Susan Mallery - Hot On Her Heels

Not only was he hesitant to see them, he wasn’t excited to be the one to inform them that their father didn’t give a rat’s ass about them. He would rather that kind of news came from someone else.

Nick answered the door, but didn’t speak to him. Garth followed him into a large living room where Garth’s three sisters, Cruz and Mitch, Skye’s fiancé, waited.

No one said anything. Garth could feel the anger in the room and had a bad feeling it was directed at him. A case could be made that he’d earned it. He’d hurt everyone standing in front of him.

He’d loaned Lexi a couple million dollars, only to call the note when she was most vulnerable. That had been the opening shot of his campaign. He’d messed with one of Cruz’s drivers, had tried to turn Mitch against Skye, gone after Skye’s foundation more than once and played Nick to hurt Izzy. It wasn’t a body of work to be proud of.

“You need a hug,” Izzy said unexpectedly, coming up to him and wrapping her arms around him. “Don’t let them mess with you.”

She hugged him fiercely, as if trying to give him strength. He wanted to tell her he didn’t need it, that he would be fine on his own, but the warm embrace was oddly comforting. Without meaning to, he found himself hugging her back.

When Izzy stepped away, Cruz motioned to the sofas. “We should sit down and discuss this.”

Garth noticed Cruz waited until a very pregnant Lexi had settled on a cushion before sitting next to her. Izzy curled up next to Nick and Mitch stood behind the club chair Skye had chosen. Only Garth was alone.

Cruz nodded at him, as if telling him to start. Garth was unprepared, not sure what he should say. Which annoyed him. He would tell the truth. If people were hurt by that, it wasn’t his problem.

“I’ve been following several leads on the explosion,” he began. “The last few pieces came together yesterday morning. Dana and I flew to Mexico and picked up some information. I gave Cruz copies of it.”

“Nick and I went over it,” Cruz continued. “It’s pretty damning.”

Lexi wrapped her arms protectively over her belly. “What does it say? What do you know?”

Nick reached for Izzy’s hand. Mitch put his hand on Skye’s shoulder. Cruz hesitated.

“It was Jed,” Garth said, figuring they all hated him anyway. They might as well stay on that road. “He arranged for the bomb to be put on the oil rig. He paid the money and he set the date.”

The sisters looked at each other. Garth could read the shock in their eyes, the pain. Izzy went pale.

“My father did this to me?” she asked, sounding breathless and stunned. “He knew I was going to be there and he…”

Cruz held Lexi’s hand. “He wanted to set up Garth to take the fall for the explosion. Maybe he didn’t know you’d gone back to work…”

“He knew,” Lexi said fiercely. “He knew and he didn’t care.” She crossed to Izzy and embraced her. “I’m so sorry.”

Skye joined them. They held on to each other, whispering things Garth couldn’t hear, which was fine with him. This wasn’t his thing. He wanted out.

But there was more. Nick got out a small tape recorder and played the recording Garth had made of Jed’s visit to his office a few months before. The one where he offered Garth control of Titan World, with no strings. He could run everything on two conditions. That Jed got to remain CEO and that the Titan sisters never got a penny.

The ugly words sounded especially loud in the quiet room. Cruz, Mitch and Nick walked over to the sisters and separated them, then pulled each of them close. They clung to each other-their love obvious. Garth shifted uncomfortably, wanting to be anywhere but here. He should have brought Dana.

“Are we taking this to the police?” Skye asked. “They have to do something.”

“We can’t,” Lexi said, wiping her eyes. “Garth didn’t obtain any of it legally.”

“At least we know,” Izzy said, sounding surprisingly strong. “We know our real enemy is Jed.”

The sisters all turned to Garth.

“Are you done?” Skye asked, her green eyes filled with tears. “Is the fight with us over? Or do we have to deal with you disappointing us, too?”

He hadn’t come here with a plan. His goal had always been to take down Jed Titan. Messing with the sisters had just been for sport. But somewhere along the way it had all gotten out of hand. He’d lost his best friend because of it. He’d also given Jed a chance to hurt Izzy.

“He’s done,” Izzy said with a sniff. “He won’t hurt us.”

“While that sounds really nice,” Lexi said, “I want to hear it from him.”

Garth had faced greater odds before and stronger adversaries. But he’d never felt so overwhelmed. Not by numbers, but by the damage he could do. Looking at them, he realized it was a power he didn’t want, and he usually wanted it all.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said awkwardly. “I want Jed to crawl, but the rest of you…” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry about what happened before.”

“See,” Izzy said. “I told you.”

“That wasn’t the most eloquent apology,” Lexi said.

“Maybe not,” Skye told her. “But I think it came from the heart. Nick? Can we believe him?”

They all turned to Nick.

“What do you think?” Skye asked.

Garth stood in the center of the living room while the man he’d wronged carried his fate in his scarred hands.

Nick stared at him. “He’s broken our trust. He’ll have to earn that back. For what it’s worth, I’d give him the chance.”

DANA ARRIVED AT CRUZ’S house late in the afternoon. Her three friends sat together, looking shell-shocked. There was evidence of tears and despair, which made Dana uncomfortable. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her friends’ suffering, it was that she didn’t know how to fix it.

The normally perfectly groomed Lexi looked rumpled. Mascara blackened the skin under her eyes. Izzy looked smaller somehow, as if the pain had caused her to shrink. Skye’s red hair was an even bigger contrast against her especially pale skin. All the color had faded from her face, leaving her looking defeated.

“I’m sorry,” Dana said lamely as she walked into the living room.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Lexi told her. She stood and walked toward Dana. “You did everything we asked and now we know the truth.”

The two women embraced, hanging on to each other, as much as they could with Lexi’s large belly between them.

Izzy and Skye joined them before they all sat on two couches and faced each other.

“Where are the guys?” Dana asked.

“We sent them away,” Skye told her. “This is our problem and we have to figure out a solution together.”

“Then why did you call me?”

Lexi was next to Dana. She smiled and put her hand on Dana’s arm. “Because you’re practically a Titan. Like it or not, you’re stuck with us.”

“I can live with that.” Dana drew in a breath. “I’m sorry about all this. I never thought…”

“Us, either,” Izzy said.

“Are you okay?” Dana asked.

“No, but I will be. I wanted to be right about Garth, but not like this. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to learn Jed doesn’t care if I live or die, but I am.”

Skye put her arm around Izzy. “Don’t go there. It only makes it worse. You have us and Nick and we all love you. We’ll always be here for you.”

Izzy nodded, but didn’t look convinced.

“You went over the material?” Dana asked.

Lexi nodded. “Garth played us the recording of Jed offering him everything. So we’re totally convinced.”

Dana winced. It was probably better that they knew everything their father had done, but she hated having them hurt. She fought guilt, telling herself she didn’t have any part in this.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise,” Skye murmured, pulling Izzy close and stroking her hair. “We all knew what Jed was, but I don’t think any of us wanted to believe it. Now we have proof, which makes denial more difficult.”

“I could probably swing it, but I don’t want to,” Izzy said, blinking back tears. “We have to remember this. It changes everything.”

“She’s right,” Lexi told Dana. “Garth is determined to bring Jed down. It appears our father is a lost cause. We’ve been talking about it and our larger concern now is Garth.”

“We don’t want him to end up like Jed,” Skye said.

“How are you going to make sure that doesn’t happen?” Dana asked. Garth was a determined and powerful man. “You’re not going to get him to change his mind. He’s been focused on this for years.”

“It will take time,” Lexi said. “Part of our plan is that we’ll work with him to stop Jed. Hopefully he’ll see that being a part of something is better than going it alone.”

“Have you met Garth?” Dana asked. “He’s not likely to be swayed by hot chocolate and pictures of the family tree.”

“That’s where you come in,” Skye said. “We want you to keep working with him. Be our emissary, so to speak.”

Dana nodded because the alternative was to admit that Garth scared her. Not just with his ruthless ability to get everything he wanted, but because of how she reacted when she was around him. He made her feel things she didn’t want to feel. And she knew better than most the danger of letting a person have emotional power. Better to be alone and strong, than weak with someone else.

“You’re also going to help him get Jed,” Izzy said quietly.

Dana stared at the youngest Titan sister. Izzy’s normally bright eyes were dull and swollen. There were red blotches on her skin, probably from crying.

“Izzy, you’re upset,” she began.

Skye shook her head. “We’ve talked about it, Dana. Jed has gone too far.”

“He’s your father. You don’t want to do this. Once you start down this path, there’s no going back. Jed is already in trouble and facing charges. Do you really want to pile it on? Can you handle being the reason he goes to jail for the rest of his life?”