New York and Marcus in Los Angeles. Devon had assumed their father wanted them to spend time in the same place so they would work out their differences and settle the future of Salazar Media. Little did he know Alonzo Salazar had only called them there to drop a bombshell on them, which they discovered in the paperwork he’d left with the ranch owners before his death.
“I know the timing is unfortunate,” Marcus conceded, prowling around the living area in a dark blue suit, his sunglasses still perched on his head from when he’d shown up at Devon’s cabin twenty minutes ago. His only nod to the fast-dropping Montana temperatures was the wool scarf slung around his neck. “But Lily and I have left you a thorough plan for the launch event. All you need to do is execute it.”
Barely hanging onto his patience, Devon stared out at the densely forested mountainside just beyond his luxury cabin’s tiered deck.
“All I need to do is execute?” he repeated, glaring at the sea of ponderosa pines just beyond the big windows. He hadn’t been brought up to speed on the client yet, and most of the ranch owners—it was jointly held by six friends—were still aggravated with Devon for showing up more than a week late at the ranch and delaying the work on the relaunch. “While you and Lily gallivant around Europe for a few weeks?”
Marcus had fallen in love with the COO of Salazar Media, Lily Carrington. While Devon had delayed his trip to Montana to hire a private investigator to look more deeply into their father’s mysterious past, Marcus had been at the ranch wooing the woman Devon had sent in his absence. Losing both of them during the launch event for a new, prestigious client was a hard hit.
“We did the setup. Now it’s your turn,” Marcus explained, his usual antagonism noticeably absent. Maybe romance agreed with him. “Besides, I’m hoping this trip turns into an elopement,” he confided, the announcement a total surprise.
Knowing what a difficult—and long—engagement Lily had to her previous fiancé, Devon could see the wisdom of that move. Some of his anger leaked away. He and his half brother might not get along, but Devon wanted Lily to be happy. Hell, he didn’t begrudge Marcus being happy, either.
“You haven’t asked her yet?”
Marcus shook his head. “No. I was thinking of surprising her in Paris. Pulling out all the stops.”
“That’s a good idea, actually.” Funny to think their shared business—and a shared father—had never brought them together, but if Marcus married Lily, they might finally have an effective tie. “I only want what’s best for her, you know.”
“I know.” His sibling’s dark eyes met his for a moment before he glanced away. “And so do I. She hasn’t taken a vacation in years. She deserves for someone to put her first.”
Devon didn’t need to be reminded of the particulars. Lily had been raised to feel like an intruder in her grandparents’ wealthy world and she’d worked tirelessly to feel deserving of all they’d done for her. Their backgrounds weren’t all that different, since Devon’s single mother had moved back in with her old-money family after Alonzo Salazar had abandoned her shortly after Devon’s birth.
“Agreed.” He would find a way to make the launch event work on his own. He would bring in more staff, for starters. “But you realize the bigger issue right now is not the launch, but trying to contain the fallout from whatever new scandal Dad’s book could cause.”
Hammering out an agreement for the future of Salazar Media—and who would take the helm of the business—would have to wait.
“But for now, no one knows about that. If the secret comes out somehow, we’ll deal with it when it happens,” Marcus assured him, checking his watch. “In the meantime, I’ve got to pick up Lily so we can head to the airstrip. We’re flying out this afternoon.”
Devon resisted the urge to argue. The ramifications of the secret leaking out were bigger than they knew. But Marcus had been the one to nail down the ranch as a client, and he’d kept the situation under control with the owners until Devon had arrived, so he’d done his part. Now Devon would have to find a way to keep any revelations about their father’s book from ruining everything they’d both worked so hard for.
“Good luck,” he told him simply, extending a hand.
Marcus stared down at it for a beat too long, but he squeezed Devon’s palm in the end. “Thank you. And you’d better get moving if you want to make that meeting with Weston Rivera. It’s almost noon.”
Devon swore as he shoved his phone in his pocket and headed toward the coatrack to retrieve a fitted black parka. “I won’t bother you unless all hell breaks loose.”
“I can give you a ride over there—”
“No need.” The main lodge was in the opposite direction from Marcus’s cabin. “You added the ranch to our client list. I’ll make the rest of it work.”
His brother gave a clipped nod before stepping out into the December chill, a burst of cold air lingering in his wake when he closed the door.
Devon shut his laptop and hunted down a hat and a pair of gloves, already mulling over how he was going to juggle orchestrating the kickoff party with digging deeper into their father’s secrets. He hadn’t wanted to share with Marcus his own reasons for needing to keep the Salazar dirty laundry out of the headlines for at least two more weeks. Devon’s socialite mother was set to wed an international banker on Christmas Eve in a highly publicized ceremony. She had found happiness at last, and Devon refused to let a scandal about his father overshadow her well-deserved spotlight.
Maybe Devon’s paranoia about his father’s secrets leaking now were misplaced, considering Alonzo had kept his double life as an author on lockdown for eight years. But Devon’s gut told him that his dad’s death was going to bring everything to light.
The papers Alonzo had left for his sons here at the ranch revealed all the details. Under the pseudonym A. J. Sorensen, Alonzo had released an international bestselling novel about Hollywood power brokers and scandals. The book had caused an uproar a year after its release, when a Beverly Hills gossip columnist cracked the code on the identities of the people who inspired the characters.
Real people had been hurt by the book. A Hollywood marriage had been torn apart. A daughter disowned.
Devon pulled a gray knit cap over his ears and tugged open the cabin door just as a light snow began to fall. He spotted a woman on horseback heading toward him. She had a dark Stetson pulled low on her forehead, and it was difficult to see her features through the swirl of snowflakes, but Devon recognized her as the trail guide employed by Mesa Falls Ranch. She’d approached him two days ago about taking a tour of the property to familiarize him with the ranch, an idea he might have jumped on another time, but he’d been reeling from the news about his father’s secrets.
Regina Flores had made an impression, though.
With her silver-gray eyes and dark hair, she’d captured his attention right away. She had a thoughtful, brooding air about her; she seemed to be a woman of deep, mysterious thoughts. Until she smiled. She had a mischievous, quick grin that made him think wholly inappropriate things. Today she wore a black duster that flared over her horse’s saddle and a purple scarf tied around her neck. She held the reins to a second mount, a sturdy chestnut quarter horse.
“Hello, Mr. Salazar.” She flashed a smile his way, two deep dimples framing her lips as she drew to a stop in front of the cabin.
He
