Wildest Hearts by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online Page B

are.”
     
    “Lucky for you they have his eyes and his hair, just as I do, isn't it? Otherwise we'd be talking about blood tests right now.”
     
    “You bastard,” she breathed. Tears formed in her beautiful eyes. “You don't understand. Greg is the man I love. If things had been different, I would have married him.”
     
    “What was different?” Oliver asked coldly. “Wasn't he rich enough for you?”
     
    “He's married, damn you.” She took a step forward. “Oliver, please, listen to me. You're too young to know what this is all about.”
     
    “You're wrong. I know exactly what this is about. You've betrayed my father and this family. And now it's time for you to understand exactly how things are going to work from now on.”
     
    “What are you talking about?”
     
    “I don't want Heather and Valerie subjected to any more emotional disruption. They've adjusted to you and they'd be confused and hurt if you were to leave. Little girls need mothers.”
     
    “I'm not leaving,” Sybil shrieked.
     
    “Nathan and Richard have a right to know their father. God knows he isn't around a lot, but they'd see even less of him if you were to take them away.” Oliver set his teeth. “Boys need their fathers.”
     
    “Damn you, Oliver, I'm not taking them away.”
     
    “Children also need to believe that their mothers are angels.” Oliver ignored the desperate look in Sybil's eyes. “So for the sake of my brothers and sisters, I won't tell my father what I saw this afternoon unless you force me to do so.”
     
    Hope and fear flared in Sybil's expression. “What do you want from me?”
     
    “Your agreement on a bargain. Give my father what he's bought and paid for, a loyal wife and a mother for his children, and you'll get the money and the position you wanted out of this marriage. Screw up just once from here on in, Sybil, and I swear I'll make certain Dad knows exactly what kind of slut he married.”
     
    “I'm not a slut!” Sybil screamed. “You don't understand how it is between me and Greg.”
     
    “I don't give a damn about how it is between you two. All I care about is this family. We both know Dad would drop you in a minute if he learned you were sleeping around. So have we got a deal?”
     
    “Edward would never believe you if you try to tell him about this afternoon,” Sybil said with false bravado.
     
    “Want to put it to the test? I'm his son. I know him better than you ever will. He'll listen to me.” Oliver was not sure of that, but he discovered that day that he had a previously unsuspected talent for bluffing.
     
    “Edward trusts me.”
     
    “Well, I won't make the same mistake,” Oliver said. “I'm going to watch you like a hawk for as long as you're a member of this family. Step out of line just one time and you can kiss your share of the Rain money good-bye.”
     
    “You cold-blooded son of a bitch.” Sybil was shaking. She dashed away the tears with the back of her hand. “What right do you have to interfere in my life? Who do you think you are?”
     
    “I'm the man who can wreck this cushy setup you've made for yourself any time I feel like it. Remember that, Sybil. Because if I ever find out you haven't kept your end of our bargain, I'll pull the rug out from under you so fast you won't know what hit you.”
     
    She believed him. Oliver saw it in her eyes. Satisfied, he walked out of the house, got into his car, and left.
     
    A year later Edward Rain disappeared, taking the fabled Rain fortune and a lot of money belonging to other people with him.
     
    When Oliver closed the door on his own hopes and dreams for the future and turned to the task of picking up the pieces his father had left behind, he'd expected Sybil to head for greener pastures.
     
    But she hadn't. She had realized within the first six months when all of Edward Rain's old friends and business acquaintances had politely turned their backs on the Rain family that Oliver was her best