Second Time Around (22 page)

“Oh, right, Edward.” Sarcasm laced her tone. “And you’ve always been so honest with me. Do you really think I’m going to believe anything you say?”

“Has he told you he owns controlling interest in the company now?”

It felt as though her heart was suddenly lodged in her throat. “You’re lying.”

“It’s easy enough to check. His takeover has been in all the Chicago newspapers.

Now where do you suppose he’ll have to live while he’s running the company?”

Her stomach churned and she was desperately afraid she was going to be sick. “I don’t believe you. Why wouldn’t he have told me?”

Edward gave a raspy laugh followed by a deep cough. “Because he didn’t want you to know the truth, girl. Our lawyers told him you could wind up with half the company if you claimed he’d abandoned you, that he needed to establish residency before continuing with the divorce or a custody fight. He even went so far as to put all his assets in a trust fund for the boy so you couldn’t touch them. Ask him. Let’s see if he denies it.”

“Goodbye, Edward.” She dropped the phone into its cradle then stared at it, her body chilled. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. Edward had simply switched tactics. Quinn couldn’t have made love to her like he had if he planned on betraying her.

But it hadn’t felt like a lie.

She took a deep, shaky breath, then stood. No, she’d learned her lesson with Edward. She wasn’t going to believe him this time. Not without proof.

13The trip to Quinn’s desk was the longest of her life, each step taking all her energy.

Sweat beaded her forehead and coated the palms of her hands when she reached her goal.

The computer sat by itself to the left. The fax machine was on a separate table to the right. In the middle lay several stacks of neatly sorted papers.

Slowly she picked up the first stack and thumbed through it, her gaze scanning each page. There were production schedules for drugs with long names, reports from research and development, a thick sheaf of forms that had been filled out for the FDA, and a cost projection on yet another drug.

None of it made much sense to her. She only knew it wasn’t what she was looking for. Without trying to be neat, she put the first stack down and picked up the second.

The top sheet was an e-mail printout, and she sank into the chair as she read it.

According to his stockbroker, as of last Friday evening Quinn owned fifty-four percent of McAllister Pharmaceuticals. Edward had told the truth. And if he’d told the truth about this, what about the rest of it?

Bone deep pain surged through her along with a simmering anger. Yanking the first e-mail off, she wadded it into a ball and tossed it to the floor.

She wasn’t even surprised to discover the next item was a thick legal document.

The rest of the papers slid off her lap unnoticed as she read every word. It didn’t take a lawyer to see what Quinn had done. It was spelled out clearly. All of his assets, including the company stock, were tied up in this trust fund. It left him virtually penniless.

Of course, as executor of the fund, and acting president of the company until Zack turned twenty-five, Quinn would draw a large salary. And there was still the ranch. He could make a small fortune by selling it, she thought bitterly.

How could she have believed him? Hadn’t he proved she couldn’t trust him five years ago? It felt as though her whole world had crumbled around her, the acrid dust of pain filling the air.

Well, he wasn’t going to destroy her this time. She had a son to protect. The anger that had simmered became a boiling cauldron, threatening to scald any it touched.

She’d be damned if she let him do to Zack what Edward had done to him.

Adrenaline propelled her out of the chair, the papers still clutched in her hand.

Martha said something to her as she went through the kitchen, but the words didn’t register on her consciousness.

The trip across the yard to the bunkhouse was made in a red haze of fury. She yanked the door open so hard it slammed against the wall, leaving a dent where the knob hit.

Inside, both men jumped at the loud bang, turning quickly to face her. Quinn dropped the weights he was holding and took a step in her direction.

“Lanie? What’s wrong?”

13“You bastard.” She ground the words out through tightly clenched teeth. “You’ve been lying to me since the day you got here. And the pathetic thing is, I almost bought it. Was three months what your lawyers thought it would take to prove you didn’t abandon me, Quinn?”

“What are you talking about?”

“This so-called trial marriage of yours. Are you going to deny your lawyers told you I could win half the company in a divorce settlement because you abandoned me?

Or that I couldn’t touch anything you owned if you tied it up in a trust fund for Zack?”

His face went white under the bronze of his tan. “No, but I didn’t—”

“Just shut up! I don’t want to hear any more of your lies.” Her breath caught on a sob as she waved the papers at him. “This tells the whole story. Well, you want to know what I think about your trust fund?” Savagely, she ripped the papers into small pieces and threw them in his face.

“I never wanted your money or your company, and neither does Zack. We’ve made it fine on our own.” She took a backwards step toward the door. “I can’t make you leave the ranch, but Zack and I will be gone as soon as I can arrange it. Until then, stay away from me, Quinn.”

Before tears could blind her, she bolted, Quinn’s frantic voice following her as she ran.

Instinct led her to the stable. Several horses were saddled, waiting on a group of riders. She leaped onto the back of the closest, ignoring Sherry’s alarmed questions. By the time they went through the open stable door, the chestnut mare was running flat out.

* * * * *

Quinn watched helplessly as Lanie raced away on horseback. Her face was buried in the mare’s neck as she spurred it to greater speeds. It didn’t take much imagination to know she was crying.

He had to find her, explain. With her head start, there was only one horse on the ranch capable of overtaking her. Xan. He knew the horse was kept in a separate pasture away from the mares, and it would mean taking the time to saddle the fractious stallion, but he’d have to risk it.

Even as he moved toward the stable, he gave a piercing whistle, praying the horse hadn’t forgotten him. There wasn’t time to chase him down.

For an instant there was silence, and he held his breath, waiting. Then in the distance he heard the shrill scream of the stallion, followed by the thundering of hoofs.

He watched long enough to see the black soar over the shorter inner fence, clods of dirt flying into the air when he landed. Quinn dashed into the stable, his gaze searching frantically. Several saddles were out, ready for use, and he grabbed one, hoisting it to his shoulder as he snagged a bridle from a hook.

13Sherry blocked his return path into the corral. “Quinn, what are you doing? No one has ridden Xan in five years!”

“Then he should be well rested. Either help me, or get out of the way.”

Xan was prancing nervously outside the door, his neck arched as he danced sideways. A cross between an Arabian and an American Saddle breed, the black was huge. His delicate ears twitched forward as Quinn crooned to him softly, and he took a hesitant step toward his owner. Cautiously, he extended his long neck, wide nostrils flaring as he checked Quinn’s scent.

“That’s a good boy,” Quinn murmured. He caressed the satiny hide with one hand, and with the other slipped the bridle over the horse’s nose. When it was buckled, he handed the reins to Sherry. “Hold him while I get the saddle on.”

“Quinn, please.” The blonde was clearly agitated. “Xan isn’t one of our trained riding horses. Even if he’s willing to let you on his back, it won’t be from the right side.

He’s too excitable.”

“I’ll manage.” He got the saddle on in record time, acutely aware of each passing second.

She snorted. “Sure you will. Okay, if you’re determined to do this, try climbing up on the fence and mounting from there. I’ll hold him until you’re seated. At least that way you won’t hurt your leg again.”

His feet barely hit the stirrups before Xan exploded. The bridle was ripped from Sherry’s grasp as the big horse raced across the corral. There wasn’t even time to open the gate. Quinn braced himself when he felt the muscles beneath him bunch and tighten. Grinding his teeth against the strain to his thigh, he shifted his weight forward.

And then they were airborne, Xan’s front legs tucked to his body as they cleared the fence.

It almost seemed the horse had been waiting for this chance. Taking the bit in his teeth, he shot across the pasture like a bullet fired from a high powered gun. Quinn wrestled the black’s head around until he was pointed in the direction Lanie had gone, then let him run.

Tears formed in his eyes as the wind created by their speed battered them. With every step, Xan’s stride lengthened until they were flying across the ground, and the surrounding area became a blur of green.

He had no idea where Lanie might be. All he could do was hope she would continue in the direction she’d been going. The mare had been a quarter horse. Good for a brief burst of speed over a quarter-mile stretch, but lacking the stamina for a prolonged run. Xan could go on like this for miles.

Even then, it seemed like hours before he caught sight of Lanie. Without continued guidance, the mare had slowed, sweat still dripping from her chestnut coat after her forced exertion.

13Lanie’s head was down, her shoulders slumped, so lost in thought that the mare became aware of their presence before she did. The chestnut whinnied nervously, stepping sideways as she scented the stallion.

The movement brought Lanie out of her stupor. Quinn saw her glance over her shoulder, her eyes going wide at the black bearing down on her. Abruptly, she dug her heels into the mare’s flanks, but it was too late. Quinn was beside her. Xan had slowed on his own as he reached the mare, and with no hesitation, Quinn plucked Lanie from her saddle.

For a moment she struggled, her hands beating his chest, then she went limp.

“Damn it, I told you to stay away from me.”

She may have stopped fighting, but her eyes were still molten with anger and pain.

Tears had left tracks in the dust on her cheeks.

His arms tightened around her, and his own heart pounded with fear. What if she didn’t believe him?

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, I don’t take orders any better than you do. Did you really think I’d sit back calmly and let a bunch of lies ruin what we have together?”

She turned her face away. “They weren’t lies. You own the company. You put all your money in that trust fund because you were afraid I’d try and take it away from you.”

“That’s not true, Lanie. Edward took the facts and twisted them around to his benefit. And he got exactly the reaction from you he was hoping for. Do you really want to play his games again?”

“I saw the papers with my own eyes.”

He barely restrained the urge to shake her until her teeth rattled. The woman’s middle name should have been “Stubborn”. “Yes, you saw the papers. And yes, I did buy up controlling interest in the company. But I don’t own it. Zack does. It all went into the trust fund. I don’t want it, Lanie. And I don’t want the ranch unless you come with it.”

Xan danced restlessly at the added weight and Quinn shifted Lanie so she was sitting more comfortably on his lap.

“And I suppose you’re going to tell me your lawyers didn’t suggest you live with me?”

“No, they didn’t. It was the day after you left Chicago. I kept telling them you had no reason to fight us, that you were the one who wanted a fast divorce. But Franklin Delaney, our lawyer, was having a nervous breakdown over the situation. He started listing all the legal problems that could crop up, and abandonment was one of them. He never suggested I live with you. What he suggested was that I come to Wyoming and get you to sign releases on all my finances.”

She still wouldn’t look at him, but he could tell she was listening. “Edward was dead-set against me coming back here. At first I thought it was because he was afraid if 13I came back, I’d want to stay. When Franklin insisted it was the only way, Edward dropped his bombshell. He finally told me about Zack.”

Quinn took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead. “I can’t describe the way it made me feel. To say I was mad wouldn’t even begin to cover it.”

She finally looked at him, her gaze searching his face.

“I wanted to hurt him, Lanie. The way he’d hurt me. But the only thing Edward cares about is that damn company. That’s when I decided to acquire controlling interest. It wasn’t just revenge, although that was part of it. I wanted the company to be there for our son, but there was the possibility that Edward would try to manipulate him the way he has me. I had to prevent that at all cost. I got the idea for the trust fund from my mother. She set one up for me that Edward couldn’t touch. That’s what I did for Zack. It had nothing to do with keeping you from getting it.”

She was still searching face, trying to determine the truth of his words. “And what if Zack doesn’t want the company, Quinn? Are you going to force him to take it anyway?”

“Of course not. Zack will be free to do whatever he wants. If he doesn’t want the company he can sell it. At least this way he has a choice.” He gave her a weak smile. “I was kind of hoping that by the time he was twenty-five we’d have a few more kids.

Maybe one of them will be interested in the company if he’s not.”

“But as president, you’ll have to run the company. That means you lied about staying here.”

“No, Lanie. I’ll be acting president, certainly, and I’ll have to make trips to Chicago occasionally, but my CEO will handle most of the business. Anything that needs my attention on a daily basis, I can do from an office on the ranch. I won’t have to be there in person. I’m not going to leave you and Zack again.”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Oh, God, I don’t know what or who to believe anymore. I’m so tired of having my life torn into pieces. I can’t do this right now, Quinn.”