Wild Ride: BBW Western Romance (Under Open Skies Saga Book 2) (30 page)

“
She asked him to keep it secret, from everyone. I guess that meant you, or maybe he meant t
o
…”

“
Who? Who asked to keep it a secret
?
”

“
My mom. She wa
s…
embarrassed. Ashamed
.”
The look on his face fell when he said it. It dawned on her that he was the product of that kind of shame.
 “
Hell, he did
n’
t even know about me until I was in elementary school. It was part of the reason why he gave her a share in th
e
…”

“
Partnership. Your mom is Sarah
?
”

“
You did
n’
t know
?
”

“
No, I mean I knew you were my brother, but you, you have a different last name
.
”

She tried over and over again to calm down. Breathe in and out. This was too surreal. How could she have a brother? Her father had an entire life here, one she did
n’
t even know about. It did
n’
t make sense. Any of it.

“
Shit. I am so sorry you had to find out this way, Kat
.
”

“
Do
n’
t. Do not treat me like a child. I want the truth, and I want it now. Sarah is behind all thi
s…
sabotage, is
n’
t she? Edward said as much. Why? Because of you? Because of me
?
”

“
Sabotage? You are
n’
t making much sense
.
”

Her mind spun with the repercussions. She was trying to bring her down, trying to frame her. Make the business look unstable. Get her to sell her shares. All because of something that happened almost thirty years ago? Why? She was given a partnership. She had money, it was
n’
t like she was hurting for it.

“
Someone has been sabotaging the company. Here. It is easier to show than to tell
.”
She pulled out all the documents from a manila envelope and handed them over, all the evidence that she had that someone was trying to frame her and spread it out, explaining as she showed, each piece of paper more damning than the last. The red herrings, Edward, she told Cody the entire thing, because she trusted him. He would never be involved in a plot to ruin her fathe
r’
s company. Their fathe
r’
s company. It was a feeling she had. . In her gut. And the words of her father, he told her she could trust him.

Finally she handed him the letter, the one that her father wrote for her eyes. And when he was done reading it, she handed him another letter from the stack. This one had his name on it. He just looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.

“
I did
n’
t open it, because, well, it is for you
.
”

He opened it, read it, and then put it in his pocket.

“I’
m not ready to share it. Not yet
.”
He looked up at her
.“
That okay
?
”

“
Yeah, but what abou
t
…”

“
My mom? I fucking hate to admit this, but I think you are right. Sh
e…
has
n’
t been herself since he got sick. Even before that, anger, resentment. I
t’
s been there for a long time
.”
Cody shook his head
.“
I love her, I mean, she raised me, bu
t…
things are
n’
t right with her, Kat
.
”

“
Were they close
?
”

“
On and off, honestly. Dad was
n’
t much of a one woman kind of guy. I know that is
n’
t something you want to hear, but he had his faults
.
”

“
He did
n’
t live with my mom, I thought as much
.”
Still, it was a blow to her psyche. That was her father. The honorable man that everyone liked. The one that created an entire empire to help house a bunch of lost boys. She wanted to rage against it, but she could
n’
t.

Because she knew it was the truth.

“
What are we going to do
?
”

“
About my mom? The only thing we can do. Confront her
.
”

“
Together
?
”

“
Together
.
”

“
Mom, mom, are you home
?”
Cody used his key to unlock the door to the rather large rustic home, a common choice of living for the wealthy in the area, it seemed.

She clearly was not hurting for money, so why she would be stealing from the company made little sense to her. Kat was starting to second guess coming here in the first place.

“
Are you sure we have to do this now
?”
She hissed a whisper to him. They drove over right from his house, not bothering to wait until actual daylight.

Hunter did
n’
t even bat an eyelash as they explained the entire thing to him. It was like he knew this was happening all along. She stored that little bit of dissonance away for later.

“
Why wait? Give her time to find out that we know? You did
n’
t grow up around her Kat. She is my mom bu
t…
she is
n’
t always a good person. No, this has to be done now. It has to
.”
Cod
y’
s eyes narrowed as he looked back, towards Hunte
r’
s truck
.“
She ca
n’
t be allowed to continue doing these things to you because she is jealous or mad or something. It affects too many people
.
”

She nodded, he was angry enough that she had no choice but to believe him. He knew the woman better than she did, she did
n’
t know her at all, other than those few words she spoke to her. None of which were kind.

They walked into the dimly lit hallway, and he called out again
.“
Mom, i
t’
s Cody. I need to talk to you. You home
?
”

“
Yeah, give me a minute,
I’
m upstairs
.”
She all but barked it before a light at the top of the stairs came on
.“
I did
n’
t expect you, Cody. Why not call
?
”

Sarah appeared as she took each step at a time, a dark robe tightly wrapped around her body. Kat was
n’
t one to judge, but the woman looked surprisingly good for her age, though the severe look on her face appeared to be a permanent fixture.

“
Well, mom. We had something we needed to talk to you about. Something that needed to be addressed now
.
”

“
But it is almost midnight, and who is thi
s‘
w
e’
you keep referring to
?”
Her expression changed immediately when she realized that Cody was not here alone. It transformed into something sourer than the previous face.

“
I see you have brought my boss into my home. Why would you do that, Cody
?
”

“
I think you know why. I think you know a whole hell of a lot more than you are letting on
.”
Cod
y’
s tone was
n’
t kind as the words flew out of his mouth, and that surprised Kat. There was an anger in his voice that she had never heard before, one that shifted her confidence to fear, and she realized she was frightened of him.

“
So you told her, did you
?
”

“
No, I did
n’
t. I did
n’
t tell her anything. She found out all on her own, but I was
n’
t going to lie to her about it when she came to me with it
.
”

“
Great, so what do you expect us to be now? One big happy family? Because that ship sailed a long time ago. We could have been happy, until your mother came along and stole what was mine. My future, my fortune
.
”

“
So you are angry at me
?”
Kat asked.

“
Why would
n’
t I be? You have everything, and we had to act like beggars. Always seeking handouts. Always asking for more. Sure, John gave it to me, and then some, but it should have been my empire
.
”

“
Then why did
n’
t you tell him? About Cody
?
”

“
Oh, you do
n’
t know John, honey. He may have been your father, but he was
n’
t the kind man everyone keeps sanctifying. He was cold, calculating, and after he was done with me, the first time, I knew I was on my own
.
”

“
That does
n’
t make any sense, why would he give you a partnership, if he was so cruel
?
”

“
To shut me up. Keep me from ruining his perfect image. I did
n’
t know it then, I thought he was being kind, but as the years went by, of him using me, leaving me, staying with her, I realized it. He never cared about me. Never cared about Cody. All he wanted was to keep his little indiscretions hush hush
.
”

“
So you thought stealing from his business was the best way to do it
?
”

“
Hurt you, and make my move to own it, why not
?
”

There it was. The confession she needed. Sarah had become angry enough that she did
n’
t care what she divulged
.“
He did
n’
t even give Cody a share in it
.
”

Cod
y’
s rage grew
.“
Because I fucking asked him not to, mom. I did
n’
t want any part of it, not if I could
n’
t earn it myself
.
”

“
Sarah? What are you doing down there? Who are you talking to
?
”

Another voice. Shit. They were
n’
t as alone as they thought.

“
Fucking hell, mom. Him
?”
Cody asked, he seemed to recognize the voice right away
.“
Dad hated
-
“

“
I do
n’
t give a shit about who your father liked and hated. They are all snakes in the grass, all of them
.”
This woman apparently loved her cliches, which made it that much harder for Kat to take her seriously.

“
Tha
t’
s it,
I’
m coming down
,”
Chad Hayworth bounded down Sara
h’
s stares, a glare on his face as he assessed the situation
.“
What the hell is going on
?
”

“
What is going on, is you are leaving, you piece of shit
.”
Cody glared at him
.“
This is between me, my mother, and Kat
.
”

“
Like hell it is. What is going on, Sarah
?
”

“
They know
.”
Sarah crossed her arms and stared them down
.“
They know everything
.
”

“
About
?”
His eyes registered something, but his voice was what really betrayed him. He was just playing dumb.

“
Well, why the hell else would they be here. I knew Edward could
n’
t fucking keep his mouth shut. I told you he would do this
.
”

“
Look, if they are here, and the police are
n’
t, it means they do
n’
t have any proof of anything
.
”

“
No, we have proof, but we want to give you the chance to do the right thing. Pay back the missing money, resign. Admit that you did wrong, and we wo
n’
t press charges. All of this could be handled civilly
.”
Kat was fair, but kind. She did
n’
t want this lingering over them anymore than it was.

“
Yeah, they say that, Sarah, but they are both the spitting image of their father. Liars, and thieves
.
”

“I’
ve had enough of you talking about my father. He was a good man, not perfect, but good. You need to shut up and get the hell out of here
.”
Kat spat each word out into his face, but it only seemed to enrage the man.

“
You little bitch,
I’
ve had enough of your shit
.”
He reached for her throat, grabbing it with both hands and shoving her against the wall
.“
I am so sick of seeing your fucki
n’
face everywhere. You little fuckin whore
.
”

The edges of her vision were starting to go black, her airways closing, consciousness waning. There was no way a man like this was going to take her, she fought back, trying hard, and failing, to remove his hands from her flesh. If a fist had
n’
t flown from behind her directly into his face, she would have lost consciousness.

Hunter.
When did he get in here?

“
I reckon you think i
t’
s fine to hit a lady, but it ai
n’
t. You son of a bitch
.”
Hunter landed punch after punch, but Cody was there in an instant holding him back.

“
It ai
n’
t worth it, man
.
”

Sarah looked shocked for the first time, her anger finally melting away into worry.

“
He, he tried to strangle you
?
”

“
You have eyes
.”
Cody was
n’
t nearly as nice, as he and Hunter grabbed Chad, holding him down.

“
Chad, why would you do that
?
”

“
Why the fuck do you think? This little bitch is gonna to get away with everything, and now we are the ones are are going to take the fall, Sarah. Think about it
.
”

“
Stop
.”
Kat croaked
.“
I do
n’
t want anyone to go to jail. I just want this to end. I want my business to prosper. Neither one of you are concerned with what is important. The animals. The riders.
I’
m going to call my lawyers, and if you do
n’
t agree to just give back the money, resign, apologize,
I’
m going to press charges on everything, Sarah. Do you understand? You will lose everything. Every scrap of wealth my father gave you, gone
.”
She stepped forward and handed her a letter, one with her name on it, in her fathe
r’
s handwriting.

“
This is for you. If I ca
n’
t convince you, maybe he can. You have a lot to lose, Sarah
.
”