Ms Demeanor. Danica Winters

Have you thought about that?”

      “I know what you did back there was a gamble,” he said, tipping his chin toward the barn outside. “Your sacrifice doesn’t go unnoticed. You can trust me when I tell you that I had nothing to do with that body.”

      He moved toward her, and she carefully stepped back until her legs pressed against Mrs. Fitzgerald’s ’80s model velveteen sofa. The little hairs of the couch upholstery jabbed into the back of her calves, but it was nowhere near as uncomfortable as Rainier was making her when he looked at her like he was now...a look of compassion, respect and maybe something more.

      “You have to know that I would never compromise you like that,” he added. “Though I’ve only known you...what? A couple of hours? I believe you’re a good person. You’re not the kind of woman who would risk everything if she didn’t think a person was telling the truth.”

      The little zing she had felt for him returned, making her wonder if she would ever be able to control her body’s responses whenever Rainier said something that made her want to smile.

      He moved so close that the only way she could get away from him was by sitting on the sofa, so she plopped down in a most unladylike fashion—complete with a little oomph as the air rushed from her lungs.

      “I’ve been wrong before, Rainier,” Laura said, gripping her hands in her lap so as to not reach out and touch him.

      Thankfully, he stopped his advance and glanced back at the tree. “We all make mistakes, Laura. No one more than me.”

      “So you agree that what you did to your father was wrong?”

      “It wasn’t wrong to do what I did. My biological mother and father may have been the worst parents on the planet. I don’t even know how I made it out of there alive.” He sighed. “How much do you know about my real parents?”

      She had done her research on Rainier Fitzgerald, but it seemed that all his records had started when he’d been about sixteen and had gotten his first speeding ticket. His file had been dotted with a few misdemeanors, just the odd fine here and there that often came with a rambunctious teenager; that was, until the assault on his biological father in some low-end beer joint on the south end of town.

      “Not much,” she said, shaking her head.

      “That night in the bar, when the assault happened, it had been a long time coming.” Rainier turned away from her and went back to studying the tree. “My birth father was an evil man. He did things that should have sent him to prison and kept him there until his dying day, but instead, he got off scot-free... And in the end, I was the one sent away. Life has a wicked sense of humor.”

      She wanted to ask what exactly his father had done, but before she could, there was a knock on the door.

      Mrs. Fitzgerald came shuffling out of the kitchen, a white apron tied around her waist and what looked to be fresh flour on her hands. She smiled at them as more knocking reverberated through the room.

      “Be right with you,” she called, wiping her hands on her apron. “I don’t know why they bother knocking. If the police are done, I would hope that Wyatt would know to just come right on in,” she said, more to herself than to them.

      She opened the door and her hands dropped to her sides and she stumbled backward. “What are you doing here, William?”

      There, standing in the doorway, was a sour-faced man in a business suit. As he looked inside, he smiled, and the action was as crisp and polished as the rest of his exterior.

      “I thought it was high time that I stopped by the ranch and said hello,” William Poe said. He nodded toward Laura. “How goes it, Ms. Blade? Your father mentioned that you were going to be poking your head in at the ranch from time to time, thanks to the family jailbird. You know, if it were up to me there would be more than one Fitzgerald prison bound.”

      The man looked as out of place at Dunrovin as a fox in a henhouse, and just as predatory.

      “What are you really doing here, William?” she asked, getting up from the couch. As she did so she made sure to pull her skirt just a bit lower on her knees. The man had a reputation, and she didn’t want him leering at her.

      He opened his jacket and withdrew a letter. On the front, in big bold red letters, were the words Final Notice.

      “Something was incorrectly sent to my house. I think it belongs to you all.” He flipped the letter toward Mrs. Fitzgerald, but she didn’t bother to try and catch it, and it fell to the floor at her feet.

      “Why would you be getting our mail, Mr. Poe?” Eloise asked, her voice taking on a dangerous edge that Laura wouldn’t have imagined the woman capable of unless she had heard it for herself.

      “Well, Mrs. Fitzgerald, I would hardly know,” William said, a sleazy smile spreading over his face. “But from that note on the front, I thought it better make its way into your hands.” He nudged the envelope with his shoe, leaving tread marks on the paper. “I’d hate to stand in the way of justice being served. You know me. I’ve always tried to be helpful.”

      “We know you to be a thorn in our side,” Mrs. Fitzgerald retorted.

      Rainier walked over to the man. “Why don’t you just get the hell out of here?” he said, pushing him back out the door.

      “How dare you touch me,” William said, his tone filled with hatred.

      “What was that old commercial... Reach out and touch someone?” Rainier asked with a wicked laugh. “You’re lucky all I did was touch you. The next time you set foot on this ranch, you are going to wish that all I did was touch you.”

      “You are going to wish that you never laid your hands on me.” William readjusted his suit jacket in what Laura assumed was his best attempt to save his ego. “I’d threaten to sue, but based on what you’re about to learn, we both know that you and your family wouldn’t have the money to pay me if I won, anyway.” He laughed, the room filling with the foul sound.

      William turned toward Laura. “You know, if you were like your father, you would save yourself some time and just arrest Rainier now.”

      Her stomach clenched. Had he seen something? Had he witnessed her lying for Rainier?

      “There’s no way that man is going to stay out of trouble. In fact, I bet that’s why the police are outside, isn’t it? Are they just waiting to arrest him?” William continued on, seemingly unaware of the questions raging through her. “It wouldn’t surprise me. This family is nothing but trash.”

      “You know what, William? I think Rainier was right,” Laura said, as she walked over to the doorway. “You need to get gone and stay gone.” She slammed the door in the man’s face.

      As she did, she knew it would come back to haunt her. But right now she didn’t need anyone to tell her who or what the Fitzgeralds were. To her, they were just another family that needed her help.