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  “I don’t want to fucking talk about it.” I’m filled with anger and self-loathing. I hate that I’ve made Autumn hate me. And I hate that she was so damn casual about the whole thing, like what happened between us was no big deal at all. I hate that she looked at me, that she thought I was standing here with Tempest because I was with Tempest.

  “You should go to her,” Tempest says.

  “It’s none of your damn business,” I say. “Now, are we putting on a show here or not?”

  Tempest shakes her head and hands me a business card, fake, with the name of the rival energy company on it. “In case you’re interested,” she says.

  “I’m not interested,” I say loudly. “My family’s property isn’t for sale, not to you or anyone.”

  I can see one of the ladies from the hair salon not ten feet away, standing in the door salon, staring at us. Good.

  “We’re done here,” I say loudly.

  “If you change your mind,” Tempest calls after me, as I walk away.

  ***

  “It’s in the bag,” Silas says. “Emir is tracking email correspondence. The mining company is flipping the fuck out. They're running in circles like chickens with their heads chopped off, not sure whether to unload the properties they have or buy up the properties they don’t. They called in a second lab company to test the land they’ve already purchased – and stat.”

  “Part of the con group,” I say, only half-listening to my brothers update me on what’s happening with the con. My mind is on the interaction I had with Autumn, earlier this afternoon. I thought that whole out of sight, out of mind thing might work for me. Hell, it has a million times before. Other women have come and gone, in and out of my life with no problem. Of course, none of them were Autumn.

  “Are you paying attention?” Elias asks. “Of course the lab company is fake, part of the con group. They've done the tests already, and the results will be expedited, of course, and will demonstrate that they were misled into thinking there was europium on the properties.”

  “That sounds good,” I say absently. “How do they know the mining company is falling for it?”

  “Emir, of course," Silas says. “I don’t know exactly. He hacks into the company emails or something.”

  “Do you really trust them?” I ask.

  “You don’t have to be involved,” Silas says. “Back out of it, man. The chick with the orchard isn't at risk. You can stay out of it."

  “What do you know about her?”

  “I know you’ve been moping around the past few weeks,” Silas says. “You should just go deal with that whole…situation.”

  “That whole situation isn’t any of your business,” I say. “So butt out of it. I don’t want her involved in it. She’s got a kid, and she's too good for a Saint anyhow.”

  Silas laughs. “You’re such a stupid stubborn asshole sometimes,” he says. “Too good. Elias here pulled a damn movie star, and that’s with being a Saint. And having one leg.”

  Elias laughs. “Fuck yeah,” he says. “But it’s probably ‘cause my dick’s bigger than yours is.”

  “Screw you guys.”

  “Maybe you should go screw your girl,” Silas says. “Maybe that will change your shitty attitude.”

  “Get out. Both of you.”

  “Are you shitting me?” Elias says. “Lighten up, man.”

  “I’m light, man,” I say. “As a damn feather. I just can’t stand to hear your voices anymore. Hurts my ears.”

  “Dude, don’t be stupid,” Silas protests.

  But it’s my goddamned house and I’ll kick them the hell out of it if I want to.

  And I’ll have a shitty fucking attitude if I want to have one.

  When my brothers leave, I make a phone call. Not to Autumn. Hell, I’m the last person on earth she’d want to see after she saw me and Tempest together. I call my guy, the foreman I sent over to work for her – a guy I knew from working with on a contract back a few years ago, who lives a few hours away and was willing to do me a favor.

  “How’s she doing, Mike?” I ask.

  “Fine, fine,” he says. “No activity at the orchard.”

  “All right. Just checking in.”

  “Although…”

  “Although what?”

  “She’s going out someplace tonight,” he says. “I heard her talking about it with the nanny before I took off, making plans for a date or something.”

  “A date?” I ask, my voice rising. “With who?”

  “How the hell should I know, Luke?” Mike asks. “It’s none of my business.”

  “I asked you to keep an eye on her,” I say. Blood pounds in my ears, and I’m mentally running through a checklist of who she could be going out with and where she could be. This town isn’t that big.

  “Yeah, man,” he says. “You said to keep an eye out for assholes from the mining company, not guys who want to go out with her. I didn’t come out here to stalk your girlfriend for you.”

  “She’s not my damn…” I pause, thinking about how badly I’d like to punch anyone who might lay a finger on her. “I’m not stalking her.”

  “Is there actually something going on, man? Where she’s in actual danger? Because if you’ve gone off the deep end with some chick, following her and bullshit, now you’re just in psycho territory and I’m not going to be a part of that kind of crazy.”

  “She’s in actual danger,” I say, my voice firm. “Potentially.”

  Mike laughs under his breath, the sound low. “Shit, man. Potentially,” he says. “That sounds a lot like no.”

  “Just keep an eye on the fucking house,” I say absently. “Keep an eye on Autumn and Olivia.”

  “Seriously, dude,” he says. “You might need to talk to someone, get some help, you know?”

  I hang up on him.

  What I need is to do is go find Autumn.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Autumn

  “Running an orchard is good,” I say, trying to focus. I forgot what I was going to say. My mind keeps wandering, bouncing from one subject to another but landing back on Luke each time. Even out to dinner with another man, I’m thinking about Luke.

  Admittedly, this isn’t an actual date. If it were, it would be a terrible date. Hell, I’d be a terrible date.

  This is a business dinner. With a man who happens to be charming, and handsome, and rich – exactly the kind of man I should be interested in. Except that he wants my orchard. And even though he's cordial and smiles and asks my thoughts about the mining company buying up land in town, he's really only wining and dining me because I'd spoken out at the town hall meeting against his company. And I'm pretty sure he's a very bad man.

  “Do you ever think about packing it all up?” Randall Edwards asks. He’s casual and relaxed as he sits back in his chair surveying me. Sizing me up. But he’s not really relaxed. He’s not casual at all. He’s a shark, a predator, the kind I recognize from my corporate days. “Running an orchard is hard work.”

  I bristle at his words. “You mean, hard work for a woman.”

  “Not at all,” he says, nonplussed. A smile pulls at the corners of his mouth, as if my irritation amuses him. “Running an orchard is hard work for anyone. Of course, you are a single mother with a small child. It’s exponentially harder work for you, I imagine. I’d think you would be pleased with our offer – you have no family here in this town. It's just you and your child. Our offer is fair. I'd even be willing to negotiate.”

  He speaks the words with a smile, yet I’m not convinced there’s not a veiled threat behind his words, with his talk of me being a single mother of a small child. But if there is, I’m not about to be intimidated by someone like him.

  “Let me ask you something, Mr. Edwards,” I say, leaning forward. “Are you in the habit of wining and dining the people in this town whose properties you’re trying to buy up? Is this standard operating procedure for you?”

  Now he does smile, but it doesn’t reach h