Page 11 of Return of the Outback Billionaire

Judah sincerely hoped not. ‘If he does agree to involve you, we can announce the deal when we break our engagement. Better as business partners and so on. And for that I want three months’ worth of fake engagement to you.’ Having a temporary fiancée might even help bring others on board with his not-for-profit conservation trust plans. Investors loved a settled man.

‘Agreed.’

For someone so seemingly fragile, she certainly knew how to combat coercion, intimidation and fake engagement announcements. She was making him feel like an amateur.

‘Breathing back to normal now? That band around your chest loosening up? Chills gone?’

How did she—? Goddamn panic attack symptoms. ‘Yes.’

‘Great, because Reid and my father are standing in the doorway and I think they want a word with us.’

Great. Just great. How much had they heard?

He turned, squared his shoulders, and prepared for the worst.

‘Interesting announcement,’ said Reid. ‘A little warning would have been good.’

‘Spur of the moment,’ he offered. Give him his land back after buying it fair and square. Who did that?

‘We’d been talking about land mergers and conservation options and business deals and when the Conrads started talking about selling we might have got a little carried away,’ said Bridie.

Reid ran a hand across the back of his neck as if working out the kinks. ‘So is your engagement like a fake one to get people on board, or some kind of business merger, or are we talking the real thing?’

‘It’s real enough,’ said Judah and stared his brother and her father down. ‘Any objections?’

‘I’m good.’ Reid shared a glance with Tom. ‘I’m also going to go find sane people to drink with now. And, uh, good luck.’

Reid left. Tom stayed. The older man looked from one of them to the other and back again, finally settling his shuttered gaze on Judah. ‘She’ll forgive you anything. You should know this.’

‘No, Dad, not anything,’ corrected Bridie. ‘But I don’t think Judah’s beyond repair. You don’t think he’s beyond repair either—you’ve praised him often enough over the years, remember?’

And why shouldn’t he have Tom Starr’s approval? Judah wanted to roar.

That night...that crazy, bloated clusterfest of a night that had branded Judah a killer and Tom a grateful father still haunted them all. Would they ever be free of it?

Until this moment he hadn’t truly understood that the answer was no. The lie at the heart of it would never let him and Tom Starr go. ‘Good to know I’m not beyond repair.’

‘Hey, no, wait. Repair was my word,’ Bridie said hurriedly. ‘And definitely the wrong word. Dad, I know the engagement announcement surprised you and you want answers. And I’m not going to insult your intelligence by claiming it wasn’t a bit spur of the moment. It’s probably not going to last, but while we’re on a roll why not explore what we might be able to do conservation-wise if we were to combine Jeddah Creek, Devil’s Kiss and Talulah Sky? Think about it.’

‘If he hurts you—

‘Dad, I’m not sixteen any more. I’m not so naive I can’t see the make of a person or whether they’re out to harm me. I’m not being taken advantage of. I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do, and Judah’s not out to harm me.’

Judah and her father locked gazes.

They both knew what happened to people who chose to harm Bridie.

‘Let me know when you want to leave,’ said Tom. ‘I’m ready whenever you are.’

‘Half an hour,’ she said.

‘Half an hour,’ echoed her father and left, as if he couldn’t stand watching them a moment longer.

‘How are you tracking?’ she asked when they were alone again, and the honest answer was not well. He kept waiting for retaliation and instead he got fragile little Bridie doing her best to soothe him, humour him and, heaven help them all, protect him.

This was not how his world should be.

‘Getting there,’ he muttered. What else could he say? Take me back to lockup where I know how the world works?

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