An Inconvenient Affair (The Alpha Brotherhood #1)(40)
Author: Catherine Mann

“I’m already sitting.” But she scooted farther back on the bed, nerves frothing in her stomach. “What’s wrong?”

“While Mom was in the rehab clinic, the doctors found out she has a mass on her liver….” Claudia paused, her voice catching. “It’s cancer, Hillary, and it’s bad. End stage. The doctors say she has a couple of months left, tops. Her apartment isn’t an assisted living type of setup. She has nowhere else to go.”

Shock numbed Hillary as she absorbed the last thing she’d expected to hear. She’d spent her whole life figuring out how to cope with having an alcoholic mother. She’d never thought about how to cope with not having her mother at all. “I’m coming to Vermont.”

“You don’t have to rush right away—”

“Yes, I believe I do.” She leaped from the bed, trying to deny the voice whispering in her mind that she wasn’t running to her mother.

She was running away from Troy and the fear of him rejecting her love.

* * *

Troy stood in the open doorway of Hillary’s room watching her pace frantically around, throwing clothes into her suitcase. From her tense shoulders to the sheen of tears in her eyes, he knew.

“I assume it was bad news on the phone.”

She nodded tightly, folding her cow towel quickly and pressing it on top of everything else in her roller bag. “It is.” She sat on the case and zipped. “My mother is ill, very ill. She has liver cancer. She doesn’t have long left. I need to go home now and help my sister get Mom’s affairs in order. We have to set up hospice, so many details.”

She ticked through the to-do list efficiently. Even in a sarong, she could still harness the buttoned-up suit-type organization. She all but wrapped herself in competence.

“Oh God, Hillary.” He pushed away from the door, reaching for her. “I’m sorry. Is there something I can do to help? Doctors? Specialists?”

She stopped in her tracks. “Actually, I do need something. I need for you to be sure my family won’t be in any kind of danger if I’m there.”

Ah, hell. She thought they still had to hide out here, away from Barry Curtis’s accomplice. He could almost hear Salvatore’s mocking laughter in his ears, followed by an I told you so for not letting Hillary in on the news sooner.

He took her hands in his. “No worries on that front. Actually, we’re cleared to leave anytime.”

“Really? Did they catch the mystery guy we identified in the surveillance footage?” Confusion chased across her face. “Are we sure there won’t be retaliation against us for making the identification?”

“They have him in custody. Barry Curtis is talking now. They are in a rush to outconfess each other, so Interpol doesn’t need our testimony.” And he was damn grateful he didn’t need to worry about her safety, although he knew now he would never stop being concerned for her. “We’re just icing on the cake for them.”

“That’s awesome, and crazy convenient in the timing.” She pressed a hand to her forehead, then, slowly, realization dawned in her eyes. “That call this morning, the good news, it wasn’t about work was it? It was Salvatore.”

“Yes, it was.” He couldn’t deny it.

“Why didn’t you tell me? When did he find out?”

He hesitated a second too long.

Disillusionment flooded her face, followed by anger. “You knew before this morning, didn’t you?”

Resolution settled deep in his gut, along with the urge to kick himself for being worse than an idiot. “I heard late yesterday afternoon.”

“Why? Why wouldn’t you tell me?” Pain laced her every word. “Why would you let me worry and wonder? It’s almost like you kidnapped me, handcuffing me here with a lie.”

“I intended to tell you today. I just wanted to enjoy a final night with you.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make.” Her eyes went cynical as she backed away. “But then maybe you already knew that. Consciously or subconsciously, you sabotaged this relationship because you don’t want the reality, just this tree house fantasy.”

“Damn it, Hillary, that’s not true. Give me a chance to explain.” He gripped her by the shoulders.

But her body was like ice under his hands.

“I only have one question for you, Troy.” She met his gaze unflinchingly, beautiful and so vulnerable. “Why couldn’t you have just been honest with me? Why did you have to go to such lengths to break my heart?”

Her words stabbed him clean through. He’d vowed over and over that his intent was to protect her and yet he’d done the thing guaranteed to hurt her most. There wasn’t any excuse he could make. No matter how much he’d worked on his people skills, he hadn’t learned all the lessons he needed now.

She shrugged free of his hands. “That’s what I thought. There’s nothing left to say.” She unhooked the diamond charm necklace and dropped it in his palm. “Please, just take me to Vermont and then get out of my life.”

Twelve

She’d come full circle.

Locking her rental car, she strode up the flagstone walkway leading to her childhood home, her body more than a little weary from her day of travel, her argument with Troy. After they’d fought, he shut down. He’d offered her his plane to see her mother and then he’d disappeared into his computer-filled man cave.

And now she was home. The countryside was dark, other than lights on the house and barn and another marking the entrance to the dirt driveway.

But even in the dim light, she knew her way by heart. Her sister hadn’t changed much on the two-story clapboard farmhouse, not even the black shutters. There were a few extra flowers in the garden and more toys in the yard—a bike lying on its side, tire swings spinning in the wind, and a fort built into the V of a sprawling oak tree. A sign hung on the front with No Boys Allowed painted in bright red letters.

Not a bad idea.

She couldn’t get past feeling like a fool. After telling herself a million times Troy was a playboy and she had a radar finely tuned to find jerks, she’d still made the same mistake. She’d trusted the wrong guy.

But damn, he was so good at the game. He’d romanced her in a way no man had even thought of trying, dazzling her with contrasts. One day they were dining in France and another day picnicking off fresh fruit from the trees around his Costa Rican retreat. Who gave a woman a cowbell as well as a charm with exclusive black diamonds?