“Don’t answer,” Lexi whispered, touched him on the arm. “She’ll calm down in a second.”

“It’s ridiculous and wrong on so many levels. Why would anyone do this?” She drew in a breath and visibly relaxed. “Okay. I’m done. Except I’m very pissed off with Garth Duncan, and if he is our half brother, I’m going to have a long talk with him very soon.” She looked at Lexi. “What do you have?”

“Two things. I’m being sued by a client.”

Izzy groaned. “Seriously? Is it Garth-related?”

“The woman bringing the lawsuit used to work for him, apparently had a crush on him, so yes, I would say it’s Garth-related. I went to see her and warned her I wouldn’t go down without a fight. I said that Garth had covered his ass, but left hers exposed and that the legal system didn’t look kindly on extortion. I don’t know if I got through or not. We should know in the next few days-if the lawsuit is withdrawn.”

“Why does he hate us?” Skye asked. “We didn’t do anything to him.”

Which might be the problem, Cruz thought. How much of this was because Garth never got to be a Titan?

“I talked to Jed about Garth,” Lexi said.

Her sisters stared at her.

“I wish I’d been there,” Izzy said with a grin. “How did dear old dad take it?”

“I don’t know. It was a very strange conversation. He admitted that Garth is his son. He got some girl pregnant before he married my mother. But she wasn’t the type he would marry, so he paid her off. He claims it was a generous settlement and should have lasted her whole life. He says Garth isn’t a threat and that if I think he is, I’m not the businesswoman he expected me to be.”

“A subtle slam,” Skye said, then sighed. “Why does he do that? Why is everything conditional with him? Why can’t he just be…”

“Our dad.” Izzy finished her sentence. “Because he’s Jed Titan and he doesn’t give away anything for free. Not even to his daughters.”

Cruz saw the identical looks of longing and dejection in their eyes. Their need to have their father’s approval was as tangible as the desk in the corner. Despite the fact that they were adults and each successful, they needed something only Jed could give them. Which made him think of Kendra, and then feel shitty for not giving her more attention.

He shifted in his seat, wishing they could change the subject.

Lexi cleared her throat. “The point is, Jed doesn’t seem to care that Garth is after him as much as he’s after us. I don’t know if he’s not worried or what. I found the whole conversation confusing. It was almost as if he was proud of Garth.”

“Blood will tell,” Cruz said.

“What does that mean?” Skye asked.

“Whether he gave him the family name or not, Garth is his son. His blood. A part of him lives in Garth, so Jed’s proud of what his son has done. He’ll take pleasure in his accomplishments, even if they’re an attack on him.”

“That is the most twisted thing I’ve ever heard,” Lexi told him. “He’s happy Garth is trying to destroy him?”

“Possibly. He won’t let Garth take him down, but he’s obviously willing to see how the game plays out. He’s not afraid. I would bet he’s curious to see if Garth has the, ah, determination to see it through.”

Izzy grinned. “It’s okay, Cruz. You can say balls. We’ve all heard the word before.”

“You haven’t met my mother.”

Lexi smiled. “I have and she’s lovely. Back to Jed and Garth. You’re saying that while Jed isn’t willing to let Garth destroy him, he’s secretly pleased that his son is doing this?”

“Yes.”

“Great.” Lexi rolled her eyes. “We all get to stand by and watch our lives be totally screwed up because Daddy wants to see how far his baby boy will run with it.”

“He’ll get involved eventually.”

“When this is an inconvenience to him,” Skye said, sounding bitter.

“We don’t matter at all,” Lexi murmured. “We never have. It’s all been about having a son.”

“No,” Izzy told them. “It’s not like that. Garth is new and shiny. Jed likes the challenge. But Garth will cross the line and then Jed will crush him. We’ve all seen him do it before. He doesn’t take kindly to being messed with.”

Cruz agreed with her assessment. The question was how long it would take before Jed stopped Garth, and could the sisters stop him on their own first? He wasn’t concerned about them having the resources, but rather the will. None of them were the type to fight to the death. They still had hearts and souls. He was less sure about Jed and Garth.

“While this is all fascinating,” Izzy said, “it doesn’t come close to what I have to tell you.”

“Which is?” Skye asked.

“I’ve been doing some digging. Do you know the pet store in Titanville?”

“Sure,” Lexi said. “I got C.C. there. Garth owns it.”

“A really strange investment for a guy like him, right?” Izzy asked, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “The woman who works there? Kathy? She has some kind of condition now-but she didn’t used to.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Skye asked.

“Kathy is Garth’s mother.”

“I SHOULD HAVE put it together,” Lexi said as she and Cruz drove back to his house. “I met her. I knew her name. When Jed talked about Kathy, I should have realized they were the same person.”

“It’s a common name.”

“Maybe.” Lexi knew there was a lot going on in her life, which probably explained the lack of connection on her part. But still-she was supposed to be smarter than that. “His mother. I wonder what happened and when.”

“It could have been anything. A car accident. Cancer. A stroke.”

“I don’t think it’s a stroke. She moves very easily. I didn’t notice anything about her physically. It’s definitely her brain. I want to go talk to her.”

“If she’s not all there, what will you get from her?”

“I don’t know, but I have to try.”

“It’s not a good idea.”

She smiled. “I’m full of those these days.” Including being in love with him. But knowing it wasn’t smart didn’t change anything. “I’ll be careful,” she said.

“I’m not worried about you getting hurt,” he said. “I’m worried about how you’ll feel about yourself afterward. You lack the killer instinct.”

She’d never thought about herself that way. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Good.”

Jed wouldn’t agree. He would see it as a flaw. She glanced at Cruz. “Would you have been more involved in your child’s life if Kendra had been a boy?”

“You asked me that before and the answer is still no.”

“Don’t you want to think about the question before you answer it?”

“I don’t need to. When I found out my girlfriend was pregnant, I just wanted to get away from her. We were teenagers, we thought we’d been in love. The sex had been great, not that I had high standards back then. But a kid? Marriage?” He shook his head. “No way.”

“What did she want?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe being pregnant meant the baby was more real to her than to me. Her parents were surprisingly supportive. They threatened to tell my mom if I didn’t, so I had to, then we all sat down and talked about it.”

Lexi wondered what she would have done if she’d found out she was pregnant while she was in high school. Jed would not have been happy. He probably would have killed the boy in question and buried him in the back forty.

“For a while we talked about adoption, but as the pregnancy progressed I figured out she really wanted to keep the kid. I felt trapped. I wasn’t ready to be a dad. I didn’t want to be responsible for anyone else. I was still racing cars for pinks. I had plans, dreams, and they didn’t involve a kid.”

His words made her feel badly for Kendra. She hoped Kendra never found out about any of this.

“We agreed that I wasn’t ready to be a father and that having me in and out of my kid’s life would only be unsettling. I would pay child support and stay away. It was an easy way out. It was what I wanted.”

He glanced at her. “I wasn’t there when she was born. I didn’t want to know. I don’t know what Jed has going on about Garth, but it wasn’t that way for me.”

She believed him. He hadn’t wanted a child at all. “Are you sure you want to get married and start a family now?” she asked.

“It’s time.”

“You mean like it’s time to start putting money in a 401K?”

“Something like that.”

“Not exactly a great reason to get married.”

“It’s as good as any,” he said.

No, it wasn’t. What about being in love? What about wanting to spend the rest of his life with someone? What about wanting to share every part of himself, down to his soul, down to his DNA?

Those were questions she wasn’t going to ask, mostly because she didn’t want to hear the answers. She remembered a friend’s mom once saying that when a guy shared something bad about himself, like he was never on time or he’d never been faithful to a girlfriend, that he was probably telling the truth and that a smart woman would listen.

Cruz was telling her the truth about himself now. She should pay attention. The problem was, it was too late for her. She’d already given her heart and didn’t know how to get it back.

LEXI WALKED INTO the pet store the next morning. She wasn’t sure what she hoped to find out, but this was a good place to start. She felt better taking some kind of action…even one that might not make sense.

The same teen was at the counter, placing an order. Lexi mouthed that she was going to walk around. The teen nodded. Lexi moved toward the back of the store and paused when she heard someone talking softly.

“Aren’t you a pretty boy. You know it, too, don’t you? Pretty, pretty. That’s right. You’re hungry. Don’t be scared. I’m here.”

She turned and saw Kathy gently touching a small bird perched on her index finger. The bird looked like a parrot and was a vivid color of green. Lexi walked slowly, careful not to make any sudden or loud noises.