Page 48 of The Billion Heirs Boxed Set
“We can’t.” Vance eyes his daughter.
Carly looks to me, to her father, to me again.
Does she want me to say something that can help? I can’t. I won’t out our relationship—if you can even call it that—here in the middle of town. In front of her father, who already despises me. It’s new. And different. Potent, because no matter how much I think I should stay away from her, no matter how clear Chance was about me leaving her alone, I can’t.
When she stripped down and waded into the spring with me, set my hands on her tits to lavish on, she became mine. There’s so much shit in our way, unbelievable baggage. I don’t want to add to it.
And I don’t want to get punched in the face again, this time on Main Street.
I don’t think Carly wants me to give the thing between us away, but clearly she’s hoping I’ll do something.
But what?
Damn it all. Now she’s pleading with those fucking green eyes. Pleading with me to fix this, and I want to fix it for her.
I want to fix everything for her.
But I don’t know what to do. What to say. I know nothing about the Bridger business, only that it’s worth billions. I open my mouth, thinking I’ll agree with Chance, that somehow we’ll pay Vance what he’s owed, but then I close it.
Because I don’t know if we can. I’m helpless all over again, just like when we learned about my mother’s disease. How it’s not fixable.
I can’t take away the horrors of Carly’s past. I can’t take away what Jonathan Bridger did to Chance, Miles, me, and countless others. My hands are fucking tied and I hate it.
I just don’t know shit, and I won’t make a promise to Carly that I’m not sure I can keep. God, I feel so damned useless. I’m letting her down, and that’s the last thing I want.
Her pretty smile morphs into a straight line, and her gaze falls on the sidewalk.
She steps toward her father. “Let’s go, Daddy.”
“Good call.” Vance glares at the three of us. “Carly won’t be back at work tomorrow. Or ever again.”
Carly gasps. “That’s not what I meant. I—”
“It’s for the best, little one.” Mayor Vance gently takes her arm. “Let’s go.”
I watch Carly walk away, and with each step, she takes another piece of my heart. Because a curvy slip of a woman has penetrated every one of my defenses.
I turn to Chance, my temper on fire. “Fix this. You have to fix this shit.”
“You heard the man.” Chance takes off his Stetson and slaps it on his jean-clad thigh. “He doesn’t want our money. Damn. He wants our hides.”
“Just exactly what kind of a man was Jonathan Bridger?” Miles asks. “Because while I knew he was an asshole, a lot of other people think the same thing.”
“He was a dick,” Chance says, “but the two of you already know that. Vance, too. He didn’t win any popularity contests in town, but I never thought he was a damned criminal.”
“Vance didn’t call him a criminal,” I clarify, glancing in the direction Carly went. They’ve turned a corner and are out of sight.
“Not outright, he didn’t.” Chance adjusts his hat back on his head. “But he said our father was skirting the law for years, which doesn’t sound off brand for him. Or that he cheated the Vance family out of their property.”
“That’s some great genetic material we’ve got,” I say, more to myself than to my brothers. Then I realize that Chance knew the guy. Maybe better than anyone else. “What aren’t you telling us?”
He pulls a red bandana out of his pocket and rubs the sweat off his forehead. “You know what I know.”
“You lived with the guy,” Miles prompts.
Chance rolls his eyes. “You’re in the house, and you know how big it is. Shit, you could have a threesome in your room and I’d never see the women come in the house or hear a thing.”
Miles grins. “Good to know.”
