Page 68 of Tempting Wyatt (Triple Creek Ranch #1)

“Well, since we’re all here,” Isaac breaks in, clapping his hands the way our wedding coordinator often did during rehearsal, “let’s get this show on the road.”

Soft music begins playing, and I grin as my heart beats a little harder.

“That’s our cue.”

For the next hour, Ivy and I pledge to love one another forever in front of everyone we know. And thanks to my mom, a few others we don’t.

Ivy tears up a little when she tells me that falling in love with me was like having all the love she ever gave away come back to her.

I respond by kissing the shit out of her long before the pastor gives me permission.

We pose for photos, where I hold her in my arms and give Lucifer several hard glares to let him know she’s all mine now.

For good.

He snorts as if he doesn’t believe me but is willing to let me pretend for today.

Asshole.

We’re just about to cut the cake when Asher pulls himself away from our mom’s tear-filled embrace to come say goodbye. Caleb and Isaac step over to see him off when County Sheriff Wayne Blanchard and his deputy Archie Bennett, who I haven’t seen since the bar fight Isaac started, approach us.

I don’t remember if they were on the guest list, but knowing my mom, half the town is probably here.

Caleb curses quietly because they’ve both arrested him a few times.

“You do something to bring them here?” I ask him under my breath.

He stares straight ahead. “Not that I know of. Not recently.”

Sheriff Blanchard reaches out to shake my hand. He looks the same as he did when I was a kid, except his blond mustache is gray now.

“Congratulations, Wyatt. That’s a beautiful bride you’ve got there.”

I thank him and glance over to where Ivy is chatting animatedly with my mom, my sisters, and her agent.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Look, boys,” he says, like we’re all still twelve instead of fully grown men. “I apologize for interrupting a special occasion, but I’m glad you’re all here.” He pauses, making eye contact with each one of us. “There’s been some new evidence in your dad’s case.”

Asher’s brows lift, and he voices what we’re all thinking. “Dad’s case? I didn’t know he had a case. I thought his death was ruled a heart attack.”

Sheriff Blanchard nods. “That’s what we thought too. But the coroner found unnaturally high levels of potassium in his system, which we believe stopped his heart. Unless he was in stage five kidney failure, that shouldn’t have happened.”

I frown, glancing at my brothers. “Dad didn’t have any kidney trouble that we know of.”

The sheriff meets my eyes. “His kidneys were fine. We checked his medical records, and the medical examiner verified it.” He clears his throat. “There were two marks on his chest, ones that we couldn’t identify at first.”

This is new information to me. “Marks? What kind of marks?”

“That’s why I’m here. We got the report back today.

Sorry for the delay. Lab’s been backed up for months.

” The old man sighs heavily. “It appears he was shocked with a cattle prod. It kept his pacemaker from working like it should’ve.

High powered, probably higher powered than anything you have here. ”

Caleb’s eyes are angry and hard. “Do you know the make and model?”

Sheriff Blanchard scratches the gray stubble on his chin. “The specifics are still under investigation. But that was the odd part. It’s a model of Hot-Shot that isn’t on the market. Voltage was too high to be legal.”

“Altered then,” Caleb sneers.

My jaw clenches as bile rises in my throat. “What are you telling us, Sheriff?”

His eyes roam to each of our steady stares. The deputy dips his head.

“Your dad didn’t die of natural causes, boys. His heart did stop. But with the new evidence, we believe someone stopped it for him. His case has been transferred to homicide.”

He hands me a small card with the name of a detective on it. There’s a cell phone number scrawled on the back.

“He’ll be in touch. But I wanted to be the one to break the news since I’ve known each of you most of your lives.

” He gives Caleb a pointed stare. “And I wanted to make sure you all know we’re handling it.

So, there’s no need to do any investigating or dealing out any justice on your own. We clear?”

No one says a word. No sense in making false promises.

The sheriff sighs. “I’ll let you get back to it,” he says before he and the deputy walk back toward their car.

I see my mother stop them and direct them toward the food. I pray the Sheriff doesn’t drop the news on her that he just did on us. Not today anyway.

For a moment, my brothers and I all just stare at one another, trying to make sense of what we just learned.

“I have some connections,” Asher says. “I can have them look into—”

“You know it’s those fucking developers,” Caleb breaks in. “That shady-ass Amos Black Foundation bullshit. I still think they gave the herd Johne’s.”

I hold my hand up to settle him down, but before anyone can say another word, my wife appears at my side, tucking herself under my arm.

“You going to dance with me or what, rancher?”

I kiss her on the lips then the forehead, my dick already stirring at the thought of our honeymoon. I promised her we’d kick it off with skinny-dipping in the hot spring as soon as everyone leaves. “Of course, angel.”

I introduce her quickly to Asher because I know he needs to go soon. She greets both him and Caleb with a hug. Isaac makes a joke about wishing she had more bridesmaids.

Ivy is observant though, and I see her absorbing the tension as she studies each of us.

“They want us to cut the cake soon, but if you need more time to—”

“We’ll cut it now,” I tell her. “Sorry, baby. Got caught up in catching up.”

I hate not telling her the full truth in this moment, but I will tonight. Right now, I want my girl to enjoy her big day.

She smiles then excuses herself to go tell the photographer friend of Willow’s that we’re about to cut the cake.

Asher eyes me steadily before I give him a nod, silently confirming I want his contacts to look into our father’s murder.

Jesus. Even the thought sends a cold shiver down my spine.

He tells us he’ll be in touch when he can, then takes off toward the helicopter.

We all watch while it lifts from the ground and shrinks in the distance.

Once it’s out of earshot, Caleb turns to me with a clenched jaw. “We don’t need his contacts, Wy. I know exactly who is capable of—”

“We’re going to eat some cake,” I tell my remaining brothers sternly. “Then I am going to dance with my beautiful bride. We’ll talk about this more tomorrow. Understood?”

Caleb’s eyes harden, but Isaac claps him on the back.

“Come on. Let’s go find out which of the female guests are feeling sad about being alone at a wedding. See if we can’t make them feel better.”

He winks at me, and I’ve never been more grateful for Isaac’s wayward dick.

After we cut the cake—with an axe because Ivy thinks it’s hilarious—and feed each other a piece, I’m on the dance floor with my angel in my arms. My Hollywood angel, who came here to save me.

Fuck, I love this woman so much that it’s hard to share her with the guests. I want to throw her over my shoulder and carry her to our home, bury myself in her until morning.

And I will.

Soon.

We dance and smile for photos. We laugh until there are tears in our eyes when Jasper makes an appearance, beelines for the cake table, and turns several well-dressed ranch hands into rodeo clowns, trying to get him put away.

Ivy says those are going to be her favorite pictures.

As we lock eyes during our last dance, she smiles up at me. “You happy, rancher?”

“Happier than I’ve ever been.” I kiss her soft lips, tasting her and making filthy promises in her ear that I plan to make a reality very soon. “I’m so glad I found you.”

She brushes her nose against mine, eyes gleaming. “If memory serves, I found you.”

I laugh because she’s right. She did. My angel came to save me and my ranch. And I plan to fully express my gratitude every day for the rest of my life.

But there’s a storm coming. I can already see the clouds forming on the horizon.

The problem with having what everyone else wants—a beautiful wife, thousands of acres of land, and a thriving ranch—is that there will always be someone plotting to take it.

Whoever took my dad out, they want something. This land most likely. Land that now belongs to me.

They’re coming for us. I can feel it in my bones.

With the back taxes paid and the mortgage caught up for the moment, they’ll be looking for less legal routes to attack and take what’s ours.

Asher’s in pain that he’s trying his best to hide. Caleb’s riding the line between living dangerously and dead. And I still think Isaac’s relentless skirt-chasing might get this place burned to the ground someday.

But today, my mom and my sisters are smiling, and my wife—fuck, I want to shout it from the rooftops—my wife is in my arms, where she belongs. I hold her even tighter. Whisper more filthy promises in her ear. Promise to love her and cherish her and please her for all the days of my life.

A sizable check of questionable origins and a homicide detective’s card burn a hole in my pocket. I don’t know what will come of this investigation into my dad’s death or if I’ll be able to save my brothers from their own demons, but I know that this here, now, this is my legacy.

This life, this land, this woman.

My angel. My future. My forever.

The one thing I do know with absolute certainty is that I’ll protect her, this ranch, and the rest of my family the same way my father did.

Until my dying breath.