Page 37 of Lie for a Million

“And she claims the baby is Frank’s?”

“I insisted that she take an in vitro paternity test,” Lila said. “The doctor called me with the results. Guess what?”

She’d spoken calmly, but there was a broken undertone in her voice. For all her cool demeanor, Roper sensed that she was devastated.

“I take it the woman wants money,” he said.

“Yes. I wrote her a check today, just to help her out. But that’s not the half of it.”

She nodded, her lips pressed together, visibly battling emotion. Roper waited for her to go on.

“She knows about the legal fight for the ranch,” Lila said. “She offered to let me adopt her baby—making the child my legal heir and Frank’s—for a million dollars.”

Roper pretended not to be shocked. “So the dispute over the will would go away.”

“In theory.” Her tone was laced with irony. “I have yet to talk to a lawyer.”

He mouthed a silent curse. “That’s monstrous,” he said. “I don’t know the law, but I think an offer like that could be illegal as well.”

She gave him a fragile smile. “Thank you. I’m glad you agree with me. But the situation isn’t that simple.”

“I can imagine.”

“It’s not the money. Even if I couldn’t bargain for less, I could manage it if I had to. It’s not even the legality. Things like that can be done under the table if you’ve got a smart lawyer.”

She was struggling now, her voice on the edge of breaking. “It’s the baby, Roper. That poor, innocent little thing. If I walk away from this, she’s threatening to get rid of it.”

“My guess is that she’s playing you,” Roper said. “The baby’s a Culhane. As long as the child lives, she’ll have that connection to Frank’s family and whatever money or influence it can buy her. Without it, she’ll have nothing.”

“But imagine the baby growing up with that woman as a mother—a woman with no resources, a woman who’d exploit her own child. If I were to go through with the adoption—yes, I’d be giving the baby every advantage money could buy. But how would you feel if you were that child and you found out you’d been bought like a piece of property for reasons that had nothing to do with love?”

“But surely you’d come to love the baby.”

“Would I?” she demanded. “What if I couldn’t—because of my guilt or because I couldn’t forgive Frank? I’d be no better than the woman who sold me her child. Maybe that’s really what scares me.”

The tears had begun to flow, salty rivulets accompanied by muffled sobs, as if something had broken inside her, releasing her tightly guarded emotions.

Lila had stood alone in the storm since Frank’s death, and even before that. Frank’s family was against her. Even the cook had sided with her rival. And the FBI agent would arrest her in a heartbeat if he could find a reason.

Here on the ranch, Roper realized, he was her only hope of an ally. But he’d done a pitiful job of being there for her, behaving as if he cared only about the horses and winning the upcoming contest. She needed a champion. So far, he had failed her.

Lila was a proud, independent woman who hid her tender heart. He was seeing that heart now, and it was breaking.

Her hands balled into fists as she struggled to stop her tears. “I’m sorry . . .” she muttered. “You shouldn’t have to see me like this. It’s not in your . . . job description.”

“It doesn’t matter. Come here.” He wrapped her in his arms and drew her against his chest. She went rigid for an instant. Then she softened and pressed her damp face into his shirt.

Overcome by tenderness, he cradled her, his lips nibbling a trail of kisses along her hairline. Holding her felt right. Maybe too right. But for now, that didn’t matter.

She released a long tight breath.

“Let it go,” he murmured. “You don’t have to be the boss all the time.”

“Then who’s going to make the decisions—and live with the consequences? It can’t be you—you work for me. And I won’t let it be Darrin. He’d sell the horses and turn the whole place into a cattle operation. Sometimes I think about how easy it would be to give up and walk away. But I can’t. There’s nobody else. And now, with so many decisions to make, I feel paralyzed. You can’t imagine what it’s like. I’ve watched you, Roper. You always seem so sure of yourself.”

A shudder passed through her body. His arms tightened around her. His lips brushed her temple as he spoke. “You don’t know how wrong you are. Once, you asked me to tell you a story. At the time, I wasn’t ready to share it. But maybe the time is now.”

She nestled against him, her breath warm against his throat. Roper took her silence as consent to go on.

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