“That’s not what you want. You want me to sleep with him.”

“Why not? You’ve slept with everyone else.”

Anger built up inside her. She knew some of it came from a lifetime of being ignored by her father but a lot of it grew out of finding out about Nick. There was betrayal in her, and outrage.

“I’m not your whore to sell,” she told her father, practically spitting with rage. “I won’t do it.”

“The hell you won’t. Don’t push me, little girl. You won’t like the consequences.”

“Then stop threatening me.”

“You’re my daughter. I’ll do whatever I want.”

“I don’t think so.”

She reacted without thinking. Maybe it had been building for years. Maybe in her heart she believed he deserved it. Maybe it really was about Nick. Whatever the reason, she pulled back her arm and slapped Jed across the face.

The impact sent pain up her arm to her elbow, but it was worth it, she thought as he jumped back and yelped. Blood trickled down his face from a cut her ring had made.

“You bitch!”

“That’s me,” Izzy said, resisting the need to shake her hand. Instead she opened the front door. “You need to go.”

He dug a handkerchief out of his slacks pocket and dabbed at his nose, then swore again. “That’s it. You’re dead to me, girly. You’re not getting a penny out of my will.”

“Was I ever?”

He didn’t say anything. Instead he stalked outside and walked down the sidewalk.

Izzy closed the door behind him, then leaned against the hard surface. It took a few minutes for her heart rate to return to normal, but when it did, she was surprised to discover she was actually feeling much better about nearly everything. Apparently she should have hit her father years ago.

NORMA MIGHT NOT be talking to him, but at least she hadn’t left, Nick thought gratefully as he walked from the kitchen to his office. Unlike Aaron, who hadn’t been seen in days.

The kids due to arrive tomorrow would be fed, which was good, but he couldn’t confirm much else. It had taken him longer than it should have to confirm the cleaning crew, mostly because he didn’t understand Aaron’s filing system and hadn’t been able to find their phone number for nearly two hours. Rita wasn’t speaking to him, but she would have the horses ready. That was something.

The house had never seemed bigger or more empty. He’d lived here alone for a couple of years before Aaron had arrived. He’d liked the silence and solitude. Not anymore. Now it weighed on him, dragging him into darkness even in the brightest part of the day.

Izzy would be pleased-her hope that the nightmares would haunt him forever had been realized. They came every night but were worse than before. Because now she was there, with him. Tied up, tortured. He wasn’t blindfolded, either, but instead gagged. He could see them coming for her with their gleaming knives, could hear her screams and see the blood but he couldn’t help her or even speak to her. He could only endure, hour after hour, waking soaked in sweat, writhing with agony, desperate to escape.

He couldn’t take much more of it. For the first time in his life he understood why people escaped into madness. Nothing was worth nights like those.

But the nightmares weren’t the worst of it. Being awake, missing her, wanting her and knowing he’d lost her forever, was even more torture. He breathed the ache and there was no relief.

He paused in the doorway to his office, not interested in facing the paperwork the visit required, then frowned as he heard a familiar car pulling up out front. Seconds later Aaron walked into the house.

“I thought you were gone for good,” Nick told him. “You just left.”

“I’m not back because of you,” Aaron said, neither smiling nor looking happy to be there. “I’m here because three children are coming. They’ve been through enough and don’t deserve anything less than a fabulous time. Now I suppose you’re going to tell me you don’t need any help.”

“I can’t do it without you,” he said instead. “Thank you for being here.”

Aaron stared at him. “I expected so much more of you, Nick. You’re the guy who saved my life and I’ll always be grateful. You were my hero.”

Were being the operative word, Nick thought grimly, feeling like shit. “Aaron, I’m sorry.”

“For what? Making me feel bad or what you did to Izzy? I trusted you. Imagine how ridiculous I feel, knowing what you did to Izzy. She didn’t deserve it. You’re not that guy.”

There was no point in defending himself. “I know.”

“She loves you.”

More knives. These were the kind that cut to the bone but didn’t make him bleed. “I don’t know that she-”

“Just stop it,” Aaron told him. “She loves you and you betrayed her. I’m sure you’re telling yourself that it’s for the best. That you could never be the man she needs. Whatever it takes to look at yourself in the mirror.”

Aaron moved closer, his expression painfully sad. “Here’s the part I don’t get. She was good for you. She understood you and loved you, anyway. Do you know how rare that is? How special? But you don’t care. All you want is to feel guilty. You like hiding in the past-it keeps you from having to take a chance on the future. You’re not punishing yourself. You’re not atoning. You’re taking the easy way out.”

Nick did his best to hold down his anger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure I do and that’s what you can’t stand. It’s like the ranch. You want to do it all yourself, but you can’t. You need us all. Just like you need Izzy. Only you’ll never admit it. You think you’re not allowed to love anyone or that it makes you weak. You know what? You’re wrong. Love is the only thing that makes us strong. It’s all that matters in the end. Who we love and who loves us.”

He paused and drew in a breath. “I don’t know all the secrets of your past. I don’t know what you’re running from. What I do know is you’ll never escape by hiding. You’ll never find what you need. You’ll just destroy everyone around you. Heroes don’t do that.”

Nick stepped out of the way as Aaron pushed past him. Then he walked into his office and shut the door.

Aaron’s words ripped through him, mostly because they were true. He had been hiding. Because by not living he could make the past right? He’d always assumed he knew what he was doing-that if he didn’t get involved, no one would get hurt.

He’d been wrong. Everyone he cared about had been hurt. So what did he do now?

“IZZY TITAN,” the stable manager said, looking over Izzy’s application. “You’re not related to those fancy, rich Titans are you?”

“Don’t I wish,” Izzy lied with a smile.

The old guy laughed. “Good point. If you were one of them, you wouldn’t be looking for a job with me.” He glanced at her letter of reference. “Me and Rita go back a long way. She’s a fine woman. I guess if she says you’re okay, I can trust you. You’ll be responsible for a dozen horses and their gear. Get ’em up and ready in the morning. Get ’em saddled when they have a rider or a lesson. Saturday mornings are the worst. All the rich kids come in. Can you deal with that?”

Izzy nodded. “When can I start?”

“Tomorrow. Now you’re going to college?”

“In January.”

“We’ll work around your hours. College kids with bills to pay make motivated workers.” He held out his hand. “You got yourself a job, little lady.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Izzy walked back to her car. She’d already collected the paperwork she needed to start at community college and now she had a job. If she could just figure out a way to heal her broken heart, it would be a really good day.

NICK LOOKED UP from his computer to find Garth standing in his office. Garth looked tired and drawn, which should have made Nick feel better but didn’t. Regrets weren’t going to help anyone.

“What?” he asked, not really caring. Izzy thought she was the one who had been played, but she was wrong. He’d never wanted to hurt her or tried to get her. Garth, on the other hand, had played him like an old string guitar.

“I haven’t told the rest of the board about you resigning,” Garth said, moving to the chair on the other side of the desk and sitting down. “I wanted to see if you’d changed your mind.”

“No.”

“Nick. We’re friends. We’re more than that, we’re practically brothers. She’s just a girl. You can get a dozen more just like her.”

Nick thought about Izzy’s sense of humor, her fearlessness, the way she challenged him, how she cared about the kids and teased Aaron and made every part of life brighter just by being alive. He thought about how she listened, how she trusted and the way she stood her ground and did what she believed was right.

“No. I can’t. Izzy’s unique.”

“All cats are gray in the dark.”

“Izzy’s not a cat and we’re not going to talk about her.”

Garth stared at him. “You’re going to end our decades of friendship because she’s pissed?”

Nick had thought a lot about everything that had happened. He’d tried to see everyone’s point of view to figure out where it had all gone wrong.

“I never got it before,” he said slowly. “When we were in South America, I was so sure I was right about the drilling. You had other reports telling you it couldn’t be done the way I said and when you believed me instead of them, I was determined to prove your faith in me. But I was wrong and three people paid with their lives.”

“We got the oil.”

“Sure. At a price.”

“There’s always a price.”

Nick nodded. “That’s what I thought. I’ve been to hell and back because I was responsible for their deaths.”

“You didn’t pull the trigger. It was an accident. A mistake.”

“My mistake.”

Garth shook his head. “You spent years trying to get someone to punish you, buddy. I don’t know why. You’re doing a fine job all on your own.”