what was going on and not said a word. He’d betrayed her.
“After college he went to work for my company,” Garth continued as he reached for the front of his shirt and started unbuttoning it. “Did he tell you about finding oil in South America? Did he tell you what happened next?”
She didn’t want to look, didn’t want to see the proof, but she couldn’t turn her head. Garth pulled apart the fabric and exposed a network of scars eerily similar to the ones Nick carried.
Her legs nearly gave way. She leaned against Jackson to stay standing.
“No,” she whispered, even though she knew it was true. All of it.
“I kept him alive all those months, then he carried me out. Nick and I are like brothers. He’s on my board of directors, Izzy. Why do you think you’re here? I arranged it.”
She couldn’t breathe. Her throat had tightened to the point where she could barely speak.
“Nick knew I wanted you here, so he brought you.”
“No,” she whispered.
“He’s known from the beginning. In the battle for Nick’s soul, I’ll always win.” He buttoned his shirt and shrugged. “There are some things a person can’t get over. You know Nick. Tell me-do you think there’s anything you can say or do that compares to what he and I went through?”
She was going to pass out. The shock was too great. Everything she’d thought, everything she’d believed… She’d trusted him, cared about him, fallen in love with him.
“Nick works for me,” Garth told her. “He always has. This is nothing but a game for him. I guess you didn’t figure that out.”
“Get out,” she said weakly.
“Sure. No problem.” He walked away a few feet, then turned back to her. “Ask him, Izzy. He’ll confirm everything.”
“Get the hell out!” she yelled.
“Right.”
He walked around the barn. A few seconds later, she heard a car engine start.
Ask Nick, he’d said. But she didn’t have to. She already knew the truth.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
IZZY CLUNG to Jackson, her arms around his neck, his warm body providing comfort. Her stomach churned, her hands and feet felt cold. She was sick to the very core of her.
“I don’t believe it,” Rita said from behind her. “I heard him and I don’t believe it.”
“I do,” Izzy said, straightening and brushing the tears from her eyes. “He was with Nick in college and later in South America. I saw the scars.”
Nick had always talked about the other guy he’d been held captive with, but had never mentioned his name. And she’d never thought to ask. It hadn’t seemed important.
“I know Nick,” Rita said. “He wouldn’t do this.”
Exactly what Izzy would have thought five minutes ago. “He was in on it from the beginning. He was working for Garth when he took me from my sisters.”
She thought about all the times they’d talked, how he’d baited her and challenged her until she’d left her room and started living again. He’d kissed her, held her, made love with her, all the while knowing it was a game. He’d led her to believe that he’d opened his heart to her. But it had all been a lie.
She didn’t know what to feel, what to think. Everything hurt. Her body was ice and fire and she just wanted to make it all go away. How could it be true? How could she have been so wrong?
She’d fallen in love with one of Garth’s men. Nick had never cared about her. He’d been playing a part and she’d trusted him with her very soul.
“I’m so stupid,” she murmured.
“You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have guessed. I was too easy. He was too perfect.” She walked to Rita and hugged her. “I have to go.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”
“You did everything. You made me believe in myself again. Thank you.”
Rita grasped her arms and stared into her face. Izzy knew the other woman couldn’t see her, but that wasn’t important. Rita saw to the heart of things.
“Be sure,” Rita told her. “Be sure before you decide. This isn’t the man I’ve known for years. He’s better than this.”
“I’ll be sure,” Izzy lied. She liked Rita enough to leave her with a few illusions intact, but she knew the truth. Once again Garth had struck where they were all most vulnerable. It was a gift. Maybe later she would be able to admire it, but right now she had to get out of here.
She hurried back to the house and made her way to her room. She couldn’t think too much or the tears would start again and she wasn’t going to give Nick the satisfaction of knowing he’d made her cry. She got her suitcases out of the closet and began packing. She worked quickly, shoving things in as fast as she could. Wrinkled clothes were the least of her problems. All she wanted was to get out before Nick showed up. Was it too much to ask?
She got her answer when she heard footsteps in the hallway.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said as he entered the room. “What are you doing?”
She kept packing, not wanting to look at him. “You’re a smart guy. Figure it out.”
“You’re leaving?”
“And he gets it in one try.”
“Izzy? What’s going on? Why are you leaving?”
She braced herself for the impact of his face, his killer green eyes, and looked up. “You’re good. One of the best. Anyone can pretend for a few days or even a week, but you’ve had it going on for what, two months? Impressive.”
He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you going to explain what that means or do I have to guess?”
She walked to the dresser and collected her underwear, carried the armful to the bed, then tossed them in the smaller suitcase.
“I thought you were amazing,” she said. “What you did here. I understood about the guilt and even tried to help you see it wasn’t necessary. Not as much as you’ve wrestled with the past. Color me stupid.”
Nick moved toward her. “Why are you saying this?”
She turned on him. “Stop right there. Don’t you dare get any closer to me. I mean it, Nick. Back off.”
He paused in the middle of the room. “Izzy, tell me what-”
He stopped talking and his expression seemed to shutter. As if he’d remembered something bad.
“Exactly,” she said softly, resuming her packing. “Here I’d thought you were special. Someone I could admire and care about. I let myself fall in love with you, which means I get a plaque for being idiot of the year. You’re not a regular guy trying to make something of your life. You’re working for Garth. You’ve been friends for years. You were held captive together and tortured. You’re on his fucking board of directors.”
Her voice rose with each word until she was screaming.
“You knew,” she yelled. “The whole time, you knew. You didn’t bring me here because Skye wanted you to. You brought me here because Garth asked. This was all just a game to you. How thrilling it must have been for you, playing me like that. Playing all of us.”
“No.” He crossed to her and grabbed her arms. “It wasn’t like that. I do know Garth, and I was on his board until I resigned. But when you first came here, I didn’t know what was going on with you and his family. I didn’t have a clue.”
She pulled free and glared at him. “Because I’ll believe that.”
“It’s true,” he said. “I knew Garth was your brother and there was tension in the family. He asked me to help
