LITMIR.BIZ

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Sophia gave Hunter a shake of the head. “Luke?”

      “Yes, ma’am. I saw him going into the house an hour ago. Luke’s back.”

      Ten

      A knot formed in Sophia’s stomach as she parked her Camry by the ranch house garage. She sat in the car a minute, still unsure what to do about Luke. If Logan was home, maybe he’d already had a conversation with him. Or maybe he’d left that privilege for her. Sophia had wanted a little more time with Logan. And after her visit from Gordon today, she’d hoped she could be honest and up-front about things he didn’t want to talk about. She’d hoped she could make headway with him. It would require faith and trust on both their parts.

      Sadly, she still didn’t have a clear definition of her relationship with Logan. And she still didn’t know what she would say to Luke. She got out of the car and made her way toward the house, wondering if she could find the right words. Deep in thought, she climbed the steps and entered the house, closing the door behind her.

      Instantly, two booming male voices resounding from the long hallway stopped her cold. She couldn’t make out the words, but she certainly knew harsh tones when she heard them. And it was clear that Logan and Luke were butting heads again. When she heard her name mentioned, Sophia moved down the hallway, compelled by a force stronger than good etiquette allowed to secretly listen to the two men she cared most about. She leaned against the outside wall of Logan’s office, out of sight.

      “You’re telling me that Sophia has moved into the house?” Luke’s voice was full of his displeasure.

      Logan’s impatient words rang out. “I told you about the threats at the cottage.”

      “So she’s here for her own safety?”

      “There’s more. We’re not going to tiptoe around now that you’re home.”

      “Meaning what?”

      Logan’s voice carried a distinct certainty. “Meaning she’s with me now.”

      There was a long pause, and Sophia squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t know what to expect from this conversation. Logan hadn’t been subtle or taken the time to ease Luke into the idea.

      “You son of a bitch.” Disbelief reverberated off the walls. “You’re sleeping with her.”

      “That’s right, Luke. It’s a mutual arrangement.”

      Again there was a long pause as Luke absorbed that for a minute. Sophia didn’t know if she should make her presence known, but his next words made her rethink revealing herself until she’d heard Logan’s answer.

      “So then you’ve forgiven her of all crimes? You don’t think she’s out for our money?”

      “I didn’t say that.”

      “You’re not cutting her any slack, are you?” Luke asked angrily.

      “I’m watching our backs, Luke.”

      “You’re going to hurt her and if you do, I’ll—”

      “I’m making damn well sure you don’t hook up with her.

      You’d be foolish enough to fall in love with her. At least with me, I know that’ll never happen. I’m protecting our interests.”

      “You’re a bastard, Logan.” Luke’s words were sharp, cutting. “Sophia deserves better than that.”

      Logan lashed back, “Yeah, what do you know? You didn’t wake up one night and wander into the barn as a kid to find our father, the esteemed Randall Slade, sprawled over her mother in the tack room. The two of them were going at it—”

      Sophia gasped. Stunned, she moved on shaky legs into the office doorway. The Slade men both looked up at the same time, shocked to see her standing there in full view.

      She felt the blood drain from her face. Her body went limp as she faced Logan. She’d overheard everything. Logan had never cared for her. He’d never fall in love with her. She took a swallow, having to look deep into his eyes and hear him repeat the one thing that brought it all together. The one thing that proved his wicked deception.

      “The t-tack room, Logan?”

      Logan’s hard eyes softened. “Sophia.”

      Luke let out a curse. “Don’t listen to him, Sophia. He’s an—”

      “Answer me, Logan,” she demanded, raising her voice. Luke wouldn’t understand why this was so devastating to her. “You saw our parents together in the tack room?”

      Logan blinked and began shaking his head. “You weren’t meant to hear this conversation.”

      Sophia couldn’t breathe. Her chest pounded and her stomach twisted in agony. She’d never felt so completely betrayed. This was all a game to Logan—and a way to keep her away from Luke. He must have had a good long laugh over it when he seduced her in the very place he’d found his father making love to her mother. She was at a loss so profound a cold wave wrapped around her body and threatened to freeze her out. It was as if the light beaming inside her died. She was numb and brokenhearted, but forces from deep within would not allow her to walk out of here until Logan heard the truth.

      “First of all, Luke is right. You’re a bastard.”

      Logan flinched, which gave her a measure of satisfaction. The man wasn’t made entirely of stone. If her words cut him, they were only a tiny tear, unlike the way she’d been ripped apart.

      “You’ve never wanted to hear the truth about your parents. I’ve wanted to tell you but I thought I should wait until I had your trust. But I see now I’ll never have that. Luke, you should know this, too. When your mother and father married it was more an arrangement to bring two powerful ranching families together. There was never great passion between them. Randall married because she’d gotten pregnant with you. He didn’t love her the way she wanted to be loved though. The way every woman deserves to be loved. But your mother and father did merge the ranches and did build a family together.”

      Sophia put her head down. She couldn’t bear to see the look of pain in Logan’s expression. After a few seconds, she forged on. He needed to hear this. Even if he didn’t believe her, she owed this to her mother and to herself. She faced Logan again, looking him straight in the eyes, holding back her tears. “When we came to live at the ranch, there was nothing between my mother and your father but mutual respect. Over the years, they grew closer and fought the attraction with everything they had but eventually they fell deeply in love. My mother was tormented. I would hear her crying during the night. Often she’d speak of leaving the ranch, of finding another job somewhere else. But I loved living here. I loved it so much and I couldn’t understand at the time why my mother wanted to leave. I pleaded with her to stay on. I couldn’t bear the thought of not living at the cottage or on Sunset Ranch. So we stayed.”

      Early memories of her mother’s sadness were fresh in her mind. Sophia remembered her mother crying and the defeat in her voice in those brief moments when she’d let her guard down. It had been a painful time for her. “Your father was set to divorce Ivy. It wasn’t an easy decision for him but he’d been determined. My mother stopped him. She wouldn’t allow Randall to break up his family for her. Everyone thought that Ivy found out about their affair and fired my mother. But the truth was that my mother went to Ivy to apologize. She offered to move away so that she and Randall could patch up their relationship and keep the family together. Mama always told me she’d done the right thing. She couldn’t have lived with herself if she’d broken up your family. She never took a penny of Randall’s money and she made him promise to never follow her. To my knowledge he never did.”

      “But he did provide for you in his will,” Luke pointed out.

      The room got quiet. Logan’s face masked his emotions.

      “My mother loved Randall Slade with her whole heart and she

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