Lies That Bind Read Online Free PDF Page B

back.”
    “That doesn’t mean they weren’t getting ready to move in or take what they wanted.” Tyler walked over to the window and shoved the gold brocade drape to one side to monitor their departure. Heat poured through the glass, kicking off the air conditioner.
    In minutes Heath’s truck rattled past the window, shooting up dust and no doubt shaking loose a few nuts and bolts in his haste. He saw Carmen inside the truck, flailing her arms about, yelling at Heath. Heath stoically endured her tirade, jaw tight.
    Tyler dropped the curtain. “They’ve cleared the gate and are down the road.”
    “I’ll let the crew know they aren’t welcome.” Rex sank into the love seat but didn’t lean back. “But it’s a huge property. There are hundreds of ways they can sneak on and stay hidden. Though why the hell they’d bother…”
    Tyler opted to return to the dining room chair. The rigid back kept him more alert and focused, helped him hide his hard-on. Sinking into the depths of the love seat would only lead to other thoughts best left unexplored for the moment, like Tessa stretched atop him on said love seat or anywhere else for that matter. They had business to discuss. The sooner they could do so, the better. She unnerved him in good ways and bad. Tyler couldn’t afford the distraction or the disappointment of being shot down when she crushed him under her sneaker.
    His erection thrummed against his jeans. Inappropriate. Inconvenient. One of his best friends was dead, his business was on the line, and all Tyler could think about was having sex with Tessa, or rather… Tessa having sex with him, taking control, loving him from head to toe and all parts in between.
    “There’s a mistake,” she told Kevin. “I signed a quitclaim deed on the property last year.”
    She had? All this time, he and Rex had been worried for nothing. So where did that leave the property now?
    “He never filed it, Tessa.”
    Back to square one.
    “Then find it,” she told him.
    For the first time, Kevin looked away, his attention solely on the papers laid out before him. “He most likely destroyed it. He said nothing about one when he came to me to prepare his will. He indicated the property belonged to you as Mike’s daughter. When I asked about his rights as heir, he told me there was no blood tie between him and Mike. His concern was dividing what he had and ensuring the business remained intact. Even if I did find a quitclaim deed, think of the legal nightmare it would create. Clearly, this is how Derek wanted it. He often said he wouldn’t have any of it without you.”
    Emotion clawed at Tyler’s throat. Tessa had tried to do right by Derek, give him the land he was entitled to. It made no sense that Derek hadn’t grabbed at the chance. Derek had covered his reaction well when the news came out that Mike wasn’t his biological father, while Tessa had been inconsolable. It was a dirty move on Mike’s part—cutting out the man he’d raised like a son, embracing the woman he’d previously ignored as his daughter. There were better ways Mike could have handled it. Yet he’d chosen to ruin lives. The truth had cut Tessa deep. Sadly, she’d taken it out on him and Rex.
    “And so it’s done.” Tessa’s voice shocked Tyler into the real world. She edged forward to tap the coffee table. “I would like to give a portion of the land to Rex and Tyler.”
    Nate slipped his hand onto Tessa’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Tyler fought the urge to yank it away.
    “No. Sorry.” Kevin shook his head. “There’s a covenant on the land. It can’t be divided. It must be sold or passed in whole.”
    Rex made eye contact with him. Surely he wasn’t thinking they could buy it all. They’d never be able to afford it. But if she was willing to sell, she would be willing to lease a portion to them as well.
    “Which also brings the issue that needs to be clarified,” Kevin went on. “While Rex and Tyler own the inn