a grudge who would want you dead?”
Her brows pinch together. “I never thought of that. Honestly, I figured I was cursed, but no. I can’t think of a single person who’d want to hurt me, or see me dead. And to be honest, there are no beneficiaries on the trust but me. Prescott’s been on me to fix that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If I die, there’s no one who the trust passes to. He wants me to designate a charity, or him, because otherwise everything goes to the government.”
A strange feeling stirs in my gut. Is it possible Prescott has something to gain from her death?
It doesn’t make sense. He wouldn’t kill his own son, and Evelyn says Prescott and her father were the best of friends.
There must be someone else with a vendetta against the Thornton name, or Evelyn herself. A spurned lover?
I want to ask, but those questions are best left for Grant to uncover. With my hand wrapped around the back of her neck, I massage the tight muscles. Her eyes close and my dick stirs.
Her lips part on a sigh and I can’t help but lean down and take advantage. The kiss isn’t something I push. In fact, I leave it to the briefest touch. I want so much more. It’s not my fault she’s a knockout. My dick’s had about enough of my iron-willed restraint and instantly hardens beneath her buttocks.
But it’s late and she needs rest.
“How about we get you out of here and tucked into bed?”
“I’d like that.”
Before my dick changes my mind, I lift her out of my lap. We both climb to our feet and rinse off. Several minutes later, I tuck her into my bed.
“How’s that?”
“Dreamy,” she says. “You’re pretty amazing, Asher La Rouge. Do you know that?”
When she says my name like that, my heart just about bursts.
“If you say so.”
She pats the side of the bed. “Aren’t you coming to bed?”
“There’re a few things I need to take care of first. I’ll be back in a bit. Just close your eyes and try to get some sleep. You’re perfectly safe here.”
There’s nothing more in the world that I want but to crawl under the covers with her, but there are chores which need to be done, like mucking out Knight’s stall and checking on our mares in the pasture.
Evelyn’s ability to walk away from her life shows incredible force of will, an adventurous streak a mile wide, and impressive character. I’d love to follow in her footsteps, but La Rouge Vineyards requires constant attention. If it’s not harvesting the grapes, producing our next vintage, or prepping for the next crop, there’s still La Rouge Stables which requires attention.
Our small herd of plodding mares don’t require much care, but they still need tending. Knight and I need to patrol the pasture fence, find and fix any holes that would let the mares out or the rare predator in, and make sure the feed and watering troughs are full. The work never stops.
“I feel safe…I…” Whatever it she was going to say is lost as she snuggles into the blankets and eases into sleep.
I head back to the living room, too wound up to sleep. I’m thinking about who might want Evelyn dead because there’s no doubt in my mind someone is going to great lengths to make sure that happens.
My brothers sit with me while we discuss what to do. I tell them Evelyn’s story, but there’s no way to know who might want her dead. For that, I need to speak with Prescott. He’ll know more about who might have a grudge against her family, or who might benefit from her death. Although, he’s still on my list of suspects.
“Well.” I stand and stretch, “I’m going to lock things down.” A deep yawn escapes me.
“Want some help?” Cage places his game controller down on the coffee table.
“I’d love help.” It keeps slipping my mind, Cage is here for the next few weeks. Too used to doing everything myself, it never occurs to me to ask for help.
“Well shit.” Brody sets his controller beside him on the couch. “I’m not sitting around while the two of you are working.” He’ll be headed back to the city once the weekend ends. A busy man, he tries to help when he can, but usually only makes it out here one, maybe two weekends a month.
The three of us head outside and saddle our horses. It’s late, night fell hours ago, we should be