Page 55 of Return of the Outback Billionaire

‘But my father—’

‘Is mistaken.’

‘Well, one of you is lying! And I’m inclined to believe him.’

Judah shrugged.

‘Judah, please. Talk to me.’

‘And accomplish what? Shall I make you complicit in a possible cover-up that took place years ago? Should I break the oath I might have made to your father to take the details of that night to my grave? What if I didn’t shoot Levit? Do you want to see me up on perjury charges and your father locked up? Is that it?’

‘No, I—’

‘Then stop asking questions. Your father is a deluded old man. Don’t believe him.’

But she did believe her father’s startling words. That was the problem. ‘But why would you do such a thing? Why would a young man with everything going for him—money, status, a loving family, good looks and good health—why would he choose to be locked up for something he didn’t do? Will you at least offer me a theoretical answer to that question?’ If Judah wasn’t going to confirm a damn thing, could they at least play pretend while she got to the bottom of everyone’s actions? ‘Can’t you open up to me just a little?’ she pleaded. ‘Because I don’t understand. I just don’t get it.’

‘Is he of the ruling class?’ Judah steepled his fingers and held her gaze, looking every inch the aristocrat. ‘Or, y’know what? Scrap that. Maybe he’d simply been raised to serve and protect those in his care—the old, the frail, the children.’

‘But if my father was the one who took the shot, why didn’t he say so at the time? They might have gone easy on him. Easier than they went on you.’

‘And who would have taken you in? Who would have cared for you the way your father did? Who would have had the love and the patience to help put you back together again? Your aunt? She was already struggling with her own issues. You don’t have any other family. Your father was it. Who better to love and protect you than him? What if your father and that foolish young man made a split-second decision to protect you? And then did so.’

She had no answer for him. ‘I’m not a child any more.’

‘I know that.’

‘You can tell me the truth.’

‘Good, then hear this.’ He spread his hands. ‘I love you. And I’ll protect you with my last breath, don’t ever doubt it. This is me protecting you.’

Not exactly how she’d imagined his first declaration of love for her would go.

He watched as she twisted her engagement ring around and around. ‘Are you going to keep that on?’

She didn’t know. She was so angry with him. For stepping up to take the blame for something he didn’t do. For defending his action as the right thing to do, never mind what it had cost him. For protecting her still. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered.

‘You’re not to blame. You owe me nothing. And if you’re going to take that ring off, for God’s sake just do it!’ He looked more rattled than she’d ever seen him, and she’d seen him rattled a lot. He ran an unsteady hand through his hair. ‘I can’t stand to watch you playing with it. That’s my heart you’re holding in your hands.’

His outburst jolted her some way towards recognising how hard this conversation must be for him too. ‘You have to stop protecting me,’ she defended weakly, even as she clasped her hands behind her back. No fiddling with the ring. Just a vicelike grip of one hand over the tennis bracelet on her wrist.

He glared at her with stormy eyes. ‘I will never not protect you.’

‘Truth is important,’ she said next. ‘Especially in a marriage.’

‘How important?’ His gaze didn’t leave hers. ‘If your father says he pulled that trigger I’ll call him a crazy old coot and a liar to his face. If I’m not measuring up to some ideal you have in your head about what you want in a man and truth in marriage, walk away. Run. Because this is who I am.’

‘I—’ If she believed her father—and she did—she also had to believe that the two most important people in her life had been lying to her all along. Judah was still lying to her. ‘I’m so confused.’

‘It’s really pretty simple from where I’m standing. You either understand where I’m coming from or you don’t.’

She was confused and shattered. Judah was lying about who pulled that trigger. She knew he was lying. He knew she knew he was lying. But he wouldn’t stop. ‘I need time. I don’t know what to think.’

He rose from his chair and headed for the interior door that led to a hallway inside the house. ‘Let me know what you decide.’

‘Wait!’

He stopped.

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