Читать книгу: «A Man's Promise»
A man’s word is his bond. His family is his strength. His heart is his own.
Superstar musician Caden Granger has spent years running from love, commitment and family. Yet despite his fame and fortune, he knows the kind of respect and adoration he needs can only come from one person—the very woman who wants nothing to do with him.
Charity volunteer and owner of a wine boutique, Shiloh Timmons finally got her life on track once her relationship with Caden ended, and she’s in no hurry to revisit a romance with the man who believes she left him standing at the altar.
If Caden can’t have Shiloh by his side, all the success in the world will mean nothing. Now he has a chance to renew his promises…but is it too late?
Praise for the novels of Brenda Jackson
“Jackson’s series starter proves once again that she rocks when it comes to crafting family drama with a healthy dose of humor and steamy, sweaty sex. Here’s another winner…. Bring on the Granger brothers!”
—RT Book Reviews on A Brother’s Honor, 4 1/2 stars, Top Pick
“Welcome to another memorable family tree created by the indomitable Brenda Jackson, a romantic at heart.”
—USA TODAY on A Brother’s Honor
“Readers can’t deny that Jackson knows how to bring the heat, and more. Her characters are multidimensional, tantalizing and charming.”
—RT Book Reviews on Texas Wild, 4 1/2 stars, Top Pick
“This deliciously sensual romance ramps up the emotional stakes and the action with a bit of deception and corporate espionage…. [S]exy and sizzling.”
—Library Journal on Intimate Seduction
“Jackson does not disappoint…first-class page-turner.”
—RT Book Reviews on A Silken Thread, 4 1/2 stars, Top Pick
“Jackson is a master at writing.”
—Publishers Weekly on Sensual Confessions
A Man’s Promise
Brenda Jackson
To the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr. My one and only. Always and Forever.
To everyone who enjoyed reading Book 1 of the Granger Series, A Brother’s Honor, and couldn’t wait for Caden Granger’s story to be told, this one is for you!
Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
—Romans 12:17
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Extract
Prologue
Fifteen years ago
She was going to die....
Sylvia Granger swallowed tightly as she stared into eyes that were as cold as glaciers. She lowered her gaze to the gun pointed at her. Her only chance was to talk her way out of this, at least to buy enough time before her husband, Sheppard, arrived at the boathouse for their meeting. He should be here any minute now. She began talking, pleading, practically begging.
“Please, don’t do this. They are playing the two of us against each other. Why can’t you see that?”
“Are they?”
“Yes.”
The mocking chuckle made her skin crawl. “Haven’t you figured things out by now, Sylvia? There is no one else. I only led you to believe there were others, just to see if you could be trusted. You failed the test.”
Sylvia’s mind went into a frenzy. There’s no one else? That can’t be true. But after seeing the look of triumph flaring in the eyes staring at her, she knew it was true. “But—but how?”
“I don’t owe you any explanation regarding the way I handle my business. You were smart, but not smart enough to betray me.”
“But it wasn’t that way at all.” She spoke quickly as fear spread throughout her body, settling deep into her bones.
Another chuckle. “Yes, it was that way. You proved just how deceitful you are. Killing you will be a favor to everyone...especially your husband. He has no idea what you’ve been up to.”
Sylvia slowly backed up as the gun was cocked. “Please. Don’t. You won’t get away with this,” she said frantically. “Shep is on his way here. You can’t leave without him knowing—”
The sound of laughter sent a chilling sensation all through her. “I can, and I will, get away with it. I have too many players in place to fail. The stage has been set. I’m the major star, and your services are no longer needed.” The gun was lifted higher and, in an instant, a shot rang out.
Pain ripped through Sylvia’s chest, and before she could blink, a second shot followed the first. She crumpled to the floor and took her last breath while gazing up into a pair of dark, evil eyes.
One
Present day
Shiloh Timmons’s hands trembled as she set down the newspaper she’d just read. Emotions she’d been suppressing for the past four years were reemerging, and she refused to let them get the better of her. Caden Granger would never hurt her again; she would see to it.
Hearing someone clearing their throat, she glanced across the room and saw her brother standing in the doorway of her office. Growing up, Sedrick had been her hero, the big brother every girl needed and deserved. He’d been her protector. Even now, he was trying to protect her...especially since Caden had returned to town.
“It wasn’t Caden, Shiloh,” he said, referring to the newspaper article she’d just read.
“No, but it could have been. Did you read what that article said, Sedrick?”
He shrugged before coming into her office, closing the door behind him. “Didn’t have to. It’s dominated the local news since the story broke a few days ago.”
Shiloh drew in a deep breath. All last week she had been in California, in the heart of Napa Valley, making purchases for the grand-opening celebration of the wine shop she’d opened a few weeks ago. When she’d returned home last night it had been late, and since she wasn’t a television watcher, she hadn’t turned on the set. Instead, she had showered and gone to bed, knowing this would be a busy week at the Wine Cellar Boutique. She was gearing up for a party that would put her specialty shop on the map.
She’d been sitting at her desk, about to take her first sip of coffee, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw in the morning paper. The headlines blared out at her in bold letters: Granger Narrowly Escapes Death.
Literally holding her breath, she read that Jace Granger, Caden’s older brother, had been kidnapped from the parking garage at Granger Aeronautics. He had been just seconds from losing his life when the FBI had located him in the warehouse where he’d been held hostage. Arrests had been made, and the authorities were trying to determine whether there was a possible tie-in between the kidnapping and the reported ongoing trade-secrets investigation at Granger Aeronautics. Of course, the article took the opportunity to remind the readers that Jace’s father, Sheppard Granger, was serving a thirty-year sentence for murdering his wife, Sylvia, fifteen years ago.
Shiloh stood and walked over to the window. If she were to tilt her head back and slant her gaze to the right, she could see the twenty-three-story building of Granger Aeronautics. Had it really been over a month since she had been there, attending the stockholders’ meeting in her mother’s absence? That day she had cast the deciding vote that allowed the three Granger brothers to retain control of their family corporation. Jace and Caden’s younger brother, Dalton, had been friendly to her, but Caden had not spoken one word. And she could not forget the daggered looks he’d given her.
“You need to move on with your life, Shiloh. You tried telling Caden the truth about what happened and—” Sedrick began.
“And he didn’t want to hear anything I had to say.” Shiloh turned around, remembering that night a few weeks ago when she had gone to Sutton Hills, the Granger estates, to tell Caden that she’d recently discovered what her parents—specifically, her father—had done to ruin her life. Her mother was not blameless in the whole sordid business, either, because she’d known what her husband was capable of.
That was the same night Shiloh had moved out of her parents’ home and taken a place in town after giving her mother a scalding earful. Her father would have gotten more of the same had he been alive to hear it. But he had died several months ago, probably thinking he had taken all his secrets to the grave. Nonetheless, there was one secret that hadn’t quite made it. And it had been by pure accident that she had stumbled upon the truth.
She saw Sedrick’s concerned expression. “I have moved on, Sedrick. Honest. However, I haven’t forgiven Mom for the part she played in everything. But, rest assured, Caden means nothing to me anymore.” The same way he had let her know that she no longer meant anything to him. He’d even gone so far as to tell her that he couldn’t stand the sight of her. His words had hurt, destroying her already broken and shattered spirit. The words he had spoken that night had been cruel, brutal and so undeserved. She doubted she would ever forgive him for that.
“I hope one day you’ll find it in your heart to forgive Mom, Shiloh. She needs you more than ever. She’s all alone now in that huge house. I wish you hadn’t moved out.”
She felt Sedrick’s words were unfair. “I don’t see you racing to move back home,” she said curtly.
“Only because I need to be close to the hospital. Surely you understand that.”
Yes, she did understand. After medical school, Sedrick had moved back to Charlottesville, whereas she had remained living in Boston after completing college. She’d returned to Charlottesville only after her mother had pleaded with her to come home seven months ago. At the time, her father was dying of lung cancer. She had been home only a few weeks before he’d passed on.
“You and I both know Mom was a bigger puppet for Dad than we were,” Sedrick said, interrupting her thoughts. “Samuel Timmons expected everyone to obey any orders he dished out. And we did.”
“Not all the time,” Shiloh countered. “When we got older, we began thinking for ourselves,” she said, recalling that time. It was after they had both moved away to go to college that they were finally able to begin to really understand how things were at home.
“I regret the day Mom and Dad forbade us to have any contact with Jace, Caden and Dalton Granger. That was wrong. After their father was sent to prison, they probably needed their friends more than ever. Instead, they were ostracized,” Sedrick said.
Shiloh regretted it, as well. One day, the two families had been close, and then the next, her parents had forbidden her and Sedrick to have anything to do with the Grangers. And all because her parents believed Sheppard Granger had killed his wife. They hadn’t wanted their kids associating with the kids of an accused killer. She remembered Mr. Granger as a nice man and, for the life of her, she couldn’t imagine him killing anyone. And she knew that Caden and his brothers were convinced of their father’s innocence.
“Jace was my best friend growing up, and I lost him,” Sedrick said, interrupting her thoughts. “Did I tell you that he didn’t even recognize me that night he arrived at the hospital after his grandfather had that heart attack?”
Yes, Sedrick had mentioned it, and for him to bring it up again meant that he was bothered by it. Shiloh drew in a deep breath, remembering that Caden had been her best friend growing up. And in later years, after leaving for college, she had defied her father’s orders by seeking out Caden, and they had become lovers.
“Well, since you’re certain you’ve moved on, what about Wallace?”
She lifted a brow. “Who?”
“Wallace Aiken. Another heart specialist who transferred in from a hospital in Maryland. He’s a good guy, and I like him. I introduced the two of you last month when you dropped by the hospital to see me. He’s asked about you several times since. He told me last week that he would like to take you out.”
Shiloh couldn’t remember the man Sedrick was talking about, which meant he hadn’t made a lasting impression on her. But then, very few men had, compared to Caden. But not anymore. “Fine. Fix us up.”
Surprise showed on her brother’s face. “You’re serious?”
She chuckled. “Why not? We can start off by double-dating with you and Cassie.”
Her brother and Cassie Mayfield, a respiratory therapist at the hospital, had begun dating a few years ago. As far as Shiloh was concerned, it was time for Sedrick to put a ring on Cassie’s finger. Samuel Timmons hadn’t liked Cassie, saying she was from the wrong side of the tracks. But he hadn’t been able to tear the couple apart. One of his few failures.
“Great! I’ll talk to Wallace and make all the arrangements,” Sedrick said, smiling. “Is this weekend okay?”
She moved back to her desk to check her calendar. She sucked in a hiss between her teeth. She might have spoken too soon. “That’s a week before grand-opening night, and I’m going to have a lot to do this entire week,” she said, glancing over at her brother.
After seeing the I figured you would come up with an excuse look on his face, she quickly added, “But I will make time. It will probably be the last chance I have for some fun before getting really busy at work.”
“Great. And by the way, I’m impressed with how this place is shaping up. I’m glad you’re doing something you enjoy.”
A smile touched Shiloh’s lips. “Thanks, and I do enjoy this, Sedrick. I really do.”
Two
Caden Granger frowned as he gazed across his desk at his younger brother. “You’re kidding, right?”
Dalton released that crazy-ass chuckle that, at times, could grate on Caden’s last nerve. “No, I’m not kidding. Just think of what could have happened to Jace if he hadn’t had that tracking device on his phone.”
Caden didn’t want to think about it. When he and his two brothers had left Charlottesville for college years ago, each had vowed never to return. After college, they had moved to separate parts of the world, living their dreams. Caden was a well-known saxophonist touring in some of the most sought-after cities to sold-out crowds; Jace worked as an attorney for the government in California; and Dalton claimed he worked smarter and not harder by investing his money while living the life of a playboy/boy toy in Europe. In the end, Dalton was the one who’d become a billionaire. Go figure.
He, Jace and Dalton had returned to Charlottesville when their grandfather, Richard Granger, had had a fatal heart attack. It had been a couple of months ago that the three of them had made the deathbed promise to their grandfather to take over the family business, Granger Aeronautics. When they’d done so, they had no idea that in addition to inheriting a failing company, they would have to deal with employees intent on divulging trade secrets and someone they thought they could trust being a killer. The man had actually kidnapped Jace with the intention of ending his life. If it hadn’t been for the tracker Dalton had convinced Jace to install on his phone, Caden didn’t want to think of what might have happened.
“Fine. Put the damned tracker on my phone,” Caden said, tossing a document he didn’t feel like reading back into the in-box on his desk.
Dalton smiled. “I already have.”
Caden’s frown deepened. “You did so without my permission?”
“Yes.”
Dalton eased up out of the chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world, knowing full well that Caden really wanted to kick his ass. Caden might be two years older but, as far as Dalton was concerned, he was in way better shape than Caden. But he knew Caden wouldn’t do any such thing. He and his brothers might give each other hell from time to time, but they always had each other’s backs.
“So, Jace still hasn’t said anything about what’s going on with him and Wonder Woman?” Dalton observed.
Caden shrugged. Shana Bradford, whom Dalton liked to refer to as Wonder Woman, was the person they had hired to help get the company back on a proper footing. She was a real fixer, which was lucky since it was her team that had figured out about the trade-secrets encroachments, as well as Vidal Duncan’s duplicity.
“What’s there to say, Dalton? It’s been obvious from day one that he had a thing for her, although he claimed indifference. After this week’s rescue, I’d say it’s become pretty damned obvious.”
Caden was referring to the fact that the FBI agents were barely in the door to stop Jace’s head from being blown off before Shana had rushed in and thrown herself in his arms. “And I didn’t see him rejecting that wallop of a kiss she laid on him,” he added.
“Me, either,” Dalton chimed in to say, glancing at his watch. He had an appointment that he planned to keep and didn’t intend to be late.
At that moment, the buzzer on Caden’s desk sounded. “Yes, Brandy?”
“There’s a Sandra Timmons here to see you?”
Surprise shone on both Caden’s and Dalton’s faces. Sandra and Samuel Timmons had been neighbors and friends of their parents. When Sylvia Granger was murdered fifteen years ago, and their father wrongly convicted of committing the crime, the Timmonses and a lot of others had forbidden their children to continue to associate with the Granger kids. Caden had been fourteen, Jace sixteen, and Dalton twelve at the time.
“Send her in, Brandy,” Caden said, standing, straightening his tie.
Dalton stood, as well. “I wonder what she wants.”
“I have no idea.”
“Then I wouldn’t see her if I were you.”
Caden glanced over at Dalton. “Why?”
“She’s probably here to tell you to leave Shiloh alone. She’ll probably make threats and get ugly about it. She could take up where old man Timmons left off—thinking we’re nothing but scum.”
Hearing Dalton bring up the name of the one woman Caden wanted more than anything to forget sent a flash of pain through his heart. “First of all, I’m not involved with Shiloh. She’s the last woman I want to have anything to do with.”
“There was a time the two of you were—”
“Best friends,” he interrupted to say, refusing to fall victim to his younger brother’s nosiness. For months Dalton had been trying to figure out what, if anything, was going on between Caden and Shiloh. Caden had confided in Jace and told him the full story, but he figured the less Dalton knew, the better.
The door opened, and Sandra Timmons was escorted in by Brandy. As always, she looked immaculate, not a hair out of place and her clothing of the finest quality from a top-notch designer. But there was a sadness in her eyes that Caden noted immediately. Was she still mourning the loss of her husband? From what Shiloh had once told him, her parents had an unorthodox marriage that was not based on love.
“I’m glad you could see me on such short notice, Caden,” she said, giving Dalton a brief nod.
“You mean no notice, don’t you, Ms. Timmons?” Dalton interjected.
Caden frowned over at Dalton. “I believe there’s a meeting you’re supposed to attend, Dalton?”
Dalton lifted a brow. “Is there?”
“Yes. I distinctly remember your telling me about it this morning.”
Dalton looked at his watch. “Christ! I almost forgot.” And then without saying another word, he rushed out of Caden’s office, slamming the door behind him.
“I heard about what happened to Jace. That was simply dreadful. And just to think Vidal Duncan was behind it. I recall that he was once a close friend of your family.”
Caden leaned back against his desk and shoved his hands into his pockets. “And, if I remember correctly, Mrs. Timmons, so were you.”
Caden watched as the woman inhaled a deep breath. “Yes, and I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong about a lot of things.”
“Were you?”
“Yes. And I’m here to apologize to you personally. None of you boys were at fault for what your father did to your mother. I should have stood up to Samuel when he wouldn’t let Sedrick and Shiloh have anything to do with you and your brothers.”
“Yes, you should have.” Caden decided not to add that, as far as he was concerned, his father hadn’t done anything to his mother—much less murder her—but he figured it would be a waste of his time. Fifteen years ago, the Timmonses didn’t mind letting everyone know they thought Sheppard Granger was guilty of murder.
“Is that why you came here today? To apologize?” If it was, her apology was fifteen years too late.
“Yes, to apologize for everything Samuel did. I tried apologizing to Shiloh, but she refuses to take my calls.”
Caden raised a brow. “Take your calls? Isn’t Shiloh living with you at Shady Pines?” he asked, surprised.
“No, she moved out the same night she went to see you at Sutton Hills. That was over three weeks ago.”
Caden remembered that night all too well and he had no intention of discussing it with Sandra Timmons. “Mrs. Timmons, Jace will be out of the office for a few days, which means Dalton and I are pretty busy in his absence. If there’s nothing else you’d like to discuss, then I must ask you to—”
“You don’t know, do you?” she interrupted.
Caden drew in a frustrated breath. His patience with the woman was wearing thin. “Know what?”
She stared back at him, and he detected nervousness in her features. “That night, when Shiloh came to see you, didn’t she tell you anything?” she asked softly.
“No. I didn’t want to hear a word she had to say.” He walked around his desk toward the door, intending to open it so she could leave. “Now if you will excuse me, I—”
“What do you mean you didn’t want to hear anything she had to say?” the woman demanded in an angry tone, causing him to pause and look at her as if she’d lost her mind. A part of him was beginning to wonder if she had become unhinged. A lot of strange things had been happening since he and his brothers had returned to Charlottesville to take over the running of Granger Aeronautics, and this could be one more.
He turned around to face her. “I meant just what I said. I didn’t want to hear anything Shiloh had to say that night.”
“So, you have no idea where she was that weekend four years ago when the two of you planned to elope to Vegas and marry?”
Caden was surprised Shiloh had told anyone about their plans to elope four years ago. Plans she hadn’t kept. “I already know where she was, Mrs. Timmons. I received photographs that were compliments of your husband, letting me know that he was still controlling Shiloh’s life. The photographs showed her on the beach having a good time with one of Mr. Timmons’s business associates. The same person he’d been trying to shove down her throat for a year or more. Your husband, Samuel Timmons, wanted me to know she’d finally caved in.”
Sandra Timmons frowned. “And you believed that?”
Caden shrugged. “Seeing is believing.”
The woman shook her head. “You saw what Samuel wanted you to see. Those photographs were altered with Photoshop. That was not Shiloh. She was nowhere near the beach that day.”
Caden stared at the woman as her words sank in. “Then where was she?”
Sandra Timmons eased back down on the chair across from his desk, and Caden actually saw her trembling. And then he saw the tears. Whether they were genuine or not, they were there all the same. “I came here thinking that you knew. Certain that you did, and now to know that you have no idea...”
An uneasy feeling crept up Caden’s spine. What did she mean that those photographs had been altered with Photoshop? That woman in the pictures had been Shiloh. Hadn’t it? He narrowed his gaze at Mrs. Timmons as he crossed the room to her, and anger consumed every part of his body. “Where...was...she?”
The woman dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, saying, “That same weekend, while you waited for her in Vegas, she was in a hospital in Boston, fighting for her life.”
Stunned, Caden grasped the edge of his desk to keep his balance. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Sandra Timmons lowered her face to study her hands in her lap before lifting a tear-streaked face to Caden. “I don’t know how, but Samuel found out what the two of you planned and flew to Boston to try to stop her. He said he was only going to talk some sense into her. They argued, and she asked him to leave. When he refused, she rushed from the house and darted into the path of an oncoming car.”
Shocked beyond belief, Caden had to lean back against his desk for support. “Shiloh was hit by a car?”
“Yes. Things were pretty bad. She had to remain in the hospital for almost two months. The doctors managed to save her...but they couldn’t save the baby.”
The bottom of Caden’s stomach dropped. “Baby?”
“Yes. She was pregnant with your child.”
