“Then keep him,” I offer.
Her gaze turns ice cold. “Don’t you get it? I don’twantKincaid. I never wanted him. Just like you didn’t. But after you fucked everything up and stopped doing your duty as his fiancée, one of us had to step up and try to mend fences between our families. I tried. I told him, and he wouldn’t listen… but I tried.”
Eden clenches her teeth. Her hands ball into tight fists at her sides as she squeezes her eyes shut.
“But just like his brother, he was hung up on you. Not that it stopped him from fucking me and anyone else he pleased. But still. What did you do to them? Why do you always get everything? You don’t deserve it.”
My eyebrows pinch. “What are you talking about, Eden?”
She’s never overly sweet. A byproduct of my parents spoiling her endlessly. But this is beyond a tantrum. The things she’s saying are downright vile.
“Dad deserved better, but you were always too selfish. All you cared about was yourself and Dean.” Eden levels me with her gaze. “I thought I could fix it, but then you left and messed everything up even more. I tried to get you to come back—to show you what was right in front of you. I knew if they scared you enough, you’d realize he was a bad idea. They had one job, and they couldn’t even do that. Why would you stay after they almost killed you at the motel?”
Myeyes widen as I process what Eden is saying. “You’re the one who sent the men who fired on the motel in Vegas?”
They could have killed us with how recklessly they were shooting. I’m amazed no one got caught in the crossfire.
“But Kincaid—”
She laughs. “You think Kincaid had the balls or the intelligence to clean up this mess? To send men into his brother’s territory? God, you really overestimate him.”
“You did it? You sent them? They almost killed me.”
“They were just supposed to scare you. It’s not my fault that Kincaid’s employees are worthless. I suppose that’s what I get for trusting men who believed me when I told them I’d make it worth it to them.”
“Why, Eden? Why would you do this?”
“I already told you. To get you to come back.”
“But Kincaid and I were over; there was no fixing it.”
“There’s always a way to fix it.” Her voice pitches. “Dad taught us that. But you decided to take the easy road and just give up instead of trying to clean up your mess. Don’t you care about your family?”
“Dad only cares about himself, so why would I care about him?”
“What about me?” She’s out of breath as she stands at the end of my bed. “You didn’t just leave Dad, you left me. The ranch is falling apart, and Dad can’t keep it up anymore. The cattle can’t even graze on our own land. Without Ironside Ridge, we won’t survive. A payoff won’tkeep us afloat more than three years. We needed the steady cash flow from the mineral rights.”
“Maybe this is what we deserve. Maybe it’s karma. Dad helped Tate poison those cattle. He created his own problems.”
“He was securing our family’s interest, Willa. Why can’t you see that?”
I shake my head, not understanding anything she’s saying right now. Eden is talking like someone I’ve never met before.
She drags her fingers through her blonde hair. “Why has everyone given up so easily? First you. Now Dad. If I’d have known when I stole that will that he was going to just hand it over—”
“What will?”
“What will?” She laughs, but it’s laced with anger. “Dean’s grandpa’s will. Did you really think he died without one? And now Dad is going to just give it to Dean to get back at Tate. He’d rather Dean get the ranch to satisfy his own vengeance than fix this.”
“The ranch is Dean’s?” It’s nearly a whisper.
“Of course it is. His grandpa always favored him. Everyone knew that.”
We did. He loved both of his grandsons, but he didn’t trust Tate’s influence over Kincaid for good reason.
“They found the will?”
She rolls her eyes. “It was never lost, Willa. But I never expected Dad to hand it over to them. Now everything is all fucked up. All because you couldn’t stop being selfish.”
