Secrets and Seductions Read Online Free

your head, Mr. Grainger.”
    He took a sip from his coffee, his expression unreadable. “Tough. Curtis asked me to look out for her.”
    Leah’s heart constricted. “Why?”
    “Because I’m his brother and Charlee’s uncle.”
    Focusing on keeping her voice calm and controlled, she put her cup down on the table. “And I was his wife. As far as I’m aware, you’ve never been around, too busy for family. Curtis died weeks ago. Where were you then?”
    Instead of answering her, he scanned the room, and Leah found herself bristling, knowing what he saw: the faded and peeled paintwork, a tired house in need of repair.
    She challenged him with an upward flick of her chin. “It’s not much, but it’s mine.”
    His gaze returned to her, his mouth severe. “Not quite.”
    “Pardon?”
    “Running this place must take a lot of time, energy and money.” He pointed toward her mail scattered on the table. The mail she didn’t want to read. Bills she couldn’t pay.
    “I’m not complaining.”
    “Borrowing money, spending it when you know you can’t pay it back.” He wagged a finger at her as if she were a spoilt child. “Tut, tut.”
    A sting of heat curled across her skin. “That’s not true.”
    “I’m no fool. You’re Curtis’s wife.”
    “His widow,” she corrected.
    “He said you never had enough money.”
    Leah met Mac’s gaze full on. Big mistake. He stepped closer. Not so close that he touched her, but still too close, his expression unyielding and full of condemnation.
    But it was her reaction to him that scared her the most. The awareness that fired up all over again. She shook her head, willing away thoughts that had no right being there, and backed up.
    “I’ve seen the loan documents, Leah. Your signature is quite clear, and according to an interesting conversation I had with Curtis’s solicitor, your big problem runs into five digits.”
    Leah’s shoulders slumped, and Mac bit out a harsh laugh, his tone as arrogant and brutal as the expression he wore. “Finally, I’ve got your attention.”
    “You have no right to nose into something that doesn’t concern you.”
    “You’re wrong. As Charlee’s uncle, I’ve made it my business. I promised Curtis to look out for his daughter.”
    “His… Curtis barely registered her existence.”
    Mac frowned, but even her uttering the truth didn’t swerve him from his self-proclaimed purpose. “I always keep my promises. Your husband insinuated certain…allegations.”
    Her heartbeat skidded to a standstill. “Rubbish.” But she had to ask. “About what?”
    “That you’re not a fit mother.”
    Leah threw her hands up, then shoved back the hair that had fallen across her eyes. Her palms were sweaty, and a sticky sheen of nervous perspiration slicked across her pores. “That’s ridiculous. Curtis was sick and not in his right mind.”
    “That’s your story, but don’t worry, I intend to find out the truth.”
    “Charlee is my daughter,” she said glancing toward the closed bedroom door where she prayed her daughter would stay sleeping. Her heart ached for her little girl. “I would never harm her.”
    He leaned toward her, his voice a threatening rumble, and Leah’s breath stalled in her chest. “You’d better not. I’m not prepared to watch my niece suffer because of your negligence.”
    Negligence. She jerked back bodily, anger spiraling to every part of her. “How dare you! Charlee has never suffered. Never. She has security here.”
    “Are you sure? You owe thousands you can’t repay. How secure is your home when the bank is on your tail?”
    Money. Always about money. Leah shook her head, and her eyes shuttered for a moment, a brief chance to wish it all away. To be safe.
    “The bank is about to foreclose, Leah. You need me.”
    Her eyes flashed open. “Like hell. I’ll never need a Grainger again.”
    “Such protest. But then what would you do to save Aroha Farm?”
    Anything! She’d stayed, despite the years of