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Shoving his fists into his pockets, Dominic stared his brother down. “Those boys have to be at least five. For God’s sake, Logan, is that what you think of me? That I’d abandon my own flesh and blood for the first years of their life?”
“I don’t know, Dom,” Logan returned, eyes piercing into his. “You just hit twenty-five. And you sure as hell left a trail in your wake. You probably don’t know what you’ve left behind.”
Dominic straightened. “Oh, I’d know. That’s one chance I don’t take.”
Logan maintained his stance behind the mahogany desk. Hands flat on the counter, head lifted. “Mistakes happen.”
“Yeah,” Dominic sneered, “and don’t you know it, big bro?”
That got a reaction.
Logan shoved off the desk, rounding it and bringing his face so close it blurred. “If you came home just to stir shit up, you can haul your ass off right now. Don’t have time for it. Some of us work for a living.”
“And I don’t?” Dominic jerked his chin up. “Whose work produced the money to build this place to begin with?”
“I wouldn’t call getting thrown on your back by bulls and buckle bunnies actual work.” Logan stepped away and narrowed his eyes. “But heaven forbid we ever forget that you still cut us a check every month.” His brows rose. “Want to see ’em? I haven’t been cashing them. Just stacking them up all nice and neat in a pile and locking them in the safe so you’ll have proof you did your part when the time comes.”
Dominic’s gut roiled. “You’re a real bastard when you want to be, Logan.”
“Yeah,” he said, nodding, “and you love it. Makes it real easy to sweep back in here and be the charming hero every couple years. Tell me, how many times did you call Pop over the past year and a half?”
Dominic spun around, then strode to the window and hunched his shoulders. “He has you.”
“He sees me every day, you know? It’s not me he wants to talk to. It’s you.” Logan’s scornful laugh crossed the room to grate over his ears. “Don’t worry. He won’t hold it against you. He never does.”
“Where is he?”
“Where do you think? It’s after eleven at night. This is a working guest ranch. We get up at the crack of dawn here. We don’t wallow around until noon recovering from parties the night before.”
Shame washed over Dominic, burning his neck. This was going nowhere.
Yanking his fists free, he stalked across the room. “You think you can put this in your back pocket until morning? I’m not feeling it right now and those kids out there are ’bout dead on their feet. All I need is a room key and I’ll be out of your hair for a few hours.”
Logan sighed then moved back behind the desk. He yanked a drawer open and rustled through it before holding out a key. “Twenty-seven’s the only one empty. Has a king-size bed and en suite bathroom. It’s on the second floor.”
“I know where it is. I haven’t been gone that long.”
“I assume you plan on staying in the bunkhouse as usual.”
The bunkhouse. Away from the main house. Away from Logan’s stifling grip. Hell, yes.
“You assume right.” Dominic swiped the key out of Logan’s hand and jerked his wallet free from his back pocket to produce a wad of bills. Tossing them down, he jeered, “Brought cash this time instead of a check. Throw that on the pile.”
His boots landed with thuds on the wood floor as he stomped away.
“Dom?”
A softening in Logan’s tone halted him. Dominic tilted his head but didn’t turn around.
“Stay awhile this time, yeah?”
Dominic looked over his shoulder. Logan’s expression was still carved in stone, but his eyes pleaded with Dom’s.
“We’ll see,” he murmured.
A tremor tore through his frame at the gruff sound of his voice. It was just exhaustion. He’d been on the road too long and he needed to recuperate. And he needed to get those boys settled before he did that.
Jerking away, he returned to the kitchen, drawing to a halt in the doorway. The boys were still knocked out, their limbs draped around Cissy. Her cheek rested on top of their heads and their bodies lifted and lowered with each soft breath that passed between her parted lips. The blond sweep of her hair had fallen to one side and settled in a silken pool on one of the boy’s shoulders.
Her expression was softer. No angry scowl or judgmental glare. Sleep had claimed her, too.
Dominic grinned. She sure was a lot less temperamental in this state. And even in her sleep, her arms were like steel bands wrapped around those boys. It was obvious she cared for them.
The grin vanished as his gut churned. Still, having kids didn’t always mean someone stuck around. He’d found that out first hand. Unlimited funds and fun was all it had taken to lure his mother away. He’d learned a long time ago that everyone had their price. And expectations.
Rolling his shoulders, he shrugged off the unpleasant thoughts and refocused on their peaceful faces.
Well, damn. He couldn’t carry all of them up the stairs. He’d have to wake her. He moved with soft steps across the room then lowered to his haunches at her feet.
“Cissy,” he whispered. He ran his eyes over the freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose. Unable to resist, he touched the pad of his thumb to them and drifted it over the soft skin of her exposed cheek. His tanned hand stood out in stark contrast to her porcelain complexion.
Her eyes popped open and she lifted her head. Beet-red heat covered her other cheek. It glistened with sweat and the boys’ hair stuck to it.
“Hey.” He bit back a smile. “I got a room for you. Think you can make it up a flight of stairs?”
Blinking hard, she shifted upright and nodded. “Yeah.”
“There was only one open.” He lifted Jayden from her and arranged the boy on his hip. No response. These boys were like the dead when they slept. “It’s only got one bed but should be big enough for all of you.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Her voice was husky with sleep. It whispered over him and stirred a deep ache. He forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand.
“Well, come on and I’ll take you up.”
Leading the way up the winding staircase, he kept a firm hand on Jayden’s back, glancing back at Cissy every few feet. She held Kayden close, but the boy’s weight seemed to take a toll on her, slowing her steps and weighing her small frame down.
“This is it.” Dominic unlocked the door, opened it a crack and waited for her to reach his side. “No chance they’re gonna be up and about anymore tonight. I’ll bring your bags in tomorrow morning if you can do without them till then.”
She puffed a gold strand of hair out of her eyes. “That’s fine.”
He toed the door open and moved to the bed, depositing Jayden on one side. Cissy followed and laid Kayden down, as well. Dominic stepped back, hands hanging at his sides.
Cissy’s hip brushed his when she leaned in to untie and remove Kayden’s shoes. Her shirt rose from the waistband of her shorts, revealing smooth, silky skin. Dominic stifled the urge to run his palm over it and focused on her slim hands as she peeled off Kayden’s socks.
Seeking a distraction, Dominic did the same for Jayden and dropped the items in a pile by the bed.
The boy’s head was at an awkward angle, his mouth open and snoring. Dominic smirked. He’d passed out in the same position on many occasions. And nine times out of ten woke with a kink in his neck. Better head that off at the pass.
Reaching down, Dominic shifted Jayden’s head to a more comfortable position and started when his eyes fluttered open. Jayden blinked several times before a slow smile stretched across his face, his eyelids heavy and drooping.
“Cowboy,” Jayden whispered. His small hand fluttered upward to grasp the leather cord of the choker dangling from Dominic’s neck. Curling his fingers around it, he tugged hard.
Dominic lowered his head, easing the pull of the cord around his neck and bringing his face close to the boy’s. Jayden’s other hand rose to bump and glide over the stubble on his jaw, his tiny palm warm and sweaty against his cheek.
“You’ll be here when I wake up?” Jayden’s words emerged soft and slurred. He was already drifting back off.
Dominic’s chest tightened and his face flushed. For sure, he’d be here tomorrow. Beyond that, it was anyone’s guess.
Jayden’s sleepy gaze clung to him, hopeful expectancy glowing on his face.
“Yeah, buddy,” Dominic whispered.
Gently untangling Jayden’s fingers, he laid the boy’s arms back on the bed and stepped back. The weight of Cissy’s stare pressed on his face. He averted his head and moved awkwardly toward the door.
“Dominic?”
Rubbing his hands over his jeans, he turned. Cissy’s hair was mussed and her eyes shadowed but her voice rang clear.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for this.”
Her hands twisted at her waist, pulling on her thin shirt. There was a small wet spot on the material. It clung to the upper curve of her breast where Kayden’s face had rested.
She looked vulnerable, lost and alone.
His palms itched to reach out and pull her in. Tuck her head beneath his chin and hold her close. He stepped forward.
She reached him first, pressing her fingertips against his chest and propelling him toward the door. “Good night,” she whispered.
The warmth from her fingers spread throughout his body as she nudged him into the hall. The soft fall of her blond hair and curve of her rosy cheek disappeared behind the firm click of the closed door.
The warmth dissipated, leaving cold emptiness behind. Dominic ran his palm over the smooth wood. Straining, he listened to the faint rustlings as she moved around the room.
A wry grin crept across his mouth and a low laugh escaped. “Well...damn.”
It was the first time a woman had ever shown him the door. And, for the first time, he wanted nothing more than to get back on the other side of it.
Chapter Three (#ulink_5f6ffcc3-fefa-5af3-8f67-e02f204c6031)
It was too still. Too quiet.
“Boys?” Cissy called out.
She smoothed an arm out to her side, sighing with pleasure at the coolness of the sheet. Her fingers crept over the lumps and bumps of the bedding before bumping into the bulk of a pillow. She cracked her eyes open to find a deep impression in the down where a head had burrowed the night before.
Bolting upright, she found the other side of the bed empty, as well. A quick scan of the room revealed the same. The only sign of the boys’ presence from the night before were the creases and folds left in the linen.
Her heart pounded. “Boys?”
She dropped over the side of the bed, dipping her head and finding the floor empty. There were no giggles or whispers of mischief from hidden spaces. They weren’t hiding.
They were gone.
Cissy scrambled out of the bed. She shot to the door and flung it open, stumbling to a stop in the hallway.
Over six feet of rock-solid muscle and a throaty purr met her at the door. “Morning.”
Dominic tipped his dark head in greeting, then resumed his relaxed stance against the opposing wall. The soft fabric of his T-shirt stretched across the bulge of his chest as he crossed his burly arms.
“Where are the boys?” Could he hear the breathlessness in her voice? She hoped not.
Her stomach flipped over at his lopsided grin. Damn the man. It was downright sinful for a guy to look this good on a Sunday morning.
“Right there.” He nodded to his left.
Kayden stood at the end of the hall, feet planted wide apart, swinging a lasso over his head. Jayden stood motionless a few feet away, his face contorted with apprehension.
“You ain’t doing it right,” Jayden warned.
“Aw, just be still,” Kayden said, twirling the lasso with more gusto.
“You gave Kayden a rope?” Cissy shuddered at the images that popped into her mind.
Turning, she caught Dominic’s gaze transfixed to the top of her head. He rolled in his full bottom lip and stifled a smile.
“What?” Cissy glared, searching his face.
He held on to his silence, shaking his head. The smile he fought reemerged. Dimples broke out on both lean cheeks and his dark eyes crinkled at the corners.
Men. She’d given up trying to figure out their thought process a long time ago.
“Look.” She ground her teeth together. “I appreciate you giving us a room for the night but I don’t want you taking the boys off without me or my permission.”
“Wasn’t a way around that this morning.” Dominic turned to study the boys. “They ventured out before the crack of dawn. Needed something to do. And I didn’t want to wake you.”
She followed his line of sight to the boys and winced as Kayden slung the rope with bad aim. It smacked against the side of Jayden’s face and rebounded, knocking against a picture on the wall and clanging it to the floor.
“Ouch!” Jayden rushed over and shoved his brother. “I told you you weren’t doing it right.”
“Boys,” Cissy shouted, “stop that and get over here.”
They both jumped at her voice and spun, bounding down the hall toward her. Kayden halted a foot away and burst into laughter.
“Aunt Cissy, you got a Mohawk,” he cackled.
She jerked her eyes upward. A few clumps of hair stood on end above her forehead, waving slightly with her movements. Oh, for goodness’ sakes. She’d been in such a panic to find the boys she hadn’t bothered to comb the rats’ nest.
