LITMIR.BIZ

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was healthy and happy. That wasn’t what he said to Lauren, though. “Why are you asking?”

      “I need to see him. I need to see Gilly’s son.”

      That definitely wasn’t an answer.

      Cameron didn’t bother cursing again, but he did give her a flat look. “I’ll want to know a lot more about what’s going on. Start talking. Why are you here, and if you’re in some kind of trouble, why didn’t you call your brothers? Because I think you and I both know I’m the last person on earth you’d come to for help.”

      She didn’t disagree with that, but another sound left her mouth. A hoarse sob. And that was when tears sprang to her eyes. “Please, let me see him.”

      He wasn’t immune to those tears, and it gave him a tug of a different kind, one he didn’t want. “Tell me what’s going on,” Cameron repeated.

      Lauren frantically shook her head. “There isn’t time.”

      Cameron huffed in frustration. “Then make time. Is someone after you? And what does that have to do with Gilly’s son?”

      She stared at him, her mouth trembling now, and those tears still watering her eyes. “Someone tried to kill me.”

      That put him on full alert, and he automatically caught on to her arm and pulled her behind him. Cameron positioned himself in between her and the area where she kept glancing.

      “Keep talking,” he insisted. He didn’t see anyone out there, but the woods were fairly thick here. “When and where did this happen?”

      Again, no fast answer. Which it should have been. After all, a murder attempt should have been fresh enough in her mind that Lauren could have rattled off the details.

      “Last night,” she finally said. “Two armed men broke into my house in Dallas and shot me.”

      The profanity flew out of his mouth before Cameron could stop it, and he whirled around just as she pulled back the collar of her dark blue button-up shirt. There was a bandage there. A bandage covering what had to be a sensitive wound judging by the way Lauren winced when she moved her shoulder.

      “I’m okay,” she added. “Well, physically anyway. The bullet only clipped me, and I was able to get away from them.”

      Good. But that didn’t cause Cameron to feel any relief. “What about your son? Was he hurt?”

      “No. There was a panic room in the house, and I had his nanny take him there right after the burglar alarm went off. I didn’t manage to get in there in time before they got to me.” She paused, choked back a sob. “I heard them say they had orders to kill me. And it wasn’t a case of mistaken identity or anything. They said my name.”

      That did it. He took hold of her hand. “Come on. I’m taking you to Gabriel right now.”

      But Lauren pulled away from him. “No. Not yet anyway. Not until I know it’s safe. I also heard the men say they were cops.”

      Cameron stared at her. “Cops? Maybe. Criminals don’t always tell the truth, but even if they had, your brother’s not dirty.”

      Even though she didn’t come out and say it, she’d once suspected Cameron of being just that—dirty. He hadn’t been, but Lauren had deemed him guilty by association. Because he’d been friends with the family of the man who’d murdered her parents. If that friendship hadn’t existed, then her mom and dad might still be alive.

      Somehow, Cameron had never learned to live with that.

      “Gabriel and Jameson aren’t behind this,” she said. “Whatever this is,” Lauren added in a mumble. “But if those men were really cops and they know all about me, then they must figure I’d go to my lawmen brothers.” Another pause, and she dodged his gaze. “This is the last place they’d expect me to come.”

      True. It wasn’t exactly a secret about Lauren’s hatred for him. But that wasn’t hatred he was seeing in her eyes now. It was fear. Cameron was certain he was feeling some of that, as well. Fear for her. But there were still some very weird things going on.

      “Where’s your son now?” he asked.

      That was concern number one. Once Lauren and the child were safe, then he could work out the rest with her. The rest would include bringing in her brothers on this. No way would Gabriel and Jameson want to be left out when someone was gunning for their kid sister, and it didn’t matter if they were estranged from Lauren.

      She fluttered her fingers in the direction of the trail. “He’s in the car with the nanny. That’s why I can’t stay. I have to get back to him.”

      Yeah, she did, and Cameron would go with her. “Take me to him, and I can bring all three of you inside while we work this out.”

      She did more of that frantic head-shaking. “Not yet. Not until I know. Not until I’m sure I can trust you.”

      Cameron pulled back his shoulders. Trust had indeed been an issue between them in the past. Her trust for him anyway. But from what he could see in the depths of her eyes, this went beyond their past.

      “If you didn’t trust me, why come here?” he snapped. And he hated how much it stung that this bad blood was still between them.

      “I didn’t have a choice.” Her voice cracked. “I need to see Isaac.”

      There it was again—something else she’d said that didn’t make sense. Or maybe it did. Cameron hadn’t been with Gilly when she’d died from a blood clot less than twenty-four hours after giving birth. He’d still been on the road trying to get to her in Dallas. Lauren had been there, though. Maybe had even spoken to her since Lauren and his sister had remained friends. Not only that, they’d lived in the same city.

      “Did Gilly tell you something before she died?” It was the same tone he used to interrogate a suspect. Not an especially friendly one, but he wanted answers, and Lauren was going to give them to him now.

      Lauren’s mouth opened a little to let him know the question had surprised her. Well, welcome to the club. He’d been surprised by a lot of what Lauren had said.

      “No,” she answered after several long moments. “This isn’t about Gilly. This is about her son. Does he look like her or like his father?”

      Now it was Cameron’s turn to take a moment before he responded. “I never met his father, Trace Waters. Never wanted to meet him.”

      She made a sound of agreement, which meant Lauren knew that Trace had been abusive. Something that Gilly hadn’t told Cameron until it was too late for him to go to Dallas and beat the living daylights out of the moron for laying a hand on his kid sister. By the time Cameron had heard, Trace had disappeared. Then, several weeks after Gilly had died, someone else had taken it beyond the beating stage and had killed Trace in a drug deal gone wrong.

      “Trace’s mother, Evelyn, came to the ranch once,” Cameron explained. “She pulled a gun on me and demanded her son’s baby.” He felt his mouth tighten. “I don’t like it when people pull guns on me so I had her arrested. The moment she made bail I slapped her with a restraining order.”

      “And that worked? Evelyn stayed away?”

      He shook his head. “She tried to get on the grounds a couple of times, but the hands spotted her and stopped her. After the third time, she ended up in jail, where she’s spent the last four months.”

      Cameron hoped the woman would do something behind bars that would keep her there. He wasn’t concerned about losing custody to her. Gilly had made it clear to the hospital staff that she’d wanted Cameron to raise her son. But he didn’t want Evelyn to be a free woman so she could try something else stupid.

      “Does Isaac look like Gilly?” Lauren pressed. “Or anyone else in your family?”

      Cameron nearly said no, but Lauren wasn’t getting answers until he had some from

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