The Detective’s Undoing Read online

She needed to be heir, dammit. “Cade, tell me.”

  He glanced down and she did, too, seeing with surprise that her hands were gripping the front of his shirt. He covered them with his own. “I found Eddie Kitze. He really existed, and he wasn’t Ethan Freeman. He’d lied about being an undercover cop because he was a rich spoiled brat, out for a good time, slumming, as Dottie called it. He was a coward, afraid of his daddy’s wrath and the loss of his inheritance.”

  “Okay.” She wasn’t Ethan Freeman’s daughter. She wasn’t heir. “How did you find out?”

  “Paper trails. After we separated in Los Angeles, I went back to good old Dottie.”

  “And opened your wallet again,” she guessed bitterly.

  He didn’t deny that, which only added to her misery. “She had some insight to your mother’s life-style, which filled some of the holes.”

  “Such as why she dumped me? God, she must have been so angry when my father ditched her and left her saddled with a baby she never wanted.”

  “She wasn’t angry, not then. Actually, she was thrilled, because it meant they were equals of a sort. But that was before she told him she was pregnant.”

  “He ditched her.”

  “He denied knowing her first. Her family disowned her, and by the time you were three, she was broke and pretty furious about it.”

  No wonder she’d left Delia at a foster home. She’d probably been reminded of her stupidity every time she looked at her daughter. Delia grimaced and told herself enough of the self-pity.

  She had Jacob to think of now—and no way to guarantee custody.

  Her eyes burned with that knowledge. Her throat became so tight she couldn’t have spoken her feelings if she’d wanted to.

  And Cade’s eyes were on her, dark and compassionate. “Delia,” he whispered in a voice filled with too much pity to take. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry—”

  “No,” she whispered, flinching away when he tried to touch her.

  “You’ll still get Jacob. You will.”

  “Yes,” she said, not knowing if she was reassuring him or herself; either way she didn’t believe it. She was incredibly close to meltdown, closer than she’d been in some time, and she couldn’t have him witness it, not when she wanted to be strong. Needed to be strong. “I…I need to go.”

  “But—”

  “I… Goodbye.”

  And she pushed away and ran from the barn, hoping to make it somewhere private before the tears swimming in her eyes fell.

  Chapter 12

  Cade stared after the quickly vanishing Delia. She wanted to be alone, she’d made that clear, but he wasn’t convinced being alone was the best thing for her.

  She seemed perfectly in control, but he knew that was what she wanted him to see, that beneath that mask of icy elegance was a woman close to shattering.

  And why wouldn’t she be? He’d just destroyed what she saw as her only hope to get her brother, though he didn’t believe that to be true. It went deeper than that, though, which is what disturbed him.

  Whether she admitted it or not, she had calculated her self-worth on her past. And discovering she’d come from two selfish strangers who couldn’t care less about the tiny miracle of life they’d created had destroyed her.

  It made her feel as though she was nothing, as though she deserved nothing, when in his opinion, she deserved the world. She certainly deserved to have someone love her. Her sisters did, but as hard as it was to believe, Cade wasn’t quite certain that Delia did.

  She was probably right this minute heading back toward the house, channeling her loss into that cool calm collected front she’d perfected.

  She’d be hell to live with today, he knew. Not that he was a glutton for punishment, but he figured that being the bearer of bad news would not endear him to her. She’d probably go after his hide, rather than silently torture herself all day.

  Who was he kidding? He wanted to find her, haul her close and never let go.

  He clenched his hands into fists at his sides. The burning ache to hold her in his arms could not be endured. With a heartfelt oath, he left the barn to find her.

  Only, she wasn’t heading toward the house as he’d first assumed. No, somewhere along the way, his city girl must have lost a good part of her reserve about the wilderness, because she was heading toward the hills, her long legs striding with purposeful confidence, her shoulders back and proud.

  She didn’t want his company.

  He followed, anyway.

  Delia didn’t know where she was headed, only that she had to go. Her vision wavered with each step she took, and her throat and chest burned so badly she could scarcely breathe.

  But soon walking didn’t satisfy her. It wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t taking her far enough, so she burst into a run and let loose through the woods as fast as she could go.

  When she was beyond exhaustion, she stopped, sagging against a tree. Over the blood roaring in her ears, she could hear the river.

  Staggering, she turned toward it and found herself on a high bank, staring down at the river as it rushed past rocks and sand. She stood there all alone with her misery, with God’s glory spread out before her.

  How had things fallen apart so, when only days ago she’d felt as though she had the world in her palm?

  She wasn’t heir.

  She wasn’t going to get Jacob.

  Her heritage was one of greed and selfishness.

  And the only man she might have ever been able to love didn’t, or couldn’t, love her back.

  That last thought pretty much burst the fragile dam she’d been clinging to. With the tears finally overflowing, she sank to her knees on the frozen bank of the river and dropped her head into her hands.

  Cade found her like that, kneeling away from him, sobbing her heart out in tune with the river. It was heart-wrenching, made all the more so because he knew she felt as if she had no choice but to hide to cry.

  She truly believed she was completely alone in this.

  “Delia.”

  She jerked, the only sign she’d heard him, and went utterly still. Her shoulders stiffened with the weight she carried, and in that moment he would have done anything to ease her burden.

  How to make this better?

  There was a gap between them, a gap he’d put there. What would happen if he breached it just this once?

  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”

  She didn’t move, just remained terribly silent.

  “I know it didn’t work out the way you wanted, but it can still—”

  “Go away.” She said this quite clearly, though her voice broke slightly on the last syllable. “Just leave me alone.”

  “Delia.” Was he supposed to be able to do that? “You’re crying, let me—”

  “I’m not crying,” she said fiercely, taking care to keep her back to him. Her long golden hair fell forward, exposing her sweet neck, making her look young, too young for all she’d been through, and so sad his heart ached. “I told you, I’m fine.”

  She was shaking with the effort to hold back the storm of tears he’d interrupted, he could see that now. And something within him trembled, too. “Delia, please.” He sank to his knees behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, moving slowly, afraid to spook her; she felt as fragile as priceless china. He slid his hands down her arms to her hands and linked their fingers. He wanted to turn her around and hug her tight, but she had to do this, had to make the decision to let herself go in front of him. Gently he tugged at her resisting form, pulling her back against his chest. “Let me in. Come on, sweetheart, let me in.”

  “No.” She held back, until their bodies touched, until he crossed their joined hands in front of her, hugging her tightly to him, bending over her shoulder to press his cheek to hers.

  “No,” she said again, less firmly and with far more tension in her husky voice.

  “Yes,” he whispered, rubbing his jaw on hers. “You’re not alone in this. I’m righ