A part of her hungered for Ryan to tell her more about him. Her practical side warned she should just let it go and move on. She’d made her choice. She didn’t get to have it both ways.
The look on Dan’s face…
She relived his disappointment in her whenever she closed her eyes. All she wanted right now was to climb into bed and nurse her sore heart.
“Is there a point to this story?” she asked.
Ryan pulled the Mercedes out and passed a car that kept straying a little too far into the left-hand lane, as if its driver might be having difficulty staying awake.
“Yes. Dan’s been hurt by one woman already. I’d hate to see him get hurt again.”
She wondered if that was a threat. It had the feel of one, considering the source, and Ryan gave the impression of someone who’d have no problem carrying it through. She wasn’t easily intimidated, however. Besides, her status with Dan was none of his business.
“You give me too much credit,” she said.
“I’m giving all the credit to Dan. I know him. If he cares about you, and I think he does, he’ll stand by you no matter how damaging your connections might be to him.”
She processed his words. It took her a second. Then, rage blistered inside her as she figured it out. “You had me investigated.”
He didn’t deny it. “I like you, Jazz. You’re okay. But your brothers are thugs. Todd lives off hard-working women, then gets rough with them if they complain. You know that already, though, because you’ve bailed him out of jail a few times. But did you know Leo’s an off-the-books debt collector for a few of the casinos? I’m guessing you don’t.”
Disappointment in Leo mingled with her rage over Ryan’s high-handedness. She’d had hopes for her youngest brother. No wonder he quit asking for money. Then, guilt chased the disappointment away. He’d had no one to guide him, to help him make better life choices, and she’d let him down. She should have been there for him.
“And your mother.” Ryan was shaking his head. “She’s something else. She sued three different men over your paternity and still couldn’t come up with a winner. Did you know she did hit one for Leo? Rehab’s expensive, though. I’d imagine she’s getting desperate for money again, now that Leo’s an adult and the child support payments have stopped.”
Her face was so hot she feared her cheeks might split open. There was nothing like having her secrets tossed out and dissected with such clinical detachment. “You’re an asshole.”
“I really am,” he said frankly, not at all bothered by her opinion of him. “There’s no point in playing games with each other, so here’s the deal. Dan wants you, but he doesn’t need your family, too. How much would it cost me to make them go away?”
The nerve was breathtaking. She squinted at him. “Are you trying tobribeme?”
“God, no.” Ryan’s dark eyes went almost comically wide. “I’m trying to help Dan. You’re acting like somebody died. Since I took on over four hours of driving because he was desperate to see you, and I got three texts while you were in the washroom telling me to make sure you’re okay, if something went wrong between you, it must be your fault. Face it, Jazz. Dan’s the best guy you’re ever going to meet. Your family is pretty much the only sticking point that I’ve found. I can fix that. Then you can both be happy.”
Jazz massaged her eyes with her fingers. She was tired, she was upset, and inclined to become giddy over the ridiculous turn this conversation had taken. As far as Ryan was concerned, whatever Dan wanted, he was going to get. “His makes yours look like a Disney movie,” Dan had said about Ryan’s childhood.
The giddiness grew worse. “I’m not a commodity. You can’t buy me,” she said.
“But I can buy off your family. Am I right?”
As much as she hated to admit it, he wasn’t wrong. “They’d be back as soon as the money runs out.” She spoke from experience.
“No, they wouldn’t.”
His hands were relaxed on the leather-wrapped steering wheel. His face reflected a sinister calm that gave her the creeps. He was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—reasonable and sane one moment, then all of a sudden, scary as hell. She might be better off taking her chances on the side of the highway at four o’clock in the morning than driving any farther with him. Who knew where she’d end up? Only his friendship with Dan kept her from demanding he stop the car and let her get out.
“There’s no need to buy off my family,” she said. “I’m here until October. Then I’m gone.”
“Are you sure about that? You could have a permanent job in Grand if you wanted it. You’re a firefighter. The town would hire you. And every season, the base manager position would be yours again. You’ve earned it.”
“I don’t need Grand. I have a job in Helena and I’ve applied for a permanent position at McCall.”
“McCall is already a well-established training base. I can’t see you spending the next thirty or forty years riding on someone else’s achievements. Where’s the challenge in that? Why not give McCall a run for its money and turn Custer County into the best training base in the country? Then, the credit’s all yours.”
It bothered her that Ryan had figured out the challenge McCall posed was a large part of what had made her apply for that position. It bothered her even more that she was tempted by the alternative he offered.
The sign for the turnoff to Grand leaped out from the tunnel of darkness ahead. In a few minutes, she’d be home. No, that was wrong. The base wasn’t home—it was more of a haven. Home was a place she’d only ever tried to escape from, not to.
And yet it continued to find her. Even worse, if what she suspected was true, then her family had attracted the attention of something far bigger and a great deal more ruthless. The O’Reillys were little more than petty thieves—grifters, at best. Ryan’s family, on the other hand…
Dan, what have you gotten yourself into?
“I’ll think about it,” she lied.