Wildstar

He was watching her intently, his expression skeptical. "You told me you didn't care about money. Are you say­ing now you didn't mean it?"

She took a deep, steadying breath, surprised to realize she was shaking. "No . . . I don't care about money. What I care about is honesty. I trusted you . . . but you've been lying to me the whole time. And now I find you sneaking behind my back, using your filthy money to take over our mine—"

"Sweet heaven, Jess, stop it! You're being ridiculous."

Her eyes burning with tears she wouldn't shed in front of him, Jess shook her head. She'd been more than ridic­ulous. She'd been a total fool, thinking she could love him. He was a wealthy mining baron, the kind of man she had always despised. He'd given her father more money than Riley could repay in a lifetime. He owned Riley. Just like Burke owned much of this town.

Struggling desperately for control, Jessica lifted a trem­bling hand and pointed at the door, her wild-eyed gaze fixed on Devlin. "Get out. Get out of here. I don't ever want to lay eyes on you again as long as I live!"

Chapter 13

Devlin stood staring at Jessica for a full thirty sec­onds, unable to fathom what had her so upset. He was the one whose honor had been impugned. He was the one who'd been accused of treachery and betrayal—when his only crime had been withholding the truth about his prosperity. He'd originally had good reasons for that, though. Reasons she knew nothing about. Now he would have to tell her what had brought him to Silver Plume and why he'd come in the guise of a gambler, instead of flash­ing his wealth and riding into town on his own private railroad car—

"I mean it!" Jess cried before he could decide where to begin. "I want you out of my house!"

Devlin strode angrily past her, but instead of obeying, he slammed the door shut and turned to face her, his ex­pression tight. "I'm not leaving until we get this straight­ened out."

"There's nothing to straighten out!"

"Yes, there is! I owe you an explanation, and you're going to listen." He didn't give her a chance to argue, but launched in. "I didn't mean to lie to you, Jess. It was im­portant that I retain some kind of anonymity if I ho

ped to find the outlaws who robbed my father's train."

At least that got her attention. "Your . . . father's train?"

"The Colorado Central. It was held up three times since the spring—the last one a month ago. The gang stole a sil­ver bullion shipment and killed two people."

"Your father owns the Colorado Central Railroad?" she asked weakly.

"Not entirely. He's a major shareholder, though, and a member of the board of directors. He asked me to put a stop to the robberies if I could. I came here following a ru­mor. A man with a scar over his eye, riding a roan, was identified as one of the outlaws."

He let that sink in a minute. She watched him mutely, her breasts swiftly rising and falling with her ragged breaths.

"I was hunting down the rumor when I overheard you tell the sheriff about a man with a scar being seen up at the mine the day your father was shot. So I let you hire me as a guard. It seemed a good bargain at the time. You needed help, and I stood a lot better chance of finding the gang if I had a good reason for asking questions, if every move I made wasn't suspect. The man turned out to be Zeke McRoy, but my only lead dried up when I killed him. That's why I was so angry that night."

Jess heard his explanation, but only one crucial detail mattered. Devlin had used her to find McRoy. He had used her. It was almost worse than betrayal would have been. Not only was he filthy rich, not only had he lied to her from the beginning, but the only reason he had helped her was because he'd needed her for his own purposes.

"Get out," she said hoarsely. "Get out of here."

Devlin's temper started to soar again. "In the name of thunder—haven't you heard a word I've said?"

"Yes, I heard! Now, get out of my house! Get out of my life! You don't need to use me anymore. You got what you came for."

"I didn't get what I came for. I was too busy playing nursemaid to you and your goddamned mine."

"Don't cuss in my house, darnit!"

He gave a harsh bark of laughter. "Right. Saint Jessica's rules for boarders." His mouth curled as he eyed her dis­dainfully. "I'm not leaving until I'm good and ready. I still have unfinished business with your father. And technically I still work for you."

"No, you don't! You're fired!" Abruptly Jess recalled the salary she owned Devlin for guarding the mine. "I said I'd pay you two hundred and fifty dollars a month, but I'll give you every cent of that, even though the month is only half up. I'll send the money to your hotel."

He stared at her as if she'd lost her mind. "I don't want the damned money! You could give me a thousand times that sum and I'd never notice it. What I want is an apology."

"You want an apology!"

"Yes, for putting me in the same category as that bas­tard Burke."

"You are in the same category! You're no better than he is! In fact, you're worse, confound you! You're manipula­tive and heartless, just like he is!" Furious, hurting like she'd never hurt before, Jess stood there glaring at Devlin and unconsciously dashing tears from her eyes. "You used me, damn you!" ,