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do any good, either, because he continued to drive toward his ranch. It was the last place in Texas she wanted to be, after hearing the news from Dale that Mack Sadler had driven the ranch’s Range Rover on the very day that someone had used it to follow her. She didn’t want to see or confront Mack just yet.
    Besides, she needed to get back to Lucas.
    She’d assured Houston that Lucas was safe from the people in that black car, but Gabrielle didn’t want to risk being away from him any longer. She also didn’t want to press the point of getting back to the baby, because that would only spur Houston into demanding that he go along with her. So she tried a different angle.
    “Someone just tried to run us off the road,” Gabrielle said. “Maybe this time he didn’t use the green Range Rover. Maybe Mack used another vehicle from the ranch.”
    “My father had nothing to do with what just happened,” Houston snapped. He had his attention fastened to the road ahead, and every muscle in his face was iron hard.
    “Right,” she mumbled. “Then who was it?”
    His jaw muscles tightened even more, something she hadn’t thought possible. “I don’t know, but I sure as hell intend to find out.”
    She didn’t doubt that he would try to do that. Houston was invested in this now. Unfortunately.
    He knew about Lucas, and he wasn’t just going to forget that he had a biological son. That meant Gabrielle would have to go on the run again. Somehow, she’d have to hide.
    A pang of guilt hit her harder than she’d expected.
    Lucas was indeed Houston’s son, and that perhaps did give him some legal rights, but she couldn’t let him be part of her baby’s life. The incident with the black car was a stark warning that Lucas’s safety had to come first.
    The problem was, how could she outrun the danger?
    Gabrielle had some savings, but it wasn’t unlimited, and it would be eaten up quickly if she had to use it for hotels and travel. She didn’t have any rich relatives, either. Her brother, Jay, lived from paycheck to paycheck, when and if he was working, and he wasn’t what anyone would consider responsible.
    She was on her own, and obviously in deep trouble.
    “My father wasn’t in that black car,” Houston mumbled. “He also wouldn’t have done anything to make you an unwilling surrogate. And he would have no reason tofollow you three days ago. Whoever took that photo of the license plates made a mistake.”
    Was it her imagination, or did he seem to be trying to convince himself?
    Still, it didn’t make sense that Mack would risk hurting his own son in a car crash. For that matter, Mack’s possible involvement with her didn’t make sense, either. She’d never met the man, and he’d had nothing to do with the lawsuit involving her brother.
    So, did that mean someone had set up Mack to make him look guilty?
    It was a good theory, except that Gabrielle couldn’t think of a reason for that, either. If this had something to do with a possible accomplice of the gunmen who’d taken her hostage, then how did that connect back to the Sadlers?
    Maybe it didn’t.
    But Gabrielle wasn’t about to declare either of them innocent just yet. The only thing she knew was that her routine request for a donor embryo had somehow turned into a nightmare—a nightmare that had produced a baby she loved more than life itself.
    Houston turned into the driveway that led to the front of the ranch house. Except, it was really more of a sprawling mansion than a mere house. It was three stories, all pristine white, with porches and columns that stretched across the front on all three levels. It was yet another reminder that, if it came down to a custody battle, it wouldn’t be easy to fight Houston and his money.
    Dale was waiting for them on the first-floor porch, and he hurried out to the car the moment Houston brought itto a stop. “Are you okay?” he asked Houston, and then looked at Gabrielle, as well.
    She nodded, but Houston