For His Brother's Wife

Stuffing clothes into the suitcase, he cursed himself for being a damned fool. He had been so sure he could protect Paige from learning about the ugly side of Craig’s personality that he had been careless. Now she thought he had known and been in on his brother’s twisted escapades all along.

Cole stopped packing for a moment as a thought suddenly occurred to him. How could he possibly prove that he wasn’t involved and had no knowledge of Craig’s scheme?

He had deleted all of the messages from his own email account without reading them and, with the exception of their father’s funeral, hadn’t had any contact with his brother since he’d left home after their fight more than a decade ago. Unfortunately, he could talk until he lost his voice and Paige wasn’t going to believe him. At least, not now. His only chance was to put distance between them and hope that when he returned in a day or two she would hear him out and believe what he told her.

After he carried his suitcase downstairs, he found her in the kitchen staring out the window above the sink. When she turned to face him, he could tell she had been crying. The knowledge damned near tore him apart.

“Paige, I—”

“Please don’t, Cole,” she said, holding up one hand to stop him when he started toward her. “I think it would be best if you just leave.”

He wanted to take her in his arms and make all the emotional pain go away, but it was clear she wouldn’t welcome the gesture. And once he touched her, he knew he’d never be able to let her go.

“Let me know if you need me for anything,” he said as he walked to the back door.

“Not that you or your brother ever have, but don’t worry about me,” Paige said. “I’m a survivor. It may take me a while, but I’ll be just fine on my own.”

With nothing left that he could say to change her mind—at least for the time being—Cole walked out of the house, got into his truck and drove toward the outskirts of Royal. Although it didn’t sit well, he couldn’t honestly say he blamed her for not wanting to listen to anything a Richardson had to say. She had just learned that everything she thought she knew about her marriage and the past ten years of her life had been a complete lie. And even in death Craig was manipulating both of them and ruining their chances of being happy together.

Cole suddenly brought the truck to a screeching halt in the middle of the deserted highway. Paige must have only read the last email Craig had sent to him. She had talked about him and Craig playing her for the fool and she mentioned knowing that it was his turn with her. But if she had read all of the emails, she would have realized from the very first one that he had fought to try and stop Craig.

Paige was emotionally devastated and he had a way to put a stop to some of the hell she was going through. And that’s exactly what he intended to do.

Knowing he had found the evidence to prove that he was in no way involved in anything Craig did, Cole turned the truck around and headed back to the Double R Ranch. He had loved Paige from the moment he’d laid eyes on her in the halls of Royal High School, and he was almost positive she had loved him just as long.

He had intended to tell her how he felt and ask her to marry him this past weekend. But they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other, and he’d put it off in favor of getting a ring and planning something to make his proposal special. Unfortunately, that was no longer an option.

Cole pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor and raced back to the only woman he had ever loved. He’d lost her once, but he’d be damned if he lost her again.

Nine

As she watched Cole walk out the door without a backward glance, Paige felt her heart break all over again. When she’d confronted him with what she had discovered on the flash drive, he hadn’t tried to deny it. He’d only wanted to know how she’d found out about it.

She picked up a box of tissues, climbed the stairs, went into her bedroom and curled up into a tight ball on her bed. Cole’s betrayal was without a doubt the most devastating thing she had ever experienced. Nothing in her entire life even came close to causing her the emotional pain she was feeling at that moment.

How could the utter joy of finding out she was going to have his baby be replaced so quickly by absolute desolation?

What Craig had done, the vile game he had played to ruin her life, had been despicable. But it was nothing compared to Cole’s duplicity. If she were completely honest with herself, she had always known that Craig was shallow and self-centered, and on some level, she had even known there were other women. But she had completely believed in Cole’s sincerity and that he truly cared for her.