But Brenna hadn’t just been Dexter’s business associate. She’d been his lover.
“No. Not Brenna. His lab assistant, Kinley Ford.” He waited a moment. “My dad died right after Kinley was born, my mom remarried shortly thereafter, and Kinley took our stepdad’s surname.”
That’s why Marin hadn’t immediately made the connection between Lucky and the woman. She hadn’t met Kinley Ford, but since her brother’s disappearance, she had seen a photo of the young chemical engineer who’d assisted Dexter on his last project.
Kinley Ford had her brother’s eyes.
And those storm-gray eyes were drilling into her, waiting for her to answer.
“The police believe your sister was killed that night,” Marin whispered. “And unlike Dexter, there’s evidence to point to that.”
He nodded. And swallowed hard. “The cops think Brenna was killed, too. They found blood from all three of them. Just a trace from Dexter. More than a pint from Brenna. Triple that from my sister. There’s no way she could have lived with that much blood loss.”
“But the police didn’t find the bodies of either woman,” she pointed out.
Lucky shrugged. “Dexter probably hid them somewhere before he gave up and set the explosives to blow up the research lab. There was evidence that someone had tried to clean up the crime scene.”
Yes, she’d read that, as well, and along with the fact that there’d been no lethal quantities of her brother’s blood found, she could understand why some people believed he was still alive.
And guilty.
Though Lucky hadn’t convinced her that Dexter was alive, he had convinced her of something—the pain he was feeling over the loss of his sister. She understood that loss because she’d grieved for Dexter. “I’m sorry Kinley was killed.”
“Yeah. So am I.” She heard the pain. It was raw and still so close to the surface that she could practically feel it. “Your brother murdered her.”
Marin didn’t want to believe that, either. But she couldn’t totally dismiss it. However, if Dexter was responsible, then it must have been an accident.
“You followed me because you thought I’d lead you to Dexter,” she concluded.
He nodded. “I’ve been monitoring you for months. When I learned you were going to the ranch to see your grandmother, I figured Dexter would do the same.”
A chill went through her. “You’ve been monitoring me? What the heck does that mean?”
He didn’t get a chance to answer.
There was a tap at the door a split second before it opened. Marin didn’t want the interruption. She wanted to finish this conversation with Lucky. But then, she saw that it wasn’t her parents returning for round two. It was Nurse Garcia, and she had Noah in her arms.
The anger and frustration didn’t exactly evaporate, but Marin did push aside those particular emotions along with her questions so that she could stand and go to her son. Just seeing him flooded her heart with love.
“Stay put. I’ll bring this little guy to you,” Nurse Garcia insisted. “I told the doctor you were awake and anxious for this visit. He was going to be tied up with another patient for an hour or so, but he agreed to let you see your son before the examination.”
Noah smiled when he spotted Marin, and he began to pump his arms and legs. He babbled some excited indistinguishable sounds. Marin reached for him, and he went right into her arms. Nurse Garcia excused herself and left.
Marin didn’t even try to blink her tears away. It was a miracle that she was holding her son, and an even greater miracle that he hadn’t been hurt.
Noah tolerated the embrace for several seconds before he got bored. He leaned back and reached for the bandage on her head. Marin shifted him in her arms, and her son’s attention landed on Lucky.
Noah immediately reached for him.
Her son had given her a warm reception, but it was mild compared to the one he gave Lucky. Noah squealed with delight and laughed when Lucky stood to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“I told you that your mom was okay, buddy,” Lucky said to Noah.
When Noah’s reach got more insistent and he began to fuss, Marin handed her son over to a man who was feeling more and more like her enemy.
“Sorry about that,” Lucky mumbled, gathering Noah in his arms. “I’ve hardly let him out of my sight since the explosion. I guess he’s gotten used to me.”
“I guess.” And she didn’t bother to sound pleased about it.
“I wasn’t sure what to feed him so I called a doctor friend and got some suggestions for formula and food. He said to go with rice cereal. I hope that was okay.”
“Fine,” she managed to say. “I guess you didn’t have any trouble getting him to sleep?”
“Not really. But he’s got a good set of lungs on him when he wants a bottle. Don’t you, buddy?” Lucky grinned at Noah, the expression making him a little more endearing than she wanted at the moment.
Marin watched as Noah playfully batted at Lucky. Her son was at ease in this man’s arms. More than at ease. The two looked like father and son. And they weren’t. Lucky was simply a temporary stand-in.
Now, it was time to deal with reality.
The replacement father act had to be over soon, because she and Lucky obviously weren’t on the same path. He not only hated her brother, he wanted revenge for his sister’s death, and he’d been willing to use her to get to Dexter.
“Earlier you said you’d monitored me,” she reminded him. “How?”
His grin evaporated, and even though he kept his attention on Noah, his expression became somber. “I rented the condo connected to yours.”
The chill inside her got significantly colder. “You watched me? You listened in on my conversations?”
He nodded. “The walls between the condos are thin. It’s not hard to overhear, if you’re listening. And I was. I wanted to know if you were in contact with Dexter.”
She silently cursed. “So you know I didn’t. Still, you invaded my privacy.”
“I did,” Lucky readily admitted. “Because I had to do it. Whether you want to believe it or not, your brother’s a dangerous man.”
Marin groaned softly, looked at her son and blinked back more tears. “First, you save my son. You save me. And then you tell me that you’ve not only been spying on me, you want to kill my brother if by some miracle he’s still alive.”
“I don’t want to kill him. I want him arrested so he can stand trial, be convicted and then get the death penalty.”
“Oh, is that all?” The sarcasm dripped from her voice.
With Noah still gripped lovingly in his arms, Lucky stood back up. There was emotion in his eyes. But even though she owed this man a lot, she had just as much reason to despise him.
Marin hoped like the devil that she was keeping her temper in check because of her headache and Noah. Not because she was feeling anything like attraction for Lucky Bacelli.
But just looking at him gave her a little tug deep within her belly. She didn’t want that tug to mean anything. She wanted it to go away. It was a primal reminder that no matter what he wanted from her brother, she was still hotly attracted to him.
“I’m not the only person after Dexter,” Lucky continued. “Have you met Grady Duran?”
Oh, yes. And unlike what she was feeling for Lucky, there was no ambivalence when it came to Duran. She loathed Duran as much as she was afraid of him. Judging from