“I bet we could get a doctor to come here, secretly,” he offered. “People can be silenced for a price.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “You’re not paying someone to keep quiet. I know how this works, Nash. We just need to find someone who can be discreet.”
From her tone and the worry filling her eyes, Nash knew she didn’t like the idea of him spending his money on her health care. Little did she know how heavily padded his accounts were. Even if they weren’t, even if he did only make groom’s wages, he’d spend every last cent if that meant proper care for his baby.
“I’ll take care of it,” he assured her. “You won’t have to worry about a thing.”
Lily leaned her shoulder against the narrow kitchenette cabinet and stared at him. “There are so many layers to you,” she muttered. “You’re all casual and laid-back, yet sometimes you’re all business and take-charge. Makes me wonder who the real Nash is.”
She’d barely scratched the surface. All too soon those layers would be peeled back one at a time, revealing things that would change lives forever.
Forcing himself to relax, he hooked his thumbs through his belt loops, intending to keep playing the part of groom. “Which Nash do you think I am?”
With a shrug, Lily continued to stare. “I’m not sure. You just seem more, I don’t know, powerful and composed than I thought you’d be about the baby.”
In one stride he’d closed the space between them, snaked his arms around her waist and leaned over her so her back arched. “You saying I wasn’t powerful when we were in the loft?”
Lily’s hands slid up his chest. “Oh, you were powerful, but you didn’t have that serious tone you just used.”
Nash eyed her mouth, then traveled back up to her eyes. “Trust me, when it comes to someone I care about, I’m very serious.”
Lily’s tremble vibrated his entire body. He couldn’t let her know anything about his real life, but at the same time he had to use his influences to keep her near, keep her and the baby safe. Everything in his life was at stake—things he hadn’t even considered a possibility were now major markers on his journey. He’d started down this path with one vision, now suddenly there were forks in the road. Still, he had to stay on track because no matter which way he went, hearts would be ripped apart. Two life-altering secrets would shatter the trust he’d built with everyone around him over the past couple of months.
Even with the odds drastically stacked against him, with the devil in the corner mocking him, Nash had no intention of failing. He’d have it all: the horses, a family, his baby.
Four
“What do you mean he’s still not accepting our offer?”
Nash glanced behind him, making sure he was still alone. He’d stepped out of the stables and around the side where he was sure to have privacy when his assistant had called.
Damon Barrington may technically be his boss here, but Nash had a surprise in store for him.
“I know what they’re planning,” Nash said in a low tone. “I know exactly what he’s willing to let go of and what he wants to hold on to. What the hell will it take to get him to sell to me?”
“I think that’s the issue,” his assistant replied. “You know how he feels about you. He may sell to someone else.”
Nash raked a hand through his hair. Yeah, he knew how Damon felt about him. They’d been ongoing rivals in the horse industry and for the past two years or so, but they’d pretty much used their assistants to handle all business dealings between them. That gap in time had only aided in Nash’s covert plans. All he’d done was grow a beard, grow his hair longer and put on old, well-worn clothes. Sometimes the easiest way to hide things, or people, was right in plain sight.
Nash had wanted to purchase several of Damon’s prizewinning horses, knowing the mogul was set to retire after this season, but Damon kept refusing. Nash needed those horses, needed the bloodlines on his own estate because he’d not been faring well in the races and losing was not an option.
The most recent offer had been exorbitant and Damon still wasn’t budging. Stubborn man.
Like father, like son.
“Let me think,” Nash said, heading back toward the front of the stables. “I’ll call you back.”
He slid the phone into his pocket and rounded the corner. Stepping from the shade to the vibrant sun had him pulling his cowboy hat down lower. He needed to figure out what it would take to get Damon to sell those horses to him because Nash had never taken no for an answer and he sure as hell wouldn’t start now.