we can to keep her safe.”
Sheriff Baker rubbed his chin. “Your Sassy… what does she look like?”
There was something about the way he asked that made my hackles rise. “Why?”
He gave me a look. “Just tell me, please.”
I straightened in the chair, no longer relaxed.
“Not too tall but not too short, she comes to just under my chin when she’s standing straight. Long black hair and dark eyes, light tan to her skin, and…” I hesitated but foraged on. I didn’t want to sound like I was bragging but also wanted to tell the truth. “She’s gorgeous. One of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen, although she did her best to hide it on the way here. I can understand why a man would become obsessed with her, although he should have respected her rejection.”
William and I certainly had, in our own way, but since that happened after we’d married her, it was hardly the same thing.
The expression on the Sheriff’s face had become blank. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, let alone feeling, making me even more worried. A long moment of silence stretched between us as if he couldn’t quite figure out what to say to me. I gripped the arms of the chair.
“Say whatever it is you need to say, Sheriff.”
“I think someone might already be in the area, looking for her.” The Sheriff met my eyes, looking almost sad. My chest tightened with fear, and I had to push down the urge to jump up and rush back to the ranch. I could tell he had more to say. “There are some men who have been asking around. They showed up two days ago, looking for someone who sounds like her, but…”
“But what?” I barked out harshly, demanding an answer. “I don’t like this game you’re playing.”
“No game.” He shook his head. “But the story they’re telling is very different. The woman they’re looking for was a man’s mistress. She stole from him and assaulted him before fleeing, scarring him, and will likely be hanged when she’s returned to London for her crimes.”
“His mistress?” I asked, my lips and tongue feeling strangely swollen as I repeated his words. My thoughts were galloping away. It would explain… a lot. William and I had talked about what a quick learner she was, how eager, how sensual. Experience would explain that.
“They said she was a whore before that, in a brothel.” The Sheriff sounded almost apologetic. “They were looking for her in the saloon at first. No one has seen a woman meeting that description, though, so they’ve had no luck.”
She’d lied.
Lied about everything.
“And she’s a thief, too?” I asked. “She assaulted him?”
“If it’s the same woman,” the Sheriff said, looking at me worriedly. “Son, I’m not sure that it is, or she might have had good reason. I don’t know that I trust these men—”
I’d heard enough.
I was sure it was the same woman.
It all made so much sense now.
What she’d been hiding. Why she was really so afraid. Why she knew exactly how to touch us… please us… manipulate us. Lies. So many lies she’d woven, and we’d fallen for every one. I’d had my suspicions but pushed them away, instead of listening to my gut. I’d wanted to believe in her.
And she’d made William so damn happy.
I should have never let her sink her claws into him. I should have questioned her more that first day, should have trusted my instincts. I should have pushed her last night when she hadn’t wanted to talk about Lord Carmichael. Ha! No wonder.
I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. She was going to answer every last one of my questions.
“Careful, Clive!” The Sheriff had followed me out of the jail. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
I barked a laugh. It was a little too late for that. I’d let the little liar marry us without even properly questioning her.
Fury wrapped around me as I thundered out of town, galloping back to the ranch. This time, Sassy was going to tell me the truth.
William
* * *
I was on my horse when I saw Clive galloping down the road to the ranch, and worry rose up inside me. He wouldn’t be rushing back like that unless something was wrong.
“I’ve got to go back to the house,” I shouted to Jed, who’d been helping me repair the fence. “I’ll be back.”
Jed sent me a wave before going back to the fence, but I was already running for Blaze. Swinging myself