One More Taste (One and Only Texas #2)(92)

Knox tugged Emily’s arm. “Come on. Please. Let’s leave. I need air.”

“Not so fast,” Ty said. “You’re just as bad as her. I brought you both into the Briscoe Ranch family. I vouched for you. I tried to do the right thing for you in my own way. I trusted you. Both of you. And I guess the joke’s on me because you’re both a disgrace. A disgrace for everything the Briscoe name stands for. And you, Knox, will never, ever be a son of mine.”

Before Knox knew what was happening, Emily raised her hand, wound back, and backhanded Ty Briscoe across the face.

A hush fell over the room and time seemed to stop. Even Ty froze, his lips slack as a pink stain spread on his cheek.

“I get it now. This is how it works with you.” Emily said. “The minute your back’s up against the wall, you turn on people to protect yourself. Is that what happened when Linda got pregnant? Is that why you abandoned her and your baby? What a coward.”

With a curse, Ty lunged at Emily, his hands up as though he was going for her throat.

Knox didn’t think. He didn’t plan. He released Emily’s hand, made a fist, and punched Ty in the gut. The release of anger felt so damn good, that he ducked his head and went at Ty again. This time, he slammed Ty against the lobby wall, using the skills Big Tommy taught him in the ring. He raised his head, ready to tell Ty off, right in his face, but when he looked up, he was looking into the eyes of his father.

His father. Holy shit.

In that moment, Knox’s anger seceded to compassion. Ty had lost everything. The business, his self-respect. His wife, most likely. Which meant Knox had accomplished what he’d set out to do from the day he first stepped foot on Briscoe Ranch Resort. He’d ruined Ty Briscoe in the name of revenge.

Except that now, Knox didn’t want any part of it. He didn’t want revenge; he didn’t want the resort or any profits from it. Had that been what his dad was trying to tell him by preventing the truck from driving onto the resort? Knox could almost hear his dad’s voice. Don’t do this. It’s not too late to turn this truck around. There are things you don’t want to know.

Damn right, there were. And if he could, he would’ve scrubbed it all from his memory. The knowledge of what Granny June’s laugh sounded like and that Shayla and Haylie shared the same eyes. He didn’t want to be aware of Carina’s new baby and the life she and Decker enjoyed on the resort grounds, each pursuing their dream careers—businesses that would be torn down if the sale to Lux Universal went through. He didn’t want to know that the father he loved with his whole heart and whom he spoke to every damn day had lied to him. That his father and mother had been lying to him his whole life.

Mostly, his temper howled at the heavy weight of responsibility pressing on him. He held the Briscoe family’s future in his hands—their legacy, their livelihoods. The future of people who’d lied to him, who’d marginalized him. The biological father who’d rejected him before he was born, and who rejected him now. Someday, Knox wanted to find out why. But he couldn’t think past his outrage at the corner he’d painted himself into.

If he wanted to save the resort, he’d have to put his reputation and career on the line to drum up enough money. He’d have to pour his entire net worth into this place and these people who’d betrayed him. Did he even want to? Maybe selling to Lux was the right choice. Maybe he needed to let it all burn to the ground. Like Emily had so many years ago, the Briscoe family legacy could rise from the ashes of a sordid and cruel past into something new and beautiful. Maybe it was time to let Briscoe Ranch go.

He let the fury of betrayal seize hold of him. With a curse, he slammed Ty into the wall again. “Were you ever going to tell me the truth? Were any of you?”

Ty shoved him back. “No. Never.”

“Knox, let him go,” Emily said. He felt a tug on his belt, as though she were trying to pull him away. But Knox was nowhere near done. He could hear that she was trying to talk him down, but he could barely make out the words over the rush of adrenaline in his ears.

“Why not?” Knox spat at Ty. “Why cover up the truth in the first place? I have a right to know who I am, goddamn it.”

“Knox!” Emily called again. “The police!”

No sooner had he registered her words than strong, male arms looped around his chest, dragging him back. A loud voice barked at him to get back before he was charged with more than just assault. The Sheriff’s department had arrived. Just fucking fantastic.

“It’s about time,” Ty said to the deputy. “Thanks for getting that animal off me.”

Knox flexed his fist. Fuck it all; prison would be worth getting another good punch in.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Briscoe. We’re just happy we got here in time,” the deputy said.

Ty brushed imaginary dust off his shirt, the picture of civility. “When you get back to the station, be sure to give Sheriff Mendez my regards.” To Knox, Ty added, “You might think you hold all the cards, but guess again. You’re about to find out what my longstanding reputation in this community is worth.”

“I’m assuming you want to press charges?” the deputy who was restraining Knox asked Ty.

With harnessed anger and pride, Emily stepped between Ty and the deputy. “Don’t. Do. This. You’re his—”

“I’m his nothing. Yes, I’m pressing charges, Deputy Thurman. Nobody assaults me and gets away with it.”