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She couldn’t hide the incredulous tone in her voice. “You tried to destroy me six years ago.”

“I had nothing to do with that—”

“Don’t deny it, Brig. Almost single-handedly, you ruined my reputation as a horse breeder.”

“No one can tarnish another’s reputation. What happened to you was a result ofyourown actions,” he spat out angrily.

Becca felt the insult twist in her heart like a dull blade. All these years she had hoped that Brig’s condemning silence wasn’t what the newspapers had made it. Her hands were shaking and she had to set down the cup of coffee for fear of spilling it. “You really thought I drugged Sentimental Lady?” she asked, her voice barely audible in the still mountain air. Her green eyes accused him of the outright lie.

“I think you know who did.”

Becca couldn’t resist the bait. “I have my own suspicions,” she agreed.

“Of course you do. Because it had to be someone who had access to the horse before the race, someone you employed. Unless of course you injected her yourself.”

“You don’t believe that!” she cried, desperately holding onto a shred of hope that he could still trust her.

“I didn’t want to.”

“Then how can you even suggest that I would purposely harm my horse?” Bewilderment and the agony of being unjustly accused twisted her features. Brig lifted his body from the railing and stepped toward Becca. He was so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her hair.

“Because I think you know who did, Rebecca, and with your silence, you’ve become an accomplice to a crime too grotesque and inhumane to understand.” Her eyes flashed green fire, but he persisted. “Whether you actually injected Sentimental Lady or not, you were responsible for her well-being and should have protected her against the agony she had to suffer.”

Becca reacted so quickly, she didn’t have time to think about the result of her actions. Her hand shot up and she flexed her wrist just as her palm found Brig’s cheek. “You bastard!” she hissed, unable to restrain her anger.

Brig grabbed her wrist and pulled her roughly to him. “I’m only reminding you of what happened.”

“You’re twisting the truth to suit yourself.”

“Why would I do that, Rebecca? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Because you knew that she’d been drugged. Weren’t you the one who wanted the race stopped just after the horses were out of the gate?”

“Because Lady hit her head.”

“Because you had second thoughts!” she accused, the words biting the cold air.

He jerked her savagely, as if he would have liked to shake her until she began seeing things his way. “Second thoughts?” he repeated, trying to understand her damning stare. His dark eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you don’t have to lie anymore, Brig. Not with me. There’s no one here but you and me, so you may as well confess. Your secret will remain safe. Hasn’t it for the last six years?”

The fingers digging roughly into the soft flesh of her upper arms slowly relaxed. A quiet flame of fury burned in Brig’s eyes, but the ferocity of his anger ebbed and he slowly released her. His whisper was rough and demanding. “What secret?” he asked. To his credit, he was a consummate actor. The confusion flushing his face seemed genuine.

Rebecca could feel tears pooling in her eyes, but she blinked them back, reminding herself not to trust this man who had passed his guilt on to her.

“What secret?” he asked again. A portion of his anger had returned as he guessed the twisted path of her defense.

She pleaded with him to be honest with her; her eyes begged for the decency of the truth. “You know that I didn’t do anything to Sentimental Lady, Brig, and you also know that no one employed by me would have dared to harm that horse. The reason you know it is that you were the one who paid someone to inject her.”

“What?”he thundered.

“There’s no reason to deny it.”

“You’re out of your mind!”

“Not anymore. I was once, when I thought I could trust you.”

His anger faded into uncertainty. “You’ve actually got yourself believing this, haven’t you?”