The message had been clear—do whatever you have to do. They wanted her to seduce Jake. Hell, the thought sent a shiver of pure longing all the down her spine. One time, she thought wryly, where doing Micheline’s bidding would actually be pleasurable.
Only Jake himself—knowing how betrayed he’d feel if he learned she’d used him—made following through on her orders difficult.
Enough, Fiona told herself sternly. She’d known this assignment wouldn’t be easy. Time to pull on her big-girl panties and do what she had to do.
* * *
Oddly enough, as Jake drove back toward the compound, the first person he wanted to talk to was Fiona. A member of Micheline’s evil little cult. Proof that he still was thinking with the wrong head.
Still, so much had changed in his life, and he had no one he could discuss it with.
Except Micheline, he reminded himself. Micheline knew. She’d always known. And for whatever reason, she’d let him grow up believing he was an only child and that she was his mother.
A family. He actually had a real family. For the sake of his own sanity, he couldn’t allow himself to think about the missing years, the lost love. That would come later. Right now, he could only focus on the fact that he wasn’t related in any way to that horrible, awful woman Micheline. He felt kind of sorry for Ace, who had to be bummed at the knowledge that he carried her tainted genes. Jake had spent years trying to shed the rot he’d worried he’d carried deep inside, at a cellular level. Now, the colossal relief of knowing he didn’t nearly overwhelmed him.
Still stunned at the news, he suspected it would take a long while to shed the full weight of the false past he’d believed to be his.
Back at the AAG center, Jake strode through the lobby, keeping his gaze fixed straight ahead. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, least of all Micheline or one of her minions. Including—despite the way his heart skipped a beat at the thought of her—the beautiful Fiona. Uninterrupted, he went straight to his room, where he closed and locked the door.
Another man had lived the life he should have had. And Jake, growing up among all the suffering that he had told himself had been character building, was in reality a Colton.
Even so, he wouldn’t wish his childhood on anyone. Especially Ace. Once, he’d even thought he’d seen Michelle kill someone and dump the body, but he was young and it was dark and he could not be sure of what he saw. Ace would never know how lucky he was to have been spared that.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Jake reflected on the unexpected ease of the meeting today. Ace had been a hell of a nice guy. Odd how sometimes you met someone and felt that instant bond, as if they could be almost a brother—definitely friends.
Of course, Jake had felt the same way about Fiona, except stronger. That instant flash of connection. He groaned out loud, hating the way his thoughts always seemed to return to her. Even now, he still craved her. A woman enthralled by a cult run by the evil woman who’d raised him.
Thinking of all this made his head ache. So much had changed in his life in the last twenty-four hours. He needed to try and focus on that, instead of on something that could never be. No matter how much he might want it.
He was a Colton. Ever since he could remember, he’d heard stories about the powerful Colton family. They were a large, close-knit family and involved in everything, from ranching to oil. Here in Mustang Valley, they were spoken of with a kind of affectionate reverence. Truthfully, on the outside looking in, Jake had always assumed their success had to be due to the same kind of machinations that Micheline employed. Just the short time that he’d spent with Ace, hearing the other man’s obvious affection for the Colton family, had made Jake begin to realize he might have been wrong.
And now he, too, was a Colton. Not that he planned to hang around long.
A soft tap on his door startled him out of his reverie. He immediately tensed, thinking maybe Micheline had finally sought him out. Bracing himself, he turned the knob and blinked. No Micheline, but the woman who haunted his every waking moment. Fiona.
“Hi.” Her uncertain smile cut straight to his heart. “I’m wondering if we could talk.”
She wore another formfitting yellow dress and sexy high-heeled shoes. Forcing himself to think before he spoke, he swallowed hard. He knew better than to let her into his room.
“May I come in?” she asked.
He stepped aside and let her in.
“Thanks.” She appeared restless, uncertain. She strode to his window, her long legs made even more shapely in her heels, and twitched aside the curtain to peer out.
Though she kept her back to him, he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from her.
Finally, she turned. “I came here to apologize,” she said, her voice as miserable as her expression. “I shouldn’t have told you about being switched at birth that way. I honestly suspected—hoped—you already knew.”
Surprised, he shook his head. “I had no idea. It came as a hell of a big shock to me.”
“I see that now. Anyway, I know what you think of me, and I couldn’t bear to have you hold this against me, too.” She swallowed hard, drawing his gaze to her slender throat. “I’m sorry, Jake. Really sorry.”
Though every instinct urged him to take her into his arms, he didn’t. Even now, he suspected she might be playing him, acting on Micheline’s orders or something.
His lack of reaction appeared to be what she’d expected. “Take care, Jake. It was good to meet you.”
He let her get halfway to the door before reaching out. He didn’t grab her—no matter how badly he wanted to haul her up against him and kiss her senseless. Instead, he touched her shoulder, a mere brushing of his hand as she passed.