Page 18 of Million Dollar High

The two words made him freeze. Slowly, his face closed up again. “Then try.”

Anguish biting deep, she fell back into her chair.

With nothing else to focus on in the semi-darkness around them, Noah loomed large, his domineering presence demanding her attention so effortlessly that her gaze shifted back to him against her will.

Her insides twisted as she forced herself to remember.

“My mom kept horses when I was growing up. We had a ranch in Montana. We’d visit in summertime. I liked riding, and my mom… she was different there. Happy.” She curled her fingers around the empty coffee mug and sucked in a sustaining breath. “After my dad died, she wanted to spend more time in Montana—I don’t think she could face staying in the same house after he was gone. I was out there for a couple of weeks, but I had school. So I came back, and she stayed behind.”

Noah frowned. “She left you here to deal with your father’s death on your own?”

She shrugged. “I think Miami was too much for her, but I wanted to come back. I felt closer to my dad here. She understood that, just as I understood that she had to do things her own way. I’d like to say my mom was a strong woman, but she leaned on my dad even more than I did. Anyway… she stayed in Montana for three months. When she returned, she was married to Stephen.”

He frowned. “So they knew each other for only a few months before she married him?”

With each second that passed, the memories sobered her up. The raw agony of knowing her mother had married a rapist made her fingers clench around the cup.

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to reply. “Yes. He bred horses too and owned the ranch next to ours. To be honest, I didn’t really care who he was. At the time he seemed to make my mom happy. When she was happy, she was less problematic, so I was relieved. Selfish, I know. But that was the way it was. Did I think he was a gold digger? It crossed my mind once or twice, when the tension between them started. Some of their fights were about money. But until what happened… happened—” She swallowed, unable to suppress a shiver. “I thought he was more of a pervert than anything else.” A sick pervert who would later rip away her chance to have children… a chance to find happiness with Noah.

A rock lodged itself in her throat. She pushed the cup away and grabbed the water. “Are we done with the questions?”

“Almost. Did he ever talk about any family or business in Montana?” Noah’s voice was gruff, but the cold look in his eyes remained.

A headache began to pound beneath her skull as her mind and soul rebelled at being forced to relive her bleak past. “He had a distant cousin who showed up one Christmas, I think. Barry or Gary or something like that.”

Noah nodded. “Remember anything else?”

One hand rubbed at her temple. “No. Jesus, what the hell does it matter?”

“Because you’re most likely not the first person he’s assaulted.”

Her stomach turned to stone. “What?”

“The PI is chasing down a few allegations, but he’s been stonewalled a couple of times.”

“Which means what, exactly?”

He shrugged. “It could be nothing, probably a pencil pusher flexing a little muscle, but my guy thinks someone is being paid to keep certain files from being opened.”

The room spun as she shook her head. “I don’t understand. Stephen has already been in jail for… attacking me. He has no reputation to protect. Why would he pay money he probably doesn’t have to keep his sordid past from coming out?”

“I didn’t say it was Stephen behind this.”

“You’re saying someone else is trying to cover this up? Who and why?”

“Someone who has a lot to lose, I suspect.”

She clutched the edge of the table. “You’re scaring me. This doesn’t make any sense.”

His raw, incisive gaze slid over her face, making her feelevery single heartbeat. He was reading her, gauging her reaction. Latent heat flickered in his eyes, overlaid with a seriousness that made her nape tingle.

“Your company’s about to float shares on the stock market in a matter of weeks.”

She gasped. “You know this how?”

He shrugged but the underlying watchfulness didn’t abate. “From experience, I know how those with huge financial stakes get jittery before a big deal goes live. Your company is a huge deal. A lot of people will be jittery right about now.”

Her heart slammed into her ribs. “What are you saying?”

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