Page 52 of River Legacy
That shocked her the most. She’d actually thought CJ wanted the ranch because it meant something to him. But now she had no doubt that he was going to force her to turn it over to him so he could sell it. Had she really believed he could change? Or had she thought she could control him?
She was wrong on both counts, she realized, blood hammering in her temples. She could feel the minutes ticking away while she stood, saying to herselfThis is your son, as if she didn’t believe she could have given birth to this monster. Or was he right and she had made CJ like this?
“Mother?” he said, glancing pointedly at his watch.
One look into the icy-cold depth of eyes so like her own and she had to stifle a shudder. “Let me see the papers.”
He turned to walk back to his pickup, opened the door and pulled out an envelope. Of course he had them all ready for her to sign. He’d planned this and probably had from the moment she’d said she would get him out of jail, out of the charges against him, if he could change. How he must have laughed at her foolishness, she thought as he turned back to her.
She wished she’d brought her gun or the bullwhip she always carried on her horse. But she knew her son. Even faced with a loaded gun and the promise of death, he wouldn’t have made the call to save Holden.
Her body trembled with fury and fear. She tried to still her hands from shaking as she took the papers and the pen he handed her and moved over to the hood of the SUV. Even if she hadn’t gotten him out of jail, he still would have done this, she realized. He couldn’t let her marry Holden because then he would have had no way of getting the ranch and the money.
Her eyes blurred for a moment. She blinked and swallowed the lump lodged in her throat. The document had been drawn up by an attorney. It all looked legal and binding. CJ was no fool. He knew what he wanted, and he’d gone after it his whole life, knocking down anyone who got in his way.
He’d fooled her for so long, playing on her lovefor him. He’d never gotten along with his siblings. She’d seen his cruel side and tried to love him more than the others believing he needed it more. Now she could admit that she’d pampered and protected him because she’d seen something in that little boy that broke her heart even as it scared her.
Neither of them were pretending now, she thought. He was no longer trying to con her to get what he wanted. The mask was off. He was everything that she’d feared, and she would have to live with whatever she did right now.
“Ticktock,” he said behind her.
She turned to the last page, knowing she was signing away the ranch she’d worked for her whole life. She’d thought her children and grandchildren would keep the ranch going long after she was gone. Once she signed these papers, the Stafford Ranch would be history. CJ would sell it. He’d probably already made a deal with Wendell Forester, she realized.
Closing her eyes for a moment because of the pain and the anger in her, she opened them and hurriedly signed the papers. “Make the call.”
He snatched up the papers, and suddenly she was terrified that he’d go back on his word. But surely he knew what she would do if he did. The document would have to be notarized and still she would have a three-day waiting period to change her mind. Their gazes locked for just an instant before he pulled out his phone and placed the call.
She noted how he didn’t have to tap in thenumber. He already had it ready because he knew she would sign. “Abort,” he said into the phone. “Got that? Good.” But he also must have known what she would do if he killed Holden.
He disconnected and folded the papers. “I’m sorry it had to be like this. We can finalize this in town.”
Charlotte couldn’t speak, her throat so tight she could barely breathe. “Why?”
He frowned, looking confused. “You’ve always known that I wanted the ranch for myself.”
“But you don’t really want the ranch. You just want the money.”
CJ seemed to consider that, then laughed. “Why pretend? You’re right. I want what’s mine, and then I’m out of here. You won’t ever have to see me again.”
She stared at him, wishing so much that things were different. That he was different. “You didn’t even try to change, did you?”
“Maybe if you had picked me up when I got out of jail, let me come home to the ranch... What am I saying? It probably wouldn’t have made a difference. But maybe I would have tried at least for a little while. Then you had to go and get engaged. You’re really throwing a big wedding? Don’t worry about sending me an invitation. I won’t be in town.” CJ folded the papers and smiled as he pocketed them.
She said nothing, feeling numb after her earlier fury and fear. She watched him pull out his phone and send a text.
“I should get going,” he said, looking almost uncomfortable. Maybe he still was capable of feeling shame, she thought. “Have to plan the rest of my life.”
Her heart lodged in her throat at the fear of who he’d just texted and why. Her family was still in danger. Holden was still in danger. “This isn’t just about the money or destroying the ranch, is it?” she said, fighting to breathe. Her chest felt on fire, her heart nothing but charred embers. “You can’t stand to see me with Holden or your sisters happy with men from the McKenna Ranch.”
CJ’s gaze snapped to hers, and she saw the answer she’d already known. He no longer tried to hide the truth, yet he still lied as if it came naturally. “Why would I care about the McKennas?” he spat out. “I’m leaving here, and I’m never looking back. Unless, of course, you do something ill-advised like try to have me arrested, then who knows what kind of damage I can do from behind bars? Otherwise, I’m leaving the country. You’ll never see me again.”
She didn’t believe him. She didn’t even think he believed it. He thought the money from the ranch would fill that hole where his soul should have been. She knew different. He couldn’t stand the thought that life would go on without him once he was gone and everyone would be happy and forget about him. He would destroy not just their livelihood but their lives before he was finished unless she stopped him.
When the money wasn’t enough, he would want to inflict pain, just as he was doing now. That waswhy he wasn’t going to kill her, even though he knew there was a chance she could have him locked up behind bars.
He’d taken the ranch, but she couldn’t let him take anything else from this family. He always said the two of them were alike. He had no idea.
“You realize I was forced to sign those papers under duress, therefore they aren’t legal,” she said, knowing he expected her to put up more of a fight.
