An Intimate Bargain

Instead of responding to her, he spoke to Seth. “You,” he growled, “can take your business license and shove it.”

Travis stopped short behind Zach.

“Zach?” Abigail repeated, taking a step forward, half hopeful, half confused.

“Get out of this house,” Seth ordered.

“I will close my business,” Zach vowed, his voice low and menacing.

“What the hell?” Travis interjected.

“Leave,” Seth repeated.

Zach didn’t take his gaze off Seth. “I’ll chuck it all and start from scratch before I sacrifice Abby.”

Sacrifice her?

“Have you lost your mind?” Travis demanded of Zach.

Good question.

“I’ll do whatever she wants. I’ll hire her,” said Zach, still fixating on Seth. “I’ll marry her. I’ll protect her. The one thing I won’t do is let the family who supposedly loves her work her into the ground.”

“That’s enough,” Seth shouted.

“What’s he talking about?” Travis had also turned his attention to his brother.

“Nothing,” said Seth.

Zach gave a cold laugh. He turned to Travis. “Your brother didn’t tell you he was blackmailing me?”

Abigail gaped at Seth.

His nostrils were flared, and his face had turned ruddy.

“Seth?” Travis insisted.

“He’s the one who was blackmailing her.”

Abigail’s stomach dropped like a stone. Her gaze shot to Lisa, but Lisa shook her head in incomprehension.

“He seduced her,” Seth continued. “Then he threatened to run to us with the tale.”

Zach coughed out a sharp laugh. “You think that was my threat? That I’d kiss and tell?”

“Stop it!” Abigail demanded, afraid she knew where Zach was going.

“I threatened-”

“Shut up, Zach.”

Zach stared coolly into her eyes but kept right on speaking. “To tell you that she hates working at the ranch.”

The room went completely silent.

Abigail mouthed the word no, slowly shaking her head in denial.

“They need to know, Abby.”

No, they didn’t. They never needed to know. She couldn’t believe Zach had betrayed her. “You promised,” she whispered.

“I guess I lied.”

“How could you?”

Travis stepped up, clamping a hand on Zach’s shoulder. “Time for you to leave.”

“We need to talk,” Zach said to Abigail.

“Why did you come back?”

His tone went soft, and so did his brown eyes. “Because I couldn’t stay away.”

“Out,” said Travis.

But Lisa spoke up, advancing on Seth. “What did you do?”

Seth puffed out his chest. “I protected my sister.”

Abigail stood in mute misery, knowing she’d been the cause of all this.

Zach’s voice was deliberate. “Mayor Jacobs advised me that if I ever spoke to his sister again, he’d deny the DFB business license and bankrupt my company.”

“He was blackmailing her,” Seth protested.

“How did you know that?” asked Lisa.

“Stop it!” Abigail cried. “Everyone, please, just stop.” She couldn’t stand that Seth had compromised his principles. And she hated that Zach had outed her.

Lisa’s arm closed on her shoulders.

Abigail found herself searching Zach’s face, as if his expression might give her a hint of why he was doing this.

“You hate the ranch?” Travis asked.

“She’s had enough,” said Lisa.

Zach shook off Travis’s hand, turning on him. “You might want to think about letting her leave this place before you kill her.”

Travis sneered. “Don’t be absurd.”

“Ask her for an inventory of her bruises someday.”

Seth had gone quiet. Now he turned a concerned look on Abigail.

“Get out,” Travis ordered.

“Right,” Zach capitulated. “I’m leaving.” Then his icy stare took in both brothers. “But that doesn’t mean I’m gone.”

His last look was for Abigail. His eyes turned to mocha, and his mouth flexed in a half smile. His deep tone brought back a thousand memories. “Take your time, Doll-Face. Decide what you want to do and let me know.”

* * *

An hour later, Abigail blinked against the shaft of light from the hallway as her sister Mandy pushed open the door and stepped into the dim bedroom, quietly pulling it shut behind her.

Abigail shifted into a sitting position on the bed, drawing up her knees. “It didn’t take them long to send for reinforcements.”

Mandy smiled as she padded across the room, wrapping her hand around the newel post on the footboard. “Sounds like I missed all the fun.”

“You call that fun?”

“I call it exciting.” Mandy sat down at the foot of the big bed and leaned back.

“It was that,” Abigail allowed.

“Your life’s not usually that exciting.”

“Not so you’d notice.” Though, lately, it had had its moments.

“So, what’s the real story with this guy?”

“It’s a bit complicated.”

Her sister shrugged. “I’m not going anywhere.” Then she grinned. “Seriously, Abby. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. So you might as well start talking.”

“I met him in Lyndon.” Abigail settled back against the headboard, preparing to give her sister the whole story. Though she felt battered and bruised, and confused by Zach’s behavior, she felt strangely calm. It was all out in the open now. For better or worse, they could all stop sneaking around.

“When?” Mandy prompted into the silence.

“Election night. He was a stranger then, probably the only guy in town who didn’t know who I was. He thought I was elegant and sophisticated.”

“You are elegant and sophisticated.”

Abigail’s glance went to her tattered fingernails. “Not usually.”

“You were that night. It was one great dress.”

“It was,” Abigail agreed. She thought back to her and Zach’s nighttime picnic. “I was pretty hot that night. It was all very sexy. I wouldn’t let him tell me his name, and I refused to tell him mine. But we slept together.”

“No way.”