He’s going to kill us both.
“Did you think I was just going to let you go? Let you walk away with what is rightfully mine? I’m the oldest, that money was mine before he changed the will, it’s still mine, you owe me. You are nothing.” Spittle is flying from his mouth as he talks.
I won’t let him kill my baby.
I start to pummel his legs that are on each side of my torso with my fists before I reach between his legs and grab anything I can and squeeze. Hard.
His hands around my neck loosen as he screams and tries to pull out of my grip, but I hold on for everything it’s worth. “You fucking bitch!” He lets go of my neck and grabs my arm to pull and try to pry my hand off his balls.
That’s my chance, I move my shoulders to the side while coughing and sucking in air and reach for the gun with my other hand. He doesn’t notice that I’ve grabbed it since his eyes are still on my hand between his legs. I’ve never shot a gun before, but I just lift it and point at his chest when I squeeze the trigger.
The loud pop makes my ears ring and Austin’s eyes are so wide that I can see the whites around his irises, all anger has drained from his face and his hands go to his chest where blood is starting to stain his shirt.
I don’t consciously drop the gun, but I hear it thump against the floor.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
MASON
GRAY ANDDad are in the tack room talking and, as I get closer, I can hear the conversation about the latest letter that Gray was telling me about a few weeks ago. Before I get to the door, I adjust myself in my pants to make sure there is no evidence of the giant fucking hard-on I just walked out of the house with.
Smiling to myself, I realize that I have never felt this happy.
When Sloane was taken, it rattled the part of me that has been afraid of suffering the same fate as my father or my brother. I’ve been breezing through life, trying to avoid the possibility that I might lose a wife, just like they did. The easiest thing to do was to avoid attachments.
When Gray’s wife, Sarah, died in that car accident, he told me when I came home for the funeral that he thought it shouldhave been him to die in that accident. At the time, I didn’t understand how he could wish for his death, sure; I understood dying to protect someone, but wishing to trade your life with the one you love was something that I didn’t quite understand.
Now I do.
Just trying to imagine life without her, and the baby that I’m now looking forward to, makes my chest hurt so bad that I don’t think I could do it. If given the choice, I would choose death so she could live, rather than live without her. Every time.
Gray and Dad have both done it, and for the life of me, I can’t fathom waking up in a cold bed every morning, even worse, looking at the children that share appearance and personalities with their moms. I’ve been to war, and I’ve looked death in the face many times, but I can say, hands down, that Gray and my dad are the strongest and bravest men I’ve ever known.
As I get closer to the door, I hear irritation laced in Gray’s voice, “The letter we got before Christmas says they will be sending someone to talk with us. The date was at the end of January.”
I step into the room as Dad answers, “I have a call in to Indian Affairs in Tahlequah, I should hear from them before the end of the month. I want to know all our legal rights, the last thing I want is to be unprepared.”
“When you hear from them, let me know and I’ll get my attorney involved.” I say and lean against the wall by the door.
Dad looks at me and his eyes move over my face, when he smirks, I hold my hands out to my sides, “What?”
They are both looking at me now and I lift my eyebrows in question. All Dad says is “She suits you, son.” I know exactly what he is talking about, and my lips tip up on oneside.
Feet pounding on the wooden floor of the stables make us all jump, and we move to the door to see what’s happening. Hallie is running frantically from stall to stall with panic marring her features, when she sees us, she runs right for me and grabs my forearms.
Her breaths are coming fast, she must have run from the house, “A man.” She points behind her toward the house and panic shoots through me.
Sloane!
I don’t wait to hear more, if Hallie is down here then Sloane is in the house alone, anger laced with fear electrifies every surface of my skin as I start to run across the stables, I hear Dad and Gray on my heels. Just as I clear the stable doors and my feet are pounding the cold ground, I hear a gunshot from the house and my heart practically jumps out of my chest before it starts to beat so hard that I can barely breathe.
Sloane doesn’t know how to shoot a gun. I promised her just a few days ago that I would take her out and show her. Now I wonder if I will get to keep that promise, because if she’s not the one that pulled the trigger, who did? Who is the man Hallie saw?
Red creeps into the edges of my eyesight as the house gets closer and I keep repeating in my head ‘please be okay’.
We barrel through the back door so hard that the knob sinks into the drywall and Gray and I take the stairs two at a time. When we get to my bedroom door, relief washes over me when I see Sloane crawling away from Austin, who is lying on his side next to her.
All that matters is that she’s alive.
