Lexi smiled. “Meaning guys aren’t inherently insightful?”
“Something like that.”
Skye nodded slowly. “We won’t help, but we won’t get in the way.”
Tension eased. The bands around his chest loosened for the first time in days. “Thank you.”
The sisters stood.
“She won’t be easy,” Lexi said. “You’re going to have to convince her.”
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
“Try bleeding,” Skye told him. “That will get her attention.”
KATHY TOOK THE COFFEE and sipped. “Nice,” she said with a smile. “You always remember.”
“It’s your favorite,” Garth said.
He didn’t have time to be here. He had meetings and was due to fly out to Germany in the morning. But he’d been unable to concentrate and had decided to visit Kathy before he left.
She frowned. “You’re sad.”
“I’m fine.”
She didn’t look convinced and touched his arm. “You’re sad,” she repeated.
Sometimes she surprised him. Most of the time Kathy was in her own happy little world, but every now and then she seemed to see more.
“I hurt a friend,” he admitted. “I didn’t mean to. Or maybe I did. I don’t know. I’m doing something and…”
He trailed off as her expression changed from concerned to confusion.
He gave her a smile. “I’m sad because of a friend.”
“Did you say you’re sorry?”
“No.”
“Say you’re sorry. You have to say you’re sorry.”
There was no point in having this conversation. Whatever moment had occurred was now gone. “I will,” he said, not meaning it.
“We have new kittens,” Kathy told him. “Five. I need to check on them.”
“Okay.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll be back next week.”
“Bye.”
She turned and walked away. He watched her go. Did she remember him after he left or did he cease to exist? What did she think about during her day? Did she recall the person she’d been before?
Knowing he would never get any answers, he left the pet store and headed for his car. But before he could reach it, he saw Izzy Titan walking toward Bronco Billy’s. She seemed to be alone.
Garth dropped his coffee container in a nearby trash can and hurried across the street, following her into the restaurant.
She was just being shown a table. He hesitated for a second, then walked toward her.
She saw him. Her face tightened and her eyes turned to ice. “Don’t even think about sitting here,” she snapped as she sat down.
He pulled a handkerchief out of his slacks pocket and set the white square on the table in front of her. “Truce?”
Izzy stared from the fabric to Garth and back. “I won’t pretend to understand the game,” she told him, wondering if she could slap him in the face the same way she’d hit her father. Something told her Garth would move a lot faster and she’d only end up hitting the back of the seat or something and hurting her hand.
“No game. I want to talk.”
“And I should believe you why?”
“Please, Izzy. Give me fifteen minutes. I didn’t blow up the oil rig. I did the rest of it. Sure. I was the investor in Lexi’s spa, I arranged for Jed’s horses to get doped. I tipped off the D.A. about Skye’s foundation, had a guy hack into her records and plant false information. The illegal arms being shipped? That was me, too. All of it.”
“I could so throw your ass in jail over this.”
“I’ll deny it all. But I didn’t blow up the oil rig. I had nothing to do with that.” He sat across from her in the booth.
“You just admitted you’d lie about talking to me.”
“That’s different.”
“Degrees of evil? Do you have a chart so I can follow along?”
“No chart. You don’t even have to talk, just listen.”
“Not talk? Have we met?”
He smiled. “I meant you don’t have to participate in the conversation.”
She stared at him. The smile was gone already, but she’d recognized it. It was the carefree smile Jed had used often when she’d been younger. She hadn’t seen it in years. It reminded her that Garth might be the devil, but he was also her brother. Perhaps only a half brother, but then Lexi was only her half sister. He was still family.
Somehow she’d forgotten that. They had a connection.
“Fifteen minutes,” she said, glancing at her watch. “Starting now.”
“Nick wasn’t a part of it. I told him I wanted to help you without taking credit.” He shrugged. “Nick used to think I was actually a nice guy and he believed me.”
“There’s a stunner,” she muttered, wondering if any of this was true.
“When he found out there was more going on, he was pissed. He told me to back off. I wouldn’t. He faced a real dilemma…tell you the truth and have you walk, or keep quiet until you had the surgery. You know what he chose.”
Izzy didn’t want to think about that-didn’t want to think about Nick or the secrets he’d kept from her. How he’d hurt her.
“He picked his friend,” she said.
“He picked what was right. If you’d known, you would have left in a snit and who knows when you would have gotten the surgery.”
She didn’t want to agree with that, but knew he was right. “He could have told me later.”
“When? While you were still in bandages? Afterward when he was falling for you? What would have been the best time, Izzy? When would it have been okay?”
She didn’t have an answer for that, either. There was no good time. She knew that, but so what? Nick had still betrayed her. Given the circumstances and all Garth had done to her family, she would guess that decision should make Garth a happy guy. So why was he taking Nick’s side? Was it another round in the sick game of crush the Titans?
“Why are you defending him?” she asked, figuring there was no point in avoiding the obvious. “You’re the one who told me he was working for you. You’re the one who came between us. You knew what was going to happen, so none of this is a surprise.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t count on Nick.” He leaned back in the booth and stared past her. “He never gets involved. I didn’t think you mattered that much to him. He told me to stop going after you and your sisters. I didn’t listen.” He returned his gaze to her. “Maybe I should have. He’s gone. We’re not friends anymore. He’s angry and disgusted with me.”
Garth actually sounded surprised and a little sad, she thought, refusing to pity him.
“Gee, you used your only friend to hurt people and you’re shocked he’s judging you. What an unfortunate time to be you.”
“Thanks for the sympathy.”
“You’re welcome.”
He picked up the handkerchief and stuck it in his pocket. “Give him a chance, Izzy.”
“Why?”
“Because we both love him.”
She blinked. “You can’t love anyone. You’re a cold, empty, ruthless bastard.”
“He was the only family I had. I played and lost. Our friendship is a casualty of war. I don’t like it but I can’t change it. It’s up to you. Take care of him.”
Oh, please. Was he serious? She was about to tell him exactly what she thought of him when she remembered Nick talking about his friend in South America. The one who had kept him alive. The man who had been like his
