Winter's Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page A

Catherine.”
    â€œNo. But you lied to my boarder and housekeeper. Is that not true, Mr. Tyler Burdette? ”
    â€œI—”
    â€œMiss Catherine, Miss Catherine?” An excited boy came bursting through the kitchen with Pete’s saddlebags in his hands. The blond head bobbed as the kid jumped up and down. “I just found these outside by the front door, and look,” he said, flipping one open. “They’re filled with money! Can I keep it?”
    O’Connell went cold as everything came together in his mind.
    â€œ I found this little orphanage in a town called Redwood, ” Pete had said. “You’d probably like it a lot, Kid. It had a real homey feel to it.”
    O’Connell cursed as his stomach drew tight. Pete knew. He had sent him purposefully to find Catherine.
    Panic swept through him. That meant Pete wouldn’t be far behind. He had to get her to safety before his brother showed up and used her to drag him back into robbery.
    But how? She’d never leave her business or her orphans.
    â€œThis is bad,” he whispered. “Real bad.”
    Catherine looked into the saddlebags. “Where did this come from?” she asked the boy.
    â€œI was told it was stolen from you,” O’Connell said as he double-checked where the marshal sat.
    Looking up at him, Catherine frowned. “By whom?”
    â€œIs it yours?” O’Connell asked, seeking to delay the inevitable explanation of how he’d come by her money. “Were you robbed?”
    â€œYes, we were. But how did you get it?”
    So much for delaying the inevitable.
    She looked at him sternly. “Did you take it?”
    â€œNo!” he barked. “How could you even ask that?”
    â€œWell, what am I to think?” she asked as she set the saddlebags on the table and excused the boy.
    She moved to stand just before him, hands on hips. “I thought I knew you, and yet every time I blink I learn something about you that scares me. Now tell me how it is you have my money.”
    O’Connell didn’t have a chance. Before he could say a word, the back door opened to show Pete holding one of Catherine’s little girls in his arms.
    â€œKnock, knock,” Pete drawled. He flashed an evil grin to O’Connell, then lifted the little girl’s face to where O’Connell could see her tear-streaked eyes. “Look what old Uncle Pete found out in the yard.”

5
    O’Connell felt the air leave his lungs as he gazed into a pair of eyes indistinguishable from his own. They were set in a face that looked identical to Catherine’s, right down to the dark brown curls spilling over Pete’s arm.
    In an instant, he recognized his daughter.
    Sobbing uncontrollably, the girl looked to Catherine. “Help me, Mama! Make the mean man let me go.”
    Catherine took a step toward the girl, but O’Connell grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.
    No one approached his brother. If Catherine tried to take the girl, there was no telling what Pete might do to her.
    â€œLet her go, Pete,” O’Connell said, his calm voice belying the volatile state of his mind and body.
    Pete gave an evil smile. “I told you in Oak River, you can’t escape me, Kid. Now I ask you again, are you coming with me or what?”
    â€œOak River?” he heard Catherine repeat under her breath.
    That was the town where he’d left her. Only then, Pete had used Catherine as his leverage. It was either go with Pete to rob another bank or see his wife hurt.
    After the robbery, O’Connell had lacked the heart to go back to her. He couldn’t face her after what he’d done for Pete. Worse, he knew that sooner or later Pete would show up again with the same threat.
    And the last thing he wanted was to kill his brother for hurting his wife.
    So long as there was life in his body, he would protect his Catherine.
    You’re my second chance.