For a moment, I don’t feel anything at all. Then everything hits me like a flood—relief, disbelief, pride, fear, a punch of something warm and painful behind the sternum. The contractors murmur, some sigh in defeat, others nod respectfully, while a few clap me on the shoulder.
I can’t move, breathe, or speak. Ella releases a breath so soft I almost don’t hear it, but I see her eyes shine. And that nearly brings me to my knees.
Toby stumbles to his feet. “No,” he spits. “No. Absolutely not. This is bullshit. Rigged. Corrupt. He hits me, and you give him the job? Hell no!”
Hank’s stare could cut steel. “My decision is final.”
“The hell it is!” Toby roars.
He grabs his phone with shaking hands and dials. Right there in front of us. Eyes locked on me. “Yeah,” he barks into the phone. “I’d like to report an assault. A Cole Dawson. He attacked me on the Morgan property. Iron Stallion ranch.”
The crowd erupts in whispers.
Calista clings to him like a dramatic actress, pressing a hand to her cheek. “He was out of control! He could’ve hurt everyone!”
My stomach sinks as Ella moves toward me instinctively, but I lift a hand slightly—a silent stop. I won’t let her walk into this, not for me.
Hank tries his best to take control of the situation, but Toby is having none of it.
It doesn’t take long for police sirens to wail in the distance. Ella’s eyes are on me, wide, soft, and breaking. I try my best to remaincalm, standing straight, hands at my side, chin up. How did everything get so fucked up, so fast?
The sirens cut off, doors open, and two officers step out. They approach us to take statements, interview the contractors while listening to Calista’s hysterical retelling and Toby’s embellished sob story.
When they get to me, I don’t lie. “I punched him,” I admit quietly. “Once.”
They exchange a look just as Ella steps forward, voice trembling but steady. “He provoked him. They said things—“
Zane puts an arm out, gently pulling her behind him, and Jace steps forward. “Officers, I’m sure we can handle this internally.”
But they already have what they need. “I’m sorry,” the senior officer says. “We have to take him in.”
One of them steps behind me. I don’t resist when he takes my wrists or flinch when the cuffs click shut. My eyes lock onto Ella’s as she lets out a soft, broken sound that tears through me like barbed wire.
I keep my eyes on her, just her—her eyes shining with unshed tears, lips parted in disbelief, chest rising and falling too fast.
I give her the smallest nod. It’s going to be okay, Ella. Don’t make things harder. Don’t fight for me against the law and get yourself pulled into this bullshit because of me.
She shakes her head once, desperate, like she refuses to accept this, but she can’t stop it.
They guide me toward the cruiser, gravel crunching beneath my boots, air tasting like dust and shame, making my throat burn. I sit in the back of the car without a word.
I look out the window and see Ella standing there. She looks devastated but still manages to have that fierce look. Our eyes lock, and I realize with absolute clarity: I would throw a thousand punches, spend a thousand nights in that jail cell, if it meant shielding her from even one more second of their cruelty.
The cruiser pulls away, barn fading behind us, until it disappears around the bend. But her eyes—they stay with me, burning, breaking, and beautiful.
A foreign feeling grips my chest. Fear. I’m afraid. Not of the arrest, of Toby and Calista, or the company I might lose, but I’m afraid of how much she matters.
I’m afraid I won’t deserve her when all this is over.
11
ELLA
The moment the police car disappears down the road with Cole in the back seat, my entire chest goes cold. Not numb—cold. Like something inside me has cracked, and the wind rushed straight through it.
I don’t wait, breathe, or even think as I dart out of the barn and run to the main house. I’m in and out in minutes with my keys in hand, ignoring my family yelling behind me. I get into my jeep and peel out of the ranch like the devil is chasing me, or maybe like I’m the devil chasing someone else.
The police station isn’t far, but every minute feels like an hour. I replay everything that happened: Toby and Calista’s dramatics, Cole’s hands cuffed behind his back, and the resigned look in hiseyes when he signaled for me not to get involved. As if there was a universe where I’d just stand there and let him face this alone.
