married,” Jillian said, smiling at Eliza.
“Mr. and Mrs. Reed,” Brandon said tersely.
“Could have been you, big brother,” David said snidely.
Brandon didn’t respond. His face became a blank mask as he looked at David.
“You and Brandon were…”
“In high school,” David finished her deduction.
While Jillian’s eyes went cold, David moved in a circle, checking out the huge, elegant kitchen equipped with every modern amenity imaginable. “The place looks good. Selling a lot of beef?”
It was a poor attempt to sound cordial.
If Brandon took offense, he hid it. “Record year.”
“Brandon is a smart businessman when it comes to cattle.” Jillian hooked her arm with his and smiled flirtatiously up at him. It was all a forced show, a defensive reaction to Eliza and what her presence meant.
Brandon didn’t return the smile. In fact, he moved away. Her arm slipped free of his, and her smile flattened.
“You always were good at taking care of yourself,” David said, fingering a bowl of fruit on the kitchen island as though making sure it was real.
Brandon ignored the barb and moved another inch or two away from Jillian. How long had they been seeing each other? Long enough for Brandon to feel cornered, it would appear.
Seeing the way David distastefully regarded his brother, she wondered if she was the sole cause of his unrest. When they were kids, she’d thought they had a normal relationship. Brandon was the older brother and acted that way. But Brandon was also taller, made more money and had stolen Eliza’s heart when she was a teenager. He had everything that David didn’t. And now he thought she still had feelings for Brandon. Though she’d tried to convince him he had nothing to worry about, he didn’t believe her.
That was the only reason she hadn’t left him after she’d caught him between an entertainment reporter’s legs. She still wasn’t over what he’d done. She wasn’t sure she could stay married to him. And she definitely hadn’t had sex with him since. He believed she loved Brandon and not him. Did that give him the go-ahead to cheat on her when she denied his accusations?
“Do you have anything to drink?” David headed for the kitchen entry without waiting for Brandon’s reply.
He’d had enough to drink on the plane already.
“You know where the wine is,” Brandon said drily.
David left the kitchen, no doubt planning on getting more than one bottle. Why was he drowning in alcohol lately? Was it his perception of his older brother and Eliza or something else? The car on the hill gave her some insight, but he wouldn’t talk to her. They’d never talked, not the way they should as a married couple. More and more she thought their marriage was a sham, the result of blind impulse. While a deeper part of her had reasoned he was the next best thing to Brandon, reality hadn’t been kind. The mistake she’d made expanded and bloomed. As much as it hurt, she was better off alone than marrying the wrong man.
Realizing she was still staring at the empty doorway David had gone through, Eliza turned and caught Brandon watching her. His gaze drifted down her body before going back to her face. He seemed neither hurried nor concerned what she or Jillian would think of such blatant inspection. He hadn’t looked at her like that since she was a sophomore in high school; only now he was a man, not a boy. A warm rush swept over her, an instant reaction. He’d always been able to do that to her.
David entered the kitchen with three bottles of red wine and saw them. His steps faltered as he pinned Eliza with an accusatory look. Brandon glanced at Jillian before busying himself with retrieving wineglasses. She missed it, her glaring gaze on Eliza. David passed his wife on his way to the kitchen island, where he put down the bottles.
Eliza wandered past the kitchen island and stopped before the table, trying to dismiss the significance of the way Brandon had looked at her. What did it mean? Had he seen something when she’d been lost in thought? Did he know she wasn’t happy?
She spotted a newspaper on the table. The headline read Darby College Professor Melinda Grayson Missing.
“Here you go, darling.” David handed her a glass of red wine.
She smirked at the way he’d said darling and took the glass, holding the paper in her other hand.
“What are you—” He stopped short when he read the headline. “Professor Grayson is missing?” he took the newspaper from her.
“I heard her housekeeper reported it,” Jillian said.
David turned with the paper and kept reading as he strode slowly to the kitchen island, putting down the paper. “It says she might have been on her way to the grocery store when she was taken.”
Eliza followed him and put her glass down. David had placed the three bottles of wine on the counter. Brandon and Jillian had yet to pour wine into their glasses.
“She didn’t leave willingly,” Brandon said. “She had all her material ready for the semester.”
“Who would kidnap her?”
David’s concern didn’t pass by Eliza. If Melinda wasn’t so much older than him, she’d wonder if he’d slept with her. Then again, ten years wasn’t all that much. Melinda was in her early forties.
“Probably someone who didn’t like her views,” Jillian said, nearly sneering. She obviously didn’t like Melinda.
“Did you go to Darby?” Eliza asked. The woman had to be around twenty-five so it was more than possible.
“Yes. And I hated Melinda’s class.”
Melinda was known for her controversial teachings. She was a feminist who thought men were superior and women’s movements had the wrong approach to gaining equality. Porn stars were true feminists because of the control they had over men. Sociopaths improved society. That sort of thing.
But Jillian’s tone hinted at deeper emotion. Brandon and David caught her animosity along with Eliza. Brandon said nothing as he assessed her, and David abandoned the newspaper to do the same.
“That sounds like motive to kidnap and hurt her,” David said.
Jillian’s chin rose an inch. “Just because she wasn’t my friend doesn’t mean I’d hurt her.”
David let it pass, lifting his wine for a drink.
Eliza saw how Jillian slid a self-conscious glance toward Brandon, as though anxious that he’d think less of her for voicing her opinion of the great Melinda Grayson. The sign of insecurity said a lot about the state of their relationship. Eliza almost felt sorry for her. Brandon must be close to running.
Brandon could tell Jillian wasn’t happy that Eliza and David were here at his ranch. Or maybe it was only Eliza she wished would disappear. Sitting at the kitchen table with the third bottle of wine empty, most of which his brother had consumed, he listened to Eliza talk about the Friday parties she used to plan during high school.
“The
