Page 52 of Between a Rock and a Hard Cowboy

“You can go to Hell for all I care. Short of that, I don’t give a fuck where you go.”

Damn, she was tough. And Emmett deserved everything Eva was giving him. But Linc also knew that Emmett on the loose could be more dangerous than if he was contained. At least until they’d found out how and why he was back here. And back now, of all times, right after that damn key had led them to the will.

“You can come back to my cabin for the night. We’ll figure things out in the morning,” Linc said.

Emmett broke into a wide grin. “Thanks, cuz. You always were one of the good ones.”

Lips pressed tight, Linc managed to grunt in response to that. He didn’t want false praise from Emmett. He wanted answers. But first he had to talk to Eva.

“Go on down to my truck and wait for me. The door’s unlocked.”

“All right.” Emmett turned back to Eva. He let his gaze drop down and then up her body before, with a cocky smirk said, “Bye, darlin’. Good seeing you again.”

Eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring, Eva took a single step forward. She looked angry enough to take back the money Emmett had weaseled out of Olivia, Poppy and her with a few pounds of flesh. Linc honestly thought she was going to clock him, and he had no doubt Eva, mad, could do some damage to a man if she chose to, but Emmett got out the door before she could go any further than a glare and a growl.

She turned her attention from the now closed door to Linc. “You invited him back to your place?”

“I know. But I don’t know why he’s here and I need to find out. Once I do, he’s gone. I promise. Are you all right?” Linc asked, knowing that as brave and angry as she appeared, she had to be shaken to find a strange man standing in her apartment.

“No.” She shook her head then drew in a breath, raising her gaze to his. “He doesn’t look like a Wilder.”

Linc remembered that Eva had never seen Emmett’s face. None of the three women had since his cousin used other people’s photos for all his various online profiles.

“I guess not,” he agreed, considering that.

Emmett was shorter than any of them. And a small part of Linc took great joy in the fact that even though he was only in his thirties, Emmett had started to lose his hair on top. The thinning pale blond strands barely covered parts of his scalp now. All the men on Linc’s side of the family had a thick head of dark brown hair. Even his dad, although his had gone gray around his temples.

But none of that was proof of paternity, since Emmett’s bloodline came from John T’s second wife, while theirs came from his first wife. And as far as the will was concerned, was DNA even a factor in the inheritance? Linc had been a soldier and he was a rancher, but he was not a lawyer.

“Your family is going to take a vote,” she said, reminding him of the bigger issue—what decision the members of his family might make.

As horrible as it was that Emmett had let himself into Eva’s apartment, the fact he was here and could claim half the hotel and the ranch and the house was the worst news of the night. And Eva was right, the family had agreed to take a vote and Linc couldn’t be sure which way that vote would go.

But he could guess.

Wyatt would want to do the right thing and give Emmett what the law said he was due based on the still as yet questionable will. Ethan would want to cut Emmett out of the money completely, will or no will.

It was their father who was a wild card. Linc wasn’t sure which way the old man would go but he was sure of one thing now. After seeing Eva’s reaction to Emmett tonight, a year after what his cousin had done to her—to all of the women he lied to and led on—Linc was firmly on Ethan’s side of the vote.

What Emmett had done was unacceptable.

Linc would give his bastard cousin a bed to sleep in for a night, or a few nights until things got sorted. It was safer to keep Emmett close and keep him away from Wyatt and his older brother’s misplaced conscience anyway. But he’d be damned if he gave Emmett any part of his family’s legacy. He’d given up his rights to anything the Wilders had simply by not living by Wilder values.

Eva could be right. Emmett’s bloodline could be questionable, but that didn’t even matter now. Wilders lived by a code of honor. Emmett did not. And in that way, blood or not, Emmett was no Wilder in Linc’s mind. And he didn’t deserve shit from them.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

“I’ll text you when I learn something,” Linc promised.

Jaw set, Eva nodded. He’d better.

He took half a step forward, as if he was about to kiss her goodnight. Then he stopped. Or rather her leaning back stopped him. The worst thing that could have happened had. Emmett was back. She was not in a kissy mood.

Lips pressed tight, Linc dipped his head then turned for the door. Glancing back, he said, “Good night.”

“Mm-hm.” She watched the door close then flipped the deadbolt.

That was the last time someone was getting into her apartment without her inviting them. If Poppy wanted to let herself in, she’d just have to call first. That door was going to be double locked whenever Eva was inside.

---