Page 35 of Your Heart & Mine

"I didn't want you to know at first," Wyck said helplessly. "I never meant to deceive you, Harper."

But she was too upset to listen. "Is this all some sick ploy to own the town like my father did?" she accused bitterly. "Were you going to try to steal the house out from under us? Did our past mean nothing?"

Wyck's face paled at the pain and betrayal in her eyes. He had to make her understand. "No! Jesus, Harper! I'm not trying to steal your house. You have to understand. Jonah threatened to ruin my family if I didn't leave town quietly," he began desperately.

"Don't!" Harper shouted. "I don't want your excuses." Blind with anger and hurt, she turned her back and him and yanked on her clothes, the task made more difficult by her shaking hands.

"Harper, please listen," Wyck pleaded as he donned the jeans that she'd been so desperate to rip off his body just a short time ago.

"I don't want to hear it." Harper's voice shook. She wiped tears angrily from her eyes. "You've betrayed me again. I should have listened to Elizabeth. It was a mistake to trust you."

Feeling like a dagger had been plunged in his heart, his fingers made contact with the fabric of his shirt she still wore but she wrenched her arm away. "Don't you touch me!"

Immediately dropping his arm, Wyck tried to make eye contact with her but she avoided all his efforts. Anguish tore through him. How had he ruined everything just when it was starting to go right. Could he ever fix what was broken between them now?

"Angel, I love you. Please don't leave like this." His desperate words were met with the door's furious slam, leaving him in agony.

Her hastily thrown on clothes provided little protection against the frigid night air. Harper wrapped her arms around herself as she stumbled down steps to the gravel drive to her car. Frozen blades of grass crunched under her feet, piercing the tender soles protected only by the thin socks she wore. She hardly noticed the discomfort, consumed as she was by raging emotions.

Barely seeing the dark road through her veil of angry tears, Harper drove on autopilot back to town. The familiar route wound seemingly endlessly through the mountains, giving her time to agonize over Wyck's betrayal.

All this time, he had deceived her. Let her believe he was a hero coming to the town's aid, when really he was the enemy who had orchestrated her father's downfall and forced businesses to close all along. Fresh wounds split open in her heart as she realized the boy she had loved never existed. It had all been a manipulative lie.

By the time Harper arrived home, she was nearly hysterical. Fearful of waking her family, she slipped upstairs to the solitude of her bedroom. Only then did she give in to the wracking sobs, collapsing onto the bed and muffling her cries in her pillow.

It was happening again. Wyck had shattered her trust and her heart just as callously as when he had disappeared all those years ago. She had given him everything - her body, her heart, her deepest secrets. And he had betrayed that gift, using her vulnerability against her.

A rap on the door jolted Harper from her distraught thoughts. Hurriedly wiping her eyes, she called out, "Yes?"

The door cracked open to reveal Cam's concerned face. "I thought I heard crying. Are you okay, Love?"

Harper's brave pretense crumbled at her friend's compassion. A fresh sob escaped as he rushed to wrap her in a fierce hug.

"Shhh, just let it out," Cam soothed, stroking Harper's hair. "I've got you. It can't be as desperate as all that."

Eventually the storm of Harper's weeping subsided to occasional hiccups. Cam rocked her and handed her tissues, waiting patiently for her to find the words.

"Wyck lied to me," Harper finally choked out. "He owns Ward Development. All this time he let me believe the company that ruined Dad was some faceless enemy. But it was Wyck."

Cam sucked in a shocked breath. For once, he had no immediate words of comfort to offer in the face of this stark betrayal.

"He made me think he was here to help, but he just wanted control like Daddy had," Harper continued, fresh pain lancing through her. "I was so stupid to trust him again."

"No, you don't do that, Love," Cam insisted firmly, clasping her hands in hers. "The only foolish thing was Wyck's dishonesty. You did nothing wrong."

Harper shook her head sadly. "I let him back in, believed his lies. I should have known better." She thought she had guarded her heart, but she had fallen recklessly back in love instead.

Cam's normally happy-go-lucky gaze flashed with protective anger. "The blame lies squarely on him. How were you to know?"

Nodding halfheartedly, Harper leaned her head on her friend's shoulder, emotionally spent. She couldn't process any more tonight. Right now she just needed the comfort, unconditional love and support.

In the morning, she would start to rebuild her walls and mend her battered heart. She only prayed that this time, they would be Wyck-proof.

Wyck paced the small cabin like a caged lion, raking his hands through his hair until it stood on end. He barely noticed the dropped temperature as the fire died unattended. His thoughts whirled in a vortex of despair focused solely on Harper.

He should have told her the truth sooner. He knew that now with crushing clarity. But he had rationalized it away, wanting to solidify his standing in her eyes first. That had been a grave mistake. Now, any chance they had was shattered.

Frustrated, Wyck swept an arm across the table, sending the damning contracts fluttering to the floor. How could he have been so careless leaving them out? He should have taken a minute to put them away, not gotten distracted like a horny teenager.

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