Page 239 of The Donovan Dynasty

Despite the hour, he crossed to the sideboard and poured himself a jigger of Julien Bonds’ whiskey.As he did, he admitted the truth.Sofia McBride wasn’t the problem.He was.

Ever since he’d moved onto the Running Wind as a child, there’d been something fucked up inside him.

His dad hadn’t visited often, but every time he had, he’d brought Cade into this office, sat him down and very seriously recited his obligations to the land, to the family line.

It hadn’t been until he was older that he’d understood everything.Why his mother cried herself to sleep, why she stayed even though she hated living on the ranch in isolation, why she vanished when the Colonel visited.

The night he’d turned ten, after an awkward dinner in town with his parents, he’d come into the office on a night much like this, after a storm.His father had been sitting in near darkness, with only the desk lamp on.

Jeffrey Donovan had had a drink in front of him, had said he’d fucked up a lot of things in his life, taken his eye off what was important.He’d warned his son not to do the same.

Cade had been expecting the lecture about sex, not that he would have listened to his old man about it.Everyone knew Cade was a bastard, that his father had knocked up his mother and never married her.

But Jeffrey had never preached, at least not to him.Instead, he’d told him to grab life by the balls and squeeze every drop of excitement he could out of it.

Jeffrey’s visits had gotten further apart after that.And Cade had never known why.Maybe because he was busy with three legitimate kids and a high-society wife?

The less time he’d had available, the more determined Cade had become to impress his father.He’d started competing on the rodeo circuit, and his poor mother had hooked up the horse trailer and driven hundreds of miles and stayed overnight more times than he could count in rundown motels.

He’d figured if his dad was proud of him, he’d come around more.To his credit, Jeffrey had done his best to attend Cade’s events.

From broncs, he’d moved onto bulls and motorcycles then cars, spending the money his father threw at him for anything with a motor.That was something else he and Stormy fought over.Money, and the amount Cade received.She told Jeffrey that he couldn’t make up for his absence with dollars and gifts.There were always fights, Cade remembered.Screaming.Passion.Slammed doors.Tires spinning on the truck as Jeffrey roared toward the exit and Stormy sobbed.

Over the years, Cade had taken bigger and bigger risks.He’d bought his first car before he’d even had a driver’s license.

The first time he’d raced, he’d done it illegally—a drag race down a backcountry road not far from Waltham.

Later that winter, someone had ratted them out to the local police.Cade had been caught and hauled to jail.Since his father had been out of the state on business, the Colonel had collected him.He’d said nothing other than Cade needed to bring honor, not disgrace to the family name.As far as he knew, it had never shown up on his record.

His grandfather had left him in front of the gate, and his mother had been waiting on the porch after he’d done his version of the walk of shame.

The event hadn’t stopped his racing, but it had encouraged him to channel it in a legal direction.To his mother’s horror, he’d started hauling his own stock car to the local dirt track and fearlessly pitting himself against drivers twice his age.

He’d ended up with a broken leg when he was seventeen.

That had slowed him down long enough to pick up a new hobby, restoring old cars.It was something his father had enjoyed doing as well.To Cade, it seemed his old man had spent more time at the ranch once they’d started tinkering on them together.

“Is this a private party?”

Without taking a drink, he put down his glass and turned toward Sofia.

The shirt he’d given her was so long on her that it hung past mid-thigh.She’d rolled up the sleeves and had only fastened a couple of the buttons.

He’d rarely had women out here.None had spent the night, so having her walk in startled him, but not in an unpleasant way.“Sorry I disturbed you,” Cade said.

“Mind if I join you?”

He did.He liked his solitude, hated to be bothered when he was ruminating.Ruminating?Even in his own head the word seemed ludicrous.He was being morose, nothing any nobler than that.But he didn’t want to be an ass and say it out loud, especially since she’d been so accommodating.

Without an invitation, she came in and perched on the windowsill where he’d had his feet propped.“Did something wake you?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Do you do this frequently?”

Now he knew why he didn’t invite women to stay.And maybe he shouldn’t have let this one sleep in his room.As soon as that thought formed, he dismissed it.Sofia wasn’t a typical woman.She was a determined, resourceful one.There had been no question in his mind that he’d wanted her in his bed.“More than I’d like, yes.”

“Ranch business?”