Praise for Susan Fox:

About THE MARRIAGE BARGAIN

“The Marriage Bargain is a must read with spellbinding characters…”

—Romantic Times

About TO CLAIM A WIFE

“Fans will relish Ms. Fox’s fabulous characters and emotionally intense plot.”

—Romantic Times

About THE WIFE HE CHOSE

“Susan Fox offers a touching read that captures the dynamics of a developing relationship.”

—Romantic Times

Susan Fox lives with her youngest son, Patrick, in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A. A lifelong fan of Westerns and cowboys, she tends to think of romantic heroes in terms of Stetsons and boots! In what spare time she has, Susan is an unabashed couch potato and movie fan. She particularly enjoys romantic movies, and also reads a variety of romance novels—with guaranteed happy endings—and plans to write many more of her own.

Susan Fox has a compelling writing style and loves

to take her characters on an intense emotional journey!

Share in the powerful feelings and dilemmas experienced

by her hero and heroine in Susan’s latest novel.

The path to true love never runs smoothly,

but the thrill of the chase will keep you hooked!

Books by Susan Fox

HARLEQUIN ROMANCES®

3648—THE MAN SHE’LL MARRY

3668—THE WIFE HE CHOSE

3696—MARRIAGE ON DEMAND

3717—HER FORBIDDEN BRIDEGROOM

The Prodigal Wife

Susan Fox

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ONE

GABE PATTON and Lainey Talbot had been married for almost five years, though they’d only been together in the same room twice since then. The first time was that ten minutes after a judge had pronounced them husband and wife as they’d signed the marriage certificate. She’d coldly walked out without a word to Gabe, leaving the beautiful rings he’d just put on her finger lying next to her signature.

The second time had been at her mother’s funeral six months ago. She’d kept herself aloof, wordlessly listening to Gabe’s formal expression of condolence before she’d stoically endured less than an hour breathing the same air as him while the memorial service droned on.

She’d walked away from him that time, too. Calmly and coldly, still frozen from the shock of her mother’s death, but still quite coldly furious with him for what he and her late father had done to her.

Over the five years she’d spent away from Texas and Gabe Patton, she’d refused his every phone call, and sent back to him, unopened, every letter and gift he’d sent to her. Still self-righteous, she’d boldly marked on each envelope or package in red felt pen: Refused. Return To Sender.

She’d never acknowledged Gabe Patton as her legal husband in even a remote way, much less taken his name, though she’d been forced to file her income tax returns as married, filing single, and she’d had to instruct her lawyer to rebuff any attempt at contact, short of death or a divorce petition. She hadn’t let herself think many good thoughts about Gabriel Patton; she’d certainly never spoken anything good about him these past years.

She’d almost managed to make herself forget the mad adolescent crush she’d had on him once when she was barely eighteen, and she’d staunchly tried to deny to herself the reasons she’d loved him to distraction back then. Sometimes she was even successful. She’d been glad she’d taken such incredible pains to protect her female pride, to keep a wary distance from Gabe Patton so he’d never suspect her feelings for him—particularly once she’d found out that the only reason he’d agreed to marry her had been to get control of Talbot Ranch.

Her sweet, agonizing crush had exploded into fiery hate when he’d done that, and she’d sworn to herself that she’d never show Gabriel Patton an ounce of welcome or approval as a husband. Never.

But she’d got it wrong, so very wrong.

Gabe Patton had never been the greedy opportunist she’d thought he was when he’d agreed to the marriage deal her father had secretly cooked up for his only child. A marriage deal she’d never suspected until after her father’s sudden death when she’d heard the barbaric terms of his will.

In her mind, the father she’d idolized had apparently found a way to punish her for trying to stay neutral in his bitter divorce from her mother. John Talbot had never given any indication of disapproval toward her and had even seemed to agree with her decision when she’d left the ranch to live with her mother in Chicago. But when he’d given away control of her inheritance to the man he’d selected for her to marry, she’d taken it as a brutal revelation of some virulent, secret anger her father had harbored over the agonizing choice she’d made.

And because her much-loved and adored father had been just four days dead by the time she’d found it out, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to be angry with him, only wounded and bewildered by what he’d done. Instead she’d taken out her rage over the shock of her father’s death, and the injustice of his secret bargain, on Gabe. She’d spurned him and done spite to the marriage that had been forced on her.

Until her mother had died and she’d read the truth in the ream of papers and documents Sondra had hidden away from her and lied about. Everything Lainey had done, every cold act, had been based on lies and pain and more lies. Because of what her mother had engineered, Lainey had not only dishonored her husband and her marriage, she’d also dishonored the memory of the loving father who’d tried to protect her from her mother’s greed, then had suddenly died before he could explain his reasons.

Now the stench of dishonor was slowly poisoning her soul. For weeks she’d been traumatized by the truth, and every moment of those weeks, sharp guilt had eaten at her and sickening questions had pounded her heart.

Was there a way to make up these past five years to Gabriel Patton? Was there anything she could do to somehow atone for the things she’d done to him—and his pride—in a way that might at least mollify him and give him some sort of satisfaction? It was too much to expect that he could forgive her. She’d come to that heart-crushing conclusion when she’d read the truth and realized the magnitude of her hatefulness.

If he paid her back even a smidgen of what she’d done to him, it would be the much deserved and overdue justice that was owed to a wronged man.

He’d endured her venom for years without a hint of retaliation, so he deserved to hear her admit to his face what she should have known all along: that he was an honorable man of character who was far too good for her, not the come-from-nothing lowlife she’d believed he was.

As terrified as she was to see him again and endure whatever awful things he’d say to her now, it was only right that she take whatever he was willing to dish out and do it without complaint.

Every air mile between Chicago and Patton Ranch had been a small eternity, surpassed only by the endless miles she’d driven from San Antonio in a rented car. Her crisply ruffled white blouse and khaki slacks were not exactly sackcloth, but she fretted over the selection. Had styling her long, dark hair in a chic upsweep made her look too aloof and citified? Should she have worn jeans and a simple cotton blouse, or should she have dressed even more like a spoiled princess who deserved to be mocked and chastised?

As long as the trip had seemed to take, the main house appeared suddenly over the last shallow rise of ranch road. Lainey’s heart surged into her throat and thumped fast and hard. She felt perspiration dot her face as another wave of guilt and terror washed painfully through her.

The large single-story adobe ranch house had a new addition on the east, and the gleaming rows of the new red tile roof gave the white-painted adobe below a pristine glow. The deep, shady veranda stretched along the entire front of the house, and each arch that curved over its outer edge was decorated with hanging pots of trailing flowers that favored deep blues and rich purples with touches of more red.

The luster of fresh red paint on the huge double front doors hinted that they could be either the gates of a threatening hell or the redemptive color of a joyous heaven. Lainey was well aware of which one she’d forfeited and which one she deserved.

Shame sent a hot flush to her face as she got out of the rental car, took out her handbag and leather briefcase, then made herself start up the front walk. The briefcase was heavy, perhaps because the papers and documents inside that vindicated Gabe were also an indictment of her stupidity.

The documents her mother had forged were also in the case, and she felt another twist of her insides at the thought that however evil it had been of her mother to perpetrate them on her, showing them to Gabe now would be as self-serving as it was disloyal to her mother.

Her feelings about her mother were still in turmoil. Was she being disloyal or was Sondra even worthy of loyalty after what she’d done?

But on the issue of selfishness, Lainey knew she was guilty. She still had the wild, impossible hope that when she showed the papers and forgeries to Gabe, he would understand, have mercy on her, and forgive her for the way she’d treated him.

She didn’t know what would happen after that. Probably divorce. There could be no reason that Gabe would want her after she’d been such a horror as a wife.

Then again, he might never see the papers. If he decided to pay her back in kind, he’d give her no opportunity to explain her actions. He’d probably throw her—and her briefcase of papers—out of his house and chase her off Patton Ranch. If that happened, she’d begin divorce proceedings next month. No sense being a millstone around his neck any longer.

Nausea began the slow, sickening climb into her chest as she reached the red doors and put out her free hand to push the doorbell. As if the housekeeper had seen her drive up and had been waiting for her to ring, the big red door on the right was pulled open.

Lainey didn’t recognize the Hispanic woman, but bid her a quiet, “Buenos dias, señora. Lainey Talbot to see Señor Patton.”

No doubt the woman would know her name whether she recognized Lainey or not. And sure enough, a faint light of suspicion and disapproval showed in the woman’s dark eyes, though her reserved smile was polite.

“Buenos dias. Señor Gabe is out with the men today. Perhaps you could come back at evening.”

“Is there any way I can go out wherever he is to speak to him?” Lainey asked hastily, suddenly worried that this might be her sole opportunity to see Gabe. She’d purposely not let him know ahead of time that she was coming. It was a sneaky thing to do, but she’d been afraid she’d never get near him otherwise.

Her only option then would be to get her lawyer to contact his lawyer. And again, Gabe had tried that periodically with her, but her instructions to her attorney had been another hateful rebuff.

To her surprise and relief, the woman seemed to make a decision about her, though it was clear she was hesitant about it.

“I can try to contact him for you.”

Relief gave Lainey a fraction of hope. “That would be very kind. I can wait out here.”

Lainey had added that last to somehow communicate to the woman that she understood the predicament her request had put her in. Gabriel Patton’s employees were loyal to him, and it would be unfair to put a strain on that.

She’d also meant the offer to wait outside the house as a semi-public acknowledgment that she had no right to cross the threshold into Gabe’s private domain. A wife like her didn’t deserve that kind of access.

The woman nodded and stepped back, making a polite smile again before slowly closing the door.

The nausea climbed a bit higher, and Lainey turned miserably to stare at the land. It was so abominably hot, but then it was just past two p.m., and this was June in Texas. Her body had become too accustomed to her air-conditioned life in Chicago.

Nevertheless, the sight of pastureland between the house and the highway nearly two miles distant was a visual comfort. It was also the only comfort she’d felt in weeks now, and she began to feel faintly shocked that she could have walked away from ranch life and endured the cement-surrounded life of the city for so long.

Oh, God, if I could come back to this…

The door behind her opened again and she turned back, trying not to reveal the pitiful hope she had. The housekeeper’s face showed little more than her polite smile and that same touch of wary disapproval.

“Señor Gabe is bringing horses to the pens now. He says you may meet him there or not, but he is too busy to come to you.”

Lainey tried to find some encouragement in that. If Gabe was allowing her to come that close to him, surely it was a good sign, though it was apparently all he was willing to do. The only time she’d allowed him a chance to be anywhere in her vicinity had been six months ago at the funeral. Perhaps this was a turn-about-is-fair-play sort of thing. She’d only been barely civil to him that one time, so maybe this would be the only time he’d be barely civil to her.

“Thank you, señora,” she said, then turned to rush to her car and put her handbag and briefcase inside. She started around the big house to the buildings and corrals of the headquarters.

Her brain was so awhirl with thoughts of what to say during the long walk that she didn’t realize until she’d passed the last of the buildings that her sandals were now gritty with dirt. The ground had been sunbaked and churned by so many hooves that the dirt was powdery.

As she stopped to scan the panorama of ranch land ahead, she saw the rising dust of a small herd of horses moving steadily in her direction and gave up on any thought of going back to the car for her boots. She took up a position next to the open gate of one of the larger pens, then shaded her eyes with her hands as she tried to pick Gabe out from the three men who were moving the horses along at a slow pace in the afternoon heat.

Her heart began to tremble with fear and excitement. Fear because she didn’t know what Gabe would say or do; excitement because the sight of young horses being brought in, probably for training, was familiar. It had been ages since she’d been on a horse, and she was suddenly emotional over the sight. She’d missed so much!

Lainey searched the size and posture of the three men, but even from a distance, she could tell that none of them were Gabe. She lowered her hands a moment, then was compelled to look again, fretting. Had he changed his mind about seeing her?

After another long, futile look, she lowered her hands again. A movement in her peripheral vision drew her to glance that way briefly, and she felt the shock of what she saw go from her brain to her feet.

Gabe Patton sat astride a huge black gelding, and he was watching her with an iron calm that sent another shock pounding through her. The horse’s neck and flank were damp, and his big hooves moved restively, as if he was eager to run.

Five years had only hardened Gabe Patton’s rugged looks, and they carried a seasoned harshness that she’d never seen. He’d been wearing a suit at the service six months ago, but his face had not been harsh, merely somber. Today it was decidedly stony. And unreadable. Gabe had never been handsome, but he carried the look of a westerner who worked hard and somehow he’d achieved such a devastating male charisma that, after this, would make it impossible for her to ever be impressed with softer, more conventionally handsome men.

His big body also looked harder and stronger—he was as tall as a giant—adding to a larger-than-life presence that was more potent and compelling for her than ever before, even six months ago. But she’d been trying not to look at him much then, and she was now getting the full view of a man who showed not a flicker of the sympathy she’d read in his expression during the ten or so seconds she’d actually looked at him that day.

Gabe was in his element here in the outdoors, so his impact on her seemed unchecked and unrestrained. She wondered dazedly if perhaps he somehow toned himself down in more civilized, indoor places, and she made a fervent wish that he would do it now. Instead he seemed to become more intimidating by the moment.

Beneath the shade of his black Stetson his dark eyes glittered slowly over her from head to foot as if he was judging the confirmation of a horse he might buy—or cull. She saw the faint curl of weary mockery that indented one side of his hard mouth, then saw it suddenly vanish as his dark gaze slid up from her dirty sandals and feet to slam against hers.

Anger, suspicion and something flat and icy showed in his gaze before he loosened the reins a fraction and his huge horse minced toward her. The sight made her think of a knight in full armor on a black destrier who could charge forward at any second to enter a battle to the death. When he stopped his big horse beside her and she turned to look up at him, the width of his shoulders blocked the sun. The heat from his horse was scorching, but she stood her ground.

Gabe was still staring harshly down at her, and she was helpless to look away. Her brain felt the deep probe of his gaze like a rough touch. She got nothing more from the way he looked at her than the impression that he was searching for something of worth in a place where searching for worth might be a waste of time.

Suddenly terrified that he’d stare at her a few moments more then just ride away, she managed to say, “I’m sorry.” The words croaked out of her dry throat, but he heard them.

“Sorry for what?” he said at last. “Sorry you had to come all this way, sorry you got your feet dirty?”

Now he would get his pound of flesh—that much was plain in the bitter way he said the words. But she’d come here to do some sort of penance and she hadn’t truly expected anything but harshness, whatever her wild hopes had been. She tried to take this as calmly and patiently as he’d taken all her slights and mistreatments.

“C-can we go someplace to talk?” The tremor in her voice was impossible to thwart.

“No reason until you answer the question. Sorry for what?”

She suddenly couldn’t bear the diamond glitter in his eyes and looked away. She’d craved this opportunity for weeks while she worked up her courage, but Gabe was so tough and skeptical of her that she wished she could simply vanish from his sight and slink away somewhere.

But if she let him chase her off now, she’d regret that, too, and she might never get another chance.

“I came here to…apologize.” The dryness in her mouth and the surge of roiling emotions complicated it all. “To even grovel if that’s…what it takes.”

Now she made the monumental effort to look up at him again, to say this to his face as she’d meant to. “I’ve been awful to you. You were never what I thought you were, and I came here to tell you that. And to say that I’m profoundly sorry.”

The diamond glitter in his eyes was suddenly banished by dark fire. “So now you want a divorce.”

His conclusion sent a new shock through her and she reflexively gave a quick, “No,” then caught herself and just as quickly added, “Yes. But you can’t want to stay married to me.”

The fire in his eyes didn’t lower by so much as a spark, so she rushed out with, “Isn’t that what you want to do?”

He let her wait a few more breathless seconds before he leaned toward her. She had to fight not to take a step back. “You have no idea what I want to do.”

To beat her, strangle her? The way he’d said the word want seemed menacing enough to suggest those things.

“Could we talk?”

Nothing eased in his face or in his eyes, but his voice lowered to a growl. “You’ve always taken the say-so about that.”

She tried a small, conciliatory smile, but it felt more like a sick curve of lips. She was just so desperate to somehow win a chance to tell him everything she’d come here to say. “I’m sorry about that, too.” Her heart was beating impossibly fast. “It’s your turn now.”

Not getting any clue that she’d said enough to satisfy him, she panicked and babbled out, “It’s completely your turn now, Gabe, completely.”

She couldn’t bear the awful suspense and her breathless, “Could we?” came out without her being conscious of it until she heard herself say the words. She’d sounded like a pitiful child begging for something, and she cringed inwardly. His growl went lower.

“How bad do you want to talk to me?”

It was as if he’d somehow hypnotized her and she’d answer any question without reserve.

“Badly.”

Gabe slowly straightened, his glittery, angry gaze never leaving hers. The big horse shifted beneath him as if responding to some sort of tension in his rider. Just when she thought he’d decided to ride away and leave her hanging, he spoke.

“Then move your things into my house. If you’re still there by supper, I’ll eat with you. I’ll think about talk—if you’ve learned enough manners to get through a meal.”

And then he rode away. She turned to watch him go, a little stunned to see the horses that had been herded to the tree-shaded pens were now milling inside. The thirty or so animals had trotted past only a few feet away from where she was standing, and it amazed her that she’d neither seen nor heard them or the wranglers who’d brought them in and closed the gate.

Move your things into my house…I’ll think about talking if you’ve learned enough manners…

Tough, uncompromising, but it was as much a warning as it was the chance she’d craved. Gabe Patton would tolerate no misstep or wrong word, and certainly no hint of spite from her ever again. And she didn’t know him well enough to know what might set him off, particularly when she was sure that anything, no matter how miniscule or unintended on her part, might well get her thrown out before she even realized what she’d done to rile him.

Mindful that he’d now dismounted and handed his horse off to one of the wranglers and might be about to glance her way, she turned and hurried back to the house, determined to demonstrate that she would immediately comply with his dictates, however more demanding they might become.

And however impossible she feared he could make them.

CHAPTER TWO

GABE PATTON had realized the truth the moment he’d taken the cell call from his housekeeper and heard Lainey’s name: His wife was here to divorce him.

Lainey Talbot Patton was the only acquisition he’d not fought to get his hands on or gone to war to keep. Partly because as long as they were married, she was his whether she thought so or not. Partly because he knew she’d been devastated by her father’s death and manipulated to within an inch of her life by her harridan mother.

For those first days and weeks after the quick ceremony at the courthouse, Gabe had been amused by her stubbornness and her absolute refusal to allow him any contact with her. But when the days and weeks had turned into months, he’d stopped being amused.

He’d like to credit her mother’s death with Lainey’s sudden appearance here and her claim to have found out the truth. Her repentant pose had looked startlingly authentic, but they both knew the terms of her father’s will, and the fact that she’d waited six months to show up made her apology ring hollow.

According to the terms of the will, Lainey had to stay married to him for five years before she was eligible to receive full control of her inheritance. The five years were almost up, control of Talbot Ranch would revert to her in a few weeks, but her marriage to him—the marriage she’d never given a moment’s chance to—would be the only thing standing in her way.

Whatever he’d once hoped they might have together, there was no way in hell he’d just hand over what had been a bankrupt operation to an ungrateful female who’d virtually wiped her feet on him while he’d been risking everything he’d earned to get Talbot Ranch back into the black. Particularly now that she could legally claim control over every inch and dollar of the sweat and risk he’d invested to save it, then maybe make some token thanks before she demanded a divorce.

Though he’d agreed to John’s request and would keep their bargain to the letter, he didn’t plan to come out of the deal empty-handed.

He glanced toward the main house, but Lainey was no longer in sight. Unless her mother had succeeded in making a hothouse plant of her, he was certain she wouldn’t be able to sit around indoors for the rest of the afternoon. He figured she’d go over to Talbot and have a look around, so he didn’t let the idea bother him.

Whatever Lainey was up to now, her intention to be free of him wouldn’t be as simple as a token apology and a last trip to the courthouse.

Gabe’s housekeeper, who introduced herself as Elisa, put Lainey’s two suitcases, overnight bag and briefcase in the entry closet just off the front foyer. Uneasy and too restless and keyed up to wait around in the living room for over three hours until supper, Lainey left a hasty note on a paper scrap for Gabe on the coffee table, then left the house.

Her father had been buried in the small family cemetery on Talbot Ranch, so she went there. She drove past the big Victorian house and ranch buildings of the Talbot headquarters, and found the rutted road that stretched through three massive pastures to the gravesite.

The shady acre was enclosed by a white rail fence, and she parked her car outside the painted rails beneath an overhanging tree branch. She went to the trunk for the silk flower arrangement she’d bought in San Antonio, then entered the gate and walked to the headstone that marked John Talbot’s grave.

Poignant memories overwhelmed her as she stared at the carved stone and remembered the horror of hearing that her father had been killed. Her desperate race to get back to Texas had been blurred by the shock and numbing grief she’d been certain she couldn’t survive, then the terrible agony of his funeral.

How on earth could she have thought her father would do anything to hurt or slight her? For weeks now she’d looked through his pictures again and again, apologizing over and over for ever doubting his love and care for her.

Childish or not, foolish or not, she’d somehow hoped her father had heard her all those times. Perhaps the knowledge of what she’d inflicted on Gabe had prevented her from feeling relief; perhaps self-loathing and guilt would keep her in this torment the rest of her days, whatever Gabe had to say to her tonight.

Quietly she knelt down and placed the silk pansies and forget-me-nots in the slim receptacle at the base of the stone.

“I’m finally home, Daddy.”

All the other words crowded up from the love and heartache and brokenness she felt, and poured out in a fresh torrent of sorrow and regret. By the time the torrent had eased away, she had moved to the wrought-iron bench nearby to sit sideways on the end of it to pillow her cheek on the back with her wrists.

The sound of the breeze gently rustling the tree leaves overhead made her aware of its warmth as it brushed lightly over her clothes and teased through her hair. The first true sense of peace she’d felt in years began to trickle through her then, and she remembered the words, Not a soul on this earth I love more than my baby girl.

Her father had said that to her frequently, sometimes in his booming voice with a broad smile on his face, sometimes in a moment of gruff sentimentality.

The sweetness of the memory made her whisper back what she always had, “And there’s not a soul on this earth your baby girl loves more than her daddy.”

Lainey sat there for some time more in the calm that had eluded her for weeks. She’d needed this too long and craved it too desperately to rush away from it now. Drowsy from the heat, she must have dozed until she was roused by what sounded like a faint whisper.

Show him what you’re made of…

Half awake, her heart still clinging to the words she must have dreamed, Lainey lifted her head to look past the edge of the trees and note the angle of the sun. Alarm banished her calm and scattered the dreamed whisper. She got quickly to her feet and ran to her car.

Leery of driving too fast on the rutted road, she felt the ominous weight of each frantic second.

Lainey pulled up in front of the Patton main house, switched off the engine, then reached for her handbag and raced to the red doors. She stabbed at the button for the doorbell, then fidgeted as she waited. Elisa opened the door.

“I’m sorry to be late, señora. May I come—”

But the woman was already stepping back to graciously wave her inside.

“Do I have time to freshen up?”

“The second door on the hall.”

Lainey offered a smile as her heart fell further. The message she read from the way Elisa had answered was that she indeed had no time left, but the woman might have some sympathy for her need to make herself more presentable.

Lainey hurried toward the small bathroom to do something with her hair. She’d used the rearview mirror in her car to help guide her efforts to remove her smudged mascara, then had dug around for hairpins and given her hair a quick brushing, but she still looked wilted and mussed.

Another pass with her brush and a few repairs with the small amount of makeup in her handbag were made more difficult by her shaking hands. It was some consolation that at least Gabe had allowed her into his house.

She had no doubt that Elisa was giving him a report on her disheveled appearance, and she cringed. The last thing she wanted was for Gabe to think she was playing on his sympathy so he’d be nicer to her and perhaps consider forgiving her.

When she’d finished, Lainey found her way to the dining room. She’d never seen the private areas of Gabe’s house, but she had been in the main rooms a handful of times years ago. When she reached the formal room, she halted just inside the double doors.

Gabe sat at the head of the long gleaming table, his overlong dark hair still damp from his shower. The jeans and blue-striped shirt he had on were fresh but fairly common. He didn’t fuss over his clothes like men who were born to wealth or who worked in offices, and yet there was a quality about him that made him look just as neatly pressed and turned out in work clothes as he did in a suit and tie.

Gabriel Patton was a man who’d grown a substantial income from practically nothing through hard work, careful savvy, and the sheer power of his iron will. He was a man without a college education who’d taken big risks, refused to fail, and whose handshake on a deal made its outcome as certain as the sunrise.

Which was why her wrong beliefs about him had been such a profound insult to his integrity. This was a man who’d worked relentlessly to overcome his hardscrabble upbringing and achieve success. To even hint that he’d married her out of greed or to get anything by underhanded means was not only untrue but morally wrong.

The dark eyes that were too perceptive and too flat and hard to make her feel even a whisper of comfort, took note of her sudden entrance. The chill in his gaze kept her where she was and certainly didn’t show a hint of welcome. She endured it when his gaze flashed down the front of her to her feet, but it came back up so suddenly that she thought she’d imagined the swift look.

“I apologize,” she said quickly. “Time got away from me.”

Gabe didn’t comment on that, but instead called his housekeeper in. When Elisa appeared, he simply glanced her way and she disappeared back into the kitchen. Then his gaze shifted back to Lainey.

“Might as well sit.”

Lainey walked to the place setting to the right of his. Gabe rose briefly to seat her, but she knew right away that he did it only because she was a female guest and he was her host. The fact that he didn’t neglect the courtesy gave her a slim bit of hope.

Elisa brought a tray of food into the silent room and efficiently set everything out before she retreated to the kitchen. Lainey followed Gabe’s lead and reached for her napkin.

He didn’t speak to her and she didn’t feel comfortable trying to speak to him. There was nothing she could conclude about his mood except that it must be dark. He certainly wasn’t brimming with eagerness to make conversation with her, so she tried to eat the steak and assortment of vegetables and crusty bread set before her. When the silence bore down too heavily, she found something neutral to say.

“Elisa is an excellent cook.”

As if her remark had reminded him that she was sitting at the same table he was, Gabe looked her way. She couldn’t bear the searching impact of his gaze, so she looked down at her plate of food and gamely caught a piece of steak with her fork tine.

“You eat like she’s poisoned it.”

A nervous breath burst out of her before she could stop it. “No, I’m…sorry. My appetite isn’t good, but that’s not because the food isn’t…excellent.” She couldn’t seem to stop herself from glancing toward him to see his reaction.

As she’d half feared, he was watching her steadily and one of his brows showed a faint curl of both skepticism and curiosity.

“What’d you do?” he asked gruffly. “Get religion?”

The remark felt brutal but she tried not to be discouraged. “I found out what I should have known from the be—”

“Save it.”

Subject closed. What little appetite she might have had left flitted away, and she gripped the napkin in her lap with one hand while she tried to force-feed herself the piece of steak with the other. It immediately became difficult to chew, then once she’d got the job done, it was difficult to swallow. She set her fork down and reached for her water glass to take a helpful sip.

And immediately choked on the water. Self-consciousness made it worse, and she covered her mouth with the napkin while the spasms died down. To her relief, Gabe didn’t remark on it and never once did she feel the sensation of being stared at.

There were advantages to being ignored and this was one of them. But under the circumstances, Gabe’s continued silence, his skepticism and his obvious lack of interest in conversation, seemed to emphasize how little interest he had in any potential apology from her. It was as if he was only biding his time with her, but why? Why put up with her at all if he wasn’t interested in the reason she was here or what she had to say?

Lainey made another attempt at her meal, but finally gave up and sat silently, her hands clenched together out of sight in her lap. The mantel clock at the side of the room above the river stone fireplace ticked off the endless seconds. Hundreds of seconds, thousands of them, billions.

And then Elisa came in with a small tray of dessert. The pedestal dessert glasses were filled with chocolate mousse and topped with a crinkly dollop of whipped cream. Chilled, the outside of the stout glasses were already beginning to fog over as Elisa removed Lainey’s picked over plate and replaced it with the dessert.

Normally the treat was Lainey’s favorite, but her appetite reacted no better to the sight of it than it had to the fine meal. Nevertheless, she couldn’t refuse it so she picked up her spoon to dig in. At least the mousse would slide down more easily than the steak and vegetables had.

She’d managed two bites before the rich chocolate flavor touched off her appetite. Focused on the rich dessert, she was able to keep from glancing toward Gabe. But then she heard a soft sound of movement and glanced his way in time to see him lift his untouched chocolate and set it next to the one she’d nearly finished.

“Fill in those empty places,” he said, his voice low and gravelly with a kind of masculine gentleness that caught her off guard and sent a tidal wave of emotion through her.

“But don’t you—”

“Your favorite, not mine.”

His dark gaze was probing again, but with less force than before. Now it dawned on her that he might have made a special request to Elisa to prepare the dessert. If so, why had he been so harsh with her during the meal? Was this sudden generosity some sort of apology?

Leery of rejecting what might at least be a small offering of thoughtfulness, she made herself murmur a soft thanks. She’d eat the second dessert if it killed her. Though it went down slower than the first one, she managed the task but when it was gone, she set her spoon down and waited tensely for what would happen next.

“Elisa’s taken our coffee to the den.”

Lainey’s momentary relief that the meal was finally done was swallowed up by renewed anxiety as she eased back her chair to stand. Apparently Gabe meant to let her have the talk she wanted, but now that the time had come, she was back to worrying that he’d reject everything she had to say.

Lainey stood and then paused, glancing up at him. “I need to get my briefcase.”

The dark flicker in his gaze held hers. “If it’s papers, I’m not interested.” The dark flicker vanished because his gaze shifted and he waited for her to precede him out of the room. Once they were through the doors she hesitated, not certain where the room was.

As if he’d remembered that, Gabe directed her along the edge of the large living room to a hall in the east wing that brought them quickly to the den. French doors on the outside wall opened to a wide patio that was ringed with enough trees to shade the patio stones in the heat of the day.

All the other walls in the room were lined floor to ceiling with built-in bookcases. Among the books and stock magazines neatly stored on the many shelves were Native American artifacts and pieces of cowboy art. The furniture was heavy and masculine, and a few brightly colored Mexican throw rugs lay on the floor atop a carpet made up of a small variety of dark shades that wouldn’t show much of what might get tracked in during a workday.

Lainey might have felt comfortable in the large room and taken several minutes to more closely examine several of the pieces in the bookcases if anyone but Gabe had owned the room. Hesitantly she sat down on one of the two leather wing chairs he indicated in front of the big desk. The coffee tray was on the small table between her chair and his, so she looked over at him as he was sitting down.

“Pour for both of us, if you like,” he said, and settled back to watch her fill their cups.

She handed the first cup to him, then poured one for herself to soothe her dry mouth. When she’d finished, she slid back only slightly in the big chair to take a sip before she set the cup back down on the table. Weary of the wait but so anxious about it that she was on the verge of losing her nerve, she plunged in.

“I’m not sure where to start, but there are several things you deserve to hear.”

Now she braved a look at him and saw him leaning back calmly, studying her face. “Start with your plans for July.”

The gravelly request caught her off guard. He’d made it sound like a request, though he’d worded it as a demand. July was the month they’d been married five years ago. According to her father’s will, July was the month that sole control of Talbot Ranch would revert to her if she’d stayed married to Gabe for a full five years.

“I’m not here about who’ll control Talbot Ranch or what will happen in July with this marriage. I’m here to apologize and, if you’re interested, to explain why I’ve acted the way I have.”

“I’m not interested in pretty apologies. What I’m interested in are your plans for July. Will you file for divorce?”

Lainey couldn’t mistake the iron will beneath his words. Or the fine thread of anger mixed in. But why would divorce even be a question after what she’d done to him all these years? As far as she was concerned, divorce was a given. What Gabe didn’t know was that she’d found out about what he’d done for Talbot Ranch and she planned to do something about it.

“I’ve just recently found out that Talbot Ranch was virtually bankrupt when you took over,” she began, “and it looks like you saved it single-handedly in spite of what I did to you. I suspect you covered my inheritance taxes out of your own pocket when I thought they’d come from my father’s investments.”

She paused, but his stony expression told her nothing. “And since the quarterly checks I thought were from profits due me from Talbot Ranch must also have been paid out of your private accounts, I owe you a substantial amount of money in addition to a complete apology.”

Lainey finished briskly with, “On the subject of July, I’m certain you can’t possibly want to stay married a second longer than you agreed to.”

“Why’s that?”

The sudden comeback was unexpected, and she sat there a moment until she realized why. This was the opening for her to finally make the “pretty apology” he kept referring to so skeptically.

“As I’ve said—”

“I made a vow,” he said, bluntly cutting her off, “‘till death do us part.”’

The quiet words were like a sudden blow and Lainey felt the punch so vividly that it stole her breath. Her brain registered the shock, then she felt a new one when she belatedly realized the significance of what he’d just said.

I made a vow…

A vow made by a man whose handshake was as dependable as the sunrise; a vow made by a man whose words could be carved in granite and put in a museum.

Till death do us part…

“Surely you didn’t…” Her voice trailed away as the breathless feeling affected her again. “There’s no reason for you to sacrifice…”

The right words wouldn’t seem to come to her, but however shocked and rattled she was by what he’d said, Gabe was sitting back comfortably, his dark eyes intense as he watched everything about her and appeared to be waiting for her to finish what she was struggling to say.

“It was a marriage yes, but not a real marriage,” she tried again. “A—a business deal to help protect my inheritance, not a real…marriage?” The question she’d subconsciously put on the word invited an answer she hadn’t wanted to ask—didn’t want!—and her nerves began to jump and twist and scream.

Gabe seemed to know all that, so he let the wild silence stretch before he spoke, and the wait seemed to underscore every word that fell on her like the blow of a rock chisel on that museum-worthy piece of granite.

“No business deal I’ve ever made came with a ‘till death’ pledge before a judge,” he drawled in a low, rough voice, “or a wedding ring. Or a woman’s signature next to mine on a marriage license.”

The flash of heat that went through her all the way from her hairline to her feet scrambled her brain. She tried to think of something to say to that, some way to counter the grim statement he’d just made.

“You can’t mean that—you can’t really want me.” Another thought saved her and she added hastily, “Is this a way to get back at me for…what I’ve done to you all these years?”

She stared at him in the long silence while shock after shock thrummed through her and pounded home the knowledge that Gabriel Patton really did aim to stay married to her. There was no mistaking the flinty look in his eyes as anything but resolve.

“What did you think I was supposed to get?” he asked then, and she felt her heart quiver.

She sealed her lips firmly together, loathe to say the words a wife. And he hadn’t answered her question about getting back at her.

“I was denied the benefits and privileges of the five year marriage I agreed to make,” he went on in that same low, gravelly drawl that suddenly seemed more masculine growl than speech. “The deal I made wasn’t satisfied.”

Her heart began to flutter quicker and quicker. An even worse nightmare than facing Gabe and enduring whatever awful things he might say to her, was to face him and hear this.

“I’m sorry for that,” she said hoarsely, “but it’s—it’s not realistic to think that staying married for another five years will satisfy anything.”

“Have you made plans with another man?”

She couldn’t help the flush of heat that surged into her face. “Of course not.”

“So the man your mother chose for you didn’t make it past dinner?”

The flush of heat suddenly became a scorching mask and the guilt she already felt about that subject bore down more heavily. “If you know about him, then you know there was nothing but dinner. Ever. And there were two other couples present.”

Lainey couldn’t bear the stern gaze that stared fixedly into hers as if trying to see the truth, but she didn’t dare look away. She should rail at him for hiring an investigator to spy on her, but after what she’d done to shut him so completely out of her life, she could hardly blame him.

Thank God she’d done nothing that could be considered unfaithful, but the fact that Gabe had known about it deepened her shame. She’d never been romantically attracted to the man her mother had coerced her into having dinner with, and she’d felt so guilty about that one time that she’d never let Sondra maneuver her into another date with anyone else.

“I shouldn’t have gone out with anyone for any reason,” she admitted quietly. “I apologize for that, too.”

“So you’d have no distractions while you live up to your vows?”

Lainey stared at him helplessly. As intense as her crush on Gabe had once been, he’d been mostly a stranger to her. And now he was not only still a stranger, but a stranger who would naturally feel no small amount of ill will toward her. She’d be a fool to give him a chance like that. He could make mincemeat of her.

“I don’t think that’s what either of us really wants,” she said shakily.

“There’s no ‘us’ in that. Just you.”

The way he’d said “just you” somehow emphasized what he didn’t say: she’d gotten all the benefits of her father’s will—what would actually amount to several million dollars worth of benefits—without giving Gabe a single thing in exchange but trouble and public embarrassment. It was obvious he didn’t consider her offer of financial compensation to be enough to satisfy him.

But she had to remember that everyone in their part of Texas had known that they’d married, so it followed that everyone had to have noticed that she’d never lived a moment with Gabe as his wife. And because neither of them had ever lived as hermits, the gossip about them must have been intense.

She’d let old friendships drift to protect herself from hearing it, but Gabe had lived here knowing it was swirling around him, though she doubted anyone would have dared to repeat it to his face.

The guilt she’d felt these last weeks was suddenly nothing compared to the guilt she felt now. Nausea rose like a tidal wave as she felt the jaws of a trap snap tighter and tighter on her conscience.

Because she’d deprived Gabe of the marriage he’d bargained for, he was insisting that she live up to her vows and continue it. But the idea was terrifying. It wasn’t possible to have a normal marriage with him now, not after five whole years of hateful estrangement.

“Please, Gabe,” she croaked, but he spoke almost before she’d finished saying the short syllable of his name.

“I want heirs.”

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