His By Any Means: The Black Sheep's Inheritance

Damn. The old man had surprised him one last time, was all Sage could think. His throat felt like a fist was squeezing, closing off his air. If he didn’t get out of here soon, he was going to make a damn fool of himself. How the hell did J.D. know how to touch him, even from beyond the grave? How had he scripted words in a will months ago that could reach out long after he was gone to do what he hadn’t been able to do in life?

“And lastly,” Walter was saying, “I come to my beloved daughter, Angelica Lassiter. You are my heart and soul and the light of my life.”

Sage glanced at his sister and saw her beautiful face crumple into tears again.

“And so,” Walter read, “I leave you, Angelica, a ten-percent share of Big Blue, just like your brothers, the Lassiter estate in Beverly Hills, California, enough cash for you to spoil yourself some and finally, a ten-percent share in Lassiter Media.”

“What?” Sage jumped to his feet, outraged, and Dylan was just a breath behind him. All of the warm feelings for his adoptive father vanished in a blink. How could he do that to Angelica? He’d groomed his daughter for years to take over the day-to-day operations of Lassiter Media, a conglomerate of radio, TV, newspapers and internet news outlets. Hell, she’d practically been running the damn thing on her own since J.D. got sick. And now he cut her out of the thing she loved?

“You can’t be serious,” Sage argued hotly, with a quick look at his sister’s shocked, ashen features. “She’s been running Lassiter Media for J.D. He left me more interest than Angie? That’s insane!”

“We’ll challenge the damn will,” Dylan was saying, moving toward his sister to lay one hand on her shoulder in a show of solidarity.

“Damn straight,” Sage agreed, glaring at the lawyer as if it were all his fault.

“There’s more,” Walter said, clearing his throat uncomfortably. “And I warn you, try to challenge this will and you might all be sorry—but more about that later. For now, voting control with forty-one-percent share of Lassiter Media, chairmanship and title of CEO, I leave to Evan McCain.”

“Evan?” Angelica pulled away from her fiancé even as he was rising to his feet, stunned speechless.

“What the hell is going on here, Walter?” Sage demanded, coming around the corner of the man’s desk to snatch up the will and read the terms himself.

“J.D. knew what he wanted to do and he did it,” the lawyer argued.

“Well, it won’t stand,” Marlene said.

“Damn right it won’t,” Dylan piped up, charging the desk and snatching the will from his brother’s grasp.

“It’s not right.” Chance came to his feet slowly, his calm, quiet voice nearly lost in the confusion.

“I can’t believe it,” Angelica murmured, looking at her fiancé as if she’d never seen him before.

“I swear I don’t know anything about this,” Evan said, taking a step toward her only to stop when she backed away from him.

“Well, somebody does, and I’m going to find out what’s going on,” Sage promised, then snapped his gaze to the door. Colleen Falkner was slipping out of the office like a damn ghost.

She’d gotten what she wanted, he told himself. He only wondered what she’d had to do for three million dollars. And he also had to ask himself if she’d known about J.D.’s plans. Had she been involved in his decision to rob Angelica of the very thing she cared most about?

Damned if he wouldn’t find out.

* * *

Colleen leaned back against the door briefly, closing her eyes and forcing herself to drag a deep breath into her lungs. Her heart was pounding so hard and so fast she felt dizzy.

She hadn’t expected anything like this.

Three million dollars?

Tears burned her eyes, but she frantically blinked them back. Now wasn’t the time to indulge in tears for the loss of her friend—or for thinking about the future he had just made possible.

Behind her, she heard muffled shouts through the closed door. Sage Lassiter’s voice was the most unmistakable. Though he didn’t have to shout to be heard. The cold steel in his deep voice was enough to get the attention of anyone in the room.

God knew, he’d had her attention.

She’d felt him watching her earlier. Had sneaked a peek or two over her shoulder at him in return. He made her nervous. Always had. Which was why any time he’d come to the Big Blue ranch to visit his father—which wasn’t often—Colleen had made herself scarce.

He was so...male.

Sage Lassiter was a force of nature. The kind of man women drooled over. And she was the kind of woman men like him never noticed. Well, not usually. He’d certainly noticed her today, though. And he hadn’t looked very happy about it.

Tossing a quick look at the closed door behind her, Colleen hurried down the long beige hallway toward the elevators. She wanted to be long gone before Sage left that room.

Two

She made it as far as the parking lot.

“Colleen!”

Standing beside her car, Colleen took a breath and braced herself. That deep voice was unmistakable.

Goose bumps broke out on her arms and it wasn’t because of the icy wind buffeting her. Blast Wyoming weather anyway. One day it was spring and the next, it was winter again. But the cold was the least of her worries.

It was him. Colleen had only been close to Sage Lassiter one time before today. The night of Angelica’s rehearsal dinner. From across that crowded restaurant, she’d felt him watching her. The heat of his gaze had swamped her, sending ribbons of expectation unfurling throughout her body. He smiled and her stomach churned with swarms of butterflies. He headed toward her, and she told herself to be calm. Cool. But it hadn’t worked. Nerves fired, knees weakened.

And just as he was close enough to her that she could see the gleam in his eyes, J.D. had his heart attack and everything had changed forever.

Looking back on that night, she told herself she was being silly even thinking that Sage might have been interested in her. He’d probably only wanted to ask her questions about his father’s care. Or where the restrooms were.

In her own mind, she’d built up the memory of that night into something magical. But it was time to remember that she simply wasn’t the kind of woman a man like him would ever notice. Sadly, that didn’t stop her from noticing him and she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since that night.

Now he was here, and she had to battle down a flurry of nerves. She turned and brushed a few stray, windblown hairs out of her face as she watched him approach.

Her heartbeat sped up at the picture he made. Sage Lassiter stalked across the parking lot toward her. It was the only word that could describe that long, determined stride. He was like a man on a mission. He wore dark jeans, boots and an expensively cut black sports jacket over a long-sleeved white shirt. His brown hair flew across his forehead and his blue eyes were narrowed against the wind. His long legs closed the distance between them in a few short seconds and then he was there. Right in front of her.

She had to tip her head back to meet his gaze and when she did, nerves skated down along her spine. For three months, she’d listened to J.D. Lassiter as he talked about his family. Thanks to those chats, she knew that Sage was ruthless in business, quiet, hardheaded and determined to make his own way rather than capitalize on the Lassiter name. And though that last part had irritated J.D., she knew that he’d also admired Sage for it. How could he not? The older man had done the same thing when he was starting out.

Still, being face-to-face with the man who had filled her mind for weeks was a little unnerving. Maybe if she hadn’t spent so much time daydreaming about him, she wouldn’t feel so awkward right now. Colleen took another deep breath and held it for a moment, hoping to calm herself. But there was a flash of something she couldn’t quite read in his eyes and the nerves won.

Wind slid down off the mountain, wrapped itself around them briefly then rushed on, delivering chills to the rest of Cheyenne. Ridiculously, Colleen was grateful for the cold wind. It was like a slap of common sense and though it wasn’t enough to completely dampen her hormones, her next thought absolutely was.

The only reason she and Sage were here, about to talk, was because they had both attended the reading of his father’s will. Remembering that helped her keep her voice steady as she gave him a smile and blurted, “I’m so sorry about your father.”

A slight frown crossed his face briefly. “Thanks. Look, I wanted to talk to you—”

“You did?” There went her silly heart again, jumping into a gallop. He really was impossibly handsome, she thought absently—tall, dark and glower-y. There was an aura of undeniable strength that emanated from him. He was the kind of man other men envied and women wanted. Herself included. A brand-new flock of butterflies took off and flew in formation in the pit of her stomach. “You want to talk to me?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice a deep rumble that seemed to roll across every one of her nerve endings. “I’ve got a couple questions...”

Fascination dissolved into truth. Instantly, Colleen gave herself a mental kick. Here she was, daydreaming about a gorgeous man suddenly paying attention to her when the reality was, he’d just lost his father. She knew all too well that the families left behind after a loss often had questions. Wanted to know how their loved one had been feeling. What they’d been thinking. And as J.D.’s private nurse, she had been with him the most during those final days.

And now that reality had jumped up to slap her, she was forced to acknowledge that Sage Lassiter had probably planned to talk to her the night of the party for the same reason. What had she been thinking? She’d half convinced herself that the rich, gorgeous Sage Lassiter was interested in her. God, what an idiot. Embarrassment tangled with a wash of disappointment before she fought past both sensations, allowing her natural empathy to come rushing to the surface.

“Of course you do.” Instinctively, she reached out, laid her hand on his and felt a swift jolt of electricity jump from his body to hers. Totally unexpected, she felt the heat from that brief contact sizzle inside her. It was so strong, so real, she wouldn’t have been surprised to actually see the arc of light shimmering between them. Quickly, she drew her hand back, then curled her fingers into her palm, determined to ignore the startling sensation.

His eyes narrowed further and she knew he’d felt it, too. Frowning a little, he pushed one hand through his hair, fixed his gaze on hers and let her know immediately that whatever he might have felt, he was as determined as she to ignore it.

Shaking his head, he said, “No. I don’t have any questions about J.D. Actually, you’re the mystery here.”

“Me?” Surprised, Colleen stared up at him, practically mesmerized by those cool blue eyes of his. “You think I’m a mystery? I’m really not.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he mused. “You went from nurse to millionaire in a few short months.”

“What?” Confused now, she shook her head as if that might help clear things up a little. It didn’t.

His lips curved but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Sure, it’s a big step, isn’t it? I just wanted to say congratulations.”

“Con—what? Oh. What?” Colleen’s mind was slowly working its way past the hormonal surge she’d first felt when Sage had walked up to her. And now that she was able to think almost clearly again, it finally dawned on her what he was talking about. The bequest. The money J.D. had left her. He was making it sound...ugly.

Stung, she said quietly, “I don’t know if congratulations is the right word.”

“Why not?” He set one hand on the roof of her old, but completely reliable, Jeep and leaned in closer. “From private nurse to millionaire in one easy step. Not many people could have pulled that off.”

Cold slithered through her and it was an icier feeling than anything the weather could provide. She glanced around the nearly empty parking lot. Only a half dozen or so cars were sprinkled around the area. The law office adjoining the lot seemed to loom over her, so for a second or two, she let her gaze drift past the city to the mountains in the distance. Sunlight glanced off the snow still covering the peaks. Gray clouds scudded across the deep blue sky and the ever-present wind tugged at her hair.

Just like always, the view of the mountains soothed her. She and her mother had moved to Cheyenne several years ago, and from the moment they arrived, Colleen had felt at home. She hadn’t missed California and the beaches. It was the mountains that called to her. The wide-open spaces, the trees, the bite of cold in the air. In a moment, she was ready to face the man glaring at her. “I don’t know what you mean.”

But she did. She really did. His eyes were icy, detached and a muscle in his jaw ticked as if he were biting back all kinds of words he really wanted to say. J.D. had told her so much about Sage, and for the first time, she was seeing the less than pleasant aspects. Ruthless. Hard.

He was more different now from the man who had flirted with her from across a crowded room not two weeks ago than she would have thought possible. Did he really believe she had somehow engineered this bequest? That she’d tricked J.D. into leaving her money?

“I think you know exactly what I mean.” His head tilted to one side as he studied her. “I just find it interesting that J.D. would bequeath three million dollars to a woman he didn’t even know three months ago.”

While she stood there, pinned in place by the sheer power of his gaze, Colleen felt like a bug on a glass slide under a microscope. The cold inside her began to melt beneath the steam of insult. She was still feeling a little shaky over J.D.’s death and the fact that he’d remembered her in his will. Now, staring up into Sage’s eyes, seeing the flash of accusation gleaming there, she had to wonder if others would be thinking the same thing. What about the rest of the Lassiter family? Did they feel the same way? Would they also be looking at her with suspicion? Suddenly, she had a vision of not just the Lassiters but the whole town of Cheyenne whispering about her, gossiping.

That thought was chilling. She’d made Cheyenne her home and she didn’t want her life destroyed by loose tongues spreading lies. Anger jumped to life inside her. She’d done nothing wrong. She’d helped an old man through his last days and she’d enjoyed his company, too. Since when was that a crime?

Gorgeous or not, Sage Lassiter had no right to imply that she’d somehow tricked J.D. into leaving her money in his will. Lifting her chin, she glared at him. “I didn’t know he was going to do that.”

“And you would have stopped him if you had known?”

The sarcasm in his tone only made the sense of insult deeper. She met his gaze squarely. On this, she could be completely honest. And she would keep being honest until people believed her. “I would have tried.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, it is,” she snapped, and had the satisfaction of seeing surprise flicker in his eyes. “Whatever you might think of me, I’m very good at my job. And I don’t ordinarily receive gifts from my patients.”

“Really?” He snorted. “You consider three million dollars a gift?”

“What it represents was the gift,” she countered, then stopped herself. She didn’t owe him an explanation and if she tried, he probably wouldn’t accept it.

His features looked as if they’d been carved from marble. There was no emotion there, nothing to soften the harsh gaze that seemed to bore right through her as if he were trying to read everything she was.

Colleen fought past the temper still bubbling into a froth in the pit of her stomach and tried to remember that people grieved in different ways. He’d lost a father he’d been estranged from. There had to be conflicting emotions roiling inside him and maybe it was easier for Sage to lash out at a stranger than to deal with what he must be feeling at the moment. Though she knew from her many long talks with J.D. that he and his oldest son weren’t close, Sage was clearly still dealing with a loss he hadn’t been prepared for. That was bound to hit him hard and it was scarcely surprising that he wasn’t acting rationally at the moment.

With that thought in mind, the tension inside her drained away. “You don’t know me, so I can understand how you might feel that way. But what J.D. did was as big a shock to me as it was to you.”

A long second or two ticked past as he watched her through those deep blue eyes of his. She couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking, but his features gave her no clue at all. Seconds ticked past as the wind blew, the sky grew darker and the silence between them stretched taut. Finally, he straightened up and away from the car, shoved both hands into his pockets and allowed, “Maybe I was a little harsh.”

She gave him a tentative smile that wasn’t returned. Despite his words, he wasn’t really bending. Sighing, she said, “A little. But it’s understandable, considering what you’re going through. I mean...I understand.”

“Do you?” Still watching her, though the ice in his eyes had melted a bit.

“When my father died,” she said, sliding back into her own memories, “it was horrible, despite the fact that we knew for months that it was coming. Even when death is expected, it’s somehow a surprise when it actually happens. It’s as if the universe has played a dirty trick on you. I was so angry, so sorry to lose him—I needed someone to blame.” She paused and met his gaze. “We all do.”

He snorted. “A nurse and a psychologist?”

She flushed. “No, I just meant...”

“I know what you meant,” he said shortly, effectively shutting her down before she could offer more sympathy he clearly didn’t want.

And just like that, the ice was back in his eyes. Then he glanced over his shoulder, noted that his family was walking out of the office building behind them and turned back to her. “I have to go.”

She looked to where Marlene and Angelica were holding onto each other while Chance, Dylan and Evan squared off, obviously arguing. “Of course.”

“But I’d like to talk to you again,” he said, catching her by surprise.

“Sure, I—”

“About J.D.,” he added.

A tiny flicker of something lovely disappeared in a wash of sympathy. Of course he wanted to talk to her about his father. He wanted to hear from the woman who had spent the most time with him in his last several months. Ridiculous to have ever thought that he might be interested in her. Sage Lassiter dated women who were socialites or celebrities. Why on earth would he ever be attracted to a private nurse who didn’t even own a bottle of nail polish?

“Sure,” she said, giving him another smile that went unreturned. “Anytime.”

He nodded, then turned and strode across the parking lot toward his family.

Alone in the quickening wind, Colleen threw one look up at the sky and realized that a storm was coming.

* * *

“What was he thinking?” Dylan took a sip of his beer and set the bottle back onto the table. “Cutting Angie out like that? Dad had been grooming her for years to take over Lassiter Media.”

They were at a small bar on the edge of the city. Marlene had taken Angelica off for a spa day, hoping to relax her. Evan had gone back to the office and Chance was at the ranch. Left to their own devices, Sage and Dylan had opted for drinks, and the chance to talk things over, just the two of them.

The customers here were locals, mostly cowboys, ranch hands and a few cops and firemen. It was a comfortable place that didn’t bother trying to be trendy. The owner didn’t care about attracting tourists. He just wanted to keep his regulars happy.

So the music was loud and country, blasting from a jukebox that was older than Sage. The floorboards were scarred from wooden chairs scraping across them for the past fifty years. The bar top gleamed and the rows of bottles behind the bar were reflected in a mirror that also displayed the image of the TV playing on the opposite wall. People came here to have a quiet drink. They weren’t looking to pose for pictures or listen to tourists talking excitedly about “the Old West.” This was modern-day Cheyenne, yet Sage had the feeling quite a few people rode into town half expecting stagecoaches and more than just the staged gunfights in the streets.

“I don’t know,” Sage muttered, unnecessarily answering his brother’s rhetorical question.

Dylan kept talking, but Sage wasn’t really listening. Instead he was remembering the look in Colleen’s eyes when he’d confronted her in the parking lot. He’d wanted to talk to her. To see what she knew. To find out if she’d had any idea what J.D. had been up to.

Instead, he’d put her on the defensive right from the jump. He hadn’t meant to just launch into an attack. But with the memory of his sister’s tears still fresh in his mind, he’d snapped at Colleen.

Scrubbing one hand across his face, he realized that he was going to have to use a completely different tactic the next time he talked to her. And there would be a next time. Not only did she intrigue him on a personal level but there were too many questions left unanswered. Had she swayed J.D. into leaving her the money? Did she know why Angelica had lost everything? Did she maybe know something that might help him invalidate the will? His brain was racing.

“Angie was looking at Evan like he was the enemy instead of the man she loves.”

“Hard not to,” Sage said, mentally dragging himself back to the conversation at hand. “In one swipe, Evan took everything Angie thought was hers.”

“Well, it’s not like he stole it or anything,” Dylan told him. “J.D. left it to him.”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “J.D. was just full of surprises, wasn’t he? Still, doesn’t matter how it happened. Bottom line’s the same. Angie’s out and Evan’s in. Not surprising that she’s angry at him.”

“True.” Dylan picked up his beer for another sip, then held the bottle, rubbing his thumb over the label.

“It was always tricky, the two of them engaged and working for the same company. But now that Angie’s not even the boss anymore?” Sage shook his head grimly. “I just hope this will doesn’t cause a breakup.”

“Worst part is, I don’t know what we can do about it. From the little Walter said, I don’t think we’ll be able to contest the will without everyone losing.”

“That’s Walter’s opinion. We need to check into that with an impartial lawyer.”

“If there is such a beast,” Dylan muttered.

“I know.” Sage lifted his glass and took a slow sip of very old scotch. The heat swarmed through his system, yet did nothing to ease the tight knot in the pit of his stomach.

His sister had been crushed by their father’s will. His aunt Marlene was happy with her bequest but naturally worried for Angie. Chance was good, of course. Big Blue ranch was his heart and soul. Evan had looked as though he’d been hit in the head with a two-by-four, but once the shock eased, Sage couldn’t imagine the man complaining about the inheritance. Except for how it was affecting Angie.

There was going to be tension between Evan and her. But Sage hoped to hell they could work it out and find their way past all of this. But for now, their wedding was still postponed and after the will reading, Sage had no idea how long that postponement was going to last.

As for himself, Sage was still staggered by his bequest from J.D. Hell, he’d gotten a bigger share of Lassiter Media than Angie had—and that just wasn’t right. Every time he thought about this, he came back to one question: What the hell had J.D. been thinking? And the only way he had even the slightest chance of figuring that out was by getting close to Colleen.

She was the one who had spent the most time with J.D. in the past few months. Sage had heard enough about the young, upbeat, efficient nurse from Marlene and Angie to know that she had become J.D.’s sounding board. He’d talked to her more than he had to anyone else in the last months of his life. And maybe that was because it was easier to talk about your problems to a stranger than it was to family.