“We’re nearly there,” he said, sounding calm and capable. “We’ll handle this.”

The thought of being able to trust him was new. She was used to depending on herself-especially when it came to business. She loved her sisters and they were close, but they all wanted variations of the same thing-Jed’s approval. That complicated an already difficult situation.

It was after seven when they arrived, and the parking lot was nearly empty. Lexi led the way inside. She greeted the remaining staff, then made her way to her office. Cruz followed. She turned on her monitor, then sat down to access the records.

She found the right file immediately.

“Ann Paul,” she read aloud. “She came in every couple of weeks for a facial, had a pedicure, two massages and that was it.” She scanned the notice again. “What distress? It was a facial.”

She typed a few more keys and opened the notes made by the esthetician who had performed the facial. “No way,” she murmured. “Jeannie is one of our best. She has a waiting list a mile long. Nothing about this make sense.” She leaned back in her chair and looked at Cruz.

“It’s Garth, isn’t it?” she asked.

“It smells like him.”

Because trying to shut her down with the loan wasn’t good enough?

“I don’t want to go to court,” she said, rubbing her forehead. “I don’t want to spend the money.” Money she didn’t have. “Not to mention the time. It will suck the life out of this place. It could ruin our reputation.”

She’d worked hard to build up her business, to make coming to Venus Envy the perfect, relaxing experience for her clients.

“That jerk isn’t going to take this away from me,” she said.

“I want to help,” Cruz told her. “Let’s start by investigating the woman suing. Ann Paul. Who is she? Was this a setup? Does she work for Garth?”

Lexi straightened in her chair. “My God. I never thought of that. You mean this whole thing could be a lie?”

Cruz shrugged. “Maybe he’s paying her to file the complaint.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“This kind of damage is hard to prove. The case is probably frivolous to begin with. But Garth is only interested in screwing with your company. If word gets out will it matter if the lawsuit has no merit?”

“No, and he knows it. What is going on with this guy? Why is he so determined to hurt us?”

“I’ll see if I can find a connection between the woman and Garth,” Cruz said. “Give me a couple of days.”

“Sure.” She tried to smile. “Thanks for your help. I’m still in shock.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

She believed that, but it would go a lot faster if she went to the source.

“I’m going to talk to Jed,” she said. “I want to find out how much he knows and see if he has a plan to stop Garth.”

WHEN THE SKY was just the right color of blue and the clouds filtered the sun, the lobby of Titan World could look like a church. As Lexi walked to the bank of elevators, she remembered going to church when she was eight or nine. One of the nannies had taken her. During Sunday school, the lesson had been about God’s power. Lexi had gotten in trouble by telling the Sunday school teacher that her father was more powerful than God.

The woman had insisted she stay after the main sermon and speak with the minister. Lexi had stood in his impressive office and told the man that she’d heard lots of people say that Jed Titan was more powerful than God. Sometimes Jed said it, too. He was her daddy, so it must be true.

The shocked religious leader put a call in to her father. Jed had driven to the church, marched into the office and declared that this was Texas, where a man could be anything he wanted to be, including more powerful than God. Then he’d taken Lexi to lunch at Bronco Billy’s and let her order anything she wanted.

Later, sick to her stomach from too much milk-shake, she’d called for her daddy, but he hadn’t come. The nanny had cleaned her up after she’d vomited, and Lexi had fallen asleep alone in her bed. Her daddy might be more powerful than God, but that wasn’t all they had in common. He was just as busy and unavailable.

Now she rode the elevator to the executive floor, remembering being that little girl. Pru might have been there for her, only Izzy was just a baby and she’d had Skye, too. Pru had always been kind to Lexi, but two children less than eighteen months apart kept her busy.

She walked toward Jed’s office. His assistant waved her in.

Lexi found her father on the phone. He motioned for her to enter, then pointed at the phone and made the jerk-off motion with his right hand.

“Sure, Ted. Anytime. You know I’m a big fan. Uh-huh. Gotta go. Sure. Soon.”

Jed hung up. “I know congressmen are useful to have hanging around, but they can be a big pain in the ass. How are you, Lexi? How’s that man of yours?”

“He’s fine.”

“Good. Good. Now, what do you need?”

Jed was well into his sixties, but still a handsome man. Money had a way of smoothing over a man’s flaws. So why hadn’t Jed remarried after Pru’s death? Lexi didn’t believe he’d been so crushed by her suicide that he couldn’t bring himself to care for someone else. That would require him to think beyond himself, and she wasn’t sure he was capable.

There had to be women. But her father didn’t date much that she knew about. He certainly never brought anyone around the house to parties.

“Are you seeing anyone?” she asked.

“What does that have to do with the price of cattle?”

“I just wondered.”

“My personal life isn’t your business, little girl.”

“All right. Then I have another topic.”

“You’re in trouble.”

“How supportive of you,” she said dryly.

“Am I wrong?”

“There’s a problem, but not in the way you mean it. I want to talk about Garth Duncan.”

She watched Jed closely as she spoke, but he didn’t give anything away. His gaze never wavered. No muscle tensed or twitched.

He leaned back in his chair and nodded slowly. “Damn fine businessman. A shark. Plays hard, but mostly plays fair. I haven’t had much to do with him.”

Which might be true, she thought.

“He’s trying to bring down the family,” she said.

Jed didn’t react to that, either. “What makes you say that?”

“Everything that’s been happening lately. The horse doping at your racing stable, the insider trading charges. Skye’s facing an investigation for money laundering.” She’d already decided not to tell him about the loan. “I’m being sued by a client and I suspect she has some connection to Garth.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Gee, Daddy, why would Garth Duncan want to hurt us?”

Her father didn’t look away. “You think you already know.”

“He’s your son.”

A part of her had hoped Jed would deny it or at least act surprised. Instead he nodded slowly. “That was a long time ago. Before you were born. Before I married your mother.”

She sank into the chair opposite his. Confirmation wasn’t happy news. “What happened?”

“What do you think? I got a girl pregnant. Kathy. She was pretty enough. Full of life. She made me laugh.” He smiled at the memory, then the smile faded. “But she wasn’t the sort of girl a man like me married. I paid her off. The settlement was generous and very clear. She kept the baby and agreed never to contact me again.”

Just like that. A child dismissed. “Did she contact you again?”

“No, and she had no reason to. There was enough money to keep her in style for the rest of her life. Kathy had a good head on her shoulders.”

“She has no reason to be angry with you?”

“Of course not. I took care of the problem.”

She wondered how Garth would feel to be labeled a “problem.” “If everything was so perfect, why is he doing this now?” she asked.

“You don’t have proof it’s him.”

“I have a really good hunch.”

Jed shook his head. “Come back to me when you have proof.”

“And then what? You’ll do something? You’ll get involved? Dad, he’s responsible for the doping and the charges of insider trading. He probably drugged one of Cruz’s drivers. He’s going after all of us.”

“I’m not worried about what he can do, and if you are, you’re not the business woman I thought you were.”

The threat wasn’t even subtle. She ignored it.

“Why didn’t you tell us about Garth? We have a brother.”

“He’s not your brother. He’s not anything. Garth will never be a Titan.”

“He’s your son.” He was family. Lexi had never thought of him that way, but Garth was as much related to her as Skye or Izzy. “If I’m right and he’s doing all this, he’s acting very much like you.”

“Let it go. Garth Duncan isn’t important.”

“You’re wrong, Dad. You can deal with him now or you can deal with him later, but he’s not going away. I think he wants to take us all down. What I can’t figure out is why.”

“You don’t need to know why.”

Lexi disagreed. She had a feeling knowing was the key to everything that was happening to them.

“You’re not going to do anything?” she asked.

“Garth Duncan doesn’t scare me.”

The implication being that if Lexi was scared, she was weak.

Most of the time she respected her father’s opinion…at least when it came to business. He’d done amazing things with the company-had grown it from millions to billions. But he was wrong about Garth. She felt it in every fiber of her being.

CRUZ WAS WAITING for her when she got home.

“What happened?” he asked as pulled her close and kissed her.

She tossed her purse on the counter and leaned against him. “Nothing. He admitted Garth is his son, but not that there was a problem. He says he got a girl pregnant but she wasn’t anyone he would marry, so he paid her off. He says the settlement was enough for them to live on, that there weren’t any hard feelings and Garth isn’t a threat.”