Descent (Steel Brothers Saga 15)

I parked my truck and walked to her door.

It was a modest suburban house, one of several she owned throughout Colorado. Her mother and father still lived in Snow Creek, but her father wasn’t in good health. Wendy planned to move her mother in with her once her father passed away.

That would be interesting, but I had no doubt Wendy could continue to pull off her double life while living with her mother.

The woman could pull off anything.

Which was why I had to tread very carefully.

I walked to the front door and knocked.

She opened the door.

I half expected her to be naked. During our college years, she almost always answered her door naked.

Thank God she was fully clothed.

“I’ve been expecting you,” she said.

I nodded. She had…because I’d made sure she was. Staying one step ahead of Wendy Madigan was hard work, but it was work I had to do.

For Daphne.

For my children.

“I need answers,” I said.

She lifted her eyebrows so her blue eyes looked wide and innocent.

Innocent. I held back a scoff. She was anything but.

I walked into her house.

“I was just going to pour myself a glass of your lovely Steel Vineyards wine,” she said. “Would you like a glass?”

“No, thank you.”

“Your winemaker is a genius. So sad about what happened to his girlfriend back in college.”

Hold it together, Brad.

Wendy didn’t know I’d found out she’d been the mastermind behind the murders of Murph and Patty. Nothing I could do about it, anyway. Much better for me to play dumb.

“Ennis moved on with his life long ago.”

“Still, such a pretty little redhead. And then Sean, too. So sad.”

“You remember Sean well, don’t you? You held him at gunpoint, as I recall.”

She laughed it off. “That was so long ago. I was just a kid.”

Right. Holding someone at gunpoint was small potatoes for today’s Wendy. How well I knew.

“I trust the money made it into your account?” I said.

“Yes, thank you.”

“What else do you want?”

Again with the fake innocent look. “Why would I want anything else?”

“Because you already have five million dollars, Wendy. You have twenty times that amount.”

“Let’s just say I needed it.”

“For what?”

“You’ll find out.”

“For God’s sake. Tell me what my real punishment is, and let’s get it over with. I’m really tired of your cat-and-mouse routine.”

“How’s my son?”

The old sidestep. Damn, I was sick of her.

“Ryan’s fine.”

I refused to refer to him as her son. He was Daphne’s son, and she loved him as much as she loved her other two.

“I’d like to see him.”

“No. We made a deal.”

“I don’t care. I miss him.”

“Sorry. I will not waver on that. My son is my responsibility. You agreed to the terms.”

“You know… I’m still a young woman.”

“You’re thirty-three.”

“I want another child.”

“Then go fuck someone. Or go to a sperm bank. I don’t give a shit.”

Except that I did. God help the innocent kid that got saddled with Wendy Madigan for a mother. That was why I’d made the deal with her to keep Ryan with me. She would have fucked him up good.

“I only want your child, Brad.”

“He exists. He’s just not yours.”

“I want one of my own.”

“I will not go there again. It nearly destroyed Daphne.”

“Too bad it didn’t.”

Anger surged through me like red fire. I held myself in check. I wouldn’t get what I’d come for if I played into her games.

She walked forward then and grabbed at my crotch. “No one ever turned you on like I did.”

I slapped her hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

“That night in your office, when we made our son. You didn’t want to make love to me, but you got hard. So hard. You can’t resist me, Brad. You never could.” She glanced down. “You’re erect already. I can tell.”

I wasn’t, but why not let her think I was? Maybe I could get the truth out of her.

“My body responds like any other man’s.”

She shook her head, a sly smile on her lips. “Your body has always responded to me, and mine to you. We were always meant to be, Brad. We will be together one day.”

“Maybe one day”—when pigs fly—“but not today.”

“I suppose that’s something.”

“You can keep up hope,” I said, “but I guarantee you we’ll never be together if you don’t level with me.”

“Ah, yes,” she said, the sly smile still snaking across her face. “Your punishment. You did break a promise to me.”

I said nothing. I wasn’t going to apologize for making love to my wife. I wasn’t going to apologize for getting her pregnant. I was thrilled about the baby.

“The five mil. What’s it for?”

“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

“Funny.” I let out a fake laugh.

“I have people who owe me,” she said. “They owe me big. But even they won’t do what I ask for nothing. So I need the money.”