Hunt, Delilah - Wyoming Triple Heat (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

DELILAH HUNT

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

“Lexie!”

Shit
. Alexa Grey stopped in her tracks and spun on her heels. “Yes,” she hissed.

“Where you running off to in such a hurry?”

“None of your damn business,” she muttered beneath her breath.
Probably thinks I stole something
.

Lexie whipped her head to the side. She was in the clear for now. Any minute now that bastard Frank Warren would be all over her ass demanding the necklace back. Grimacing, Lexie curled her fist around the golden chain, the diamond pendant searing her palm. No one was going to take it from her ever again.

She took a reflexive step backward as Owen Kincaid stalked closer to her. “Ever heard of personal space, Kincaid?” At least his other two brothers weren’t around to make her feel even more like a caged animal.

Owen raised his blond eyebrows and folded his thick arms. “Ever heard of not taking what doesn’t belong to you, darlin’?” His gaze lowered to her clenched fists.

Darlin’?
Since when were they on personal terms? Annoyed, Lexie snapped, “I didn’t take anything from you, did I?”

“No, but we both know it’s only because I caught you before you could commit the crime.” A smirk played across his full lips.

“Whoop-de-doo.” Lexie rolled her eyes and gave another furtive glance over her shoulder. “Must feel good you prevented me from taking your five bucks, Mr. I’m-so-rich-me-and-my-brothers-own-this-poor-ass-town-and-all-the-trash-that-comes-with-it.”

His smirk faded. “What are you hiding?” he asked low.

“Nothing.”

“C’mon, Lexie, hand it over. You, you can’t go around taking things that don’t belong to you. I know you don’t have any parents, but someone had to have taught you stealing is wrong.” He stretched out his palm to her. “I’ll make sure the owner gets it back without mentioning your name.”

The nerve. Lexie didn’t know if she should laugh or be pissed. “That’s mighty kind of you, Kincaid—”

“Owen. Stop calling me Kincaid. You call all three of us that when you damn well know our names.”

She raised her eyebrows.
Someone’s moody today.
“Forgive me,
Owen
. But listen up. I didn’t steal a fucking thing. If anyone is a thief, it’s—”

“You little bitch!”

Turning, she saw a murderous-looking Frank Warren charging toward them, his portly arms flailing with apparent exertion.

Owen narrowed his eyes then pushed in front of her, placing himself as a barrier between her and the conniving horse rancher. The sudden movement almost brought a surge of pleasure until she saw the figures of Connor and Logan Kincaid coming up behind Frank. She knew things were about to get as bad as they could possibly get. Now they were all going to team up against her and take her momma’s necklace.

Left with no other choice, Lexie stretched forward a leg, ready to make a run for it to her house. A firm grip snagged around her wrist, holding her to the spot in the grass. “Don’t even think about it. You’re calling down a heap of problems on yourself if you do that.”

“That’s right,” Frank said with a wheeze, his chunky face beet-red. “Stole right into my house and snagged my jewelry. If the windows were locked, I’m sure she would have smashed the glass in.”

“And I’d do it again.” Lexie tightened her fist over the necklace.

“Keep quiet,” Owen warned before inching closer to Frank with a menacing air she found oddly satisfying to watch. “What’s your problem, Warren? The lady says she doesn’t have anything.”

Frank threw his head back and laughed. “Lady? Ain’t no goddamn lady here, unless you or one of them brothers there are wearing panties under them jeans.”

“Shut it right there.”

The oldest of the three brothers, Logan, stepped up beside Owen, who was flanked on the left by Connor.

The blond trio looked every bit as powerful as she knew they were. Each of them nearly a foot taller than her, leanly muscled with the lightest shade of crystal blue eyes that seemed to be reserved solely for the Kincaid men. For a fraction of a second, Lexie allowed herself to imagine how it would be if they were on her side.

When hell freezes over
. They’d sooner believe Frank’s pack of lies than anything that came out of her mouth.

“Stay out of this, Kincaid.” Frank switched his gaze between the brothers. “This is strictly between me and the little she-devil right there.” He jabbed a beefy finger in her direction. “Sneaked right into my house a few minutes ago and stole my gold necklace with a fat diamond pendant.”

Lexie narrowed her eyes at him and jutted her chin. The hell if he thought it belonged to him. It was hers, and no one, not even her wastrel father, had the right to use it as collateral.

“Look at that,” he blustered after his beady eyes flickered to her hand. “That’s my fucking property she’s got in that death grip. Somebody oughta teach you a lesson once and for all.”

Frank advanced toward her at the exact moment Connor stretched out a hand, knocking the man backward. Staggering onto the grass, Frank shouted, “Now, wait just a minute. This ain’t got nothing to do with you Kincaids.”

No one paid Warren any mind. Owen cocked his head to the side and stretched out his hand once again. “No joke, Lexie, give it to me. You know if he wants to press charges against you he can.”

Fear jackknifed into her gut, and she knew her face betrayed her anxiety. Owen looked at her and continued, “You don’t want that, do you? Another night inside Jasper County jail?”

Lexie stared at his hand beckoning for her to place the necklace within it. She opened and closed her fist. No. Although the thought of returning to the cramped cell she’d spent three nightmarish days in terrified and nauseated her, she couldn’t give in so easily. Especially when she was in the right and Warren was twisting everything to his advantage.

“Alexa,” Logan began in his usual stern tone, “listen to Owen. Return the item to Warren. If it’s money you need to borrow, we’ll take care of it.”

Huh.
Lexie blinked against the shock. Since when did the Kincaids concern themselves with anyone unless it had to do with their ranch or factory? More so, why the heck would uptight Logan offer to lend her funds? Shaking her head, she regained focus. “I’m not giving it to him.” Jesus, had her voice shook?

“Yes, you can. Just open your fucking hands and apologize.”

Logan’s gaze shifted to the belligerent man on the ground, and in that cool, collected voice she couldn’t help but admire, he responded, “You’re not included in the conversation.”

Focusing on her, his tone dropped a level. “You know we can pry it out of your fingers. Is that what you want?”

Just as she thought, they were still going to take the side of a man they were feuding with and brand her as a thief forever.

Not in this lifetime. She’d only attempted to “borrow” once in her life, and the only thief among them was staggering off the ground. Lexie immediately thought of the contract she had signed with Frank a month ago.

“Here.” She shoved a hand inside the back pocket of her jeans, pulled out the paper folded into a tight wad, and held it toward Owen. “Take a look for yourself, see how much you know.” She opened the neatly folded piece of paper. When Owen took it from her with a slow skepticism, she watched the looks of doubt flash across the faces of the three brothers.

“You gave him a thousand dollars.” Owen raised his gaze from the paper, gaping at her in disbelief. “And it says here you worked for him an entire month. You did all that?”

Lexie nodded. “It took me a long time, but I raised the funds. I even wrote him a check. I have the bank statement to prove it.”

“That contract means squat.” Frank had somehow managed to pick his rotund self off the ground. “Girlie got tired of paying me and decided to forge a contract, that’s what.” He dug two fingers into his shirt pocket and withdrew a crumpled piece of paper. “This is the real contract. Deal was for three thousand dollars along with the month of free work at my hardware store.”

Her head spun.
Liar
. He was standing in front of everyone showing off what had to be an illegal document. She had the real contract. It was all making sense now, the reason for the smugness on his pug-like face when he’d refused to hand over the cherished necklace a week ago.

“It’s a fake.” Lexie swallowed, trying desperately to maintain her composure. “Look at the signature. I never signed it. This is what we both signed. I swear. You can compare them.”

“Let me see that.” Connor snatched the paper from Frank. A crease settled in his forehead. “Signatures look the same.” He turned the contract over to Logan and asked, “What do you think?”

“They both look the same.”

“Aha,” Frank shouted, his beady eyes bugging out in triumph. “Told ya the little bitch was trying to be sneaky. Now give me the necklace before I get my son out here to make the arrest.”

“Cool your horses.” Owen glared. “You’ll get your fucking necklace, Francine.”

Frank drew his brows together, issuing Owen a deadly look for the insult, although he refrained from speaking. At least she had to give the bastard credit for knowing when he’d met his match.

“All right, Lexie. Game’s up. Let me have it so Warren here can hurry off and go play dress up.”

Holy shit. They were serious. She looked between them, taking in the hard, square jawlines and blatant determination in their eyes. So they
were
in agreement with Frank, who already had his cell phone out, no doubt ready to call his son, the local deputy, on her.

Lexie squeezed her eyes, pushing away the unwanted memory of Sam Warren sneaking into her cell to feel her up. If Sheriff Harper hadn’t dropped by and relieved the man of his duties that night…chills ran down her spine. It didn’t bear thinking about.

Slowly, she opened her fist, disgust churning inside her as Owen scooped up the thin double strands of gold. She turned her to head to the side, avoiding the sight of Frank’s grubby paws holding on to what was rightfully hers.

Bastards. Every single one of them
.

Within seconds, Frank was ambling in the opposite direction, no doubt grinning that his scheme had succeeded because of the arrogant jerk-offs standing before her.

Lexie pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “You just had to butt into this, didn’t you? Of all the days when you three decide to leave Chateau Circle-K and mingle amongst the commoners, I had to be the unfortunate person.” She brought her hands together and clapped twice. “Thanks for taking away the one fucking thing I had left of my mother, assholes.” A furious tear slipped past her eyelash, and she scrubbed it away while stomping off. If she had to stay in this town for another year, on top of seeing both Warren Senior and Junior get their asses handed to them, the sight of those damn Kincaid men being brought to their knees would be at the forefront of her mind. That she would pay actual money to see.

* * * *

“Did you see the look on her pretty face?” Owen asked, leaning forward on the sofa and running a hand along his jaw. They shouldn’t have allowed Lexie to leave while she was so upset. Not that he thought for a minute she would have listened to a word of reasoning from any of them.

Connor glared at him and Logan then posed the same question he’d been dying to ask ever since they left her an hour ago.

“Tell me again why we allowed that pisshead to take her necklace. Warren is as underhanded as they come. I don’t care how similar those signatures look, Lexie’s contract was the real deal.”