Breathless Temptation [Texas Stallions 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read Free Page B

notepad and locked gazes with her. The deep brown within his eyes seemed to grow even darker as he studied her. “Besides your speeding,” he noted with a tense frown, “your brake line was sliced. Your brakes would have been useless by the time you truly needed them, which I’m assuming is why you crashed into the Boyds’ fence.”
    She knew it. She hated that she even had to worry about such things, but she had known in the back of her mind that Warren had messed with her car. Fury soared from within the depths of her mind as well as so many other emotions. She could’ve been killed. Shaking with fury, she had to get away from them, or she was going to find herself dead and them inheriting more than her father’s money. They would get hers, too. She envisioned Sharon and Warren laughing hysterically at her funeral with a checklist in hand. Kill Delilah. Check. Collect inheritance. Check. Kill Marshall…
    “Is something wrong, Ms. Devero?” Sheriff Garrett asked.
    No, just my overactive imagination. Collecting her thoughts, she quickly plastered a fake smile on her face and prepared to lie. “I’m fine, Sheriff.”
    His eyes narrowed. “Are you sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
    Clearing her throat, she attested, “No, I’m fine.”
    “Then you won’t mind if I ask you another question?”
    She shrugged her shoulders and did her best to seem unaffected by her racing and unsettling heart rate. “What’s that?”
    “Are you running away from someone, Ms. Devero? Is there someone who wants to hurt you?”
    Her eyes rounded. She was stunned and mortified that he would ask such a direct question. Was it that obvious? She froze, unable to speak. Dumbfounded, all she could do was stare at the attractive, broad-shouldered giant hovering beside her.
     
    * * * *
     
    Clay could feel deep into the marrow of his bones that she was keeping the truth from him. After years as a policeman, he knew the signs. She was wringing her hands together nervously each time he mentioned her brakes and then again when he asked her if someone wanted to hurt her. Her face paled as if all the blood had drained from her body. Something was going on, and he was too stubborn to let things go without getting to the bottom of it.
    “Is there someone who might want to hurt you, Ms. Devero?” he repeated.
    “No. Not that I’m aware of.”
    Clay scanned over her with a heightened level of scrutiny. He held her gaze for as long as she held his, but the moment she looked away, he said, “Are you protecting someone, Ms. Devero? From what I gather, you’re a terrible liar. So please be honest with me.”
    She gasped, and her eyes widened. He knew he was pushing her a little, but he had to dig the truth out of her one way or the other. She didn’t seem to feel comfortable just blurting out the truth on her own, so he figured he’d offer some encouragement.
    Clay pulled the guest chair over and plopped himself down into it so she didn’t have to look up at him. He was taller than most. At six foot four, he knew his size was a little intimidating, and he figured staring up at him was making her nervous.
    Dropping down to meet her at eye level might help her feel a little more at ease, as well as make it known he wasn’t leaving anytime soon. “I’m sorry if that offends you, Ms. Devero, but I can read people pretty well, and you keep saying one thing, but your body language is telling me something else entirely. Please, if you think someone might have done this deliberately to your car—”
    “Warren Michaels,” she muttered. The moment she said his name, the look of defeat flooded her expression. Her eyes glistened, but he couldn’t tell if that was from worry, sadness, or maybe a little of both.
    “Who’s Warren Michaels?”
    She blew out a long breath and ran her hands through her hair before settling back into the conversation. “Unfortunately, he’s my stepbrother and a diabolical pain in my ass.”
    A soft smile