Spurred (Steele Ranch 1)

I blinked. “Yes, of course.”

“Oh shit,” Cord whispered.

I looked between all of them. “I’m missing something. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Who’s your beneficiary, if something happens to you?” Riley asked.

“Beth. When my parents died, they had a little life insurance and the house went to me. While Beth was eighteen at the time, they hadn’t updated their will and it all went to me.”

“You were to be her guardian until she came of age,” Riley said.

“That’s right. They wanted to make sure we stayed together. But since she was eighteen, none of that mattered. Except she had nothing. Paranoid because of what happened, I had a will drawn up that ensured the house and everything else went to Beth.”

“Do you have any cousins? Aunts? Extended family of any kind?” Riley asked.

I shook my head. “My parents were only children and my grandparents died when I was little. Only Beth.”

“Because Beth is your sole living relation, she would automatically become the beneficiary of your estate if anything happened to you, will or not. But when she married…”

Riley didn’t finish.

I took a step back, then another. Oh, god. “Just say it.” My lips were numb; my mind was numb. What had Beth done?

“David Briggs heard of your Steele Ranch inheritance from your sister and wants to cash in.”

12

CORD

“Do you think Beth is in on it?” Kady asked.

I was settled one of the couches in the main house great room, Kady tucked onto my lap. She’d freaked out about her sister, about David Briggs. She didn’t cry, didn’t shout, just…went inward, and that had scared the shit out of me.

While seeing her cry would have been devastating, at least she’d be bleeding out some of her emotions. But she’d shut down and that was not fucking happening. Grabbing her hand, I all but dragged her up to the house. Not that she’d be any less upset inside the house where someone had broken in and tried to kill her. Perhaps hired by a man in cahoots with her fucking sister.

But I wanted to hold her and I wasn’t doing it in the stables.

I sat quietly, not doing anything except keeping her from getting up as the others came in. She was exactly where I wanted her. Safe. Secure and damn well knew I would protect her from everything. No one was getting to her. Ever.

And the other guys? They could figure this shit out while I held her and if they had a problem with that, if they didn’t like seeing me take care of my woman, then fuck them. The guys came in and Riley took in Kady, gave me a slight nod, then followed Jamison, Archer and Sutton into the kitchen. I heard them dig around in the drawers, the fridge. Archer was on the phone. I only caught a few words, but I knew he was updating someone surrounding the latest about Beth and David Briggs.

“In on it? You know your sister. What do you think?” I asked her. I knew nothing about Beth, nothing beyond what she’d shared. But I knew others who were hooked on drugs, knew the toll it took on them, on their families. Knew how desperate they could become. Drugs cost money, and I had no doubt Beth had probably already burned through whatever life insurance she was given when her parents died. Kady’s portion of Steele’s money could keep her in drugs for the rest of her life.

Or Briggs in whatever lifestyle he wanted.

“My first reaction is to say of course not,” she replied after a bit, taking her time to think it through.

I had no intention of rushing her. I wanted her feelings out. Aloud. Shared, so I could take the burden away. I was big enough to handle it all.

“I’m her sister and she’d never do anything like this. But she’s been so mad at me for so long. That everything bad had happened to her, not me. She doesn’t seem to understand I lost my parents, too. But when I heard about Aiden Steele and the inheritance, she was really upset. It was cruel proof of what she’d been saying all along. I’d had an extra father. Like I was so lucky because of that.”

She sighed, gripped her fingers around my forearm. Her hand was so small in comparison. Yet, she was strong. So fucking strong. She didn’t deserve this shit. She could handle it. She had been on her own for years, and I felt like shit thinking of her, younger and dealing with Beth, with her grief. I could have been there for her, but wasn’t. It was stupid; I hadn’t even known she existed. But she wasn’t alone anymore. No longer.

“It’s not like I knew Aiden Steele, had him secretly hidden from her. He’s just a name on a piece of paper to me.”

“Then she went into rehab,” I added.

“Yes. And when I was able to visit, or when she’d call me, it never went well. Just like the call at the restaurant the other night. Anger. Hatred, even. But she’d been so happy this time when she told me she’d gotten married. You heard her earlier. She hasn’t been that excited in…forever.”