He ignored her cues to back off, taking her hands in his. “Whatever you’ve been so worried about, I’m sure it’s nowhere near as bad as you think.”
She was trembling like the leaves on the aspens outside. “I’m guessing Evan hasn’t told you. He found an article on the Internet about my family.”
Fire flashed in Daniel’s eyes. “I told him not to butt in.”
“Don’t be angry with him for looking me up. He cares about you. That’s why he did it.”
“I understand why,” Daniel said. “But I know my own feelings for you. And nothing he says is going to change them.”
Her heart wanted to soar. But Daniel didn’t know the truth, and once he did, everything would dive-bomb instead. “I don’t want to come between you and one of your brothers.”
“That’s one thing the Mavericks never do,” he told her. “We’re there for each other through thick and thin, pain and heartache.”
That’s why they were such good men. She was certain there was a huge story there, for each of them separately and the group as a whole. But she had her own story to tell.
Finally.
She didn’t start with any ice-breaking explanations. She simply laid out the truth. “My father and brother are con men.” She made herself say each word, even though they tasted like poison on her tongue. “They bilked millions of dollars out of people for a resort that doesn’t exist. And they got caught.” She was sure Daniel would drop her hands, but his grip only tightened. “I worked with them. I didn
’t know what they were doing, but I designed the website they used to draw in their victims.” She could no longer look at him. “I was a complete idiot. I didn’t question anything. I was just happy that they wanted to include me in their fabulous new project.” Sarcasm edged each word.
Daniel didn’t wait a beat. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Tasha.” His voice was steady. Strong. And utterly certain. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know.”
She couldn’t let him make excuses for her. “I should have known. Because the cons didn’t start when I was an adult. They’d been going on since I was a kid. That’s why we had to move all the time. My father had to run before he got caught, taking the money he’d bilked out of his investors. I was stupid and blind. I never questioned anything. I just enjoyed our fancy houses and private schools and cars and vacations.”
He held on when she would have pulled away. “Even if you had figured it out as a kid, you couldn’t have stopped it. That’s not a kid’s job.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, remembering every time they’d had to leave, every completed con under her father’s belt. “That’s still the family I come from. They’re my bad genes. I went to college on money they stole from other people. My dad bought me my first car with money he ripped off. I helped them scam unwitting investors with a beautiful website that made everything look legitimate when it was totally fake.”
“You aren’t your family.” Certainty underlay his words.
The breath she took hurt like ice crystals filling her lungs. “But I went along with their lies. I loved my father and brother and believed in them.”
“That makes you a loving daughter and sister. Not the person responsible for their lies to you and everyone else.”
“Even now—” She had to finish her confession, no matter how he tried to minimize her crimes. “Even knowing that my brother was part of it, I still want to believe he’s a good person. I want to believe that he hated the things he was doing.” Daniel swept away a tear, and his touch was so beautiful, so totally unconditional, that she felt her heart crushed under the weight of his acceptance. “There’s more,” she whispered.
“Whatever you say, I’m not going to believe you’re a bad person.”
But once he heard the rest of it, she knew he would. “My father introduced me to a man—his business partner. And I was charmed. I thought Eric was wonderful. I thought he cherished me. Truly cared for me. But everything he told me, everything he did and said, was a lie.”
“I’m so sorry.” Daniel wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his body as if he could erase the pain she felt and the mistakes she’d made.
“I don’t miss my ex, I swear I don’t. But I feel like the dumbest person in the world. A total fool who helped the three of them dot the i’s and cross the t’s on their cons until the moment they needed to run.”
“Leaving you to fend for yourself.” The words were barely more than a growl from Daniel.
“My father wanted me to run too. Before the police started asking questions. But I talked to the investigators. I answered everything, and they let me go as though I hadn’t done anything wrong.” Her voice dropped to almost nothing. “Then I came here.”
“I’m so glad you’re here, Tasha. So, so glad.”
Daniel’s words snapped the final thread of her control. Her tears soaked his shirt as he pulled her into the shelter of his arms, enveloping her.
Chapter Fifteen
Daniel held her tight for long minutes, absorbing her sobs until they softened into sniffles.
“Hey, look at me.” He kept his voice gentle as he tipped up Tasha’s chin. She’d stopped crying, but her lashes were still damp, the rims of her eyes reddened.