Page 55 of River Legacy
She smiled at him, thankful for him. “We’ll see. What matters to me is our families and the people we care about. We have to keep them safe from CJ.”
“There’s only one way they’ll be safe from CJ,” Holden said angrily.
Charlotte knew he wasn’t talking about having her son thrown back in jail, but Elaine didn’t.
“He can get to everyone from jail or prison,” Elaine said. “Brand got shot and Oakley’s new house could have burned down. CJ had an alibi for both. He’s not doing his own dirty work. He has people to do that, so he can hurt people evenif behind bars. He told Charlotte as much, and I believe him.”
He cursed under his breath. “Lottie, I’ve known you my whole life. This isn’t like you to just accept this situation without a fight. I don’t understand how he could get you to sign those papers.”
“I already knew that he was behind the so-called accidents with Brand and Oakley,” she said and raised her gaze to lock with his. “CJ told me that he had someone ready to kill you if he didn’t call them within a few minutes.”
“You thought it was Treyton,” Holden said with a curse.
“I don’t know if it was him, but he’s involved,” she said. “I hate to be the one to tell you that.”
“Oh, Lottie,” he said and reached for her hand and squeezed it. “I have known for a long time now that Treyton is involved in illegal activities. I’ve suspected he and your son have been working together. They need to be stopped.”
She could see how badly he wanted to take care of Treyton and CJ himself. “Right now, it’s just the loss of the ranch. I can live with that. The other... I can’t. I don’t think you can either.”
He nodded and rose. “Then, we better start telling the family before they hear about it from someone else. I always worried that our rivalry might end in a war that could get our kids killed.”
“That’s why we have to keep that from happening. That means not telling them the truth. They have to believe that I sold the ranch.”
Holden shook his head. “Your sons may never forgive you.”
“That’s a chance I’ll have to take. If they knew that CJ blackmailed me...” She didn’t have to finish. Both Elaine and Holden knew what would happen.
Chapter Eighteen
“What’s wrong?” Ryder said as he joined Vicky outside the hospital. She looked pale and shaken, her eyes full of tears. “Vicky?”
She looked up at him and shook her head before wiping at her tears. “I just talked to my father. He said he’s already purchased your ranch.”
“What?That’s not possible. Why would he say that?”
“He told me he was sorry,” she said, her voice full of emotion. “I believe him, that he’s sorry and that it’s true. He now owns Stafford Ranch.”
Ryder was shaking his head as he stepped back, knowing there was only one way it could be true. He pulled out his phone and called his mother’s number. She answered on the second ring. At just the sound of her voice, the truth came crashing down on him. His legs went weak as his heart threatened to pound from his chest.
“You didn’t,” he said into the phone. “You wouldn’t. How could you?”
“Ryder, you have to understand—”
He disconnected, feeling as if a mountain had been dropped on him. For a moment, he didn’tknow what to do. “She sold it. No,” he said, realizing what had happened. “She gave it to CJ, and he sold it to your father.”
She nodded. “I wish there was something I could do.”
Shaking his head, he couldn’t look at her as he said, “I’m sorry, but I have to ask. Tell me you had nothing to do with this.”
“You know I didn’t,” she said, her voice breaking. “I only came back to the ranch because I thought I could stop it. I thought my father wouldn’t do it if he knew that I’d fallen for you. But he...” She swallowed and couldn’t seem to go on.
Ryder raised his gaze, took in the devastated look on her face and knew she was telling the truth. He had wanted to believe what Claude had said about her because he was getting too involved with her. He had kept telling himself that it could only end in heartbreak. He’d been scared, wanting to push her away—just as he did now.
He reached for her, dragging her to him to hold her tightly. She wasn’t her father. She knew what the ranch meant to him. Her heart was breaking for him. He could see all of that as she hugged him back.
“This is my fault,” she said against his chest. “If I hadn’t involved you at the airport—”
“This isn’t your fault,” he said as he released her. “Your father was already after the ranch. That’s why I was at the airport. I thought if I told him to back off, he would. You and I just got caught up in familypolitics. This is my mother’s doing. She’s the only one who could sell the ranch. She did it for CJ. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
