His kindness was another thorn. It reminded me again of all the things I would never be, such as a person who could be loved by a decent guy.
I cocked my head and offered to shake. “Friends?”
He scowled. But he took my hand and shook it. “Friends.”
We were still shaking when Reeve walked out of the room. Immediately he fixed on our clasped hands, as if he were jealous of Joe. As if he had a right to be jealous of anyone.
It infuriated me, and even as it did, I jerked free from Joe’s grip. God, I disgusted myself. No wonder Joe was frustrated with me.
“She’s sleeping,” Reeve said, whether updating us on Amber’s state or explaining why he’d left her, I wasn’t sure. “Jeb’s going to stay with her for now.”
“She said she didn’t want babysitters.” I hated how spiteful I sounded almost as much as I hated how spiteful I felt. “Are you ignoring that?”
“No, but I think someone should be with her until I can get guards on the house. Especially when she’s been given a sedative that should really be administered in a hospital-type setting.” His reasoning was fair, but his tone was as nasty as mine.
The sound of footsteps on the stairs drew my focus. I looked to see Brent ascending. He perched on the last step and nodded at Reeve. “Branding should be done in a couple of hours. Our guests will be on their way by dinner.”
“Good. No one knows there was an incident?” Reeve asked.
“Managed to keep it under wraps. The boys all think you’re tending to a sick girlfriend.”
I grimaced despite myself. A lot of those “boys” had seen Reeve fighting with me an hour before. They probably assumed he’d left to make up.
Oh, if it were only true.
“Thank you, Brent,” Reeve said, and even though I wouldn’t let myself look at him, I could feel his eyes on me. Always on me.
Brent leaned a hand on the rail post. “Have you had any e-mails from him since yesterday? Are you going to e-mail him back?”
I perked up at Brent’s questions. It didn’t take a genius to guess the him Brent referred to was Vilanakis. This was the first I’d heard about an e-mail, though. “What is he talking about?”
Reeve shot a warning look toward Brent before addressing me. “It’s nothing you need to be concerned about.”
Granted, it didn’t take much at the moment to piss me off, but this legitimately pissed me off a lot. “Bullshit. That’s my friend in there. What e-mail is he talking about?”
When Reeve didn’t say anything I looked to Joe. “No idea,” he said, his hands lifted in innocence.
I shot a glare at Brent instead.
“Not my business to say anything,” he said. “Shouldn’t have even brought it up.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Reeve agreed. Then, with a conceding sigh, he said, “It was a taunt, Emily. That’s all. A message meant to put me on edge and that’s all you need to know.”
I was beginning to feel as tired of babysitters as Amber did. “Will you stop sugarcoating and tell me what the damn message was already?”
He looked me firmly in the eye. “No. I won’t.” His tone and posture said the discussion was final. He turned to Brent next and said, “No, I’m not going to try to e-mail him. That’s what he wants. I’m not letting him bully himself into my life. But if he attacks again, he’ll regret it. He can’t break long-standing rules without expecting me to retaliate. Do we have the manpower to double up on security?”
Brent nodded. “If we don’t, I’ll make sure we do.”
The two continued to talk while I concentrated on holding it together. If I didn’t, I would explode. I wasn’t even sure what form my explosion would take, if it would be tantrum or tears. Anger, frustration, rejection – all were bubbling just under the surface, and it was all I could do to keep it down.
Brent’s lip twisted up in a mischievous grin. “Sure you don’t want to send him sort of message in return?”
“No message. He wants to play games, fine. I’m not stooping down to that level.”
Any minute, I told myself, Reeve will turn back to me and tell me about the e-mail. He’d humiliated me by dismissing me in front of Joe and Brent. He’d shown he had the upper hand. Any moment he would realize he’d proved his point and he’d stop being an ass and answer my question.
“The security tapes are cued up in your office, by the way,” Brent said. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready now.” Reeve didn’t even glance at me as he crossed to follow Brent down the stairs.
In disbelief, I called after him. “Reeve?”
“Yes?” His expression was impatient, and his brow arched in question.
“Nothing,” I said, biting back any emotion that threatened to show. I turned my back toward him. “Joe, I need to get off the ranch for a little while. Can you take me to dinner?” Admittedly, though my invitation was sincere, half of the reason I’d extended it was to ruffle Reeve’s feathers. It was manipulative and defensive, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Emily,” Reeve warned from behind me before Joe had a chance to respond.
Feigning innocence, I peeked over my shoulder and imitated his recent address to me. “Yes?”
He made a sound of incredulous amusement, a sort of harsh laugh that suggested he saw right through me.
He probably did.
Then he said definitively, “You’re not leaving Kaya.”