Page 49 of The Rancher Married the Wrong Sister (Billionaires of Evergreen, Texas #13)

HE USED TO THINK PEOPLE who believed they were in love just because of fantastic sex were idiots.

And so life made sure the time had come for him to eat his words...since apparently it could happen, as he was now one of them.

I really might be in love with her.

The thought should terrify him. A month ago, it would have.

But lying here in his king-sized bed with the morning sun streaming through the tall windows of his master suite, watching dust motes dance in the golden light while his wife sleeps curled against his chest, Gavine found he didn’t give a damn about his former convictions.

She was unlike any of the women he’d dated, but he realized now it was because he didn’t know any better back then. His idea of the perfect woman had been flawed and shallow, and so of course he would end up with someone just as flawed and shallow...like Jessica.

But Wednesday though...

He stared down at his wife, her naked body curled trustingly against his, delicate features made even more beautiful by sleep.

Her long black hair spilled across his chest like silk, and those pale violet eyes were hidden beneath dark lashes that cast shadows on her porcelain cheeks.

Even unconscious, she had one small hand pressed over his heart, as if claiming him.

She was so damn pure, so damn giving.

When she’d learned about the Bible study group Clarice held weekly with the staff, she had shyly asked if she could join, and even made quilted pouches for everyone’s Bibles as a thank you.

He’d walked past the sun-drenched sitting room last Tuesday and seen her there, head bent over her sewing, surrounded by women who adored her.

Women who’d initially been puzzled by her presence, treating her like an object of pity because they’d witnessed how coldly he’d treated her at first but didn’t understand why.

No fucking way Jessica would do something like that for anyone, and especially not for people she considered beneath her because they had nothing to offer her in exchange.

Wednesday, without even saying a word to him, had turned his world upside down just by being herself.

She opened his once blind eyes to the truth, her smiles tearing down the walls he had built around his heart, one brick at a time, so that finally he would see for himself that his heart still worked. And it could still beat for someone.

“It’s fine, I know the way,” a sickeningly familiar voice played out from the hallway outside.

No, fuck, no.

He didn’t even have time to figure out how the hell she had been able to enter his home without his permission.

Bribery?

Deception?

It didn’t matter at this point.

Right now, what mattered was keeping his wife safe, and Gavine barely had time to whip the covers over Wednesday, and he heard the door open just as he sat up to face the last person on earth that he cared to see.

His lips tightened as he watched Jessica sailed into his bedroom like she owned it.

Or rather, like she still owned him.

Looking at her now, with her perfect blond hair, tight-fitting dress, and designer sunglasses perched on top of her head—

He couldn’t fucking believe that he had ever been attracted to this woman.

To the point that he had even been willing to pay for the privilege of having her as his wife.

But even with the fortune he had given her, it still hadn’t been enough.

She had taken the money and run.

So for her to come back now...

There could only be one reason, and this time, he would not be the same Gavine she knew.

This time, she had no fucking chance to turn him into a fool again.

Jessica stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the scene before her: the rumpled silk sheets, his bare chest, and most damning of all, the unmistakable shape of another woman beneath the covers.

Her perfectly glossed lips parted in shock, green eyes widening as they took in every detail. For a split second, her mask slipped, revealing something ugly and furious beneath the polished exterior.

Gavine shot his ex a look of warning. “Don’t—”

But it was too late.

Wednesday had turned to her side, and Jessica couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Oh, you bitch!”

The words exploded from Jessica’s throat in a shriek of pure rage that could have shattered crystal. Her beautiful face twisted into something unrecognizable, lips pulled back in a snarl, eyes blazing with a fury that made her look positively feral.

Wednesday woke at the other woman’s furious screech, violet eyes flying open in confusion and terror. She clutched the silk sheets to her chest, her hair a wild tangle around her shoulders, looking small and vulnerable against the massive headboard.

“Jessica?” she whispered, her voice small and confused.

But Jessica was already moving, her designer dress riding up her thighs as she lunged forward like a predator scenting blood. Her perfectly manicured nails, painted the same emerald as her dress, were curved into claws as she reached for Wednesday’s hair.

“You conniving little—”

Fuck!

Everything happened too fast. Jessica’s fingers tangled in Wednesday’s long black hair, dragging her sister out of the bed with vicious strength.

Wednesday cried out in pain and shock, unable to protect herself because she was clutching the sheets around her naked body with white-knuckled desperation.

“Let go of her!” Gavine roared, but he was naked too, had been about to slip into his jeans when he saw Jessica attacking his wife.

Fuck modesty.

He launched himself forward, grabbing Jessica’s wrist and wrenching her away from Wednesday with enough force to send her stumbling backward.

But the damage was done. Wednesday was on her knees beside the bed, tears streaming down her face, one hand pressed to her scalp where Jessica had yanked out several strands of hair.

When Jessica tried to lunge for his wife again, pure instinct took over. His arm shot out, his hand closing around Jessica’s throat, not enough to hurt, but enough to stop her cold.

“Enough,” he said, his voice deadly quiet. The words came out like shards of ice. “Try hurting her again, and I’ll make you regret it for the rest of your life.”

Jessica forced herself to hold her silence, knowing he wasn’t the type to make idle threats.

She’d seen him destroy business rivals with that same cold calculation, watched him ruin men who crossed him without blinking an eye.

Her enraged gaze switched from Gavine to Wednesday, and she wanted to scream again because it was all so easy to see that he had already fallen for a loser like Wednesday.

I have to tear them apart, she thought feverishly. She had to get rid of Wednesday fast, then make her move, then cry and beg and seduce Gavine. She would do whatever was needed to have him take her back. She had no choice. What she had stolen wasn’t enough. She needed more. Immediately.

When Gavine turned to her again, bare-chested but now in jeans, she knew exactly what to say.

“Please forgive me,” she said tremulously, her voice dropping to that breathy whisper that used to make him weak.

Crocodile tears welled up in her green eyes as she pressed one hand to her chest, the picture of feminine distress.

“Both of you, please. I’m sorry, I was just so jealous. I reacted badly.”

Her eyes turned liquid as she gazed up at Gavine with practiced vulnerability. “I had cold feet and I ran like an idiot instead of talking to you. But please, take me back. I know how your mind works. You married her to lure me back—”

She saw him flinch just as Wednesday’s face went white—

Good.

Because she had barely started, and there was so much more she planned to say.

“You thought I’d come back to save her, didn’t you?”

Wednesday was now staring at Gavine with dazed hurt; it was rather nice to know the idiot was as easy to manipulate like always.

“You used the prenup as bait—”

“Enough,” Gavine grated out. “One more fucking word—”

Jessica fought against the urge to scream at him. Why was he treating her like this? Why? He used to worship her. So why? Surely, it couldn’t just be Wednesday alone?

“Is it true?” Wednesday choked out.

Gavine’s gaze snapped back to his wife, and seeing her so vulnerable as she clutched the sheet around her like armor was like a knife to his chest.

“Is that why you keep telling me our marriage isn’t supposed to be real?”

The tremor in his wife’s tone nearly killed him. “Wednesday, please—”

“I thought you were just being cautious. But I didn’t know you were still waiting for her to come back.”

Jessica was about to take a step forward when Gavine’s gaze snapped to her, and the rage in his eyes made her blood freeze.

“Get out. You’ve done enough.”

“But darling—”

“Don’t push me.”

Jessica couldn’t believe the way he was looking at her now. Like she was something dirty he’d scraped off his shoe.

What the hell?

She had thought he would be back to his senses by now, realize she was still the better choice than Wednesday, but she had clearly underestimated the lure of her sister’s virginity.

Gavine tried to reach for Wednesday’s hand, but his wife clumsily backed away as if his touch was poison. The movement made the sheet slip dangerously low, and she had to grab for it, the gesture making her look even more fragile.

“Please let me explain,” he said hoarsely.

Wednesday shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Just answer my question—”

“Look at you, for pity’s sake,” Jessica snapped, unable to contain herself any longer. Her mask of vulnerability cracked completely, revealing the vicious woman beneath. “Do you really think he’d want someone like you when he has someone like me?”

The words hung in the air like poison, and Gavine saw red.

In five seconds flat, he grabbed Jessica’s arm, hauled her across the room, and shoved her out into the hallway before slamming the heavy oak door in her face. The sound echoed through the master suite like a gunshot.

But when he turned around, he saw that he still wasn’t fast enough, because his wife was now crying in earnest, tears silently tracking down her cheeks as she stared at him with those wounded violet eyes.

No. God, no.

He strode forward, and this time he didn’t let her stop him, didn’t let the haunted expression on her face hinder him from reaching out to grab her shoulders.

“It’s not what you think,” he gritted out, because already he could feel her slipping farther and farther away from him.

“I love you.”

He thought the words would change things, thought they would break through the wall of hurt Jessica had just built between them.

Only to find out that he had said them too late.

“I wish I could believe you,” Wednesday said brokenly. “But I don’t.”

It was just like Clarice had warned him—

If you don’t start taking proper care of your wife, God might just take her away from you.

And the realization terrified him, driving Gavine to his knees mentally as he sought the presence that he had always sensed but chosen to ignore.

Please, God.

He gazed at his wife, pale and still in tears before him, and his chest tightened to the point of pain.

If you’re real...

He had all the money he could ever want, but it was only now that he realized they meant nothing at all. He was still going to lose his wife.

I need You.

And he could only think of one person who could stop it, just one being powerful enough to change her mind and grant Gavine another chance even if he didn’t deserve it.

Help me, God.

Please.