He must be one of the lowest forms of humanity, but based on what Callum told me about him, he sounds like a spoiled rich boy with a chip on his shoulder and no regard for anyone other than himself.
Our team has had our fair share of run-ins with the skin trade, and I’ve never been able to understand what gets into a person that makes them think that hurting another person theway they do is okay. Something has to be seriously missing inside for it not to affect them.
I haven’t been able to stay away from her since she came to my room. The next night I was at her bedroom door as soon as all the lights were out and I feasted on her perfect body, every part of her like undiscovered territory that I want to claim.
From the time I get up, all I think about is being close to her. The last time I was with a woman more than once, much less thought about one, was when I was a horny fucker in high school. I don’t know how she got so much power over me, but I’ve felt it since I first saw her in that bar.
Something in me wants to wrap her up and keep her safe, it comes from the same place that wants to make her mine and hurt anyone who has hurt her in the past or wants to hurt her now. A voice in my head says ‘she’s mine’ and my dick wants to be buried in her all the time.
Since her brother saw her with me last weekend, I’m almost positive that the people who want to take her are already sniffing around the area, so I need to talk with my dad to let him know how serious the situation is. I’m still a little pissed that he didn’t say anything to me or Gray, he had to know it would get dangerous at some point.
It’s been a little over two weeks since his heart attack, so he has declared himself fit and is back in the stables. The smell of the horses and the hay are such a part of the happy memories of my childhood that stepping through the big barn doors makes all my worries feel lighter. No wonder Dad spends all his time down here.
When I remind myself that it has been fourteen years since I was forced to leave my home and enter the service, or go to jail, I find it hard to believe I’ve been away for so long. It seems like it’s only been a couple of years since I spent my days taking care of the horses and cleaning the stalls.
The stable has ten stalls, five on each side, and in the middle on one side is the wash stall, and across the aisle from that is the tack room and Dad’s office. Some of the horses watch me as I walk by and some of them are out in the attached paddocks.
As I get closer to the wash stall, I hear Lainey Rai’s voice and when I look around the door, I’m almost shocked to see her grooming one of the stallions. Not because she can’t handle it, but because I can see Gray flipping his lid with worry over her being too close to one of the larger horses.
The stallion is hobbled, and Wilson is sitting to the side watching everything. She is murmuring sweet nothings to him as she stands on her step stool and brushes his neck. Her stall coat and stocking cap are so puffy with insulation that she looks tiny. The stallion is wearing his own quilted jacket that is fastened in the front.
He seems very affectionate with her, rubbing his nose against her hand, but I still need to ask, “Does your dad know that you are brushing that stallion?”
She keeps brushing but doesn’t look at me, “Daddy’s in town getting some feed for the mare that Marley took in.”
Cocking an eyebrow and sliding my thumbs into my pockets, I chuckle, “That didn’t answer my question, little lady.”
“I’m watching her.” Dad’s gravelly voice booms behind me and I turn to see him in his office across the aisle.
Turning back to Lainey Rai, I point my finger at her, “You be careful with that guy.”
She rolls her eyes in nine-year-old girl fashion, “Ugh, he’s probably sweeter than you, Uncle Mason.”
I jerk my head back, feigning insult, with my hand over my heart. “I’m sweet.”
She giggles, “But you don’t give soft, fuzzy nose nudges.” She scratches and then rubs the horse’s nose with her glovedhand.
The temperatures dropped again this morning, and a chance of snow is in the forecast, so Dad’s heater is on in the tack room. The big door is rolled open and when I cross the threshold it feels about twenty degrees warmer than the thirty degrees in the rest of the stable.
I don’t beat around the bush, I walk up to his desk and say, “We need to talk.”
He leans back in the squeaky desk chair from the mid-nineteen hundreds and links his fingers in front of him, “Okay.”
“About Sloane.”
His facial expression doesn’t change, if there is anyone in this world who has a perfect poker face, it’s my old man. It’s also where I learned it. He doesn’t say anything but waits for me to continue.
“You know all about the issue with her brother?”
He takes a deep breath and nods his head.
Just talking about it is making me angry, I lift my hat to let some cool air in and set it back on my head, “When we went into town last weekend, we bumped into her brother at the gas station by the tracks. The fucker actually followed her out of the store, but when he saw me, he went back in.”
Dad takes his hat off and tosses it on his desk before sliding his fingers through the thinning dark hair. “I wondered when he would catch up with her. To be honest, I’d hoped they just wouldn’t find her.”
Setting my hands on my hips, I say, “Why didn’t you tell me, Dad?”
He leans forward in his chair and sets his elbows on his desk. “Well, I’ll tell you, son. You’re never here.” He pauses and guilt squeezes my chest. “Gray has enough on his plate with running this place and being a single father to that little girl out there.” He points his finger across the aisle to Lainey Rai.
