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fiancé. The first was a piece of cake. It was that second one that was giving him the most trouble.
    Lucky blamed it on the blazing attraction between them.
    Before he’d held Marin in his arms, before that brief kiss, he’d only lusted after her in his heart. Now, he was lusting after her in all kinds of ways. And he couldn’t do anything about it.
    Because Marin might become a critical witness when he busted his investigation wide open. She might be the key to finally getting justice. He couldn’t compromise that—it was the most important thing in his life.
    He couldn’t get involved with Marin. He could only live a temporary lie.
    “Okay,” Marin mumbled. She cleared her throat. “So, you have to do the interview, whenever that’ll be, but you don’t have to stay at the ranch in Willow Ridge. You can drop Noah and me off and then say you have an urgent business appointment or something, that you’ll return in time for the interview.”
    Lucky just stared at her, wondering how she was going to handle what he had to say.
    “You’re already having second thoughts?” Marin concluded.
    “No. That interview has to happen. You have to keep custody of Noah.”
    Now it was Marin’s turn to stay silent for several moments. “And you’d do this for me?” Marin asked. Her gaze met his again, and there was no cowering look in her eyes. Just some steel and attitude. “Why?”
    She wasn’t requesting information. She was demanding it.
    This would have been a good time to tell another half truth. Especially since—much to his disgust—he was getting good at them.
    But another lie would stick in his throat.
    “I’m looking for your brother, Dexter,” he confessed.
    Her eyes immediately darkened, and he saw the pulse pound on her throat. “You followed me on the train?”
    Lucky nodded. “I followed you.”
    “Why?” she repeated, though this one had even more steel than the original one.
    “Because I thought you might lead me to him.”
    She tipped her eyes to the ceiling and groaned. “I was right about you. You’re one of those men. The ones who’ve followed me and tried to scare me.”
    He reached out to her, but Marin batted his hands away. “Scaring you was never my intention. I just need to find your brother.”
    “What do you want from Dexter?” she snapped.
    Lucky was betting this answer wasn’t so obvious. “The truth?”
    She sliced at him with a scalpel-sharp glare. “That would be nice for a change.”
    He debated if Marin was strong enough to hear this. Probably not. But there was no turning back now. He toyed with how he should say it. But there was only one way to deliver news like this. Quick and dirty.
    He’d tell her the truth even if it made Marin hate him.

Chapter Five
    Marin stared at Lucky, holding her breath.
    Even though she’d only known him for a short period of time, she was already familiar with his body language.
    Whatever he had to say wouldn’t be good.
    “What do you want from my brother?” she repeated.
    Lucky stood and looked down at her. He met her gaze head-on. “I want him dead.”
    Everything inside her stilled. It wasn’t difficult to process that frightening remark since she’d been through this before. For the past year, she’d had to deal with other men who had wanted to find Dexter, too. And like Lucky they probably had wanted him dead, as well. But this cut even deeper to the bone because Lucky had saved her son. He’d saved her.
    And she trusted him.
    Correction, she had trusted him. Right now, she just felt betrayed.
    Marin tried to keep her voice and body calm, which was hard to do with her emotions in shreds. She silently cursed the pain that pounded through her head and made it hard to think. “Then, you already have what you want. Dexter is dead.”
    Lucky lifted his left shoulder. “I’m not so sure about that.”
    The other men hadn’t been sure, either. But then neither had her own family. “If Dexter were alive, he would have