The Millionaire's Club: Connor, Tom & Gavin. Michelle Celmer

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СКАЧАТЬ sheer sexual frustration had kept him awake most of the night. That and his own self-doubt.

      He couldn’t stop thinking about what his brother had said, about what the right woman could do to a man, and how Connor needed to do something for himself. It was true that, since he’d been away from the engineering firm, since he’d started working the farm with Nita, he’d lost that feeling of restlessness, the bone-deep frustration he always seemed to feel whenever he let himself take a step back and look good and hard at his life. That frustration had always been the catalyst, the trigger for the irrepressible rage.

      Not that he hadn’t felt frustration lately, but this was an entirely different variety. It was born from the need to keep Nita safe, from her constant refusal to listen to him. From the affection and attraction that he knew was wrong, and felt despite that.

      Every so often he’d felt a flicker of something else, too. An emotion he hadn’t experienced in so long he’d barely recognized it.

      He’d felt content.

      Not that he expected it to last. It never did.

      Jake dropped into the chair next to his. “You look like hell.”

      Connor shot him an annoyed look. “Thanks.”

      “Being a newlywed, I have a valid reason for being up half the night. What’s your excuse? Don’t tell me you turned her down.”

      The look went from annoyed to deadly.

      Jake laughed. “I don’t understand why you’re fighting it. You two are meant for each other.”

      “How could you possibly know that?”

      “Because I know Nita and I know you. She needs someone who won’t be threatened by her strength, someone who won’t try to change her, and you need someone who can show you how to have fun. I would say that makes you a perfect match.”

      If what his brother was saying made a weird sort of sense, Connor wrote it off as the direct result of sleep deprivation. He knew he was loopy when the next question popped from his mouth. “What did you mean about what finding the right woman can do to a man?”

      “Something just…clicks. You start to look at things differently, to see yourself differently. Your priorities change.”

      “But you must have dated a hundred different women. How did you know Chris was the one?”

      “It was the freckles,” Jake said with that goofy grin of his. “I’m a sucker for that woman’s freckles.”

      “Freckles?” Leave it to Jake to give him such a ridiculous answer.

      “In time, you’ll know exactly what I mean.” He slugged Connor in the arm, then got up to talk to Gavin, leaving Connor even more confused than he’d been before.

      “Since we’re all here we should get started,” Tom said. Connor looked to the doorway and saw that Mark, just back from his honeymoon, had arrived. “I talked to my uncle Lucas yesterday. It took some persuading, but I finally got him to admit what he’d planned to tell Will Windcroft.

      “It seems that after his grandfather, Jonathan, was killed, and my uncle was going through his things, he noticed some odd notations in his personal bookkeeping and large payments Jonathan had been receiving from an unknown source.”

      “What are we talking about?” Gavin asked. “Extortion?”

      “Lucas said his grandfather was a greedy bastard and was definitely capable of blackmail.”

      “So, if we find out who he was blackmailing, we’ll most likely find his killer.”

      “He also found letters to Jonathan. They were vague, but one mentioned a payment and a diary and how there could be trouble if the Windcrofts ever found out. Another talked of keeping the feud going.”

      “Were the letters from someone in the Devlin family?” Logan wanted to know.

      “I asked. Lucas said they weren’t signed, and there was no return address on the envelopes, but he was under the impression they were from someone outside the family.”

      Gavin sipped his drink. “Meaning someone outside the Devlin family could have a stake in the feud, and has a reason for keeping it going. Do we have any idea who that could be? Or where this diary is?”

      “No,” Tom said. “But if we find it, I get the feeling we’ll have all the answers we’re looking for.”

      “And Lucas never told any of this to Will?” Connor asked.

      “Lucas wanted to come clean with Will, but when Will refused to talk to him he felt stung. I believe he honestly wants to bring an end to the feud.”

      “I could talk to Will,” Connor offered.

      Tom shook his head. “I think it would be better coming from me. From a Devlin. But before I do, I’d like to dig a bit more and see what I can find. Some undisputed proof would make convincing him a lot easier.”

      Gavin stood and set down his glass. “While you’re doing that, the rest of us will ask around about this diary and keep looking for the people causing the Windcrofts trouble. Have there been any more problems at the farm, Connor?”

      “We found more holes yesterday morning. Nita has a man watching the property at night. I’ve instructed the hands to call me on my cell if they see anything suspicious. Until we know who we’re dealing with, I don’t want them trying to apprehend anyone.”

      “Keep us posted on the situation and we’ll keep digging.”

      When the meeting was over Connor called Nita to let her know he was ready to be picked up. She informed him curtly that she and Jimmy were shopping for groceries and she would be there when she was good and ready. All the way into town she and Jimmy had chatted while she’d ignored Connor. He figured she was still ticked off that she hadn’t been able to sneak away from him that morning. She also was growing increasingly frustrated with the fact that they had no housekeeper. Her father had shot down the two candidates they’d interviewed yesterday, saying they just weren’t right, and no one else had answered the ad.

      Nita seemed to be at the end of her rope.

      It was the middle of a workday and the club was fairly quiet, so Connor decided he might as well get some shut-eye while he waited. He walked back to the cigar lounge and made himself comfortable in a soft leather chair in the corner. He’d trained himself to sleep lightly in the Rangers, so when he heard the door open, heard the muffled sound of footsteps coming in his direction, he was only half-asleep.

      Nita kicked his boot. “Wake up.”

      He opened his eyes.

      She hovered over him, hands on her hips, Stetson pulled low over her eyes.

      “How did you get in here?” he asked.

      A wry smile curled her mouth. “The staff here learned the hard way not to mess with me. I think they hide when they see me comin’.”

      “Can’t say I blame them.”

      Her СКАЧАТЬ