9.

Some things just didn't make sense.

For example, it didn't make sense to Julia that she'd somehow ended up on a plane

to British Columbia with a man she'd just met days before, on the way to see her

estranged brother about his giant inheritance.

It didn't make sense that the words giant inheritance were in any way connected

with her brother.

And it didn't make sense that the man sitting next to her—a man who was, by all

accounts, hugely wealthy, and who had bought the plane tickets—was crammed into

economy class, with his knees pressed up against the back of the seat in front of him.

"I'd have thought the Delaneys traveled first class," Julia remarked as the plane

taxied toward the runway at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. She, herself,

didn't mind traveling economy, as it was all she'd ever known. But seeing Colin

crammed into a seat that could barely accommodate his height seemed incongruous with

what she'd always believed about the lives of the rich and famous.

Colin let out a soft grunt. "You haven't met my mother."

"Well, no," Julia said.

"She reuses plastic sandwich bags."

Her eyes widened. "You're joking."

"No. No, I'm not. I went through all of the elementary school with my ham and cheese

sandwiches smelling like the previous day's PB&J." He grinned at the memory. "Partly,

it's because my mother grew up poor before she married my father. And partly, it's a

matter of principle. You don't show your gratitude for everything you've got by wasting it

all willy-nilly, she likes to say."

The wistful smile on his face told her of his deep love for his mother, and Julia felt

the sweetness of that like a warm glow in her belly.

"You're obviously not as thrifty as your mother, though." She gestured at his shoes.

"Are those Ferragamos?"

He looked at her with surprise. "You know shoes."

"I'm a girl, of course, I know shoes. Not that I ever get a chance to wear good ones in

my line of work, and living in the frozen tundra."

There was his grin again, the one that made her feel a little soft and gooey. She

didn't really want to feel soft and gooey about this particular man, considering the chaos

he was bringing to her family.

"Well." He shrugged. "I have more expensive tastes than the rest of my family. But

the plane tickets come under the heading of Delaney's business, not my own personal

expenses. So …" He waved a hand to indicate the appalling lack of legroom. "Sorry, it's

not more comfortable."

"Don't apologize. I didn't want you to pay for my ticket in the first place."

It was true. When Colin had called Julia to say that the tickets had been bought,

she'd told him that she would pay her share when they met at the airport. He'd argued

with both parts. He wouldn't accept her money, he'd told her, and he'd insisted on

picking her up in his rental car. At the time, that last gesture had seemed gallant. But now

it occurred to her that he might just have wanted to keep an eye on her to make sure she

wouldn't run off to Canada without him.

Which, honestly, she might have done.

As the plane reached the runway, she faced forward in her seat, grabbed the

armrests, and stared straight ahead.

"Hey, I didn't realize you were mad about the plane ticket," he said.

"I'm not," she said through gritted teeth.

"Then …"

She reached out, grabbed his hand, and clutched it in a death grip as the plane

accelerated for takeoff. "Just shut up until we're in the air."

"You're afraid to fly." He sounded as though he'd maybe heard of full-grown adults

with that particular affliction, but had never seen one up close.

"I said, shut up. Can you do that? I have to concentrate on not dying."

"Sure." There was humor in his voice, and she'd have been pissed about it if she

hadn't been so busy willing the plane not to crash.

She squeezed his hand as though he were the only thing keeping the plane aloft, and

she kept squeezing it—threatening both his circulation and hers—until the pilot

announced that they'd turned off the FASTEN SEATBELT signs. When she finally loosened

her grip and let him go, he flexed his hand and shook it out.

She thought he was just being theatrical until she spotted the little red half-moons

where her fingernails had made indentations in his skin.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry about that." She could feel her face reddening with

embarrassment.

"I guess I'll live." He shot a look at her. "Are you okay now?"

The feeling of dread and impending doom in her stomach was beginning to fade, and

her thoughts of leaving behind her family, her friends, and all of her unfulfilled dreams

eased.

"Yeah. Mostly," she said. "It's just takeoffs and landings."

"So, I'm going to go through this again?" He shot her a teasing grin. "Don't get me

wrong, I'm up for it. I just wish I'd brought protective gloves."

She smacked his shoulder with the palm of her hand and couldn't help smiling,

despite the heart-pounding anxiety that was just now releasing its grip on her. Something

about him was immensely reassuring, though it shouldn't have been. He was the one

who'd brought upheaval and uncertainty into her life, after all. Then she corrected

herself: No, he hadn't. He'd simply brought the reason for the upheaval and uncertainty

to light. And surely having their family secrets out in the open was a good thing.

At least, she hoped it would be a good thing.

She glanced at Colin in the seat beside her and thought that she'd have to be careful

with him, she'd have to watch herself. He was immensely sexy and more than a little

charming. Add in that slightly brooding thing he had going on, and she could easily be a

goner.

But he wasn't here for her, she reminded herself. He was here for Drew.

And she was here to protect her brother from whatever threat might come his way.

It was best to stay focused on that, no matter how much she liked the feel of Colin

Delaney's hand in hers.

Colin couldn't have said why Julia's fear of flying made him like her even more, but

it was true. Her phobia made him want to protect her, as though his own good thoughts

could somehow keep the plane and its passengers safe.

And he wouldn't have minded if she'd wanted to keep holding his hand—though

maybe a little less tightly this time.

He wasn't sure where that feeling had come from. She'd set herself up as an

adversary, first refusing to disclose Drew McCray's whereabouts and then making it

clear that she was suspicious about Colin's intentions.

But he could understand all of that. He'd have done the same for his own brothers, or

for Breanna.

Maybe that was the connection he was feeling. Or maybe it was the way her hair fell

onto her shoulders, the way her full lips curved into a sardonic grin. The way her face

showed a slight sprinkle of freckles across the nose. The way her pale skin seemed to

glow. And, damn it, he needed to stop thinking like that. He needed to stop thinking about

her hair, or her lips. Or the way it had felt to have her shoulder brush against his.

In an effort to get his thoughts back to where they belonged, he said, "So, tell me a

little bit about what's going on with Drew."

She shot him a suspicious look.

"Hey, I don't want you to reveal his inner pain. I just … you know. Thought we

could make conversation. It's a four-hour flight." He smiled at her hopefully. The guy in

the window seat next to Colin was focused on the in-flight entertainment, earbuds firmly

in place. Their conversation would be private, as much as it could be under the

circumstances.

She side-eyed Colin for a moment, and then her expression softened, and she sighed.

"The money problems … the thing about the debt collectors …" She gave her head a

little shake. "He's not a flake. He's not some out-of-control spender, or … or some

deadbeat who doesn't work. None of it was his fault."

"Okay," Colin said encouragingly. "So what happened?"

Her eyes narrowed. "His ex-wife. Tessa. She ran up the credit cards and cleaned out

the bank accounts before she left. Drew's been trying to pay off the bills, but it's taking

time. More time than his creditors want to give him."

"He could pursue legal action," Colin said, now on familiar ground. "She can't just

escape responsibility for bills that are in her name as well as his. And if they had joint

accounts—"

"He's not going to pursue legal action," Julia said, a weariness in her voice that said

she'd been over this if only in her mind, many times before. "He's insisting on taking

care of everything himself if it takes him the rest of his life. Which it might."

"It won't," Colin said. While Julia didn't know the amount of the inheritance her

brother stood to collect, Colin did, and no matter how much debt Drew's ex-wife had

racked up, it wouldn't be a drop in the ocean of the man's future wealth.

Colin hoped like hell that Julia's account of the situation—that the debt and financial

mismanagement was all the ex-wife's doing—was true. Because if Drew had screwed

away his own money, that would be one thing. But Drew was going to become a voting

shareholder in the family's corporation, and that meant he'd be in a position to screw

away money that belonged to the Delaney family. While there was nothing any of them

could do once that power was in Drew's hands, it wouldn't sit well if he turned out to be

an irresponsible ass. And certain members of the family were going to lose their shit if

this newly discovered heir took the money Redmond had worked hard for all his life and

started throwing it around like confetti.

Liam, for instance.

Colin shuddered to think how his brother would react if Drew started buying Teslas

and beachfront mansions, or if he went on some kind of party binge in Vegas. The

shitstorm that would result would be epic in its range and scope.

But Colin couldn't control his brother's actions any more than he could control

Drew McCray's.

McCray was entitled to the money because Redmond had decided he was. That was

all it came down to, really. And if this was what Redmond wanted, well, they'd all just

have to go with it and hope for the best.

"So." Julia shot him a tentative look. "How much money are we talking about?"

"It would be inappropriate of me to say without talking to your brother first." Colin

had anticipated the question, and he'd prepared the answer.

"Of course." Julia nodded. She'd likely known what he was going to say before he

said it.

"It could be enough to wipe out his debt, though?" she asked hopefully.

Colin's grin was apologetic, as though his family's wealth were a matter of some

embarrassment. "It could be enough to wipe out the debt of a small country."

"Oh, shit." Julia paled, her jaw slack. "I mean … oh, shit."

"It's going to be a lot for him to deal with," Colin acknowledged. "When you've

grown up in that environment, it's one thing. But having it drop into your lap can be …

unsettling, I imagine."

"You think?" Julia said sarcastically.

They both considered that for a moment, then Colin said, "What do you think the

problem was in the marriage?"

"I have no idea. And how is that even relevant?"

"It's not, I guess." Colin shrugged. "But it's a long flight, and we have to talk about

something."

"Then let's talk about books or music. Or the weather."

"Fine. The snow in Bozeman should be letting up soon, right? I mean, it's almost

spring."

She glared at him like talking about the weather was the stupidest idea she'd ever

heard, even though it had, in fact, been her own idea.

"He wouldn't talk to me about it, but looking back, I'm guessing it had something to

do with our father."

"The marriage, not the snow," he clarified. She smacked him again, and he grinned.

She settled into her seat, the best she could in a tiny, uncomfortable space with

inadequate padding and no legroom, and sighed. "When my mother finally told me what

was going on, she said Drew found out when my father was in the hospital. That was

about three years ago. Tessa left maybe a year and a half after that. I don't think the

timing was a coincidence."

"Anger and depression—if that's what it was—can be hell on a marriage," Colin

acknowledged.

"I'm sure it can. Not that any of that makes it okay the way Tessa left. She took

everything. Not just the money, but almost all of their belongings. She cleaned him out."

"Makes me glad I never got married." He said the words casually—just an offhand

comment. But it was more than that, he had to admit to himself. He wanted Julia to know

he was single. And what was that about? He knew he shouldn't get involved with her.

There were too many complications. But on the other hand, it didn't hurt to get the

information out there.

He faced forward and slipped the in-flight magazine out of the seat-back pocket,

flipping through articles about Asian getaways and the best restaurants in Austin, Texas.

He could feel her looking at him, though, and it wasn't entirely unpleasant.

A couple of hours later, when the pilot announced the plane's imminent landing in

Victoria, Colin wordlessly reached out and offered Julia his hand.

She looked at it, then looked at him, and then grabbed on gratefully.

She gripped it tightly, her fingernails jabbing into him, all the way down, and she

kept holding it, though a bit more gently until they came to a complete stop at the gate.

Even then, it was her choice to let go. He didn't pull away.