A Bad Boy is Good to Find(67)

“I need her.” Con stared out the door. Raw terror gripped him at the thought of losing her. He turned to face them. “I love her.”

“Conroy, could you do us all a favor and put some clothes on?” Raoul stood in his doorway, wearing a Japanese robe. “I don’t doubt she’ll be back in your arms before sundown, but my blood pressure medication isn’t up to your bare ass running all over the place.”

Roger, sitting on the couch holding his head, tossed Con a pair of jeans from a pile on the floor beside him. Con caught them and put them on. “Can I take the van?”

“Why?” Dino itched his crotch. “You have no idea where she’s going. Just relax. She’ll come back.”

No, she won’t. He’d never been so sure of anything. He couldn’t breathe.

“Conroy!” Maisie’s voice rang out as he heard the back door slam. She marched into the living room wearing only a dirty white towel. She had grass in her hair. “I’ve just got a call from Leeza over at Eyewitness.” She paused and sucked in a breath. Looked down. “There’s some bad news I’m afraid.”

“What?” He stared down the driveway, burning to get the hell out of there.

“The results of the DNA test came back and I’m afraid it appears there’s a zero percent chance you’re related to Thomas Milford.” Her pale eyes looked almost soft. “So you’re not the heir.”

Lizzie couldn’t get far. She didn’t have any cash.

Maisie’s words sank in.

“I’m not a match? But I thought they were sure?”

Maisie bit her lower lip. “I’m sorry, Con,” she said softly.

Con scraped a hand through his hair. “I don’t understand.”

“Don’t worry about the show. The reunion with your brother was beautiful. That’s quite enough for us to put together an hour package so you’ll get the full fifty thousand just like we—”

“Where’s Danny?”

“Um,” she tucked some hair behind her ear. Danny wandered up behind her wearing only his jeans. He also had grass in his hair and a sheepish expression on his face. Con felt a hot surge of relief that at least his brother was still here.

“Lizzie’s gone,” he burst out. “Just took off. She didn’t understand that I want to marry her for real. She thought I was blowing her off and she—”

“Hey.” Danny strode up to him. “Don’t worry. We’ll get her back.” He embraced Con, who realized he was shaking. “Let’s get some water. I’m hung over something fierce and I bet you are too.”

“Um,” Maisie hoisted her towel higher. “Has anyone seen Dwight?”





Chapter 24





“I guess our mom was illegitimate.” Con was trying to make sense of how the DNA evidence didn’t mesh with the evidence of the letters and the will. “That could explain why the old man cut her loose and didn’t read her letters. He might have known.”

“So how come he left the house to her?” Gia asked. She and Roger were sitting with Con and Danny in the untidy dressing room, while Gia half-heartedly packed up embroidered tablecloths and silver cutlery.

“He didn’t. I never saw the will,” Con said, “but it leaves the estate to the owner’s firstborn. No mention of names. It long predates that generation, so if we’re not his kin, we’re out in the cold. Maybe in the old days no one would have known, but now with DNA evidence…” He shrugged. “I don’t know who’ll get it. Probably that lawyer that spent up the estate money and is getting ready to buy it from the parish.”

Nothing about this new turn of events surprised him. Being a no-count outsider was pretty much par for the course. As if someone like him could ever own a place like this?

That was as crazy as his idea of marrying Lizzie.

He felt cold all over.

Danny clapped a hand on his back. “Houses are nothin’ but trouble. Leakin’ roofs, lawns that need mowin’, bills to pay. You don’t need that.”

“Nice try, bro.” Con punched him lightly on his huge bicep.

“So, where d’you think your woman has gone to?”

Con shook his head. “The airport maybe? I don’t know where she’d go except back to New York.”

“We’d better get going then. But we need to get my truck from the bar. Who’s gonna drive us over?”

Con put his hand on Danny’s forearm. “No use going anywhere. It’s over.”

“What’s over?”

“Me and Lizzie.”

Saying it out loud socked him in the gut. He jumped to his feet and out of the room, damned if he was going to let anyone see him cry. He slammed out the back door and sucked in some air.

Danny was right behind him. “It’s not over. You love her, right?”

“Yes,” Con managed to keep his voice steady. “But that doesn’t mean a damn thing. When I thought this house was mine and that I was rich I knew I could ask her to marry me, to come live with me here. But without it—” He shook his head. He’d offered to marry her out in the desert. She’d turned him down flat.

“What?” Danny’s face creased into amusement. “You have to be a royal prince for this chick? I don’t get it.”

“She’s from a rich family. Filthy rich, old money.”

“So you’ll live on her dough.” Danny slapped his back. “What’s the problem?”

Con let out a hollow laugh. “Funny you should mention it, but that was my original plan.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. “Now she’s broke too.”

“Nothing wrong with that. You’re even, you can build your empire together.”

“Empire? Doing what? I’m a mechanic. She does graphic design, or something like that.”

“Sounds good. What’s the problem?”

Con wrinkled his brow. Hmm. What was the problem? “We fixed up a car together. I rebuilt the engine and she sprayed it. She’s an amazing talent, a real artist, I’ve never seen anything like it. We turned a profit of eleven thousand dollars in a couple of days.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!”

“It was kind of an emergency situation, I don’t know if she’d do it again.” Con looked at him. His brother’s eyes were so blue, like the sky out over the gulf. A heavy weight on his heart made it hard to breathe. “Our old man married a pretty rich girl and ended up ruining her life. She’ll be better off without me.”

“Big brother.” Danny grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Does she know you love her?”

“Of course she…well, I don’t know.” Con rubbed a hand over his face. “I guess I never did say it to her. I was waiting for the right moment. I wanted it to be perfect. But that was before, you know, the DNA.” A funk crept over him like the sticky heat. “She won’t want me now.”