Shephard (Mountain Men of Danger Falls #1)

Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

D enise

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Maggie exclaimed from behind me as soon as I headed for her front door.

I’d been relegated to staying with her the last few days. Not that she wasn’t an amazing host and a damn good cook, but I couldn’t stand not doing anything. I’d worked today, even ignoring the rules and going by my cabin just to make certain it hadn’t been blown up or there were dead bodies strewn all over the lawn.

Pepper sensed my tension even now, whining from a couple of feet away.

“I can’t stand it any longer, Mags. I should never have allowed him to do this alone.” A rumble of thunder forced me further onto the edge of what sanity I had left. The rain had already started. I could hear it pinging against the windows. I was wringing my hands, glancing at the door every few seconds in some crazy hope he would ring the doorbell. I couldn’t face the fact I was terribly worried, my gut telling me something horrible had happened to him.

Yes, he had his two brothers with him and all three were trained, but against a wacko like Boris the Butcher and whatever assholes he’d brought with him?

Maggie snorted. “We both need another drink. He is well trained. He was a mercenary after serving in the Marines. You do remember that?”

“Of course I do, but you haven’t read the limited information I found on Boris. He’s a nutcase. He’ll stop at anything to get his revenge on all those who went against him.”

“He’s also sixty-three years old and spent several brutal years behind Russian prison walls. From what I know, their prisons are nothing like some of the posh hotels we have here. He’s not the butcher he once was.”

“You don’t understand men like that. Nothing can stop them. They feed off abusing people.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to make you think about Jameson,” Maggie said softly.

“Jameson is a baby in comparison to the Butcher.” Maybe so but pain came from many sides.

I threw her a look and folded my arms across my stomach. Everything inside of me ached. She was already pouring us another drink. At this point, I wasn’t certain I could stomach anything, the nausea was so bad.

“What if he doesn’t make it out of there alive?” I asked, which was the same question that had run through my mind at least a hundred times. I’d asked it out loud at least twice.

She slowly turned her head, her hands already wrapped around the two glasses. “Why didn’t I notice before? My God.”

“What?”

“You’re in love with the man.”

“It’s not love at all. It’s…” Heat instantly rose on my face and I laughed nervously.

“Yes, it is. Admit it.” Maggie was happy, excited for me, and I was certain the man was lying dead in a pool of blood.

“I don’t know.”

“Liar. You love him. That’s fabulous. Now you can finally be rid of that asshole.”

I hadn’t told her too much about the jerk’s visit. At least Jameson had followed Shephard’s advice by getting the hell out of town. That meant nothing. I knew he would still try to destroy me any way he could. His fiancée was the daughter of the state’s governor. It was a situation that he needed to advance his disgraced career. I knew it instinctively.

“Maybe. Hopefully. I just…”

“And you’re stuttering. Yep. You are in love, girl. I’m all for it, even if you haven’t known the brooding mountain man that long.” She handed me the drink and I almost dropped the glass.

“Why didn’t I go with him?” Another clap of thunder was so loud I jumped.

“It’s going to be okay and you didn’t go because it’s dangerous, over your pay grade. Besides, you’ve had a busy week with getting Cane fired, saving several tourists, berating the sheriff until he finally agreed to send a brigade of deputies, ignoring the rules, and falling in love with a dreamy dude. Drink.”

At least she could still make me laugh. No, I wasn’t head over heels in love with the man.

But I was getting there.

As soon as the brutal knock interrupted the moment, I shoved the drink back into her hand, taking two long strides toward the door. When Pepper growled, my heart sank. I almost couldn’t open the door. When I did, the sight of Hunter and Jagger standing in the doorway brought a wave of agony. They were soaking wet, pained expressions on their faces.

“No. No!”

“Move the fuck aside,” the deep voice snarled and Shephard came barreling through. He grabbed me around the waist, jerking me into the air. The crush of his heated body was unlike anything from before.

“You’re wet,” I exclaimed, unable to find any other words.

“Isn’t that something I’m supposed to say, sweetheart?”

I pummeled my fist against his shoulder. He was so callous, ignoring all sense of logic. I wanted to be furious with him, but I was so relieved, tears sprang to my eyes.

There were such deep emotions between both of us, the crackle of electricity having nothing to do with the horrible weather.

“I thought something happened to you,” I said. It was tough holding back the tears, but I was determined.

“Nothing will ever happen to me, sweetheart. I’m invincible.” He crushed his lips over mine, squeezing me even more tightly than before.

“Here we go again. Don’t you guys have another house to cohabitate and do the hanky-panky in?”

Shephard barely broke the kiss, holding up his middle finger to his brother. Yet his eyes never left mine. “Just because you saved my life doesn’t mean shit.” He even flashed one of his tough guy looks at the both of them.

I glanced at Jagger then Hunter. Shephard wasn’t kidding. Whatever had happened, the man I… was falling in love with wouldn’t be standing here today if it hadn’t been for family.

Maybe giving my mother a call later was something I would do. I’d been so afraid to tell her much of anything, praying Jameson would leave my family alone.

I gently eased his face back so he’d be looking at me and no one else. “Just kiss me, cowboy mountain man.”

“Christ,” Hunter breathed.

As Shephard thrust his tongue inside my mouth, I heard Maggie issuing several oohs and aahs. After all the exclamations I’d made regarding giving up men totally, I was glad I hadn’t taken my own advice.

Even if Mr. Grumpy had been a tough nut to crack.

Yet, I’d do it all over again.

Shephard

“You’re sure about the information Denise collected? I mean she double checked so we’re not going to accuse the wrong person?” Hunter was suddenly full of the warm and fuzzies. He’d been that way in the week since I’d almost been shot and killed by Boris.

“You don’t know Denise. Bulldog in the making.” I glanced over the file that I’d added to recently. There was no denying the evidence she’d collected, including using the person’s desktop webcam to capture two transactions of theft. Coupled with the family troubles and depleted bank account, it left little room for doubt.

I wanted to have more compassion, but for all the changes I’d seen in myself, losing my edge or tough demeanor wasn’t one of them.

“Then the plan is in motion?” Jagger asked.

“Yes. A half an hour from now. It should be interesting.” Interesting wasn’t the correct word. I wasn’t certain I was happy with how Denise was going to handle it, but she’d managed to convince me. “Hunter, I hope you’re ready to put something on Indeed and other sites.”

“I know some people,” he told me. “Let me handle it. You handle the woman.”

I couldn’t help but smile to myself. In the last two weeks, the woman had taught me a hell of a lot of things. Granted, I’d taught her a few things as well. We might not be a match made in heaven, our bantering continuing, but what we shared was pretty damn special.

“So which house?” Hunter asked.

“What?” He broke me away from a few filthy fantasies I’d been shifting toward. “What do you mean?”

“Now that the living room has been repainted at her cabin, which house will the two of you live in?” he clarified.

Laughing, I dropped the file on the thief, lifting a single eyebrow as I looked at him. “She’s fiercely independent. I don’t think she’ll budge on giving up her place. Plus, I have a feeling I’m getting on her nerves.”

“A match made in heaven.” Jagger grinned. It was interesting that I’d spent more time with the man since the incident with Boris. He wasn’t such a bad guy after all.

“You know what? We are,” I agreed.

The sharp knock on the door had me rolling my eyes. What now? When our assistant flew in after not waiting for one of us to answer, I could tell she was bothered. All three of us figured out why almost instantly as Pops stormed into the room.

“That’s all, Alicia,” he told her as if the man was still in charge.

She looked at me first, her mouth twisting in obvious frustration. “It’s okay, Alicia. We’ll be fine,” I told her.

Dad slammed the door after her and I moved onto the other side of my desk. This should be good.

“First of all, you’re not going to interfere with my retirement. Your mom and I are headed to Florida then to the Caribbean and we don’t need to deal with any shit. You boys got that?”

There was the father all three of us remembered. Hardnosed. But we were just like him.

“No worries, Pops. We have a handle on the resort,” I told him. The truth was that we did. It was amazing what you could accomplish when you allowed teamwork to occur.

He seemed put off by my statement, opening his mouth twice before retorting. “Good. Glad to hear it. Now, listen up, boys. I’m only going to say this once and we’re never talking about this again.”

Jagger threw me a look, his brow furrowing even though he was grinning.

“Fair enough,” I also answered.

“I was a young guy working at a boxing joint, getting in a few rounds whenever I could. I thought I was going to be the next Muhammad Ali, which was bullshit. But I was an aggressive kid with too much testosterone. I got noticed by a couple guys who came in every so often. They offered me a job.”

“As an enforcer,” Hunter filled in.

Pops started laughing. “No, kid. As a glorified gopher. Sure, I was given a wealthy man’s wardrobe because that’s what they required. I even had a nice car and for a kid from the other side of the tracks, I thought I was a fuckin’ king. Anyway, I moved up from there to other positions, finally making it to the executive level. Did the shit the company did always follow the rules? Nope. I ain’t gonna lie because your mother tells me it’s a sin.”

It was obvious he wasn’t willing to tell us the name of the company or many details. That was fine by me at this point. I was finished with a complicated life.

Or so I hoped.

He glared at each one of us, daring us to challenge him. The other two remained quiet as well. “We made money hand over fist. So much fucking money we were idiots with it. I’d already met and fallen in love with your mother. If she hadn’t stopped me, I would have spent it all on shit. We bought a house with the perfect yard like she wanted. Then you came along, Shep, and I learned to be more cautious with our funds. Meanwhile, the other members at the company were becoming reckless, breaking law after law. Your mother begged me to get out before it was too late.”

“So you did, but in your way,” I suggested. “You provided information to the Feds?”

“Not like that! Hell, no.” Pops shook his head. He looked stronger than normal, the limited time off good for him. “I was already walking away, the payout I received from the other executive team providing me with significant funds that would keep your mother and me happy for the rest of our lives. Then the shit happened, the CEO and his family slaughtered. I met with the others one last time and we all agreed to disband the company before anyone could pick it apart. Not that they cared at that point. We went our separate ways.”

“That’s when you fled to Montana,” Hunter said.

“I was no fool. I had a feeling there were more targets on the list. So I left and your mother always loved the west so we moved to start a new life.” Pops was daring one of us to challenge him.

The story was awfully neat and tidy, but I decided it was best for the family to leave it alone.

Jagger was the one who wasn’t in the mood to buy his story. I could tell by his wry expression. “How much money did you get at the time?”

Pops appeared irritated and I was surprised he answered. “About a million dollars. I also had stocks that I was counting on, but they tumbled when the CEO was murdered. They were worth nothing. That’s how the ranch went bankrupt. I’d counted on the funds.”

“A million dollars, huh. You’re right, you went bankrupt in Montana and suddenly managed to buy this place and without investors.”

I stared at Jagger. This was the first I was hearing about this. He’d done his own search and rescue mission so to speak. What else was the man hiding? Or was he playing our father?

The way Pops huffed told all three of us he wasn’t willing to tell us the absolute truth. “You know what you need to know. I’m no criminal. But I am a man eager to get home for a tall scotch. Take care of the resort, boys.”

Another knock on the door and I rubbed my jaw to hide the laughter. Yep. Pops was hiding the full truth, but what the hell? What did it matter now?

Dad opened the door and as usual when the beautiful vixen walked into a room, my balls tightened. This time, she was wearing a bright red dress. Her long hair had been styled with curls, her makeup entirely different than I was used to seeing.

“Wow,” Jagger said, and he threw up his hands to keep me from lashing out.

“Miss Parker,” Pops said to her.

“Yes.”

I wasn’t entirely certain which one of the four of us was more shocked when my father, the grumpiest man alive actually lifted her hand, kissing her skin with tender loving care.

“You’re the beautiful woman who captured my son’s heart. Maybe you can break the icy shell he has around him. It would be nice to have a family again. Maybe a grandchild on the way.”

Jagger coughed while Hunter walked away to keep from laughing in front of us.

I just stood my ground, waiting to see how the feisty woman handled the comment.

As expected, she gave him a playful look and even altered her stance into becoming a sexpot. “Don’t worry, Mr. Fox. I have your son on a very short leash. Very short.”

“That’s good to hear. And you can call me Dad.” He walked out the door without telling us goodbye and my brothers couldn’t hold back their laughter.

“Does he know something I don’t know?” she asked.

“Yeah, brother. What aren’t you telling us?” Jagger pushed as he clapped me on the back.

“Get out of here,” I growled more playfully than I was used to doing.

She gave me a haughty look. “Come on, boys. I’ll take you somewhere special.”

When she dared motion to my brothers, I issued a more primal growl.

“You are not going anywhere, woman.”

Hunter laughed and pulled Jagger toward the door. “That’s the way to handle them, bro. I don’t doubt you’ll be working on that grandchild tonight.” He closed the door behind them, but not before winking.

They thought they were so damn funny.

It was tough not to smile and for the first time in so long, the ability to do so without faking it felt damn good. I was lucky. I was free of the past.

For the most part.

There was always a chance an incident or another act of revenge would enter into my world, but I refused to allow that to alter everything I had.

Yeah, I was one lucky man.

“Come here,” I told her, even beckoning her with a single finger.

“And if I don’t?” Denise cooed.

“Then you’re going to have one sore bottom.”