Page 92 of Branded

“We’re having adjustments. Which is why Lennox being here, taking time with family, is good. Gives us both perspective.” I look at her. “And gives me a chance to prove I’m worth coming back to.”

“And are you?” Warren’s voice is quiet but sharp. “Worth coming back to?”

“I’m trying to be. That’s all I can promise right now.”

More silence. Then Warren pushes himself to standing with the help of his cane, the movement requiring visible effort.

“Alright. Dinner’s in thirty minutes. Lennox, help Grace in the kitchen. Boys, go wash up. Emma, set the table. Lark, don’t lift a finger, you’re doing enough.” He looks at me. “Drake, you’re with me. We’re going to have a private conversation. Man to man.”

Lennox’s hand tightens on mine. “Dad.”

“It’s okay,” I tell her quietly.

I follow Warren out of the house, across the porch and down toward the barn. He moves slowly but deliberately, the cane tapping a steady rhythm, his gait showing the careful balance of someone who is dealing with not being able to move as fast as he wants. Neither of us speaks until we are out of earshot of the house.

Then he stops, turns to face me with the careful pivot. The protective father disappears, and in his place stands a man who’s survived a stroke that would have broken most people. He came back meaner.

“Now,” he says, his voice hard. “Tell me what you’re really doing with my daughter.”

30

SEBASTIAN

“You’re a good liar,” Warren says. “I’ll give you that. That whole speech in there about respecting her, about giving her space, about trying to be better, it was smooth. Practiced. But I’ve been running a ranch for forty years, Sebastian. I know when someone’s selling me a story.”

I keep my expression neutral, even as my mind races. How much does he actually know? How much is he guessing?

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I want you to tell me what really happened.” Warren shifts his weight, adjusting his grip on the cane. “Because my daughter doesn’t fall in love in three months and run off to marry someone she barely knows. That’s not Lennox. So tell me what situation she was in that made marriage to you the best option.”

The directness catches me off guard. Not an accusation. Just an assessment.

“How much has Lennox told you?”

“Nothing. She’s been tight-lipped since she got here. But I know my daughter. I know when she’s protecting someone. And I know the look of a woman who’s made a sacrifice she’s not sure is worth it.” Warren’s eyes are sharp. “So I’m asking you directly, who is she protecting? And what has it cost her?”

I look at this man, a father trying to understand, a rancher who’s probably made his own difficult choices over the years. And I make a calculation.

Lies aren’t working. He’s too smart, too experienced. But the truth would put me on rocky ground. Rocky ground I can come back from. This man not letting Lennox come home with me, I couldn’t.

“Her friend, Janie, was in trouble. She owed massive debts to some very dangerous people. The kind of debt that gets paid in ways you don’t want your daughters to know about.” I pause. “Lennox found out and decided to help.”

Warren’s expression doesn’t change. “By taking the debt herself?”

“Yes.”

“And you had the resources to solve it.”

“I did. In all honesty, I saw your daughter, and I wanted her. I wasn’t chivalrous or cognizant of why she was there. I wanted her for myself. The thought of anyone else touching her repulsed me. With the agreement, there are conditions attached. Legal ones. Marriage is the cleanest solution to satisfy those conditions while keeping everyone safe.”

Warren is quiet for a long moment, studying me. “So my daughter traded herself to save Janie Turner. That tracks. That’s exactly the kind of thing Lennox would do.” He shifts his cane to his other hand. “And you? What did you get out of this arrangement?”

“A wife. For two years. After that, she’s free and gets a substantial settlement.”

“Two years.” Warren’s voice is flat. “You bought my daughter’s time.”

“Essentially, yes. But that’s not why she came back here. My father accused her of being an informant for a rival I’ve been having issues with.” I run my hand through my hair and take a deep breath. “When he accused her, I didn’t argue, I just looked at her with the same questions. Whatever we’d been building, I destroyed because I didn’t stand up for the woman I’m married to.”