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spectacularly.”
    “I’m surprised you let him live.”
    Raphael shrugged. “I saw something in him, something I thought I could use.”
    “Were you right?”
    It was Raphael’s turn to laugh. “Oh, yes. He was a challenge, but ultimately well worth the effort.”
    “If you say so. Kathryn seems to like him anyway.”
    “Speaking of Kathryn, remember, you cannot share any of this with her. If Lucas chooses to confide in her, that is his choice, but we cannot afford to let our enemies know that we know they’re coming. This is not a topic for your Mates Club.”
    “You know about that?”
    “Sweet Cyn ,” he said, patting her ass affectionately, “I know about everything. You should understand that by now.”

 
    Chapter Five
    The next day found Cyn urging her horse up the final rise to the top of a hill, and thinking ruefully that the pretty little bay mare probably didn’t need her help, or her urging. No doubt the horse was far more familiar with this trail than Cyn was.
    She’d been impressed earlier with Lucas’s stable of horses. For that matter, she’d been impressed with his stable . Cyn had been raised with money and privilege, and most of her friends growing up had been likewise fortunate. When she’d told Kathryn she’d had riding lessons all through her youth, she’d been telling the truth. She’d been taught by the very best instructors at the most exclusive stables that California and, ultimately, Europe, had to offer.
    But even with that background, Lucas’s stables were amongst the finest she’d seen, especially in private hands. Horses weren’t cheap, not to feed, not to stable, and not to care for. But it was obvious that Lucas did all three and spared no expense.
    Robbie suddenly surged past her on the right. He was riding a monster of a beast, a chestnut gelding who was at least eighteen hands tall and with fire in his eye. But then, Robbie was a big guy, so nothing smaller would suit. He was also, as it turned out, a damned good rider and seemed to relish the challenge the horse presented. Horse and rider both appeared to be grinning when they raced past her.
    Cyn grinned back. Lucas’s lands were meant for riding, with lots of wide, well-groomed trails that were kept clear of obstacles. She supposed in the deep part of winter, with the snow up to everyone’s ass, the trails were less reliable. But as far as she was concerned, only a masochist would venture out in that kind of weather, anyway. As it was, the afternoon’s early December temperatures were pushing her boundaries of reasonable comfort, though even she had to admit the sun felt good on her face and the air was cold and fresh.
    She leaned forward and patted her mount on the neck. “Don’t you worry about those silly boys, sweetheart,” she soothed. “They’ll stub a toe, and then they’ll be crying like the big babies they are.”
    “Raphael know you have such a high opinion of men?” Kathryn asked, coming up behind her at a more sedate pace than Robbie’s headlong dash.
    “Of course, he knows. But then, as he’s always pointing out to me, he’s not a man.”
    Kathryn laughed, as they rode side by side up over the rise and paused on the ridge line. “It is lovely here, isn’t it?” she asked, looking back over the rolling expanse of snow-dappled hills.
    “Except for the cold.”
    “Cold?” Kathryn scoffed. “Honey, you ain’t seen cold. It’ll be up to our asses in a month.”
    “Exactly what I was thinking. But I thought this was your first winter here.”
    “Yeah, but I’ve visited the Minneapolis office enough times to know. Only for Lucas would I live here. I’m a Southern girl.”
    “Lucky for me, Raphael hates the cold as much as I do.” Cyn spotted Robbie heading back toward her across the wide, flat top of the ridge. She stood in her stirrups to shout at him, and had just sucked in her breath to do so, when the unmistakable crack of a long range rifle shot shattered the peace of the