don’t act so surprised, Dad. You talked about this with Lavinia Cardwell, for God’s sake. You had to know it would get back to me. Maybe that was the point.”
“I always tried my best to shield you kids from the ugly truth.” He didn’t deny the accusation. “But I see now that was a mistake. Had you known, you would never have gotten involved with that lowlife to begin with.”
“Ryder Currin isn’t a lowlife, Dad. Nor is he Roarke’s father.”
“You were too young to know what was going on back then.”
“It doesn’t matter. I knew Mom. And I know she’d never have had another man’s child and tried to pass him off as yours.”
Sterling winced, as if the words had caused him physical pain. “Things aren’t always as simple as they seem, Angela. And sometimes the people we love hurt us.”
“You’re wrong about Mom. And you’re wrong about Ryder, too. If he’d thought for one moment that Roarke was his son, he wouldn’t have allowed another man to raise him.”
Sterling laughed bitterly. “A few months with this man and suddenly you’ll believe anything he says over the word of your own father? Talk about a snake oil salesman. I wish I had Ryder Currin’s gift for convincing folks that he’s innocent and misunderstood.” He pointed to his ankle monitor. “Then I wouldn’t have this damn thing on my ankle now.”
“I regret it now, but I didn’t just take Ryder’s word for it.” Angela rummaged in her purse and pulled out the envelope Ryder had given her at the coffee shop that day. She shoved it into her father’s hands. “See for yourself.”
Sterling’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “You asked him to take a paternity test?”
“Yes. I’m not proud of it, but I did.”
“And your brother agreed to it?” He didn’t open the envelope.
“I think he was finally ready to get some closure on the matter, too. And to understand why you always treated him so cruelly.”
“I was never cruel to Roarke.” He lowered his gaze and dropped the envelope on the table. “Was I tough on him? Yes. But that was because he was my only son. I wanted him to be strong enough to handle whatever he’d face in the world. Plus, he was the baby in a family full of women. You all did your best to spoil him rotten. I had to ensure he had the Perry will and strength.”
“I don’t buy that for a second, Dad. And neither do you. Maybe that was the thing you told yourself so that you could sleep at night. But it certainly didn’t help Roarke or your relationship with him.”
“That’s enough.” His face flushed and his jaw tensed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know that your only son refuses to work for you. That he couldn’t get out of here fast enough when he turned eighteen. That he hadn’t been home in years. Even with all of your recent legal troubles, I had to beg him to come home. And I know that you two have talked more in the past couple of weeks than you have in the last five years.”
She sat down again in a huff. “You can keep trying to convince yourself otherwise, Dad. But you were wrong about Ryder being Roarke’s father. You ruined your relationship with your son and any chance of being truly happy with Mom. And there was never one shred of truth to it.”
They sat together in silence, the air heavy between them.
He stared down at the envelope, and for the first time in her memory, her father’s hands seemed unsteady.
“You’ve based an entire lifetime of hurt and pain on a false assumption that you could’ve disproven at any time by simply asking Roarke to take a paternity test. Hell, when he was a kid, you could’ve had the test done and he would never have known the reason for it. But you didn’t. Now you have absolute, indisputable proof in front of you that he isn’t Ryder’s son. Yet, you’re hesitant to review the results. Why?”
He narrowed his gaze at her and sighed. Finally, he opened the envelope and read the results. He closed his eyes briefly, as an expresson of intense relief passed over his face.
Angela sat on the edge of the table in front of her father.
“Look, Dad, you know how much I love you. I’ve dedicated my life to supporting Perry Holdings and your dreams for the empire that you’ve built. But I’ve finally found someone who truly makes me happy. And I won’t let your misguided hatred toward Ryder Currin keep us apart. I hope you can understand that.”
“This proves that he isn’t Roarke’s father. It doesn’t prove that he didn’t try to take your mother away from me. Nor does it change the fact that I was entitled to—”
“I’m not asking your permission, Dad,” Angela said abruptly. “And I won’t keep going ’round in circles with you about this. I’m in love with Ryder and I almost lost him because I let you and Lavinia get in my head. And if you can’t respect my decision to be with him, you’re going to lose me, too. Just like you lost Roarke.”
They stared at each other in silence for a few moments.
Her father sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m not being fair to Currin. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Angela squeezed her father’s hand. “I don’t want that, either. But you taught us to never make decisions based on fear. If I walk away from him because I’m worried about what might happen down the road, I’m always going to regret it.”
“Then I hope that Ryder Currin is the man you believe him to be.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “For your sake.”
She hoped so, too.
Fourteen
Roarke parked his rental SUV beside Angela’s car and hurried inside the Perry Ranch. He found his father and sister sitting in the den.
He clapped his hands, a broad smile on his face. “I’ve got great news.”
“I’ve heard.” Sterling tapped a large envelope on the coffee table. He recognized it as the paternity test results that Ryder had given them that day at the coffee shop.
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“Then what’s your good news, Roarke?” Angela approached him.<
br />
“It’s about the fraud case.” He turned to Sterling. “I’ve had my investigators going over the investment documentation of some of your clients who lost big recently, as well as your banking information. This case in no way meets the legal definition of a Ponzi scheme. You didn’t guarantee anyone returns and you didn’t use the money from new investors to pay out previous investors. The stock was doing quite well until rumors and innuendo sparked investor panic, which then triggered the slide of the stock’s value. I shared everything I found with your lawyers.”
“Then why haven’t the charges been dropped?” Angela asked impatiently.
“The FBI certainly wasn’t going to take our documentation at face value. Nor were they in a hurry to prove Dad innocent of fraud. Especially with the murder investigation going on.” Roarke went behind the bar to pour himself a scotch and soda. “But I called the agent heading up the fraud case and he said that Ster—Dad will be released from house arrest as soon as they can get someone out here to take that thing off.” Roarke nodded toward his father’s ankle.
“Thank goodness.” Sterling lifted his pant leg and scratched the skin beneath the monitor. “This thing is driving me insane and I’ve been going stir-crazy in this house. I need to get back to my office as soon as possible. We need to devise a plan to counteract all the bad publicity and the negative impact it’s had on our company. I should sue the local police department and the feds for false arrest and the resulting financial losses. There’s no guarantee that we’ll make those up. At least, not anytime soon.”
“Relax, Dad.” Angela placed a hand on her father’s shoulder. Then she turned to Roarke and hugged him. “You’re a hell of a lawyer, little brother. Thank you.” She ruffled his hair.
“Thanks, Ang.” He appreciated his sister’s heartfelt thanks.
Because he hadn’t gone into their family business, he’d often felt the disappointment of not only his father but his sisters, too. So it felt good to be acknowledged for what he’d been able to achieve on his father’s behalf.
Sterling approached him, his hand extended. “Yes, by all means, thank you, son. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me.”
