She’d lied.
Lied about everything.
“And she’s a thief, too?” I asked. “She assaulted him?”
“If it’s the same woman,” the Sheriff said, looking at me worriedly. “Son, I’m not sure that it is, or she might have had good reason. I don’t know that I trust these men—”
I’d heard enough.
I was sure it was the same woman.
It all made so much sense now.
What she’d been hiding. Why she was really so afraid. Why she knew exactly how to touch us… please us… manipulate us. Lies. So many lies she’d woven, and we’d fallen for every one. I’d had my suspicions but pushed them away, instead of listening to my gut. I’d wanted to believe in her.
And she’d made William so damn happy.
I should have never let her sink her claws into him. I should have questioned her more that first day, should have trusted my instincts. I should have pushed her last night when she hadn’t wanted to talk about Lord Carmichael. Ha! No wonder.
I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. She was going to answer every last one of my questions.
“Careful, Clive!” The Sheriff had followed me out of the jail. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
I barked a laugh. It was a little too late for that. I’d let the little liar marry us without even properly questioning her.
Fury wrapped around me as I thundered out of town, galloping back to the ranch. This time, Sassy was going to tell me the truth.
William
* * *
I was on my horse when I saw Clive galloping down the road to the ranch, and worry rose up inside me. He wouldn’t be rushing back like that unless something was wrong.
“I’ve got to go back to the house,” I shouted to Jed, who’d been helping me repair the fence. “I’ll be back.”
Jed sent me a wave before going back to the fence, but I was already running for Blaze. Swinging myself into the saddle, I gave him a kick, and we leapt into action. Angling myself across the field, I let Blaze run flat out, giving him his head as he raced toward the house.
Clive’s Thunder was bigger and slower, and the road wasn’t as straight a shot as my path through the fields, so I managed to beat him by just a hair. Blaze danced in place, all worked up and happy after his little run.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, breathless, jumping from Blaze’s back. Clive’s face was a thundercloud.
“She’s a liar.”
He spat the words, and it took me a moment to understand what he was saying, what he could mean.
“Hey!” I caught his arm when he made to move past me, spinning him back around. “Sassy? Our Sassy?”
Clive snorted. His dark eyes were burning with anger. Whatever he’d learned in town, he’d built up a full head of steam on his way back, and I wasn’t going to let him approach Sassy when he was like this. She hadn’t any experience dealing with an angry Clive, but I had plenty.
“She’s not ours.” He tried to shrug me off, but I held on tight and used his movement to push him back, setting myself protectively between him and the house.
“The hell, she isn’t. What the hell happened in town?”
“There are men looking for her, but not for the reason she said,” Clive said flatly. The lack of emotion in his voice wasn’t good, not at all. It meant he barely had control of his temper and was right on the verge of erupting. “Get out of my way, William, I have some questions for our wife.” He sneered at me on the final word.
Hell.
I stood my ground, clenching my fists. Even if Sassy had lied to us, even if not a word out of her mouth was true, that didn’t mean she deserved Clive at his worst. Besides, we’d seen the kind of woman she was. Caring. Sensual. Eager for affection. Eager to bestow affection.
“You’re not going in there ‘til you tell me what’s going on.”
Maybe that would help shave off some of his anger. I didn’t think he’d hurt her, not physically, but sometimes, Clive didn’t realize how much damage he could do with his words.
“There’s a man looking for her all right, her former lover. She was his mistress. And before that, she was a whore. She stole from him, assaulted him, and ran.”
I stared at Clive.
Shit.
That… explained a lot, actually. At least about how she did things like easily suck our whole cocks down her throat, and why she didn’t want to talk about her past. Had she been scared we’d reject her if we’d known? Clive and I weren’t virgins, far from it, but there were different standards for men. It wouldn’t have bothered me.
Was it bothering Clive?
“I don’t care what she did before she came to us, she’s our wife now.” I wasn’t going back on that. If Clive intended to, we might have to part ways. The thought made me sick to my stomach, but I wasn’t going to leave Sassy unprotected because of her past. Staying with Clive because he had some puritanical notion lodged in his head and leaving her in danger wouldn’t just make me sick, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
“You don’t care that she lied?” Clive stared at me, flabbergasted.
“What does it matter what she did in the past? She’s ours now, and she’s a damn good wife,” I shot back at him.
“But she lied. We don’t know a thing about her, not really. She could be setting us up, just like she did him.”
“Setting us up for what, Clive?” I swept my arm out, gesturing at the ranch. We had cows, horses she couldn’t ride, a vegetable garden, chickens... “What do we have that she can physically steal? And where would she go with it? You aren’t making a lick of sense.”
He was starting to turn red in the face. Jabbing a finger at me, he scowled.
“No, you aren’t making a lick of sense. She lied to us, and you don’t even care. Or is it that you don’t want to admit you were wrong about that damn ad?”
“I wasn’t wrong!” Damnit. I shook my head. “That’s not why, though, Clive. The ad doesn’t matter. Her past doesn’t matter. You aren’t thinking straight.”
“No, you aren’t thinking straight. You’ve got her built up in your head to be something she’s not, and you aren’t willing to admit she’s not perfect because that would ruin the happy little dream you’ve concocted. I knew something was wrong from the start, but I kept stepping back, trying to give you what you wanted—”
“Oh, sure, giving me what I wanted,” I cut off his tirade, shaking my head. My fists flexed. That was pure Clive. Now that he thought marrying Sassy was a mistake, it was all my fault. Not that I agreed with him about it being a mistake, but my temper was soaring. “Because sharing a wife was some great sacrifice on your part, you’ve been suffering terribly—”
“It doesn’t matter.” He slashed his hand through the air as if that would be the end of the argument. “I’m going in to ask her some questions, and this time, she is going to answer.” He stepped forward, but I didn’t move. I braced myself, feet apart, muscles tensed, and head lowered.
“Like hell. You want to question our wife, you’ll have to go through me first.”