Free Rage of Passion by Diana Palmer

enough,” Gabe was muttering to Dennis. “How she could marry something like you in the first place is beyond me.”
    Becky came into the office before Gabe returned and ran into her mother's outstretched arms.
    “Oh, Mama,” Becky wailed. “Michelle said Daddy was here.” She drew away, green eyes wide and frightened. “I don't have to go with him, do I?”
    “No, darling,” Maggie said softly, hoping, praying that it would be the truth after the custody battle was over. She knelt, smiling at the young girl, brushing back the long strands of hair from the pale little face. “No, you don't have to go with him.”
    Becky looked past her mother and her face froze. She frowned a little. “Who are you?” she asked curiously.
    “Gabriel Coleman,” he said, looking down at her with narrowed eyes.
    Becky's face lit up. “You're Aunt Janet's Gabe, aren't you?” the little girl asked, moving toward the tall man. She looked up at him with open fascination. “Aunt Janet says that you have a ranch and horses and cows and lots of cowboys, just like in the movies! Do you shoot Indians?”
    Incredibly, the hard face relaxed into a genuine smile, the first one Maggie had seen yet. He went down on one knee so that he could see Becky better. “No, I don't shoot Indians,” he said, amused. “But I have a couple of Commanche men who work for me.”
    Becky's face brightened. “Do they scalp people?”
    He looked up at Maggie. “I'd love to hear the bedtime stories you tell this child.”
    Maggie flushed. “Well, actually, it's the movies…”
    “You'd better come home with me, Becky,” he said seriously, “and you can see what ranching is like for yourself.”
    Becky hesitated. There was fear in her eyes—the same fear Gabe had seen in her mother—and his face hardened visibly.
    “Your mother will be there, too,” he said softly. “And I swear, honey, nobody will hurt you as long as I'm around.”
    Becky's wan little face managed a wobbly smile. “Then I guess it'll be okay.”
    He nodded. “Are you ready?” he asked, standing.
    “Yes, sir. I have my suitcase right over there.”
    Gabe picked it up, glancing at Maggie over the child's head. There was an expression in his eyes that defied description.
    * * *
    Becky was delighted with the ranch. She'd been quiet all the way back, except to exclaim at the private plane and the fact that Gabe could actually fly it. But when she got her first look at the ranch, her breath sighed out in a rush.
    “Oh, isn't it just beautiful, Mama?” she asked Maggie, all eyes and laughter. “Isn't it just beautiful? Look at all the room! And cows and horses…!”
    Gabe chuckled softly, smoking his cigarette without comment.
    “Can I ride a horse? Oh, can I?” Becky begged.
    “No,” Maggie said.
    “Yes,” Gabe countered immediately, his eyes challenging Maggie. “She's old enough. I was four when my dad put me on my first horse. I won't let her get hurt,” he added gently when she still hesitated.
    Maggie bit her lip. She'd need a lot more sustenance than the rushed breakfast she'd had to take on Gabriel Coleman in that mood. But it was going to be a fight all the way; of that she was sure.
    Janet was delighted to see the child and made a big fuss over her. Even the housekeeper began immediately to spoil her. She was taken off into the kitchen and then upstairs to see her very own room. Everyone was enthusiastic except Maggie, who'd had a glimpse of hell at the boarding school.
    Dennis had almost succeeded in spiriting the child away, and possession was still nine-tenths of the law. If she'd been a little later, or if Gabe hadn't been with her…She shuddered to think of the consequences.
    And now Dennis thought she had a lover. He was going to use Gabe, of all people, against her. How would she prove it was a lie? It might be just the lever Dennis needed to get possession of Becky, and what a hell of a life she'd have with him. If it came to that, Maggie might be forced