Page 4 of The Texan's Secrets

“Do you really think my parents would take your money?”

“Help me out here. I’m a man with a simple lifestyle and way too many zeros in my bank balance.”

Rafe laughed again. “Do some charitable works.”

“You know I already do.” Although his donations were anonymous, the local animal shelter and children’s wing of the hospital had received significant endowments from his tech company AlgoXcell’s philanthropic foundation.

“I know.”

“I’m here all the time. They feed me, let me go riding and fishing.”

“Maybe there’s a hint right there, Nico. You should get a social life. Spend some of your money on a nice woman.”

Nico frowned. “You know I can’t do that.”

Back in prison, Nico had grown a beard and let his hair grow long. The disguise suited him now that he was back in Royal where people had known him as a teenager. The beanie he wore was another form of camouflage, as were the beige Henley shirts that were slightly too big for his frame.

There’d been other physical changes while he was in prison. He’d gone in as a young man—a lean and wiry twenty-two. He’d filled out while he was there, since the gym was one of the best places to kill time. And it didn’t hurt a guy to be physically capable while inside. It made those looking for trouble think twice about messing with you.

“You plan to be a hermit for the rest of your life?” Rafe asked.

Nico would never admit it out loud, but these past few months he’d grown tired of leading such a solitary life. He’d found himself lonely for some female companionship. He didn’t mean sex. He’d had a few no-strings relationships since getting out of prison. They were fine, as far as it went.

But sometimes he really missed the intimacy of a woman’s laugh, hearing her ideas and opinions, her take on the world. His friends Rafe and Jack Chowdhry were great to hang out with. But it wasn’t the same as more intimate companionship.

Instead of saying any of that to Rafe, Nico made a show of scanning the river, forest and hills. “This is hardly the hermit lifestyle. Maybe I should buy myself a ranch.”

“You?” Rafe was clearly incredulous. “You don’t know the first thing about ranching.”

“I could hire someone to do it for me. Maybe one of your brothers wants a job.”

“You think Dad would let them leave? He’s barely forgiven me for opening the steak house. It’s way easier for you to just hang out here when you want to get away from it all.”

“Then back to my original offer. How can I contribute?”

Rafe kicked his horse into a faster walk. “You can eat hearty tonight and tell my mom how much you love her cooking.”

Nico followed suit, speeding up his own horse. “That goes without saying.”

The sun was dipping toward the horizon, so Rafe’s mother, Carmen, would be cooking up something extraordinarily delicious. Nico couldn’t help hoping for her grilled peppers and empanadas.

He and Rafe had some fresh-caught trout in their cold packs. Carmen was sure to spice them up with her special blend, send them outside for Rafe’s father to grill over hot coals, then serve them with avocado salsa. There was nothing better to go with a tall bottle of crisp, cold beer.

“I take it business is booming?” Rafe asked as they started across the bridge, heading for the old windmill where they’d pick up a ranch road back to the main house.

“It’s hard not to make money in tech.”

“See, that’s yet another good reason to avoid ranching.” Rafe gave a whistle. “It’s more than tough to make money in ranching.”

“Royal’s done well all these years with ranching as a backbone.”

“There’s a reason why we’re branching out to tech. And you and Misha have both done very well for the town.”

Rafe was right about that. Nico’s sister’s new social app, k!smet, was about to go public and, by all indications, was about to go big.

“Stick with what you know, I say,” Rafe added.

“I suppose buying my own ranch would be overkill.” Nico hadn’t really been serious.

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