The Price of Honour. Emilie Rose

      Xavier vaulted off the bed and yanked on his clothing.

      He had no intention of repeating his father’s mistakes. He would simply find another way to coerce Megan into spending the next eleven months in his bed.

      And he’d be damned if he would allow her to take another lover. She belonged to him until he said otherwise.

      “You shouldn’t be lifting these by yourself. Not in your condition,” Hannah chided as she joined Megan in the riding ring.

      The diamond engagement ring on her cousin’s finger caught the sun and flashed like a strobe light as she grabbed the opposite end of the rail Megan was placing in the cup.

      “I’m being careful. And you heard the doctor say I should keep up my regular activities. Except riding. Tim will help me as soon as he finishes cooling down Midnight. He’s paying for his lessons by helping me set up the courses three days a week and by exercising my horses.”

      Hannah set the round pole into position and dusted off her hands. “It’s good of you to cut him a deal. You could be teaching only the highest-paying clients. Didn’t I predict someone with your qualifications would have your choice of students and a waiting list?”

      “You did,” Megan conceded. “And thanks for setting that up. I help Tim because he has innate talent and a good horse. He reminds me of me when I first started out on my own—all raw talent and ambition. I’d hate to see him miss the chance to compete because his dad lost his job.” She paced off the distance to the next jump.

      Hannah accompanied her. “We have a new neighbor.”

      “Who?”

      “No clue. Wyatt said some guy called his office and asked if he knew of any horse farms available in the area.” Her cousin’s face lit up whenever she mentioned her fiancé and she mentioned him often—in almost every sentence. It was both sweet and a painful reminder of what Megan didn’t have.

      “Wyatt told him about the property down the road from us being vacant. You probably didn’t know ol’ Mr. Haithcock died two years ago. His heirs can’t come to an agreement over what to do with the property, so it’s been sitting vacant. Anyway, Wyatt gave the man the contact information. One of the heirs called to say thanks. The guy leased the farm. That’s a load off me because I’ve been keeping an unofficial eye on the place.”

      “I drove past the property last week on my way to town. It’s in really bad shape.” Apprehension prickled Megan’s neck. Xavier wouldn’t …

      Hannah nodded. “Mr. Haithcock’s declining health prevented him from keeping up with the maintenance. The fences are falling down, the paint is peeling on all the buildings, the pastures are overgrown and the driveway is so littered with storm debris it looks like an obstacle course. I was considering sending a crew over to mow the fields and clean up a bit just to keep the riffraff and rodents out.”

      Definitely not Xavier’s kind of place. But Megan hadn’t heard a word from him in the five days since she’d kicked him out. At the time she’d been too relieved to find him gone when she’d come out of the bathroom to be suspicious. She’d never known him to back down from a challenge.

      She put a hand over her belly. “When did all this happen?”

      “Hmm. The guy called earlier in the week and Haithcock’s nephew called last night. I’ve noticed a lot of activity on the farm for the past couple of days, and I passed a horse hauler turning into the driveway on my way home from the wedding planner’s just now. I’ll say one thing, the new tenants’ horses travel first-class. That was an expensive rig.”

      Panic trickled through Megan. She clutched the oxer’s vertical for support. No. Please no. It’s just a coincidence.

      “Megan, are you okay? Did you overdo it? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

      Megan tucked her hair behind her ears with an unsteady hand and forced a smile that almost cracked her face. It couldn’t be Xavier. The sprawling cedar ranch home was far too rustic for his caviar tastes, and the barn wasn’t nearly as large or posh as his stable. “I’m just borrowing trouble.”

      “That’s not like you. Care to explain?”

      Not really. But Hannah could be stubborn. “I had a fleeting thought that Xavier might be laying siege by setting up camp outside the castle walls, so to speak, but I’m sure he’s returned to France. After all, I’m not giving him what he wants and he has a wedding to plan and a business to run.”

      “I hate that I was out when he stopped by. I would have loved to meet him and tell him what a jerk he is.”

      Megan wasn’t surprised by Hannah’s protectiveness. She and her cousin had been as close as sisters since the day Megan had moved into the Sutherland house after her family’s plane crash. If not for the impossible relationship with Hannah’s father nothing could have driven Megan away.

      Now that Luthor had retired and moved out, the farm wasn’t a battle zone anymore. But the farm was Hannah’s and Wyatt’s now, and once more, Megan was the outsider looking in. And if Hannah and Wyatt started a family, Megan feared she’d be in the way all over again.

      She pushed the unpleasant possibility aside and focused on the more pressing issue. “Hannah, you have no idea how close I came to telling Xavier about the baby. For a few moments after we made love everything seemed so perfect and I felt so close to him. I thought he’d decided to dump his fiancée. I put his hand on my stomach, and I’d taken a breath to share my news. But I just couldn’t find the words.”

      “Good thing you didn’t.”

      “That would have been a disaster.”

      Hannah pulled her cell phone from her pocket. “I’ll call Wyatt and see if Haithcock’s heir mentioned the tenant’s name.”

      “That isn’t really necessary. I’m sure I’m just being paranoid. This isn’t a feudal war, despite Xavier’s arranged marriage. Moving horses halfway across the globe in a couple of days and with no prior planning would take an act of Congress. Even if they do have all their paperwork in order.”

      “We’ll both feel better once we’re sure.” Hannah smiled as she punched in the number. The love and anticipation of talking to her man written all over her face sent a tiny twinge of envy through Megan. Then disappointment replaced Hannah’s smile. “It went to voice mail. I forgot he had a conference call this afternoon. I’ll ask him tonight.”

      “It’s okay. Really.”

      But she wouldn’t sleep a wink until she knew for sure that Xavier hadn’t leased Haithcock’s farm. It seemed she would have to drive over to personally welcome the new neighbor.

      Megan got a bad feeling as soon as she steered the pickup truck she’d borrowed from Sutherland Farm between the newly repaired and whitewashed fences flanking the Haithcock farm driveway. A fresh layer of gravel crunched beneath her tires.

      Then she spotted the top-of-the-line tractor-trailer horse hauler—the kind multimillion-dollar horses rode in. Her stomach sank. This couldn’t be good.

      She parked beside the luxurious transporter and climbed from the cab. The humid evening air smelled of paint, fresh shavings and recently mowed grass. When she saw the chestnut stallion being led by a groom down the truck’s ramp, she broke out in a cold sweat.

      She knew that horse as well as she knew her own. His strengths. His weaknesses. His bad habits. His owner.

      Xavier.

      The urge to bolt for the woods and lose her lunch charged through her, but she gritted her teeth until the nausea passed. Fleeing would be futile anyway. Xavier had already proven he’d follow. With his prize stallion, her favorite mount.

      She scanned the now pristine property. How like Xavier to take the old farm from derelict to showplace in just days. He had the means and the money to work miracles.

      An