The Marine's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 3) by Cora Seton Page B

feel like Zane did. She felt utterly unashamed with him, like she could do anything—or ask him to do anything—without a worry in the world about embarrassment. The way he made love to her told her everything she needed to know. He worshipped her body and made her want to worship his. She couldn’t wait for Zane to finish up downstairs and come back for another round.
    By the time she was dressed, however, Zane wasn’t back. She opened the bedroom door to hear angry voices traveling up the stairwell. She padded down the hall and was halfway down the stairs when the entryway came into view.
    “…bad enough you took my ranch. Now you’ve taken Belinda’s store, too?” The man facing Zane was nearly spitting with rage as he yelled at him.
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Darren.” Zane didn’t budge.
    The man looked up, spotted Storm standing there. She sucked in a surprised breath.
    “I’m talking about that bitch you brought home. I’m talking about the store that Heloise promised to Belinda!”
    Storm gripped the bannister, fighting the urge to run right back upstairs.
    “Don’t talk about my fiancée like that.” Zane surged forward, but Darren took a step back.
    “I won’t stand for it.” He stood half on the porch, half in the doorway, his body language belying his bold words. Storm clutched the bannister, noting the resemblance between him and the Hall brothers. But where the Halls stood tall and proud with from years of military discipline, Darren’s shoulders were rounded and his face pinched. “You all won’t be happy until you run us into the ground. It’s not right!”
    “You’ve run yourself into the ground. You’ve only got yourself to blame.” Austin backed up his twin. Storm was grateful she wasn’t Darren. The Hall boys as a united front were fearsome to behold.
    Darren stepped forward again. His steel-blue-eyed gaze caught hers and held her in place. “You tell her to keep away from Belinda’s shop. You tell her to go back home where she came from.”
    Zane strong-armed Darren right out the door. The other men followed and the shouting became indistinct, but she could see Darren striding toward a black pickup parked askew in the drive. He climbed in, slammed his door and made a U-turn over the lawn before zooming away down the road. Her heart pounded in her chest as Mason returned inside, followed quickly by Zane and Austin. They spotted her on the stairs.
    “Hell,” Zane said, coming toward her. “I wish you hadn’t heard all of that.”
    “Who was that?”
    “Cousin Darren,” Mason said. “Black sheep of the family.”
    Storm came down the rest of the steps just as Regan and Ella came in from the back of the house. “What was that all about?” Ella asked.
    “Darren,” Mason said again. “Maybe we’d better go sit down and have a talk. All of us.” When they were seated at the dining room table, he went on. “Storm, Darren’s dad took over this ranch when our father died twelve years ago, and kicked us off of it. He ran it into the ground and then started to dismantle it. The only good thing he did was probably an accident. He never changed his will. Instead of leaving the ranch to Darren, the old will he had in place since before he married left it to Heloise in the case of his passing.”
    “When he died, Heloise offered it to us with the conditions you know about.” Zane took up the thread. “Obviously, that pissed Darren off. I’ve been wondering when he’d come around and start trouble. I’m sorry he picked today to do so.”
    Storm swallowed. “It’s because of the store. Because Heloise gave it to me.” She hadn’t dreamed she was accepting something that belonged to someone else.
    “She promised it to Belinda?” Ella asked.
    “It’s the first I’ve heard of it,” Storm told her. “I’ll talk to Heloise and tell her if that’s the case, then I’ll back off.” As much as it killed her to think about doing that. She’d