the hesitation. Just enough to make him question whatever she might say.
“I couldn’t.”
“Why not?” he fired back.
“Because I’ve been Alex’s prisoner for the last three years.” She took a little breath, blowing it back out her nose. “He likes to brutalize wounded things.”
Her words made no sense. “Why should I believe anything you have to say?” he said. “Don’t show up here and then try to play me for a fool.”
“I’m not, believe me.” Her chest heaved as she turned to go, drawing his unwilling gaze. “You know what? You’re right. I shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
Something she’d said haunted him. “Wait,” he told her. “What do you mean about him liking to brutalize wounded things?”
Her blue eyes blazed—either with hope or with pain. In his mind, sometimes the two had become indistinguishable.
“Exactly what it sounds like. And now I’ve escaped. If he finds me, I’m a dead woman. Especially since I know what he’s done.”
Still not entirely convinced, nonetheless he stepped aside and motioned her into his living room. “Please. Come in.”
As she moved past him, he caught a whiff of her scent, which surprisingly reminded him of vanilla rather than the flowery perfume he remembered.
“Have a seat.” Though he sounded churlish, he didn’t care. Indicating the sofa, he tried not to stare as she sank gracefully onto the leather cushions. She wore a T-shirt and jeans—ordinary clothes that were elevated to an entirely new level by her feminine curves. Her kind of lush, wild beauty would make any red-blooded man break out in a sweat.
And Reed was no exception. The sharp surge of desire he felt when he looked at her was nothing new, though certainly as unwelcome now as it had been before. He’d always had trouble not wanting her, even back then when she’d belonged to his brother. He didn’t understand how this could still be so, especially now when he should despise her.
Noise from the television drew his attention. The football game had gone into overtime. Since he no longer cared, Reed grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.
Deciding to continue standing, he crossed his arms and glared at her, deliberately hostile, feeling it was safer this way. “Explain,” he ordered, when she showed no sign of elaborating.
She sighed and smoothed back her wealth of golden hair with perfectly manicured fingers, although a few wisps defied her hand and continue to frame her perfect, oval face. Her skin glowed, the flawless alabaster of fine porcelain, beauty personified. Eyeing her he wondered exactly as he’d done in the past, how his brother had been able to get a girl as lovely as her.
Of course neither Reed nor Tim had known her beauty concealed the heart of a snake. Best to remember this now, he knew. Steeling himself, he cocked his head while he waited for her to speak.
“May I please have a glass of water?” she asked. “It’s a long drive from Austin. I was afraid to stop more than once.” She looked down. “I wasn’t sure if I was being followed, so I had to take several evasive precautions.”
“Followed?” Shaking his head, he got up, fetched a plastic bottle of spring water from the fridge and handed it to her. “Here you go.”
He waited, trying not to stare while she drank, though the movement of her long slender throat drew his eye. He both hated and acknowledged it, aware he could use this edginess to keep him sharp and on his toes.
When she’d finished drinking, she set the bottle down. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He inclined his head.
“Yes.” She sighed. “Before I begin, you should know I can’t stay long. This is the first place he’ll look. If he finds me, he’ll kill me and whoever I’m with. So you’re putting yourself in danger by even talking to me.”
“A risk I’m willing to take, if what you say is true. Let’s hear it.”
She winced. “It’s a long story.”
“No. Make it short and to the point.” He went so far as to glance at his watch before meeting her gaze again. “If you plan to lie to me, don’t. I’ve had enough BS from you to last more than a lifetime.”
Her amazing eyes widened. “I’ve never lied to you.”
“Really.” He couldn’t resist. “Since you were my only alibi, I’d say the way you managed to disappear rather than show up in court is falsehood enough. I went to prison—innocent—for the death of my own brother. Because you couldn’t take the time to tell the truth.” Again, he felt the sharp, burning ache he always felt when he thought of the way his brother had been gunned down in cold blood.
“It’s not what you think,” she began.
“Be that as it may, Tim’s dead.” He managed to sound normal. “And you aren’t. Now you’re going to tell me what proof you have that Alex Ramirez killed him, and how.”
* * *
Back ramrod straight, Kaitlyn tried to draw on the sense of purpose that had propelled her the entire way to Anniversary. She’d expected hostility, after all.
Still, some tiny, foolish part of her heart had hoped he’d understand. Maybe even be sympathetic, but she could hardly blame him. He’d spent the past three years believing her responsible for what he’d endured. She couldn’t expect him to comprehend how badly she’d suffered herself.
She wasn’t here for sympathy, or to try and repair the broken pieces of a relationship that had been doomed from the start. She’d come to find justice. For not only Tim’s murder and Reed’s incarceration, but for what Alex Ramirez had done to her. He’d ruined three lives, as casually as another man would kill a fly. He deserved to pay.
But would Reed believe her? He’d already made it clear what he thought. Worse, she didn’t even have proof. Just her word against a powerful lieutenant governor.
Raising her head, she saw Reed watched her, his gaze dark and intent. A shiver ghosted over her skin, making goose bumps rise. Prison had changed him some, sharpened the edges of his profile, and deepened the reserve in his eyes. Still, he was easy on the eyes, despite the hardship he’d endured. She’d always thought him beautiful, even back when she and his twin brother, Tim, had been an item. Though Reed and Tim had the same features, the same shock of thick, dark hair, something in the depths of Reed’s hazel eyes had always called to her.
The attraction that had simmered between the two of them had made her feel like a moth circling around a flame.
Finally, unable to resist, she’d given in. And then the one evening of explosive passion they’d shared had been the night Tim had been murdered. She’d spent three years wondering if Reed would always associate her embrace with the brutal death of his brother.
“Well?” he prodded. “If you have something to say, say it.”
“When I left you, still asleep in my bed, I knew
