The Billionaires' Brides Bundle

“You were standing in the middle of the road—”

“Is standing in the road against the law in Texas?”

She was trying to control her fear or, at least, trying to mask it. And she was doing a fairly good job. The steadiness in her voice might have fooled him if he hadn’t seen the race of her pulse in the hollow of her throat.

“Trespassing on private property is.”

“That road isn’t private property. Besides, whatever happened to southwestern hospitality? I’m visiting. Surely that’s permitted in Texas.”

“All right. You made your point. Now do yourself a favor and go away before I—”

“Before you what?” Lucas jerked his head toward the stallion. “Before you get on the back of that beast and try to run me down again?”

“I did not try to run you down,” she said coldly. “If I had, you wouldn’t be here making an ass of yourself.”

“Such bravado,” he said softly.

“What do you want?”

“Why, what could I possibly want?” He reached out, ran a lazy hand down her throat; she jerked like a skittish mare under his touch. “Just a little chat.”

That put the balance of power back where it belonged. Fear blossomed in her eyes again.

“If you think I’m alone here—”

“Of course you’re not alone.” His voice was deliberately soft, his tone just this side of condescending. “There’s an old man up at the house who could surely help you—if he were thirty years younger. And there’s a boy. Well, there was a boy.”

Her face paled. “What have you done with Davey?”

Lucas gave a negligent shrug. “I took care of him.”

Her pupils widened, the darkness all but swallowing the blue fire of her eyes.

“Tell me what you’ve done with Davey.”

“Davey’s welfare is not your problem.”

Her chin lifted. She was defiant, despite her fear. He had to give her grudging credit for that.

“I sent him on an errand.”

“To where?”

“Damn it,” he growled, “the boy is fine! I’m not interested in discussing him.” He tightened his grasp on her wrist. “I’m talking about you, señorita. You could have killed me.”

“But I didn’t. That’s what matters. Bebé and I didn’t harm a hair on your head.”

“Bebé,” he scoffed. “A charming name for a behemoth.”

“If you hadn’t been standing in the middle of the road—”

“If you’d been in control of that monster—”

“Standing in the middle of the road, fooling around with a gadget anyone with half a brain would know couldn’t possibly work out here—”

“Nothing works out here,” Lucas snapped, “not even human courtesy. I was not, as you so generously put it, ‘fooling around’ with my phone. My car broke down, or didn’t you notice it by the side of the road?”

“Of course I noticed! I sent Davey back to get you.” Her eyebrows lifted. “Is that what you call that silly excuse for transportation?” she said sweetly. “A car?”