A Lover's Vow

“Quasar. Quasar Patterson.”

Dalton decided not to ask what Shep had kept him from doing. Instead, he asked, “And you’ve been guarding my brother? Jace?”

“Yes, ever since Roland told us what Shep wanted.” He chuckled. “Nice honeymoon, by the way. I enjoyed South Africa.”

“Let me make sure I understand what you’re saying,” Jules said.

Dalton rolled his eyes. Why did she feel the need to clarify anything? She wasn’t in the family, so she needed to just keep her mouth shut like she had been doing up to this point. He was about to say so, but when he glanced at Jace, he got his older brother’s warning glance and held his tongue.

“Are you saying that someone sent Sheppard Granger an email threatening to do bodily harm to his sons if they reopened his case?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Carson said, meeting Jules’s intense stare. “Sheppard immediately requested that I hire bodyguards. I agreed to do so with the understanding that if a situation came up in which I needed to reveal the truth to his sons, I could make that call.”

“And you made that call tonight,” Jules clarified, understanding completely.

“Yes. Bobby’s cover had been blown, so I had no choice.”

“Who wouldn’t want Jace, Caden and Dalton to reopen their father’s case?” Shana asked.

“Sheppard has no idea, but he wasn’t writing the email off as a prank. He loves his sons too much to do that.”

“So Quasar has been guarding Jace, Striker has been guarding Caden and Stonewall has been guarding Dalton?” Caden’s wife, Shiloh, confirmed.

“Except for tonight,” Stonewall answered. “I had personal business to tend to, and Bobby was my replacement.”

“And I made a mess of things,” Bobby said, with regret in his voice. “I should have been more cautious.”

“You were cautious,” Jules reassured him. “But I’m a private investigator and an ex-cop. I’m suspicious by nature. When Dalton arrived home, it was easy for me to pick up on the fact that you had followed him. Someone else might not have noticed. Dalton clearly didn’t.”

She would have to remind him of that in front of everyone, Dalton thought, frowning. He knew how to fix that. “Had I known you were parked outside in the cold waiting on me, Jules, I would have hurried home,” he said in a deliberately seductive tone.

“Yeah,” Bobby chimed in, grinning. “If you ask me, that was some kiss you laid on her before she could even get inside your house.”

Dalton frowned. Well,nobody asked him. He didn’t have to meet anyone’s gaze to know their eyes were on him and Jules. Speculating. Wondering. Assuming. He glanced over at Carson. It was time to get the conversation back on track.

“Regardless of that email my father received, we’re reopening his case. My brothers and I have already discussed it.”

Carson shook her head. “Sheppard won’t allow it. Like I said, he won’t take a chance with your lives.”

“Why would anyone not want Sheppard Granger cleared?” Jules asked, her mind turning with all kinds of questions. Dalton could see it in her eyes. Spinning like a whirlwind. Just like the name he’d given her.

“Only Sheppard can tell you why he assumes that,” Carson said after a brief hesitation.

“Doesn’t matter,” Dalton said matter-of-factly. “Dad has served fifteen years in prison too long. Granddad made us promise to do what we could to get him out.”

Carson shook her head. “Sheppard wouldn’t want you to do that. He’ll be eligible for parole in a few—”

“We don’t care about that,” Caden interjected. “He didn’t kill our mother, and it’s time we proved it.”

“He does not want the case reopened,” Carson stressed again.

“Do you think we’re wrong in wanting to clear our father?” Dalton asked.

“No, but my client doesn’t want—”

“What do you think?” Jace interrupted.

“It’s not what I think. It’s what my client wants.”

Jace didn’t say anything for a moment. He’d been observing Carson closely, especially during her exchange with Dalton and Caden, but mostly with Dalton as she kept repeating her client’s wishes. He must still be getting over the shock of learning that she was a woman... a very attractive woman. She was all business. Professional. Straight to the point.

Suddenly, something hit Jace in the gut, and he couldn’t help breaking into the conversation to say, “A client you’re in love with.”

The room fell quiet. Everyone stared first at Jace for having the audacity to make such a bold statement, then at Carson, who had yet to deny what he’d said.

Instead, she drew in a deep breath, met Jace’s direct gaze and said, “Yes. I’m in love with Sheppard Granger.”

Seven (#ulink_23b81a95-0822-58de-9794-a7eb60ceebef)

“I don’t like this,” Dalton said while pacing Jace’s office the next morning. “Dad should have returned our call by now.”

Caden, who was staring out the window with his hands shoved in his pants pockets, slowly turned around. “Did you honestly expect him to?”

Dalton stopped his pacing. “Yes, why wouldn’t he? You think Warden Smallwood didn’t get the message to him like he said he would?”

Caden braced his hip against the window ledge. “Oh, I’m sure he got the message, but it’s my guess that Dad’s planning his strategy.”

“What strategy?”

“How he plans to deal with us,” Caden replied, running a frustrated hand down his face.

Sitting at his desk, Jace leaned back in his chair and nodded. “I think you’re right, Caden.”

Dalton crossed his arms over his chest. “And why do you think he’s right?”

Jace stood and came around his desk to sit on the edge. “Think about it. We’re dealing with our father, Sheppard Granger. A man who ordered his attorney to hire bodyguards to protect us without letting us know. Bodyguards who even now refuse to back off until he gives the word. We’re dealing with a man who would gladly spend the rest of his days behind bars if he thought doing so would keep us safe. I figure Carson has contacted him. She’s told him about last night’s meeting, and now he’s trying to figure out how to deal with us.”

Caden left his place by the window to stand beside Jace. “And you heard Carson last night just like we did, Dalton. She was adamant about Dad not wanting us to reopen his case.”

Yes, Dalton thought, he had heard Carson; however, he’d been somewhat distracted. Jules’s presence had made it hard for him to concentrate for most of the meeting. After all, whether he wanted to give her credit or not, she had been the one to notice that Bobby had been tailing him. More than once, his attention had been drawn to her against his will. She’d taken off her coat last night, and the black skirt and red blouse she was wearing had grabbed his attention. For once, he’d regretted that red was his favorite color. He’d been aware every single time she’d shifted positions on the sofa. Hell, she’d even crossed those gorgeous legs and all he could think about was how it would feel to get between them. And although he hadn’t been close to her, that hadn’t stopped him from inhaling her scent. And the more her fragrance flowed through his nostrils, the more he’d thought about sex. The-fuck-through-the-night kind.

He jumped when Caden snapped a finger in his face. He frowned. “What did you do that for?”

“Because we were talking to you, asking you a question, and your thoughts were a million miles away.”

“Whatever,” Dalton said, not wanting to admit that they had been. “What question were you asking me?”

“What was Jules doing at your house after midnight?”