Kings of California. Maureen Child

she wasn’t getting any younger. That she should give up on old fantasies that should have died years ago.

      Yet somehow…she couldn’t quite manage it.

      “I’m fine, Mom,” she said, willing herself to believe it.

      Teresa laid one hand on her daughter’s forearm and gave her a pat. “Of course you are.”

      Okay, Gina was willing to accept that, even if her mom was placating her. At least it had stopped the conversation. “Where’s Papa?” she asked. “He was going to come look over the new baby this morning.”

      Teresa waved one hand. “He has a ‘meeting’ he said. Very important.”

      “Yeah? With who?”

      “You think he tells me?” Teresa huffed out a frustrated breath and Gina smiled.

      Nothing her mother hated more than not knowing what was going on at all times.

      “Well, while Papa’s in his meeting, you can meet the new baby.”

      “Horses,” Teresa muttered. “You and your horses.”

      Gina laughed and took her mother’s hand. “Come on.”

      As they walked to the fence gate, a rumble of noise drifted to them and Gina turned to watch a car approach down the long driveway leading in from the main road. Dust billowed behind the black luxury SUV and Gina felt a stir of something deep inside her when she recognized the car. Despite trying to ignore that feeling, her breath caught and held in her chest and her mouth suddenly went dry.

      She didn’t even need to read the license plate…KING 1 to know without a doubt that Adam King was in that car. She felt it as surely as she felt the rocky ground beneath her feet. What was that, anyway? Some sort of inner radar that leaped into life whenever Adam got close?

      “So, Adam King is the important meeting,” her mother mused. “I wonder why.”

      Gina wondered, too. She knew she should just go about her business, but somehow, she couldn’t make her feet move. She just stood there and watched as Adam parked his car and opened the door. When he stepped out and looked around, his dark-eyed gaze sliding across the ranch yard, something inside her jumped in reaction. Stupid, she told herself. Stupid to feel anything for a man who didn’t even know you existed.

      Adam’s gaze kept moving, as if he were cataloging the Torino ranch and would be given a test on it later. Finally, his gaze moved over Gina. She stiffened. Even from a distance she felt the power of his stare as if he’d reached out and touched her.

      He nodded at her and her mother, and Gina forced herself to lift one hand in a halfhearted wave. Almost before her fingers had stopped moving, though, Adam had turned for the house.

      “A cold man, that one,” Teresa said in a quiet voice from right beside Gina. Crossing herself she added, “There is a darkness in him.”

      Gina had felt the darkness, too, so she couldn’t really argue the point. But she’d known Adam and his brothers all of her life. And she’d always wanted to be the one to ease the darkness back for him.

      Stupid, she supposed. What is it with women that we all want to be the one to “save” a guy? she wondered.

      She was still standing there, watching after Adam, even though he’d already gone into the ranch house for his meeting with her father. And finally, Gina felt her mother watching her. “What?”

      “I see something in your eyes, Gina,” her mother whispered, worry tightening her mouth and flashing in her gaze.

      Gina immediately turned away and started walking toward the horses in the meadow. She still felt a little shaky so she made sure her steps were long and steady. Lifting her chin, she whipped her hair back out of her eyes and said, “I don’t know what you mean, Mom.”

      Teresa wasn’t so easily put off, however. She hurried after her daughter, took hold of Gina’s arm and dragged her to a stop. Looking into her eyes, Teresa said, “You cannot fool me. There is something there in you for Adam King. And you must not surrender to it.”

      Surprised, Gina laughed. “Excuse me? This from the woman who not five minutes ago was telling me to get married and start having babies?”

      “Not with him,” Teresa said. “Adam King is the one man I do not want for you.”

      Unfortunate.

      Since Adam King was the only man Gina wanted.

      Two

      Adam knocked on the front door, waited impatiently and then jerked to attention when a shorter, older man opened it and smiled out at him.

      “Adam,” Sal Torino said, stepping back and waving him inside. “Right on time, as always.”

      “Sal. Thanks for seeing me.” Adam stepped into the house and glanced around. It had been a long time since he was last here, but he noticed that the place hadn’t changed much.

      The entryway was wide and lit from above by a skylight that spilled sunshine in a wash of gold across the gleaming pine floors. The hall leading to the back of the house was covered in framed family photos of smiling kids and proud parents. The high, arched doorway that led into the living room where Sal gestured for Adam to follow had been unchanged, as well. The walls were still a soft, warm yellow, the furniture was oversize and comfortable, and a stone hearth, cold now, held a copper urn filled with fresh flowers. Sal took a seat on the sofa and reached for a coffeepot sitting on a tray atop a wide, scarred pine table.

      While Sal poured coffee Adam didn’t want, he wandered the room and stopped at the curved bay window. The glass gleamed in the morning light and provided a sweeping view of the neatly trimmed lawn ringed by ancient oak trees. Adam hardly noticed, though. His mind was already focused on the task at hand: How he would convince Sal to sell him the land he needed.

      “So, what brings Adam King to my house first thing in the morning?”

      Adam turned around to look at his neighbor. Sal stood about five foot eight, had thick black hair streaked with gray, skin as weathered and tanned as old leather and sharp brown eyes.

      He walked over to take the coffee cup Sal offered him and then had a sip just to be polite. Sitting down opposite the other man, Adam cupped the heavy mug between his palms and said, “I want to talk to you about that twenty-acre parcel in your north pasture, Sal.”

      The older man’s face split in an understanding smile as he leaned back into the sofa cushions. “Ah.”

      It wasn’t good business to let your opponent know how badly you wanted something. But Sal Torino was no dummy. The King family had made offers for that land several times over the last couple of decades and Sal had always turned them down flat. So, he already knew how important this was to Adam. No point in trying to pretend otherwise.

      “I want that land, Sal, and I’m willing to make you a deal that’ll give you a hell of a profit on it.”

      Shaking his head Sal took a gulp of coffee, swallowed and sighed. “Adam…”

      “Hear me out.” Adam leaned forward, set his coffee cup down on the tray and sat back again, bracing his forearms on his thighs. “You don’t use that piece of land for grazing or pasture. It’s just sitting there.”

      Sal smiled and shook his head again. Fine. He was stubborn. Adam could appreciate that. He bit down on the impatience scratching at his insides and forced a congenial tone to his voice. “Think about this, Sal. I’m willing to make you another substantial offer for the property.”

      “Why is this so important to you?”

      Now we play the game. Adam wished this were all somehow easier. Sal knew damn well about Adam’s quest to make the King ranch whole again, but clearly he was going to have to spell it all out.

      “It’s the last piece of the original King family holdings,”