One
Branwen
Present Day
I could do this. I had no choice but to do this. Taking a deep breath, I slowly took in the tall iron gate in front of me.
It had taken me three weeks of staying in Madison, Mississippi, five years ago to find the location of Linc Shephard’s home, only to be refused entry through the gate. I’d been told by some man over the intercom that Linc was currently involved in a threesome and he’d give me a call when he was ready for a new cunt. That was all I needed to hear to send me running back to Tennessee. I’d sworn that I would never seek him out again.
Going to find him was something I’d battled with for a month before finally convincing myself that it was the right thing to do. Finding out that he was the kind of man he had always warned me about as a child was a cold, hard slap in the face. That day five years ago, at thirty-three years old, I had finally accepted that the man I had built up in my head and kept on a pedestal all these years was a child’s innocent memory. Not reality.
Having to come back here and demand to see him this time was the very last thing I wanted to do. But I had no choice. I had to see him. Fate had decided to once again toss me a twist, and to say it was cruel would be an understatement. I’d pissed off the gods that be at some point in my life because they kept circling me back to this man.
There was a small chance he might not live inside this fortress that I hadn’t been admitted to five years ago when I came to find him. If he had left here, then I knew where in Ocala to go looking for him. Getting onto the Hugheses’ property would be easier than this. Unless it had changed since my childhood and Garrett added an iron gate around it. I really hoped I didn’t have to find out. As a child, that might have been a magical place, but as an adult, I now understood who and what they were. And Ocala was the location of the leader. The man they called boss. I shivered, thinking about how important it was to keep my secrets.
The rumble of an engine snapped me out of my thoughts, and I lifted my eyes to the rearview mirror to see a large, expensive-looking black truck pull up behind me. My heart began to race at the sight of it. I glanced down at the backseat and the sleeping form of my daughter before quickly reaching for the door handle and exiting the vehicle. Mentally preparing myself to see Linc again, I held my shoulders back and steeled myself as the driver’s door to the truck opened.
Memories began creeping back in, even though they were unwanted. Not just from the last time I’d seen him that night in Vegas five years ago, but from my childhood as well. Nope. Not going to allow that. Memory lane was off-limits.
The blond man who stepped out of the truck, stopped all other thoughts. I relaxed some at the realization that it wasn’t Linc, followed by the small dose of panic that maybe he had moved and I’d be forced to go to Ocala. The man closed his truck door and took another step in my direction. He tilted his head slightly as he studied me. His dark blonde hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and his short beard did little to hide his attractive face. The darkness in his gaze had me on high alert. It was dangerous, almost that of a predator.
“Can I help you?” he asked me as his eyes made their way back to mine after doing a quick take of my body.
I cleared my throat. This was one of them. I knew it without being told. He had that presence about him. The power, threat, and intimidation were all there, surrounding him like an invisible force that set you on edge. It stirred the urge to flee when met with it.
“I, uh, I’m looking for Linc Shephard,” I said, thankful my voice didn’t waver.
The corner of his mouth quirked slightly, but he didn’t smile. “Is that so?” he drawled. “And what is it you need with Linc, sugar?”
The way he said sugar sounded like a caress that I was sure made most females throw themselves at him. He wouldn’t be getting that reaction from me. I knew what he was.
“I have some business to settle with him. An issue that I really need to see him about.”
The man rubbed his bearded chin with his thumb and forefinger. His arm was covered in tattoos, and it reminded me of Linc. He’d had so many tattoos five years ago. I’d inspected each one up close.
“As stunning as that face is of yours, I’m still gonna need a little more information.”
Right. Fine. I was here to get this handled, and what did I care if some man I didn’t know wanted the reason why? It wasn’t going to affect me or the outcome. It would get Linc’s attention at least.
I lifted my chin and looked him directly in the eyes. Probably a bad idea because the threat in this man’s gaze was unsettling.
“If you must know, I need him to sign divorce papers.”
That still sounded bizarre, and I’d had this revelation dropped on me over a week ago now. But I hadn’t said it to anyone. I couldn’t. No one in my life could know about this. I had to get it fixed and pretend it’d never happened.
The man stared at me as if I had lost my mind.
Apparently, five years ago, I had indeed lost my mind. I had the proof of it in the passenger seat of my car. A state of Nevada marriage certificate, saying I was married to Lincoln Shephard II. I just hadn’t realized how drunk I had been until the marriage certificate was presented to me by the county clerk’s office. A marriage I hadn’t known existed and was standing in the way of my future happiness.
He let out a low chuckle. “I think you might have the wrong man. Linc ain’t married. He’s been divorced from his ex-wife for fifteen-plus years now.”
Yes, I knew all about Maggie. She’d been the cause of my first heartbreak at the age of seven. Linc had married the mother of his child, and I had been devastated since I had planned on marrying him one day.
“I’m aware of all that. But it seems, five years ago, a marriage happened in Vegas after we both had too much to drink, but we assumed it wasn’t real.”
The man stood there, silent, his eyes narrowed.
I waited, wishing he’d say something. I hated being his sole focus.
“You’re fucking serious?”
I nodded. Why would I lie about this? I didn’t ask that out loud though.
The man let out a bark of laughter, and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Fucking hell,” he said. “This might be the best shit I’ve heard all year.”
I stared at him, not sharing his amusement in the situation.
He nodded his head toward the gate. “I’ll open it up.”
Relief and anxiety battled for first place inside me. I was going to find Linc, and this would be fixed. Yet, seeing him again…well, I’d never been very good at ignoring the effect he had on me. Not as a child or as the thirty-three-year-old woman I had been five years ago. But this time, things were different.
I was engaged, and I had a child to think about.
I turned and headed back to the car. Thankfully, Stevie was still sleeping peacefully. She’d been nonstop chatter for hours on our drive here from Nashville. The lie I had told Hudson, my fiancé, about why I had to come to Madison wouldn’t have worked if I had left Stevie with a sitter. Attending the funeral of a former friend of my father’s was the best excuse I could come up with. Hudson hated funerals, and I’d known he wouldn’t offer to come along.
Besides, Linc had been a friend of my father’s. My dad worked for him and the rest of the Southern Mafia until he had a heart attack and left me alone at twelve years old with no one but my mom’s sister—Aunt Catherine. Not only had I barely known the woman, but she had also taken me away from the life I loved- the den of vipers I thought were kings.
I pulled my new ocean-gem-colored Toyota Camry—which Hudson had bought me as an early wedding gift after my fifteen-year-old Mazda finally gave up on life—through the open gate and immediately into a tunnel created by a canopy of trees. Branches from the live oak trees that lined the road on either side had grown out and connected, creating a stunning, shaded drive. I sucked in a breath at the sheer beauty and almost wished Stevie were awake to see this. She would be fascinated.
When the trees ended and the sunshine beamed down brightly, I squinted to see the extravagant house up ahead. A circular drive sat in front of it with a water fountain in the center. Again, Stevie would love this. But her being awake was not a good idea. My gaze went back to the house. It was as spectacular as the trees. A matte-black Georgian-style mansion shouldn’t surprise me. Sure, it wasn’t as massive and sprawling as the Hugheses’ mansion in Ocala, but this was pretty freaking incredible. So much wealth.
I shook my head and blew out a breath.
“Not what I pictured you living in, Linc,” I whispered as I parked my car.
I left the car running and the air-conditioning going for Stevie. I’d have Linc come outside so I didn’t get far from the car, explain our drunken mistake, get his signature, get back in, then drive away. Never to see him again. Solid plan.
Hudson would never know about this. I’d get married in three months to a man who was good to me. Had a successful dental practice, a home with a backyard—perfect for a swing set. Stevie had never had a yard to play in before. My income had been a struggle all her life. We lived in a small apartment in a safe part of town.
But that was all about to change. She would have the things I wanted for her so badly. I just needed to get this signature and leave.
Before opening my door, I grabbed the marriage certificate and divorce papers, then I stepped out into the warm summer heat and waited on the man in the truck. He could go get Linc, and we’d get this all cleared up.
I stared up at the house and the staircase that led up to the front double doors. Above the entrance was a small veranda that looked over the front yard. Round topiary bushes sat on either side of the stairs and along the front of the house.
This place was something out of a magazine. I’d hated the black paint on one house in Hudson’s neighborhood, thinking it was a ridiculous color for a house. Wrong. On the right structure, it was perfect. Even the columns on the front entrance and on the veranda were black. The only things breaking up the color were the windows.
Did a woman live here with him? I knew he wasn’t married to her. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a live-in girlfriend. The thought bothered me, and in return, that pissed me off. I did not care who or what Linc Shephard did.
of the doors to the house swung open, and I stiffened.
Linc stepped out, and for a moment, I forgot about the papers in my hand that needed signing, the empty Vegas hotel suite with the short note he’d left for me, and the morning-after pill sitting on top of it. The fear, desperation, and pain that I had been dealt by this man’s actions seemed to slip away. Right now, I felt six years old again. My heart fluttered wildly in my chest.
The cowboy hat on his head was tilted back as he stared down at me, then continued in my direction. A plaid pearl-snap shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing off the artwork on his forearms, jeans that fit his lower half in a way that made mouths water, and black combat boots made up his attire. He was rugged-looking. Less polished, like he had been in Vegas. More like the Linc from my childhood. The one I had wanted above everything else.
His gaze did a swift take of my body and locked back on my face, as if there had been nothing of interest to see there. That stung, and I wished it hadn’t. I didn’t care what this man thought of my appearance. He’d sure liked it well enough five years ago, but I guessed I’d changed since then. I was a mom, I’d struggled more than I ever had in my life, and I was stronger because of it.
“How can I help you?” he asked as he closed the distance, taking the steps with his long strides.
He didn’t appear angry, just slightly inconvenienced. As if I had interrupted something important. I glanced back as my nerves began to snowball down a hill, going full speed. The other man appeared amused, biting back a smile or possibly laughter as he leaned against his truck door, his arms crossed over his chest. When he nodded his head at me to answer Linc, I realized he was looking forward to this. He might have let me inside the gate, and he might have that dark, sexy thing going for him, but I didn’t like that man.
Turning back to Linc, I knew standing here silently was only going to prolong things. Tell him, get it over with, and remember that he wasn’t the man I had once believed. He was what he had always warned me he was. An outlaw. The very worst kind.
I cleared my throat and straightened my shoulders. There was no flicker of recognition in his eyes, and that was a slap in the face I hadn’t been prepared for. I would have thought he would remember me from our night five years ago. I mean, sure, we had drunk a lot, but we hadn’t been completely messed up when it started. Yet not even a tiny trace of recognition was there in those dark blue eyes of his.
Stupid, stupid girl. Why did I keep thinking that Linc had any redeeming qualities? Childhood fantasies should all be gone by now.
“I see you don’t remember me.” My words sounded as bitter as they tasted. “I’ll give you a small recap. We met in Vegas five years ago. You were there on business. I was at a bachelorette party that I didn’t want to be at. We danced. We drank. We drank so much that the pretend wedding package with Elvis sounded hilarious. Then, you bailed before I woke up the next morning, leaving a note that said, Take the pill. I don’t want any surprise kid showing up. Checkout is at eleven. Order whatever you want for breakfast. ” I had memorized the note. I’d read it hundreds of times, wanting to find something in it hinting that our time together meant more to him than it appeared.
His brows drew together, and he studied me harder. I felt like a spotlight had been put on me, and every flaw on my face and body were beaming brightly at him. I didn’t let my insecurity show on my face though. He would never know the truth. Who I really was. How I had thought I loved him that night. How I had believed destiny had played a part in putting us there at the same time.
He gave nothing away. His expression never changing. “Okay, yeah, I remember you now.”
I tensed from the invisible blow. He remembered me…now. Whatever. This wasn’t why I had come here. I didn’t need anything more from this man than his signature.
“Lucky me,” I replied with sarcasm dripping from my words.
He raised his eyebrows, as if I had no reason to be annoyed. To think, I’d been infatuated with this man for the majority of my life. Jesus, I needed my head examined.
I stepped forward and held out the papers with the marriage certificate as proof for him to take. “Seems we made a mistake. The marriage was legal. The county clerk had a copy of our marriage certificate. Here are divorce papers. They are simple and to the point. Just need your signature.”
The incredulous look on his face was followed by a bark of laughter behind me.
“Now, that is why I let her inside the gate,” the blond man said. “Priceless.”
Linc ignored him as he reached out to snatch the papers from me and looked down at the certificate, then back at me. “This can’t be right.”
“Trust me, I thought the same thing. But we can fix it easily enough.”
The hard gleam in his eyes startled me. He was angry. This wasn’t my fault. He was the one who’d paid for the supposedly bogus marriage. I was the one who should be pissed.
“Are you after money? I have lawyers—you realize that? A fucking team of them. They will know this is complete horseshit the second they see it. I’m not giving some hot fuck I had in a casino five years ago a dime.” He shoved the papers at me, causing me to stumble back as I tried to take them and keep from falling at the same time.
His furious expression shifted to the blond man. “Fucking hilarious, Luther. Grow the hell up,” he snarled.
I was speechless as I clutched the papers to my chest. Was he serious?
“You can leave,” he barked at me.
My shoulders jerked, and I winced at the volume and tone of his voice. He wasn’t going to sign them. This was not something I had planned for. Crap! I had to get these signed.
“I’m not lying to you, and I don’t want your money. I just want to be divorced!” I said, raising my own voice and taking a step back from him. I didn’t know if he would do more than shove me next time. I’d never been hit by a man, and I didn’t want to experience it today.
“I was married, and I sure as fuck wouldn’t make that mistake twice. Especially to someone like you,” he said with disgust.
He was successfully shattering my self-esteem. Not that I wanted him to have married me on purpose, but still, he could have chosen his words more carefully. That was a rather nasty way of saying it. No one deserved to be spoken to like this. I was here to fix an issue neither of us wanted.
“These papers say that you did make the mistake of marrying someone like me. Unfortunately for me, I had to drive almost six hours to find you and get your signature to fix this. Not only do I not want anything from you. I want nothing more than to get the hell away from you and never lay eyes on you again. So, if you’d sign the papers, that would be fantastic!” My voice had risen with my anger until I was shouting. Unable to stop myself, I continued, “Furthermore, if I wanted something from you, why would I wait five years?! You might find me unattractive and beneath you, but not everyone feels that way. I need this divorce because I’m engaged.” I held up my hand to show him the diamond ring Hudson had placed on it. “But I can’t get married until I am divorced from YOU!”
I was panting when I stopped and lowered my hand back to my side. I wasn’t a verbally aggressive person. This was so out of character for me that I was slightly stunned that I had just spoken to him like that. He seemed to bring out the worst in me.
“Might want to get the papers to the lawyers to check over,” the blond man said.
Linc’s eyes dropped back to my hand, and his jaw clenched.
Yep. Proof, you asshole, that I want out of this farce we’re stuck in.
Did women actually do this kind of thing to him to get his money? Were they stupid? Or maybe they didn’t know who he was. That was probably it. No sane woman would try to screw over a member of the Mafia.
“Mommy! Why awah you yellin’ like that?” the sweet voice that my world revolved around called, and my heart sank.
Dammit.
I spun around as Stevie hurried toward me. How she had managed to get the car door open I didn’t know. Time to start using the child lock. The concern on her little face hurt my heart. I had woken her up because I’d let Linc get to me.
I bent down to look at her. “Listen, Vivi Lu,” I said, brushing her curls back from her face. The headband I had placed in it this morning had been tossed onto the floorboard hours ago. “Go back to the car and look at the books Mommy brought, okay? I will be done in just a few minutes, and then we can go get some ice cream.”
She loved ice cream. I’d have to go to the grocery store to get it since finding oat milk ice cream anywhere else was almost impossible. The excitement at the word lit up her eyes briefly, but vanished as she turned to stare up at Linc. Her little mind was so curious and he was someone I didn’t want her curious about. They were never supposed to meet.
“Who awah you?” she demanded, her chin up and not one ounce of intimidation on her face.
I stood and moved her back, feeling the need to shield her from any of the cruelty he could spew from his mouth. The very mouth I had once thought was perfect. Not anymore. He was the enemy.
“Go back to the car,” I told her, my focus on Linc’s face.
He’d better not say one word to upset her.
He didn’t respond to her innocent question, but his eyes were studying her too closely. There was little about her that I felt gave away who her father was. She was my mini me, all except for her eyes. Panic began to seep in, and the thought of him figuring it out had me grasping at something I could say to veer his thoughts in another direction.
“Awah you the outlaw?” she asked him, narrowing her eyes and glaring at him as intently as he had been doing to her.
I froze. I should have never called him that in front of her. She repeated everything. I just hadn’t imagined she would see him. Speak to him. This was supposed to be quick. An oops, the marriage was real, now sign, and goodbye, have a nice life kind of thing. Instead, Linc was being difficult.
His eyes shot back to me, and I said nothing. It was just a description. Maybe he wouldn’t remember the little girl who had worshipped him. At least, I prayed he wouldn’t. Because Stevie was a replica of that girl.
We stood there for what was probably less than a minute but felt like an eternity. I struggled to breathe normally. I was planning out my escape in my head. Pick up Stevie and run. Never look back. Figure out a way to get a divorce without Linc’s signature. Maybe I could forge it.
“You marrying her father?” he asked me.
The way he was scowling at me made me feel as if he could read my thoughts. The sun seemed to have gotten hotter as it beamed down. I started to sweat.
“Yep!” Stevie blurted out when I said nothing. “I get to be a flowah gawha and wayah a pwetty dwess like Mommy,” she informed him proudly. “Then, Hudson will be my dad ’cause I don’t have one wight now.”
Linc held out his hand to me. “Give me the papers,” he said.
The rush of relief crashed over me, and I wanted to weep with joy. He was going to sign them. Everything was fine.
“Thank you. Just sign, and we can go,” I told him.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m still having my lawyers look at them.”
A slight inconvenience, but how long could that take? A couple of hours?
I nodded. “Okay. We can go get something to eat. Look around town.”
“You’ll need to get a hotel room,” he interrupted me. “Might take a day or two.” His eyes dropped back to Stevie. “How old are you?” he asked.
I opened my mouth to tell him a lie and haul her off to the car when she replied, “Fowah yeahs old!” She held up four tiny fingers.
When his eyes came back to me, he said nothing, but I could see it. The words he wasn’t saying. Would he ask? Would I tell him the truth? If I did, it would change Stevie’s world. Her safe bubble I kept her in. The life that was just within our grasp would crumble.
Please, God, don’t let him ask me if she is his.