I nodded, swallowing the drink of water I’d taken. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

“All I can tell you is that the story was covered up at the request of his older brother, Jonah Steel.”

“You mean Talon himself didn’t ask you to cover it up?”

“No. But if Jonah hadn’t, Talon would have.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Talon likes to keep to himself.”

Boy, was she right about that. “Why do you think that is? I mean, he was a hero of mega-proportions.”

“He has his reasons.”

“Do you know what those reasons are?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss what his reasons might be.”

“But you do know what they are?”

Wendy pursed her lips and cleared her throat. She said nothing as she stroked her cheek with her index finger.

Yeah, she knew.

“Can you give me any information on those reasons at all?”

“It would help me a lot, Jade, if I knew why you needed this information.”

I didn’t know or care why Larry was investigating the Steels. I wanted to know more about Talon Steel and why he was the way he was because I was in love with him, and I wanted to help him. But I couldn’t tell Wendy that, so I gave her my canned response. “I wish I could tell you, but it’s classified at this point.”

She nodded. “Of course. I understand. As a reporter and correspondent, I’ve used that line more times that I can even remember. I also know what it really means.”

I smiled and let out a little small laugh. “So I think you know where I’m coming from, then.”

“I do. I do. But I made a lot of promises a long time ago.”

“Promises to whom?”

“To Bradford Steel and his wife.”

“You knew Daphne?”

She nodded. “We weren’t close, but I did know her. She was a very troubled woman.”

“Just how far back does your relationship with the Steel family go?” Daphne had died soon after Marj was born, about twenty-five years ago.

“I’d known Brad forever.” She got a wistful look in her eyes, as if she were going back in time, to a happier place.

So that was how it was. She had been in love with Talon’s father. How could I get her to admit it?

“I see. What does that mean exactly?”

“We went to school together for years. I actually grew up on the Western slope.”

“I see. So you and Mr. Steel were friends.”

She nodded. “Very…close friends.”

I smiled. “I think I get the gist of what you’re telling me.”

“We were childhood sweethearts, but my family moved to Denver when I was sixteen and Brad was seventeen. We promised to stay together, but you know how that always works out. Long-distance relationships and all.”

“I actually do know. Been there.”

“Plus we were just babies ourselves.” She smiled. “I gave him my virginity before he left.” She shook her head and laughed. “Now why the hell did I just tell you that?”

“Because you’re strolling down memory lane, Wendy. Don’t worry. It won’t go any further than me. I’m interested in everything you can tell me about the Steels, but trust me, the fact that Bradford Steel took your virginity will not go into the report to my boss.”

She wiped one eye and sniffed. “I appreciate that. Anyway, we went off to different colleges, and Brad ended up married to Daphne. I’m not sure he loved her. She was smart and gorgeous but really troubled. She’d fly off the handle for no reason sometimes, or so it seemed, according to Brad. But she got pregnant with the oldest, Jonah. Brad was nothing if not gentlemanly, so he married her.”

“Are you saying the Steels were never in love?”

“My guess is that they weren’t. Or at least Brad wasn’t. When I started work for NNN, he found me after I did my first piece as a field reporter. He saw me in the news, and he got in touch with me.”

I had a feeling where this was headed. “Go on,” I said.

“Can I consider this off the record?” she asked.

I nodded. “Sure.”

“It didn’t take us long to pick up where things had left off.” She smiled, shaking her head. “Brad was so handsome, big and strong like his sons are. I had missed him. I’d had a string of boyfriends, but none of them ever measured up to Brad, so I never married. Now and then when I met him again, even though he was married… Well, I’m not proud of it. But then again, I do treasure those memories.” She laughed a bit. “I really don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I’m not sure I ever told anyone, and here I am, telling my innermost secrets to an attorney who is investigating my onetime lover’s family.”

“Sometimes it’s nice to be able to talk to someone, even a stranger.”

She nodded. “I could never tell my mother this. She’d think I was some kind of Jezebel. She’d probably want to brand me with a scarlet letter.”

“So when was it,” I asked, “that you and Mr. Steel rekindled your affair?”

“About thirty years ago. All the boys had been born. Little Ryan was only a toddler. Brad gave me the old ‘my wife doesn’t understand me’ routine, and I fell for it because I was so crazy about him.”

I nodded. “Was he sleeping with his wife at that point?”

“He said he wasn’t, and I believed him. Until she got pregnant again with the daughter. He claimed it had meant nothing, of course. That she was going crazy, and he did it to calm her down. I didn’t believe that then, and I don’t believe it now. But he had a hold on me, Jade. I couldn’t let him go. So when he wanted to continue seeing me, I obliged.”

Wow. I got it. Truly got it. Talon had a hold on me that I wasn’t sure would ever go away.

“So you saw him while Daphne was pregnant with Marjorie?”

Wendy nodded. “Like I said, not proud of it. But if you could only understand how he affected me. Those Steel men…”

I understood better than she knew, but I couldn’t tell her that, at least not yet. “I’m honestly not here to judge you, Wendy. I just want information.”

“If Brad were still alive, I wouldn’t be telling you all this.”