“He’s not a boy, he’s a man, and if he’d thought like a man, he wouldn’t have put himself in this position.”
“Answer me.” Laci propped her hands on her hips. “Please tell me you did not meddle in their relationship.”
“That’s exactly the problem. There shouldn’t have been a relationship. She’s a client. We have a hands-off policy and you know it. Without it, where’s the integrity? Trust me, it’s better this way. Less mess.”
“Sometimes life’s messy,” she said, slapping her oven mitt down. “And you of all people should know that. And while I understand that you have to do things to protect your reputation, if you can’t see that your brother is in love with that woman, you’re blind as a bat.”
He scoffed. “In love? Not hardly. I know you’re a romantic at heart and you like to play matchmaker but Rian’s a player, not a guy comfortable with a commitment. I’m doing that poor girl a favor.”
“Kane Dalton, that’s not your job to judge. Shame on you for being a meddling fool in business that’s none of your concern. You’re right, Rian is an adult, so you better let him make his own choices instead of bullying him into making choices that you think are right for him. He loves her. And you just made him break up with her. Sort of like when my daddy made you break up with me. How’d that make you feel?”
Damn the woman had a sharp tongue but a sharper mind. Was he making the same mistake? But Rian had known better! “Rian knew not to mess with a client,” he said stubbornly. “This is on him, not me.”
“Has Rian ever broken that rule before?” she asked, crossing her arms and glaring.
“No,” he had to admit.
“Then what makes you think he would lightly trip over something so big? He didn’t mean to fall in love, you big dolt. No one does. That’s the beauty of it. I spent a good portion of my time last night after dinner convincing that poor girl to take a chance and then you sent Rian to crush her heart, making me out to be a liar!”
Aw, hell. How was he supposed to know what the women were laughing and carrying on about in the kitchen after dinner? The tips of his ears burned but his stubborn tongue refused to admit he’d stepped over the line. Not that he had to. Laci was burning a hole in his head with that blazing fury directed straight at him. “This is just the way it has to be—”
“Bullshit. Don’t you go selling me a bag of goods when you know full well you screwed up and put your nose where it didn’t belong. I can’t believe you, Kane. Your brother is a good man and you need to trust that he can handle himself. And for the record, I like her. I like her a lot. She’s spunky and courageous and she isn’t put off by that Dalton obstinate streak that’ll likely be the death of you both!”
Laci scooped up her oven mitt and marched back to the kitchen, leaving him slack-jawed at the verbal ass-chewing she’d just given him. How am I the bad guy in this? He thought of Rian and how up to this point he’d never so much as crossed a toe over the line in spite of being a consummate player, always keeping things professional in spite of the aggressive women that sometimes waved their tails beneath his nose, and he realized he might’ve overreacted to the situation.
He took the last swallow of coffee in his mug and prepared to make amends, if only to get back in the good graces of his wife, but as he walked to the screen door and stepped out on the porch everything seemed to move in slow motion as shots rang out and CoCo, emerging from the barn, crumpled to the ground, and Rian dived to cover her fallen body with his own.
“Stay back!” he said to Laci when she came running. “Go to the bedroom and lock the door!”
Laci didn’t waste time arguing and fled up the stairs. He reached into the armoire by the door and pulled his gun. Who the hell was out there? And how did they find the ranch?
* * *
“WHAT THE HELL have you done?” Rian screamed, holding pressure against CoCo’s stomach where a fountain of blood was spilling onto the dust. He looked at the stranger walking toward him, the man’s gun pointed straight at him, but he didn’t care about dying. He’d let CoCo down. He’d brought her all the way to Kentucky and she’d been shot anyway!