Julian stared at the bottle of brandy sitting on the edge of his desk, fighting the temptation to open it and drown himself in its familiar warmth. Ever since Eve left him on the wharf, he’d been riddled with guilt over what had occurred between them.

Before she had shown up, he had been contemplating on whether or not to go to her. Warn her of the danger of his father’s impending wrath. Yet he knew the second he made the conscious effort to seek her out would be a second before his father decided to use her against him—again.

He couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t let his father use her to try to keep him in line. Not this time. His father had crossed the line in ordering him to kill Sheridan. And whether he knew it or not yet, his order was the end of the line for him. Or it would be soon. Very soon.

Picking up the large padded envelope laid out in front of him, Julian carefully extracted the file folders from inside. For years he had been collecting evidence against his father, evidence he promised himself he would use if Alistair’s cruelty ever got too far out of hand. Now that it had, he knew he had to go through with his vow. It might be the only real chance he had at saving his sister…and himself.

But how could he do it? By handing over the evidence he had on his father to Sam Bennett, he’d be resigning himself to a fate he never thought he would see. If he didn’t end up in jail because of the things he had done in his past, no one in town would want anything to do with him…and he certainly wouldn’t have the Crane wealth to fall back on. None of them would.

Maybe he was jumping the gun a bit. His father was ruthless when it came to protecting the Crane secrets. But even he had to draw a line somewhere, didn’t he? The only question was whether he would draw the line before or after he hired someone to kill Sheridan and Luis in Bermuda.

Julian sighed. He had to warn them. They might not want to listen to anything he had to say. But he had to let them know they were in danger. If he didn’t, and something were to happen to them, he’d never forgive himself for it. He’d promised their mother he would look out for Sheridan, and that’s exactly what he planned to do.

Reaching for the telephone receiver, he quickly punched in the number for Sam Bennett’s direct line. Over the years, he’d picked up the phone to call this number a hundred times. But in the end, he’d always stopped himself just before dialing the last digit. Today, he actually listened for the first ring, waiting for the other man to pick up. When he did, Julian’s heart lurched into his throat, his stomach clenching even as he forced the fateful words past his lips.

“Sam, this is Julian Crane. I…have some information that may be of some value to you.” To a lot of people, he thought, listening as Sam began to state the reasons he had no interest in listening to anything a Crane had to tell him. “No, you don’t seem to understand, Chief Bennett. This information… It’s something you’ve been waiting for a long time. You and Luis both.”

Julian told him just enough to get his curiosity up. Enough to warrant he make a call to the Bermudan authorities and get in touch with Luis. And then waited for him to make up his mind on whether or not to believe him. He didn’t have to wait long.

“I don’t want to meet at the mansion,” Julian said, straightening in his seat. “Or at the station. My father’s reach is long, Chief Bennett, and his pocketbook isn’t above the reach of some of your officers.”

Sam rattled off a place to meet, his irritation clear, and just before hanging up, the warning Julian had been expecting came out full force. Not that he really needed to hear it, though. He knew full well the amount of trust Sam Bennett placed in him. But this time, that trust would hold up. This time, the good guys would win. He would make sure of it.

Pushing the folders back into the envelope on his desk, Julian switched off the touch lamp beside him. As darkness flooded the room, his eyelids slipped closed and an image of Eve popped into his mind. He might not want to seek her out, but he was beginning to realize he might not have a choice.

Now that he’d actually taken steps to betray his father, he couldn’t risk the old man going after Eve in retaliation. She had to be warned. She had to know what he was capable of. Before it was too late to do anything about it.

Eve shivered as another blast of cool wind swept through the open kitchen window, wondering even as it did if the sudden summer chill signified a warning. She hadn’t expected to run into Julian down at the wharf this afternoon. But even as she told herself to walk away and avoid speaking with him, she found herself approaching him. Actually worrying over him.

After everything he had done to her over the years, she thought for sure her days of distressing over him were behind her. Apparently she’d been wrong about that, though. No matter how much she tried to push his wearied, bleak state from her mind, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t forget the pain she saw…or the fear his dark eyes expressed.

But what was Julian so afraid of? So many times during their talk, she got the feeling he wanted to tell her. To share some of the burden he carried around. Yet when he had the chance to do just that, he’d pushed her away. Kissed her to scare her into leaving him.

And she had. She’d done exactly what he expected her to do. She’d run. Run from their past. From him. From the feelings that she could no more forget than allow herself the freedom to remember. Just as he wanted. Just as he hoped. Just as he feared.

Even after all these years, he still knew her so well. Knew exactly what to do or say to get her to walk away. He also knew how to keep her coming back. To keep her remembering all the things they had shared back in Boston. Both the good and the bad.

Deep down, she knew he hadn’t really wanted to push her away back then. That his father hadn’t really given either of them a choice. But knowing he didn’t love her enough to fight for what they had, or might have had, hurt. It hurt every bit as much as the knowledge he’d married Ivy only a few short months after he’d ended things with her.

Even shivered again as another blast of air hit her bare arms then lifted her hands to close and lock the window. She caught a glimpse of a shadow out of the corner of her eye. For a heartbeat, she actually thought she might be imagining its presence. But the second he stepped from behind the tree in her back yard, she knew she wasn’t just seeing another ghost from the past. He was there…and his presence would not be ignored.

Rushing from her post near the window, Eve hurried out into the back yard. “What are you doing?” she hissed, keeping her voice low in case any of her neighbors happened to be outside, listening for anything that would provide the gossip mill its fodder. “T.C. will kill you if he sees you out here. You know how much he hates your family.”

Alistair smiled, that cold calculating smile that never failed to send shivers dancing up her spine and fear knotting her blood. “Your husband doesn’t scare me, Eve,” he said, reaching out a hand to finger a strand of her hair. “But I imagine he scares you plenty, doesn’t he, my dear? Because you know what he would do if he were to learn of your association with my son.”

“I can only imagine how a man like T.C. would feel if he were to learn you had a child by his most hated enemy, and then to learn very career he respects so much from you was bought and paid for by me.”

Eve took a step back, recognizing the predatory look in Alistair’s eyes for the lethal warning that it was. “What do you want, Alistair? Why did you come to see me?”

“Oh, I think you know why, Eve. You aren’t as dumb as some of the other women in this town,” he said, thrusting a hand inside his suit coat to pull out a cigar and light it. “No, you are well aware of how the real world works, aren’t you, Dr. Russell? You know exactly how far a person will go to get what they want. How they will do anything to keep their secrets from being exposed…even reveal a truth they never thought they would share.”

Truth? What truth? Surely he wasn’t planning on… “You wouldn’t tell T.C. about my relationship with Julian. I know how you feel about that type of scandal. You wouldn’t…risk that kind of public scrutiny. I know you wouldn’t.”

Alistair laughed, the bitter sound sending goosebumps breaking out across the bare flesh of her upper arms. “You don’t know anything of the kind,” he replied, taking a long puff of his cigar, his actions as unhurried as his words.

“But no,” he said, finally lowering the cigar. “I’m not here to tell T.C. about your sordid tryst with my son. I’m here to warn you about getting Julian to back off on this fool’s plan of his. Because if you don’t find a way to get through to him, Dr. Russell, you will lose far more than just your marriage. You will lose any chance you have of ever finding out the truth about your son.”

Her son? “What are you talking, Alistair? What truth about my son? Do you know something about what happened to him? Do you know how he really died?”

“Died?” Alistair chuckled, shaking his head. “Oh my dear, how foolish that you have been. To believe such a lie all these years? I’m disappointed in you. I always thought you were so smart, realizing the truth about where you belonged. But thinking your son to be dead? Where would you get such a notion?“

“No. Your child is not dead. But that could certainly change in the future.” He smiled, the venom in his gaze chilling her to the bones. “You have an hour, Dr. Russell. I would suggest you use it wisely and find a way to get through to my son. That is, if you ever hope to see your own again.”