Page 74 of Two Hearts' Christmas Homecoming

Zane was looking at Lex with a question in his eyes.

“I’ll talk with you about everything later, Zane. Amy? Would you mind coming outside with me for a walk?” Lex asked. “I think I need some fresh air.”

Quickly, she stood.

Chapter Forty-Three

“That was a lot tougher than I thought,” Lex said out loud, knowing that one of Jake’s men was listening.

“I could tell,” Amy agreed. “Lex? Even if I didn’t know what he’d done, I’d know right away that the guy was evil.” She shivered. “Those black eyes of his are soulless.”

“That’s exactly what I remember thinking the first time I saw him. And then he kept proving it, over and over again,” Lex said bleakly, reaching out for her hand. “Let’s grab our coats and head out front to the patio on the lakefront. It’s well-lit so we should be able to stay in full view if he should approach.”

“I’d like that,” she answered.

A few minutes later, they were on their way outside. Lex had been planning to wait, but the engagement ring he’d picked up from Jake, who’d fetched it earlier from the gift shop for Lex, had been burning in his pocket the entire night. So what if some of Jake’s men were listening? The snow was dropping lightly over their heads as they stood under the bright shining light of the moon.

“Amy?”

She turned to gaze into his eyes.

“I have something for you. In fact, I ordered it before I even asked you to marry me,” he said, smiling. “I’d like for you to wear it. I’m thinking that maybe we should tell Mom and Dad that we’re married. I hate keeping secrets.”

Lex dug into his pocket, pulling out the box and opening it wide. The stone was a five-carat solitaire diamond, surrounded by small sparkling sapphires, set in a sterling silver dragonfly motif.

“Oh, Lex. It’s beautiful,” she said softly, staring at the ring.

“And there’s a wedding ring to match,” he said. “It should be ready by tomorrow.”

“I’m still hanging onto my other one, even though it’ll probably tarnish right away.”

He nodded, grinning. “Let’s try this on your finger. Dawn said she hasn’t made too many rings for this small of a finger. I hope it fits.”

She raised her hand to his, and thankfully, the ring fit perfectly.

“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever had,” she said softly.

But when they were ready to kiss, a snarling voice shot out from the darkness.

“Well, well. Imagine my shock when I was introduced to mynephew,who’s pretending he’s better than me. I’ll bet these people would just love to know what you used to do.”

“I thought you were dead,” Lex said grimly, tugging Amy behind him to protect her.

“Well, isn’t that a coincidence because I thought that you were dead too. You were supposed to be. I was informed that I was being investigated, so don’t try to tell me that you didn’t know about our…connection. I knew that Jake Loughlin wouldn’t have introduced me to you without cause.”

Brent Masterson stepped out onto the patio, pointing a Glock at Lex, and coming closer.

Although he might have been holding himself back because of the fact that Lex was wearing a uniform. He knew that Lex would be trained to defend himself, despite the fact that a weapon was pointed straight at him.

“I knew it would be handy to have a weapon planted on the property in case it was necessary to use it. Conveniently, it’s fitted with a silencer.” He looked around, waving the Glock, this time leering at Amy while slowly looking her over. “Start moving to that pathway over there. We need to get away from the windows.”

Lex finally remembered that he needed to be distracting Masterson while asking questions. The weapon had thrown him off guard. “Why was I left alive when my parents were killed?”

“You were supposed to be on that plane, but you were sick,” Masterson muttered. “So they left you with your nanny since it was only supposed to be an overnight trip.”

“You had them killed?”

“Of course, I did. I had to find a way to get a hold of his funds. There was no love lost between us, and your father would have never given me the money. He quickly became dearest dad’s favorite, and Dad was a hard man to please. But he was in the process of leaving everything to Oliver since he’d done his duty and given dear old dad a grandchild.”

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