Page 72 of Meant for Her

Her cousin smiled. “Say hi to Luke and Ryan for me.”

“I will.” It was nice that she’d been able to confide in him—when others weren’t around that is. They had to be cautious whenever they spoke of werewolves.

Malia had just pulled out of the parking lot when her cell rang. She smiled. It was probably Ryan wanting to see if she was planning to see them tonight. That would be a dumb question. Even Luke probably couldn’t last another night without some loving.

She’d already placed her phone in the holder on the dash when she slid into the car. When she glanced at who was calling, she was surprised. Malia pressed the button. “Mason, hello.”

“I’ve had some luck.”

That sounded promising. “Do tell.”

“Turns out Pete Rizolli was not telling the truth to Luke and Ryan.”

This was interesting. “In what way?”

“For starters, he owned the house he was living in—not renting it.”

She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Maybe he was embarrassed to say he owned a house that was falling apart.”

“Let’s say that’s true. Pete was telling the truth when he said he was moving.”

Malia wasn’t understanding what the big deal was. “Okay.”

“What Pete apparently didn’t tell the men was that he just bought a two-thousand-acre ranch.”

“What? I thought he was broke—or the men thought he was.”

“I’ll send you the address of this new place. It’s not that far from his old house. You might want to see if there are any cows on that property.”

The implication was staggering. “Are you thinking that Pete might have orchestrated the theft of the Lattimore cows? If so, why sell half of them? And who would be dumb enough to keep the stolen property on his own land?”

“I can’t answer those questions. Let’s hope Luke and Ryan—who I’ve never met by the way—can find out.”

She smiled. “We’ll get together soon. I promise.”

“Okay. Gotta go. Good luck.”

“Thank you so much!” When she disconnected, her mind spun.

After all these years, had Pete decided to take what he thought was owed him? Ryan said that Pete thought their dad would have left him something for having been a loyal employee for thirty years.

She thought about calling the men and telling them what Mason said, but they might decide it was too dangerous for her to be at the house for some reason. They could be right, but she needed to see them.

Besides, she was pulling into her complex now. Her plan was to clean up, change, and then drive over. Malia hoped they wouldn’t decide to confront Pete right away. She was looking forward to a lot of loving tonight.

Because she was motived to see her mates, Malia got ready quickly and was back in the car in no time. Hopefully, the men would be willing to order dinner if Luke didn’t have something prepared already. She was hungry.

As she drove to their place, she couldn’t help but wonder how they’d react to the news that the man they had considered more of a father than their real dad had lied to them. The question was why had he?

Before she could come up with any ideas, she’d arrived at their entrance. To her surprise, the rusted Circle L Ranch sign had been painted and repositioned. It looked nice. Was this Luke’s doing or Ryan’s? It really didn’t matter. It showed the men cared.

The long drive to their house remained bumpy, but maybe once the last chance of snow was gone, they’d smooth it out. It’s what her father did every year.

Their truck sat in the driveway, which implied they were home. From her rather loud engine, the men would be able to tell she was there. Malia grabbed her phone, stuffed it in her purse, and pushed open the door.

No sooner had she stepped on the porch when Ryan opened the door. His smile warmed her insides. “Hi,” she said.

“Come in,” he said.

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