Page 16 of Waiting in Wyoming
Now they were just going to be problematic. They’d always thought they had to hover over him and Powell at times. Said it was their brotherly duty.
“I’m good, guys; you can take her home. Tell mom I’m going to be fine.”
“Like it would be that easy. We aren’t going anywhere for a few days,” Alex said. He looked at the two women who had followed Brandt and Gerald out of the elevator. Meyra had Brandt’s room key.
She handed it to his brother without a word and a leery look on her face. Just as he’d thought, his brothers scared her a little. Well, Brandt wasn’t going to let that happen. His brothers wouldn’t even mean to do it, either. “It’s okay, little one. My brothers do not bite, I promise.”
Mac’s eyes narrowed at the endearment. It was one reserved for the most special woman in a Barratt man’s life. A family nickname passed down from his great-great-whatever-grandfather. A Barratt man only usedlittle one,far outdated though his sister told them all it was, when he was serious. With the woman he wanted forever.
Brandt had only ever used it withonewoman. She stood there, watching them all quietly now. His brothers knew now.
“Unless you are a Coleson, anyway,” Powell muttered under her breath, glaring at Alex over something. They were probably bickering again. Sometimes Alex was a bit too much. Especially for Powell to handle. All three of his siblings and his parents worked at Barratt, Barratt, & Barratt. Lawyers, every one of them.
Except Brandt. That had not been a life he’d wanted for himself, but sometimes, he did feel a bit left out. They were goingto spend the rest of their careers working almost side-by-side. Every day. His family.
He did miss them when he was in Wyoming, but he fully intended to make frequent trips to Texas. As often as he could. He was just trying to figure out how to make that work. For Meyra.
He might be getting ahead of himself, but he wasn’t about to let the woman he loved get away. Brandt had waited long enough.
He told them that, too. As soon as Meyra and her parents hightailed it out of his suite. “You won’t do anything to scare her, either. Especially you two.” Brandt glared at his brothers. Most days he could kick their asses—he was the biggest of them all now, after all—but today, well, a three-day-old kitten could defeat him. “She’s very shy and has autism, and I won’t have you upsetting her.”
“I’ve met her before,” Powell said. “Several times. I won’t let them be too idiotic. It will take massive retraining, I’m sure, but what else am I going to do up here while my precious twin brotherrests?”There was a clear order in his sister’s big brown puppy dog eyes she’d inherited from their mother.
Well, Brandt had to agree. Besides, Powell could be just as scary as their mother when she wanted to be. It was in the genes.
“I’ll take you up on that.” He looked at his brothers. “Help me to the damned bed, damn it. I feel like utter hell. Damn it, this was not what I had planned.”
No. He’d planned to come back to Masterson County and finally seduce the woman he wanted.
But Masterson County kept getting in the way of that.
11
His clerk methim just inside his office early the next morning. Dale didn’t need the little prick this morning. He just didn’t. But he kept his mouth shut. He knew why Kelby thought his shit didn’t stink. Kelby Londell was just as dirty as any other crudsucker they had had come through their court since they had been “appointed” to work together ten years ago.
Kelby was a damned plant. He hadn’t earned his way to his position. He wasn’t fooling anyone that he had, either. There were powerful men in the state of Wyoming, and they controlled everything.
For profit. All of it was for profit. Dale hadprofitedright along with them.
“What do you want?” Dale asked. He wasn’t going to let the little prick get to him. He never had, he never would. They both served a function. And that function had made them both very wealthy men through the years. Very wealthy. Kelby was damned foolish in how he flaunted it around—but Dale was smart. He’d hidden his gains asinvestmentsfor years.
His wife’s investments, actually. On paper, Dale had made sure his wife’s investments showed far more profit thanthey actually did. Which was saying something—Michelle was damned good at managing their portfolios. Dale’s wife—that woman could move money like magic. Spend it, too. No denying she could spend it.
But most of it she’d made with help from Morris Preston. But she and her cousins Morris and Victor—they had taken a dollar and turned it into ten almost by blowing on it. Dale had benefited, no denying that. For decades.
But Victor was dead now, and Morris was sitting in jail on multiple charges. Dale and Michelle were doing the best they could to ensure they didn’t end up on the same damned block as Morris.
“Did you know that damned Barratt that bought Morris’s place is connected to that cop spearheading the investigation into the drugs?” Kelby didn’t even wait for Dale to take off his damned coat.
“How so?” Kelby had a problem with men like Brandt Barratt. Dale thought it stemmed from insecurity. “And is it going to be a problem?”
“Hell yes, it’s going to be a damned problem. He walked right into those three fools searching the place last night. Those idiots almost killed him. Screwups couldn’t even do it right. Now he’s in the hospital, and the cops are all over the place.” Kelby paced. Dale studied the little shit. Kelby wasn’t any bigger than five six or so, and if he could bench press fifty pounds, Dale doubted it. “Heard the fucking general is all up in arms or something. Barratt’s a personal friend of his daughters or something, apparently. General Talley is threatening to call in the FBI.”
“I did know about last night. No surprise, dumbass. Talley’s oldest daughter is FBI. The cops got any leads on who did it?”
“DNA isn’t back yet.”
“But there was DNA found? Shit.” Dale smirked at the younger man, even though he knew what it could mean if thatDNA tied back. “Someone better clean it up, then. Get rid of the problem somehow.”