Page 50 of Colton's Last Resort

Here, there didn’t seem to be anyone around for miles. The quiet struck him. He raised his face to the sun. No wonder Allison had been in love with this place.

I get it now, he told that part of his mind that still felt connected to her somehow.

Another thought struck him. He’d been lured away from other guests with only Laura’s brothers for company. He eyed the long tumble of rocks down to the bottom of the hill. “Is this where you kill me?”

A laugh left Adam. It sounded grim. “I wish.”

At least big brother’s honest, Noah mused.

Joshua turned on him, hands pressed into his hips. “What do you want with Laura?”

The question shouldn’t have caught him off guard. He’d have done this, too, had Allison brought a man around to meet him. He searched his mind.

And found that some part of him could answer the question. Something inside his chest that had cracked like an oyster.

What did he want with Laura?

Everything.

No, he schooled himself. That wasn’t the right answer. That couldn’t be the answer at all. He didn’t want anything from Laura.

Except her mouth. Her smile—the real one he found so elusive. Laughter he’d never heard. Her banter. Hell, even her rebuttals.

He wanted her hands, he thought, unbidden. Soft, clean, manicured fingers tangled up in his, spreading through his hair...

He shifted when that image alone turned him on. Shifting away from the Colton men, he put some distance between them and him. He didn’t think they would be amused if they saw what the simple thought of their sister did to him.

Joshua didn’t let up. “Answer the question.”

Noah thought about it, vying for an appropriate response that would appease them both. What came out was “I want her to know she’s safe.”

“Of course she’s safe,” Adam snapped at his back. “Mariposa’s safer than anywhere else.”

Noah whirled on him. “Is that right?”

The light of challenge died in Adam’s eyes.

“Would I be here if she felt safe?” Noah pressed.

Joshua shook his head. “I’m not sure how you could make her feel any safer than Adam and I can.”

“Someone was murdered under your noses,” Noah pointed out. “Someone she cared about.”

“She blames herself,” Adam mumbled.

“Allison’s death had nothing to do with Laura,” Joshua said.

“How do you know?” Noah asked. “How do you know she’s not the next target?”

Both men froze. Noah struggled against the need to press further, to question them more about Allison. But Laura had warned him not to give himself away to Joshua if he could help it.

If Joshua did have loose lips, then Noah’s cover would be blown before he could avenge Allison. “She needs me,” he said and wondered if it was true, because he knew all too well that the next part was. “I can’t let her do this alone.”

Adam and Joshua remained studiously silent. After a few minutes, Joshua stretched for the return run.

It wasn’t until Joshua had started back for the trailhead that Adam spoke up again. “Allison gave private lessons to some guests.”

Noah nearly skidded on a patch of ice. “Why didn’t you mention it before?”

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