Fate (Steel Brothers Saga #13) - Helen Hardt Page 0,47

mother. It’s just Mr. George and Mr. Brad, and like I said, they won’t be in until twelve thirty. The house is yours, honey.”

“Oh. All right, I guess.”

“Make yourself at home. Miss Mazie, if she were here, would say the same.”

“Yes, she would.”

I turned.

Brad had entered the kitchen.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Brad

Daphne looked like sunshine sitting at the table in our huge kitchen, sunlight streaming over her. Her hair was braided and fell into a dark rope over one shoulder.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” I said.

Her cheeks pinked and she smiled. “Hey.”

“Belinda taking good care of you?”

“The best,” she said. “These jams are terrific.”

“Only the best,” I said.

“Do you need anything, Mr. Brad?”

“I’ve told you a million times, Belinda, just call me Brad. And no.”

“Are you sure? Lunch isn’t until—”

“Twelve thirty. I know. I figured I’d get back in here early to show Daphne around the place a little.”

“Where’s your dad?” she asked.

“He’s still out on the northern quadrant.”

“Northern quadrant?” Daphne queried.

“This place is huge,” I said. “He’ll make it back by lunch.”

“You guys work like this all through the weekend?”

“Stock still needs tending. Fruit needs picking.”

“But you have…ranch hands.”

“We do. We take time off whenever we want to, but I like working when I’m back here. It’s good for my head.”

No truer words. My father might be an asshole who pushed my mother around, but he did teach me a lot of important stuff, such as good hard work keeps you sane. I knew every aspect of this business, from contract negotiation and financials to how to clean out barns and care for stock. We weren’t too good to get our hands dirty. Frankly, I liked it that way.

“I’m going to take a quick shower. I’ll be ready in ten minutes, and then I’ll show you around a little before lunch. Sound good?”

She nodded. “I’ll be fine. I may just get a spoon and eat these jams right out of the jars.”

That got a laugh out of Belinda. “Honey, I’ve done the same thing myself.”

I left the kitchen and traipsed to my bedroom. I’d come in here when I woke up to shower this morning because I didn’t want to wake Daphne.

She’d slept so well, like an angel in my arms.

Crazy, these feelings I was having. I wanted her so badly, wanted to push her down onto a bed and fuck the daylights out of her, but my need to protect her from everything, even myself, superseded all that. These feelings were new to me. New…and pleasant.

I would be the one to take her virginity, and it would happen soon. It wouldn’t happen under my parents’ roof, however. Not going there.

Wendy and I had fucked on my parents’ bed once. It had been her idea, of course. Also her idea to use two of my father’s neckties—he only owned three—for me to bind her to the antique headboard.

Admittedly, the bondage and discipline aspect of our relationship used to thrill me, but I felt like I’d outgrown it. I scoffed. Outgrown something at twenty-two? Sounded ridiculous, but it was true. I’d dated other women when Wendy and I were in one of our “off-again” periods, and though our sex had been rough and hard, I’d never bound or spanked any of them. Other than Wendy, I was about hard vanilla fucking.

No matter how often we broke up, though, we’d always found our way back to each other. Yeah, she was my kryptonite.

Or she had been.

Daphne Wade had neutralized the kryptonite.

I no longer had any desire for Wendy. The thought was odd, as Wendy had been such a huge part of my life for so long. I’d been drawn to her despite her flaws—and they were many. When we first met, though, she was a sixteen-year-old girl. A sweet sixteen-year-old girl who’d just become a cheerleader. She was pretty and perky and smart. A great match for me.

But even then, she’d had a darkness about her—not a darkness so much as an edge that unnerved me.

And as these years passed, that edge became more and more a part of who she was.

Not only Wendy, but Theo, Tom, and Larry had changed too—especially Theo. I expected him and Wendy to end up together eventually. They both shared that edge of insanity that creeped me out.

I’d put it off for too long, but now that I’d met the woman who was my soul mate, I had to take care of Wendy once and for all. It would be for her own good, as well as mine and Daphne’s.

“My father’s