got him way too hot and bothered with a coy glance. It was enough to drive a man insane. Sheâd screwed him up so bad, he couldnât do anything other than weekend flings, like the one heâd had with Margaret. Look where that had gotten him.
Grace was a great big problem in a whole heap of problems. But not one he could deal with this minute. Liam? That was something he could handle.
He watched Liam back out of a stall housing one of the quarter horses Wade Ranch bred commercially, waiting until his brother was clear of the door to speak. He had enough respect for the damage a spooked eleven-hundred-pound animal could do to a man to stay clear.
âWhatâs this crap about you wanting to adopt my kids?â he said when Liam noticed him.
Liam snorted. âGrace must have come by. She tell you to sign the papers?â
No one ordered Kyle around, least of all Grace.
âShe told me youâve got your sights set on my family.â He crossed his arms before he made good on the impulse to smash his brother in the mouth for even uttering Graceâs name. Sheâd meant everything to Kyle, but to Liam, she was yet another in a long line of his women. âBack off. Iâm taking responsibility for them whether you like it or not.â
Sticking a piece of clean straw between his back teeth, Liam cocked a hip and leaned against the closed stall door as if he hadnât a care in the world. Lazily, he rearranged his battered hat. âTell me something. Whatâs the annual revenue Wade Ranch brings in for stud fees?â
âHow should I know?â Kyle ground out. âYou run the ranch.â
âYeah.â Liam raised his brows sardonically. âHalf of which belongs to you. Grandpa died almost two years ago, yet youâve never lifted a finger to even find out what I do here. Money pours into your bank account on a monthly basis. Know how that happens? Because I make sure of it. I made sure of a lot of things while you ran around the Middle East blowing stuff up and ignoring your responsibilities at home. One of those things I do is take care of Maddie and Maggie. Because you werenât here. Just like you werenât here to take on any responsibility for the ranch. I will not let you be an absentee father like youâve been an absentee ranch owner.â
âThatâs a low blow,â Kyle said softly. Liam had always viewed Kyleâs stint as a SEAL with a bit of disdain, making it clear he saw it as a cop-out. âYou wanted the ranch. I didnât. But I want my girls, and Iâm going to be here for them.â
Wade Ranch had never meant anything to him other than a place to live because it was the only one he had. Then and now. Mama had cut and run faster than you could spit, once sheâd dumped him and Liam here with her father, then taken the Dallas real estate market by storm. Lillian Wade had quickly become the Barbara Corcoran of the South and forgot all about the two little boys sheâd abandoned.
Funny how Liam had been so similarly affected by dear old Mama. Enough to want to guarantee his blood wouldnât ever have to know the sting of desertion. Kyle respected the thought if not the action. But Kyle was one up on Liam, because those girls were his daughters. He wasnât about to take lessons from Mama on how to be a runaway parent.
âToo little, too late,â his brother mouthed around the straw. âHadley and I want to adopt them. I hope you have a good lawyer in your back pocket because youâre not getting those girls without a hell of a fight.â
God Almighty. The hits kept coming. Heâd barely had time to get his feet under him from being sucker punched a minute after crossing the threshold of his childhood home, only to have Liam drop twin daughters, Grace Haines and a custody battle in his lap.
They stared at each other, neither blinking. Neither backing down. They were both stubborn enough to