Fortune's Legacy (15 page)

Garrett simply stared at her. She wasn't vicious. She wasn't even crazy. Just obsessed. And too willing to destroy others to get what she wanted. While he looked at her, broken now, crying softly into her hands, Garrett realized that there still might be a way out of this.

“There is something you can do,” he said.

She looked up at him, her tear-streaked face shining in the sunlight. “Just tell me.”

 

The funeral was officially over. The speeches were done, eulogies given, tears shed. There would be more tears, of course, because a man like Ryan Fortune deserved grieving. But for now the crowd moved toward the main ranch house, for a wake that would give the great man a real Texas send-off.

Kyra kept to the back of the mob headed for the house, and realized that she'd never seen so many Fortunes and Jamisons gathered together in one place. And all because Ryan Fortune had been such an extraordinary man.

A soft April wind ruffled her hair and plucked at the
hem of her dark blue skirt. Her heels wobbled unsteadily on the river-stone path, and when she swayed, a hand grabbed her elbow briefly.

Looking up, she smiled wanly at Peter Clark, her cousin Violet's husband. Kind green eyes sparkled behind his glasses.

“Watch your step,” he said quietly.

“Not so easy in these,” she answered, pointing at the three-inch navy blue pumps.

“Heels aren't made for walking,” Violet said from beside him. “They're for looking good.”

He grinned at his wife. “And speaking for men everywhere, we appreciate your sacrifice.”

Kyra smiled at the two of them as they moved deeper into the crowd. They were so good together, she thought, and they'd worked hard to build a life. Wasn't that what made everything worthwhile?

Mind whirling, she let her gaze drift over the others wandering past and around her. Clyde Fortune, a tall, gorgeous rancher, had one arm around his wife, Jessica, and Kyra paused a moment to think about all the two of them had overcome to find each other. Then there was Collin Jamison and Lucy. As she watched, Collin dropped a kiss on his wife's forehead and they looked at each other as if they were the only two people in the world.

Envy rippled through Kyra, and though she was ashamed of herself for it, she couldn't seem to stop what she was feeling. This was a day to remember Ryan Fortune's life. His legacy.

But wasn't love a big part of that legacy?

Love.

How could she ever have believed that she could live without love? How could she have been so blind as to push an emotional life to the side in favor of a professional one?

And now that she knew she loved Garrett, how would she ever get on with her life without him?

As the crowd neared the ranch house, music spilled through the open doors to welcome everyone inside. The bright, quick, happy beat of country music, with a fiddle and a steel guitar twanging in perfect accompaniment, charged the atmosphere. Already the mourners' steps were a little lighter, and the sadness lingering in the air a little less suffocating.

Kyra felt lost.

Lily had given her the use of the guest cottage on the ranch for as long as she wanted, and Kyra was grateful. She couldn't go home, not with reporters still lying in wait everywhere she went. Heck, she hadn't even called home to check her messages, not wanting to hear the rash of reporters pleading for a story. Besides, she couldn't bear the thought of returning to that empty condo.

Ever since that night with Garrett, being alone just felt more…lonely than before. Stupid. She'd fallen for a man who'd only used her to further his own ambitions.

Hadn't she? Yet even as she thought it, she wondered again. If that night of incredible passion had been an act, then Garrett Wolff was wasting his time in Texas. He should go to Hollywood and pick up an Oscar every year.

The truth was, she didn't know what to think, and that was making her crazy.

All around her, people whispered to each other, talking about Ryan, worrying about Lily. Kyra was surrounded by family and yet separate from them all.

What was Garrett doing now? Was he thinking about her? Missing her? Was he making a report to Mr. Henderson? Was he covering his own tracks with the investigation and leaving her out to dry?

And why did it hurt so much to think that he'd used her?

“Kyra?”

She looked up into her brother Vincent's concerned gaze. “Hi.”

“You look a little out of it,” he said, and bent to plant a kiss on her cheek.

“Good description,” she admitted, then felt a stab of guilt because she'd been thinking about her own problems and not Ryan.

“Don't let 'em get to you, kiddo,” he said, clearly referring to the newspaper reports. “Everyone knows you didn't do anything wrong at Voltage.”

“Thanks.” She gave him what she meant to be a quick hug. Then she was holding on to him, resting her cheek on his broad chest.

“Hey…” His big hands stroked her back. “Want me to go buy you some ice cream?”

She smiled against him and shook her head. “No, but thanks.” Leaning back, she looked up at him and said, “But, thank you.”

He frowned worriedly. “Kyra, you're going to be all right.”

“I know. I just—” She broke off, then took a step
back. “I want you to know how much I appreciate all you've done for me. I don't think I've ever said it out loud. But I want you to know how much I love you.”

Embarrassed, he ducked his head, then guided her to one side of the moving crowd, where they wouldn't be overheard. “I love you, too, Kyra.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead, then smiled at her. “And I'm damn proud of you. But all I've ever wanted was for you to be happy.”

She blew out a breath and nodded. “I think I'm finally ready to be happy,” she admitted. “Now all I have to do is convince the right guy that
he's
ready.”

“My money's on you,” Vincent said with a quick grin. “But if you change your mind and want that sundae after all…you just let me know.”

“I will,” she promised, already feeling lighter than she had in years.

“Now I'm going to find my wife. I'll see you inside, okay?”

“Right.” She watched him disappear into the crowd, and fought that ripple of envy again as she realized that all of her siblings had found someone to love. Someone to be with. To share with.

Funny, but she'd never thought she was interested in the whole happily ever after thing. But in the span of a few hours in a snowbound cabin, she'd allowed herself to dream. To imagine. Only to have those fantasies shattered at her feet.

She moved forward again, walking with the crowd as she pushed her memories to the back of her brain and
instead concentrated on the here and now. She couldn't do anything about the situation with Garrett or Voltage at the moment. But she could be a part of her family.

There'd be plenty of time later to plan a strategy for convincing Garrett that he loved her.

Ahead of her, country music rang out, and from somewhere in the crowd, a baby wailed, bringing life into the midst of death.

“You okay?”

Kyra came up out of her thoughts to smile at her sister, Susan. “I will be,” she said as they climbed the steps to the open front doors.

“I still can't believe it,” Susan said, draping one arm around Kyra's shoulders and leading her into the cool, shadowy foyer. “But,” she added, looking around at the people streaming past them, “wouldn't Ryan get a kick out of seeing all these people show up just for him?”

Kyra smiled. The foyer was full of people laughing and talking.

Just one more instance of Ryan caring for others, even after death.

She drew a deep breath, the cool air scented with the rich, spicy Mexican buffet provided by Rosita for Ryan's friends and family.

Life pulsed on in a rush of sound and noise. Mourning would still happen, but the reality was that time stopped for no one. Not even a man as good as Ryan. Days would pass, grief would lessen.

But the memories would remain.

She heard the music, caught a snatch of laughter and
the sounds of other people talking, sharing stories about Ryan. Remembering the man.

Ensuring that he would never be forgotten.

And she felt better.

Hopeful.

“You know,” Kyra said, hugging her sister tightly, “Ryan really
would
enjoy this.”

A
fter a long, sleepless night filled with too much thinking, Kyra finally came to a decision. She'd spent most of her life hiding from love. Afraid to allow any tenderness into her life for fear of losing control.

Well, she'd been alone. Been tough. And she'd lost control anyway.

It was time to stop pretending that love didn't matter. Time to start going after the life she wanted.

And what she wanted, was Garrett.

She just didn't know if he wanted her. He hadn't called. Hadn't tried to see her since their return to Red Rock. And let's face it, if he'd wanted to, she just wouldn't have been that hard to find.

A small, insecure voice in the back of her mind whispered that by staying away, he was cutting his losses. Protecting himself by keeping distance between them.

If that were true, though, he was going to have to say so to her face. She wouldn't walk away from what might be because of fear. Not anymore.

Before she could confront Garrett, however, she had to fight her way through the feeding frenzy of news media at the ranch's front gate.

Face down the accusations against her.

It wouldn't be easy.

As a member of the Fortune family, she'd long ago made peace with the fact that they were all considered fair game. They'd been fodder for legitimate magazines and newspapers for years, not to mention the tabloids. She could even remember as a kid seeing one of those grocery store scandal sheets spouting the headline Fortune Family in League with Aliens!

There was simply no hiding from people determined to get a story. So she'd decided last night, during one of her interminable cups of hot cocoa, to face the monsters. To do what she had to do to win back her life. To fix it so that she could go see Garrett again. Make him admit that what they'd shared in that cabin hadn't been a fantasy but the only real thing either of them had felt in years.

Steeling herself, she stepped out of the dollhouse of a guest cottage and onto the stone path that led through a well-tended garden and past a small stand of trees. Gray clouds scudded overhead, intermittently blotting out the sun.

Kyra shivered and wondered if those gray clouds were some sort of omen. Maybe Ryan, telling her to go hide again? At that thought, she laughed shortly. Ryan Fortune had never backed down from a fight in his life.

She'd learned a lot from him over the years. And had even learned quite a bit at his funeral. Her steps sure and steady on the stone path, she thought about the wake and the realizations that had continued to slam into her during those long hours.

Family, she thought firmly. Everything was rooted in family. And the love that bound people together. She'd tried to go through life a solitary creature, with the idea of protecting herself from hurt. But what could possibly hurt more than growing old all alone? Of never knowing what it was to love and be loved in return, or having children, watching them grow and find others to love?

And by the same token, what could be more important than continuing the legacy of love and family that Ryan Fortune had left for them all?

A sudden, sharp wind slapped at her, as if urging her back into the sanctuary of the guest cottage. But she wouldn't give in to the urge to hide anymore. She'd done enough of that.

It was time to strike back. She tugged the edges of her deep blue sweater together and quickened her steps toward the front of the ranch. The flat heels of her black mules clacked against the stones and sounded like an erratic heartbeat.

Her mouth was dry and her stomach a tangle of raw nerves. She slapped one hand against her abdomen in
an effort to ease the bats flying around inside, but it didn't help.

Nothing would, she knew, until she'd faced the ravening hordes waiting for her.

“Oh, boy,” she whispered as she rounded a bend in the path and stopped dead. A hundred yards away, at the end of the wide, flower-lined drive, the reporters were still gathered, and the clamor they made reached out to her like a warm welcome into hell.

Oh, she really didn't want to do this. Especially alone. But there was little choice. She was the one they wanted and she couldn't and wouldn't hide behind her family indefinitely.

Lifting her chin, Kyra headed down the middle of the drive. It didn't take long for the mob to notice her. Instantly, cameras swung in her direction and eager reporters clung to the wrought-iron gates and shouted questions at her.

She kept her steps slow and even. She wouldn't let them know how shaken she was. How nervous. How alone she felt. As she got closer to the crowd, the questions grew louder, more demanding.

“Ms. Fortune, is it true you're a party to an alleged monopoly?”

She winced but kept walking.

“Ms. Fortune, is there really a warrant out for your arrest?”

Jail? she thought with a silent shriek.

Another reporter shouted, “Ms. Fortune, our viewers want to know the real story at Voltage Energy.”

“Then you should listen to me.”

Kyra stopped just short of the gates. That one, deep, so familiar voice cut through the babble and silenced them all with the ring of authority. Her breath coming short and fast, she twisted her head, sweeping her gaze back and forth across the crowd. She winced when the sun came out and glinted off the lenses of cameras, piercing her eyes. But she couldn't stop looking. Couldn't stop hoping that she hadn't imagined that voice.

As the sea of reporters fell back, allowing a man and a woman to pass, Kyra caught her breath. It
was
Garrett, holding his admin assistant, Carol, firmly by the elbow. He stepped up to the gates and stared at her.

His eyes were impossible to read. But wasn't it enough that he was here? That he'd come to the ranch to find her? To face the reporters?

Oh God, yes.

Her stomach still churned wildly, but there was a sense of hope fluttering in her chest.

“Who're you?” someone asked.

Before Garrett could answer, another, better prepared reporter shouted, “Mr. Wolff! Do you have an official statement to make?”

Garrett's gaze caught and held Kyra's for what felt like forever, but was probably no more than a few seconds. Then he was turning his back on her to face the crowd gathering around him like piranhas swarming a piece of raw meat.

“As most of you already know, my name is Garrett Wolff,” he said in a loud, clear and calm voice. “I'm
executive vice president of the expansion division at Voltage.”

The crowd rumbled, cameras clicked and video cameras hummed.

“I, and my administrative assistant, Carol Summerhill,” he said, indicating the woman at his side with a jerk of his head, “have already given our statements to the police. We're here now so she can clear up a few matters for you people.”

Carol? Kyra thought. What could the woman possibly have to say that would help? But Kyra was as intrigued as the reporters, and walked quietly down the drive until she was separated from Garrett only by the strong iron bars of the gate.

A long pause ticked past before Carol started talking. When she did, her voice was hushed and strained, but every word was clear.

“I made it up,” she said, trying to pull free of Garrett's grasp. “I invented the story of the monopoly. I lied about Ms. Fortune.”

Excitement pulsed and the crowd moved closer, practically salivating. Garrett released the woman and she immediately started pushing her way through the melee, trying to fight her way upstream. As the reporters followed the latest story, Garrett was left alone at the gate.

Slowly, he turned to face Kyra. He grabbed the iron bars and gave them a shake. “You going to let me in?”

“She lied? About all of it?” Kyra's head was still spinning. She'd known Carol was a weirdo, but this was really over the top. Kyra hardly noticed as the re
porters fired up their vehicles and took off in a ratty little convoy, following Carol as she drove away at a breakneck pace.

“She did.”

“But why?”

His fists tightened around the cold iron. “Doesn't matter. Not anymore,” he declared, shaking the bars again as though if he held on tightly enough, he could make them open, could get beyond the last barrier separating him from Kyra. “The point is, the police are convinced.”

“But,” Kyra said, glancing down the now empty road, “she just got away.”

“She won't get far.” He tossed a glance behind him, then looked back at Kyra. “I talked Sergeant Donovan into letting me bring her here, to get this out as quickly as possible. But the police are waiting for her at her apartment.”

“You mean it's over?” Kyra asked.

“For us,” he agreed. “The higher-ups at Voltage might have some explaining to do. Seems they really
were
going to try for a monopoly.” He still couldn't believe it, and shook his head at the stupidity of those in charge. “Carol said she made it all up, but as it turns out, it was a lucky guess.”

The sun came out from behind another cloud and bathed the two of them in a splash of golden light.

“I don't know what to say,” Kyra admitted.

Garrett just stared at her. Her eyes looked tired, as if she'd been as haunted as he these last few days. But
there was a glint of steel in those blue-green depths that he admired. That he'd missed seeing.

And if he didn't get his hands on her in the next few minutes, he was going to lose what was left of his mind.

“That's good,” he said tightly. “Because I've got a few things to say to
you,
so you can just listen.”

“Really?” she asked, folding her arms around her middle and hanging on. “And why do I want to do that?”

“Because I love you,” he said.

She blinked. “Oh.”

Not exactly the response he'd been hoping for, but at least she hadn't screamed and run for the hills.

“Are you going to open this damn gate or are you going to make me climb it?”

She grinned, fast and sweet. “You think you could?”

He pinned her with a hungry look. “To get to you? No problem.”

“I'd actually like to see that,” she said, “but maybe another time.” Then she quickly stepped to the far edge of the gate, punched in a code on an electronic keypad, and the iron barrier opened with a slow creak.

Garrett stepped through the moment he could, and wasted no time getting to Kyra. Holding her close, he wrapped his arms around her and held on as if afraid someone would come along and snatch her out of his grasp.

“God, I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

“I love you,” he whispered, almost strangling on the raw emotions choking him. Then he pulled back, looked down into her eyes and lost himself there. “I
want you to know I've never said that before. Not to anyone.”

“But—”

“Not even to my former fiancées. Maybe I knew that they weren't the ones. That it wasn't right. Somehow, on some level, I must have known. But this time I'm sure. And I'm not afraid to say it anymore. I think I always knew there was something between us, Kyra.”

“Garrett—”

“Let me finish.” He hurried on, not giving her a chance to speak until he'd said everything that had been clawing at him for the last two days. “That night in the cabin…that was the first time I've felt really alive in years. And it's because of you. You're everything I want. Everything I need.”

“Oh, Garrett…”

“Not finished.”

“Sorry.” She smiled again and blinked away tears that slid unheeded down her cheeks.

“I know you don't want to be married,” he said, though the taste of the words was bitter. He wanted to marry her. To have a family with her. He wanted the two of them to grow old and crochety together. To have amazing fights and wonderful make up sessions. But if she couldn't or wouldn't marry him, then he'd find a way to deal with it.

“I know you don't want kids, either. And I'll try to accept that. But I want to be with you. I want to live with you. Love you. Even if you never want the rest of it, I want you to want me.”

“Garrett—”

“Still talking,” he said, and dropped a fast kiss on her mouth in an attempt to silence her. “We'll be good together, Kyra. We'll laugh. We'll love. You won't be sorry.”

“I know.”

“I—” He broke off, stunned. “What?”

“I said, I know we'll be good together.” She reached up to lay one hand against his cheek. “I've missed you so much.”

“Thank God,” he said, and turned his face into her palm to kiss it.

“And I want to get married,” she told him.

“You do?” He looked at her, and saw everything he'd hoped to see there in her face. His heart thundered in his chest and his blood roared triumphantly in his veins.

“I do,” she said, nodding, smiling. “And I want kids, too. A lot of 'em. In the last couple of days, I've finally realized just how important family is. How necessary it is.”

“Works for me,” he said, pulling her close for another rib-crushing hug. Then he took her mouth in a kiss he'd spent days fantasizing about.

She melted into him, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pressed her body to his. Made for each other, he thought absently as he dived into the sensations only she could arouse in him.

And when the kiss ended, he brushed her hair back from her face and smiled again. “There's one more thing.”

“What's left?” she asked, grinning.

“I'm unemployed,” he admitted. “I told Voltage what they could do with their job this morning, and then I walked out.”

“It just so happens,” Kyra said, still feeling the magic of his kiss sizzling through her, “that I have an in at Fortune TX, Ltd. If you're interested, your fiancée could probably put in a good word for you.”

“Well, she is a terrific woman.”

“I know she's glad you think so,” Kyra said, feeling the years of anxiety and worry and fear that she wasn't quite good enough melt away.