He snatched her wrist, jerking her to a stop just as she rounded the back of the wagon.
How in the blasted hell did a man so big move so fast?
Her glare met his. “I need to see my brother, Wes. You have no right to keep me away from him.”
For a long breath—a torture of time—he said nothing, his dark eyes crushing her. He blinked and shook his head. “It was his face, Laney—you’ll not recognize him.”
Her head snapped back. “What?”
“I saw it—it’s him. I swear it. But I’ll not allow you to look into that casket.”
“You’re lying. You’re just being cruel because that’s what you are.”
His mouth clamped shut, his jaw shifting back and forth. Patience had never been his forte—especially with her. “Have I ever lied to you?”
A bitter guffaw left her mouth. “No. No, you’ve always been painfully truthful with me, telling me exactly what you thought. What you thought of me. Down to every last vicious word you’ve ever uttered to me.”
His cheek twitched. “So I’m not lying now. It’s Morton. I swear it.”
It was there.
In his dark hazel eyes.
The truth. Truth that she didn’t want to hear. Truth that she didn’t want coming from his mouth. Of all people, why should he be the last person to see her brother? What gave him that right? He didn’t deserve it.
No right at all.
Tears suddenly welled in her eyes. Not now. Damn her blubbering.
Her look dropped from his face and she hiccupped a breath, twisting her wrist in the clamp of his hand.
He dropped her arm.
She looked to the black casket, staring at it. Deciding. What little fight she still possessed quickly draining away.
He wasn’t going to let her see Morton.
He’d set his mind to it. And if she knew one true thing about Wes, it was that once his mind was set, he didn’t veer. Right or wrong.
She turned from him, turned from the wagon, her forefingers clasping along the bridge of her nose, attempting to quell her tears.
Seconds of silence, of her quivered breaths.
His hand landed on her shoulder—fire burning her and she jumped away.
“Don’t touch me.” Without looking back at him, her words soft, defeated, filled the courtyard. “Don’t touch me ever again.”
“Laney…”
She walked to the front door of Gruggin Manor without a backward glance.
The man would never get another moment of her time.
{ Chapter 2 }
Wes stared at the red front door of Gruggin Manor, the paint starting to peel upward along the bottom edge of it.
He’d thought Morton had sent funds to his sister from the fortune the man had stumbled upon. But Laney had either chosen not to invest the money into the upkeep of the manor, or Morton hadn’t sent her nearly enough, keeping most of it to himself just to lose it at the gaming hells.