Stone Cold Charade (A Stone Family Novel) (29 page)

Rushing through his shower and dressing in
record time, all the while thinking about what he was going to say to her. He
had to make her give him and their marriage a chance to work. She still didn’t
trust him completely, but with time he could convince her. She wouldn’t have
let him make love to her if she wasn’t at least trying to trust him. Alex was
in love with Steven, but he hadn’t cared enough to protest their wedding. He
just needed to get her away from him, give her time to recognize that he was
the right man for her, not Steven.

As he reached the dining room, he saw Max
seated at the head of the table. Sam was to his right and Ridge and Steven sat
across the table from her, having their lunch. They all looked up as he
entered.

“Where’s Alex?” he asked Max, skipping the
pleasantries.

“In the den. She locked herself in there a
couple of hours ago,” Steven said, a little too happily, as he leaned back in
his chair, watching Ty closely. “Forget trying to get her to come out, we’ll be
lucky if we see her before Christmas.”

Turning to leave, Ty froze as Steven’s words
registered, making him swing back around.

Reclining back even more, Steven now balanced
on the back legs of the chair, casually. “When she gets this way the house
could be on fire and she would just keep working,” Steven stated bluntly.
He watched Ty take in the news that she was
incommunicado. He could tell that he was suspicious that he was just trying to
keep him from her.

“He’s right, Ty. Alex goes off like this when
the mood strikes her. She doesn’t eat or come up for air until she’s ready,”
Sam stated quickly, trying to back Steven up by confirming what he had
explained. She knew Ty would be wasting his time trying to make Alex come out
of the den before she was ready.

“I see sleeping beauty is up. Hungry?” Martha
asked as she carried a plate over for Ty. As she passed Steven she hit the back
of his head with one of her hands for nearly scratching her floor with his
balancing act. It caused the front legs of the chair to come forward and
Steven’s knees to connect with the table painfully.

Chuckling Ty entered the room fully. “Sure,
what’s on the menu?” Ty asked, moving to pull out his chair.

Martha placed Ty’s lunch opposite Max at the
end of the table, putting them on equal footing; facing Max squarely, sending a
silent message on his behalf. She sent a quick wink to Ty, letting him know
what she was implying by her actions.

“Roast beef sandwiches, what else? What do you
expect on a ranch? I wish Alex had eaten something before she barricaded
herself in that room. I can’t even shove something under the blasted door!”
Martha muttered, turning to head back to the kitchen.

Ty detested that he couldn’t speak with Alex.
It was frustrating not being able to see her face. He wanted to know how she
was handling everything that had happen earlier.

“What the hell is she doing in there?” he asked
angrily, looking around the room trying to get someone to tell him why Alex
found the need to be in there.

“Working,” Sam said honestly.

Sam could see Ty was itching to break the door
to the den down to get to her. He was going through some major withdrawals. Sam
tried not to laugh at his dire expression. For someone who didn’t care about
her sister, he sure looked as if he couldn’t even survive lunch without her.
He
sure does have it bad
, Sam told herself.

“Besides, if you interrupt her, there goes my
award,” Steven said absent-mindedly. He felt a kick him under the table.
“What?” he said, looking quizzically at Ridge.

“Maybe you should stop talking and have another
sandwich,” Ridge suggested, threateningly shoving his plate at him. Steven’s
eyes widened at what he had let slip.

“Yeah, I think I’ll go see if Martha has any
more left.” He left the room as fast as his legs could carry him.

“What’s going on?” Ty questioned, looking
straight at Ridge. Shrugging his shoulders Ridge followed Steven from the room.
“Don’t suppose either of you would mind telling me why Alex has locked herself
up in a sound proof room?”

“Ty, she is fine, trust me. She wasn’t upset in
the least; she just gets excited when she works. Alex is good at what she does,
she just gets wrapped up in it sometimes,” she told him gently. Sam noticed
that he seemed to calm down somewhat.

“Speaking of work, Frank, where’s that blasted
file?” Max roared. Frank came out of the kitchen as his boss bellowed for him.

“I think that’s my cue. I’ll leave you
gentlemen to it then,” Sam stated. She moved out of the room, and out of the
line of fire.

Ty surveyed Frank as he handed Max a three-inch
thick file. Max slid it across the surface of the table to him. He picked up
his sandwich, glancing at the manila folder as if was a snake. Whatever he was
proposing, he wanted no part of it. This was the last job he was doing for Max.
He watched him silently as he took a bite out of his sandwich, without opening
the file. Max just sat there trying to stare him down. When he was finished, he
pushed his plate away and leaned back casually in his chair. Max ran a bony
hand down his face and leaned forward with his elbows on the table.

“Scared son?” Max watched Ty jerk in his chair,
and chuckled at his reaction.

“The day I'm scared of you old man is the day
they put me in the ground,” he informed him coldly. He watched Max sigh tiredly
and sit back in his chair.

“You’re part of this family now, it’s time you
started acting like it.”

Ty reached out for the file, still unopened,
and slid it back along the table toward Max. Ty raised his eyebrows at Max as
he tossed the ball back in his court. “No thanks! I don’t need your money or
your help.”

Max shot him a hostile look.

He just shrugged his shoulders, wanting the old
man to understand that he wouldn’t be intimidated.

“Damn it, you’re just being bull headed,” he
said crossly.

He slid the file back to Ty, and held up his
hand as he started to shove it back. He had to make the boy see reason.

“You can’t keep running away from your family,
Son,” he counseled, looking knowingly at Ty. “I know why you left the ranch.
You believed I wouldn’t give my permission for you to marry Alex. You were
wrong. I would’ve let the two of you get married after she had grown up a bit
more, but you left the ranch before I could talk to you about it,” Max said
sadly. He leaned forward, watching closely as Ty took in what he was saying.

“You’re telling me this now? You took great
pleasure in informing me you would see me in hell before you would allow her to
marry me. You threatened to disown her if I didn’t stay away. You made it
perfectly clear, old man, that Alex would have had to choose between her family
and me, and you knew I would never ask her to make that kind of choice.” He
stiffened. He felt like strangling Max where he sat, and he didn’t think a
court in the world would convict him for it.

“I know what I told you but you have to
remember, I’m in hell. What do you think my life is? A picnic? Ty, I need you
to take over the security end of the business, and then Alex will be more
inclined to take over the production end of it he said gruffly.

Ty hesitated before reaching for the file. He
flipped it open and looked down at what was inside, still in shock about what
Max confessed. When he had told Max that he had wanted to marry Alex after she
graduated from high school, he had refused to even consider it. He had to be
lying.

He couldn’t understand what new plot he was
hatching. Even if by some miracle what Max said was true, it didn’t change the
past. He had still let Alex go. Ty looked down at the file in front of him and
glanced over some of the material inside. The papers varied in dates, some were
from almost six years ago. He saw a notation in the file about needing a
bodyguard for Alex and there were even references to some of the other
Maximillion Enterprise holdings, including the hotels.

From the diverse information in the file he
could see that Max had also followed every aspect of his life, from the moment
he had left the ranch to now. Ty felt a cold shiver move down his spine.

“Looks like you have been busy. Any particular
reason my life is so interesting to you?” he inquired, wondering why he had
been placed under surveillance.

“There hasn’t been a move you’ve made that I
didn’t know about.” He beamed. “When your mom got sick she made me promise to
look out for you like a son. I kept that oath, you just didn’t know about it.”

He didn’t like knowing Max had been spying on
him.

“You think I would let you walk away? I had
plans for you from the moment you went to work for me when you were still
fifteen. When you got attached to Alex, you gave me my ace in the hole. Knowing
how you felt about her just made my job easier.”

“My attachment?” Ty asked in disbelief.

“I needed someone to take over for Frank, and
your protective nature towards her and the girls was perfect for my plans. All
I needed was for you to be experienced enough to handle the responsibility
which was why I refused to let you marry Alex back then. When you joined the
military, I knew I had made the right decision in choosing you to head the
security for Maximillion Enterprise; once you grew up some. I just had to make
sure you didn’t get yourself killed in the meantime. So, I made sure you had
the training you needed. Your commanding officers seemed to agree that you had
promise, if their reports were anything to go by. I of course, made
suggestions. The same as I did with your counselors when you attended college.
They were extremely helpful in laying out the courses you would need for your
future with me. I couldn’t have you taking classes in pottery making now could
I? It wouldn’t have fit in with running security,” Max stated smugly.

Everything started to click together in Ty’s
mind. Max had set him up. He had orchestrated everything from his military
career to his schooling, if what he claimed was true. Not trusting himself to
look at Max, he kept his gaze on the file. He saw multiple reports from his
former superiors, all addressed to Max.

He felt as if his head were going to explode.
He was going to kill the man. Still stunned by what he had done, he didn’t want
to accept how stupid he had been. Why didn’t he see it coming? It was right
there under his nose the entire time. How school and his military career had
played out, lining up so perfectly…

At the time he had believed it was providence
guiding him with an unseen hand. Even his commanders had treated him
differently than the other men under their command; somehow he seemed to gain
more respect from them than the other men.

How had he not seen Max in the background of
his life? Like a master puppeteer, he had been pulling the strings. He had just
assumed that once he’d left the ranch Max couldn’t interfere in his life
anymore. Now the file sitting on the table proved he had been wrong, and he
should have been watching his back from the moment he left Wilkinson. It was a
lesson he wouldn’t forget once he and Alex left Looking Glass.

Ain’t it funny how that friend of yours needed
help on his ranch and suggested that you should go into security work? I knew
that military career would pay off, just had to get you to finish your
education,” Max stated.

“Are you saying what I think you are old man?
Because if you are, you’re a dead man.” Ty stated, his words laced with deadly
intent.

“When was the marriage license issued, Max? How
long have you had it?” he asked softly.

Max could hear the deadly tone in his voice.
Knowing that if he lied Ty would just double-check it with the county courthouse,
he decided he might as will tell the boy.

“The license was made out about two weeks ago.”

“Where is it Max?” Ty asked, gripping the table
to keep himself from reaching out and strangling Max.

“It’s in a safe place.”

“You son of a...” He stood so fast his chair
flew against the wall. “I want it now!” he ordered, moving purposely toward
Max.

“I think I’ll keep it for the time being, I
don’t want you getting any ideas about an annulment,” he replied, unruffled by
his aggressive posturing.

Ty turned away from him, and the temptation to
ring his scrawny neck.

“I can just get a copy of it from the court
house,” he warned. He didn’t actually want an annulment. He just hated the
thought of Max’s satisfaction, and didn’t want him believing he had gotten away
with his scheme so easily.

“That’s true; except I would have my lawyers
drag it out for months, if not years,” Max stated smugly.

“You have no right to play God, old man!”
bitterness laced his words.

“Now, Son, calm down. I had my reasons.” Max
raised himself out of his chair watching Ty as he started to pace the floor
like a caged panther. Max knew he was upset, but everything had worked out.
Alex was happy. Ty was happy.
What’s all the blasted fuss about?

Max had been behind everything, even Alex being
here so conveniently. And, Max needing him to fix the rustler problem, a
problem that was costing him money? That should have been his first major clue.
He could care less about losing money, even to rustlers. He was beginning to
suspect that the police could have handled the rustlers just as well as he and
his men had. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, starting to leave the
room before he really did kill him.