He jabs a finger at me. “This isn’t over, Maddox.”
I hold his gaze and lean forward. “I don’t expect that it is. Now, get out of here before you do something you’ll regret.”
Rowe’s ex studies me for a long minute. Then he pulls his lips back and sneers, “No matter what you think you’re gonna do to fix up the Wadley place, it won’t work. What’s out there, it’sused up. Wasted.And I’m not talking about the property.”
One word flashes through my mind:
Rowe.
Before I can think, I grab two fistfuls of his shirt and back him into the wall. He hits it with a hard thud.
“What did you say?” I demand.
Instead of answering, Luke pulls back his fist and slams it into my jaw. My head snaps to the right and pain blooms, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to let this loser win.
I refocus, pull him forward, and shove him back again, making sure his head smacks the wall—hard. Above us, framed pictures and buck trophies shake, threatening to fall.
Luke groans and sags against the wall.
“You got something else to say about her?” I growl.
Luke blinks, shakes his head.
I toss him to the right. He stumbles, throwing out his arms and using an empty table to break his fall. He slowly straightens, and when he turns around stiffly, Luke says, “You don’t know who you’re messing with.”
“Neither do you,” I reply, fists tight by my sides.
He stares at me for a beat longer and then storms out. As soon as he’s gone, everyone goes quiet for a moment as all of us exhale.
“Holy shit,” Isaac says, clapping me on the back.
“How’d you do that?” McCauley asks, picking up the money I dropped on the floor when I grabbed Luke. “Not scare Luke—that was awesome. But how’d you beat him?”
I pull the piece of mane from my pocket. “This is how Luke’s been cheating. Saw it in his pocket.” I rub my sore jaw. “Come on. Let’s divvy up the money. Y’all deserve to get back everything he stole from you.”
They protest, but I’m not keeping the cash. For all the times that Luke cheated them, these men deserve some sort of compensation.
Clarice walks up while I’m putting the last of the money in my wallet and pats me on the arm. “You made yourself an enemy tonight.”
I hand her a hundred and wink. “I sure did, and I couldn’t have done it without your help.”
“Kid, before you know it, you’re gonna become a local.”
“I doubt that.”
“She’s right about Luke,” Isaac says while slipping on his jacket. “You’d better watch your back.”
No.He’d better watch his, because if Luke Preston tries anything against Rowe, I’ll destroy him.
And that’s a promise.
