Page 40 of Deceit & Desire

“Come back to the house right fucking now and I’ll show you what’s wrong.”

“I’ll be right there.”

I chewed on a hangnail, viciously tugging it off and wincing when it pulled down into the quick, pacing furiously around dad’s office as I waited for Roman to ride back to the house. Pausing only long enough to drain my cup of coffee, long gone cold, I shuddered at the unpleasant sensation and fired off a quick text to Kat.

Zoe

Please be sure you pack my desktop coffee warmer.

I locked my phone, shoved it back in my pocket, and stalked over to the French doors, staring out them, watching for Roman. A dust cloud in the distance announced his approach. Then I saw him crest the hill on his big, black stallion. My heart squeezed at the sight of him riding toward the house like a bat out of hell.

I wished to high heaven that I didn’t have bad news for him again so soon, but here we were, and it seemed like bad news was the only kind of news I was in the business of delivering lately.

He’d mentioned discrepancies in the books when we were talking to the vet, but these weren’t just discrepancies. What I’d just found was blatant theft, and I was stunned that Daddy had missed it. When he got close, I grabbed the financial reports off Dad’s desk and rushed downstairs to meet him just as he burst in the door.

“What is it, baby? Are you hurt? Did Michael Carter or my mother come back?” Roman was wild-eyed as he rushed to me, taking my face in his hands.

I shook my head and held up the financial reports. “I’m not hurt, baby, not physically, but this is a real fucking gut punch. Someone is embezzling money from the ranch, Roman.”

I could have sucker punched Roman and he wouldn’t look any more stunned. Then, in an instant, his expression hardened with fury, his jaw set as he pulled me into a fierce, protective embrace. “Do you know who?”

I fisted my hands in his shirt, shaking my head. “No, but I have a hunch.”

Roman rubbed my back, still holding me close. “What do you want to do about it, darlin’?”

I stretched leaned my neck from side to side, cracking it in both directions to release some of the pent-up tension building at the base of my skull. “I want to go see Dad’s accountant. Can the other cowboys get by without you for the rest of the day, baby? I’m going to need you to keep me from going ballistic when we go see this asshole, if I’m right.”

Roman took a deep breath and nodded, leaning back just enough to look me in the eye, his dark gaze steady and unwavering. “They’ll manage. Let’s go take care of this.”

I nodded, stalking over and grabbing my purse off the coat rack by the door. “You drive. I’ve got some important phone calls to make on the way over there because this hunch I have is strong. I’m taking a gamble that it’s right, and we better pray to God I’m not wrong because if I am… well… I might catch some nasty backlash if I am. But I don’t think I am.”

Roman grabbed my arm and tugged me to a halt, frowning down at me. “Shit, baby, I don’t love the sound of that.”

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot on the floor, itching to hit the road. “Do you trust my gut and my head for business, considering that you made biannual visits to Miami to… check up on me?”

I almost said spy on me, but I thought better of it. No sense starting a fight right now when I needed him to have my back in the shitstorm we were both surely walking into.

Roman was quiet for a hell of a lot longer than I would have liked before he finally nodded. “Yes. I trust your gut implicitly… and your head for business, too.”

I nodded and blew out a little sigh of relief I didn’t realize I was holding in. “Good, then let’s get going.”

I tugged the front door open and pulled my phone out of my back pocket as I led the way to Roman’s truck.

Since I’d been back in Montana and found out David Michaelson was interested in buying my father’s property, I did a little late-night Googling regarding his real-estate habits back in California and I had a pretty good read on the guy, now.

Sitting in the passenger seat, I watched the Montana landscape roll by as Roman focused on the road, his hands steady on the wheel. My fingers hovered over my phone, already dialing Stanley’s number. The line connected, and he picked up right away.

“Zoe? I didn’t expect to hear from you again so soon. What’s up?”

“Stanley, get Greg on this call,” I said, no time for pleasantries. Roman glanced over, one eyebrow raised, but I ignored him, keeping my attention on the task at hand. After a second, I heard the click as Greg joined the call. I put it on speakerphone so I wouldn’t have to explain to Roman what I’d done after the call was over with.

“Zoe, what’s going on?” Greg’s voice was calm, but I could hear the curiosity there.

I took a breath, steadying myself. “David Michaelson, the obnoxious action star who’s been harassing us trying to buy out my father’s ranch, has overextended himself on real estate back in California. His properties there are practically begging to be bought out—and we’re not going to miss the opportunity. Today, we’re going to start buying them out, piece by piece. Quietly. Discreetly. And fast.”

Stanley let out a low whistle. “So, we’re really doing this? Going straight for the jugular?”

“Absolutely,” I said, glancing over at Roman, who smirked, clearly enjoying this as much as I was. “Stanley, I need you to pull in every contact we have on the ground in California. They need to be ready to make moves as soon as a property opens. Michaelson can’t have any warning.”

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