“Then what?”
“Well,” he laughs without humor. “Then I was fucked. They threatened to pull all the listings, everything we had with them which would’ve sent us into bankruptcy because I had convinced you to invest in commercial properties, but they weren’t moving as fast. It felt impossible, but I also convinced myself it was fine. Prices started becoming weird and the same buyer would come in at a ridiculously low price, they’d accept, and then that seller would list the property for three times as much a month later, but always through us so the commissions were great. They needed a way to clean the dirty money, and all I was doing was selling property.”
Only he wasn’t just selling properties. He was using our company to help clean dirty money.
“And how did it become the horses?” I ask.
His eyes widen before he schools his features. “It was a last resort.”
“How?” I ask again.
He leans back, clasping his hands in front of him. “There were rumors that the Feds were onto the game with real estate. All of this is easy to track with tax records and names. They wanted to find a way that wasn’t as heavily monitored, where sales aren’t documented at the state and federal levels. That’s when someone mentioned racehorses.”
“So you just volunteered my ranch?” Anger seeps through each word as I stare at him.
“I didn’t have to. They knew who you were. The Gibrelli family doesn’t not do their research. You were doing well, had a winner or two, and they took the same idea of what we were doing with the housing market and approached Travis. I know you don’t care or it doesn’t matter, but I refused to help if they involved you at all,” he says quickly.
“You’re right. It doesn’t matter because it did involve me, Nate. I was cuffed, searched, held down on the ground in my fucking house while Tessa was beside me. I was put in the back of a car, taken to jail, went before a judge, and you know what? You didn’t get me out of it. You didn’t confess so that you spared me, the one fucking person who never betrayed you. No, you kept quiet,” I say each word softly, using the tactic our college coach used—quiet rage. “You would’ve let me take the fall, wouldn’t you?”
His jaw tenses and that was the answer I knew was coming, but it still feels like a sucker punch to the stomach. He opens his mouth, but I shut him down.
“Don’t fucking lie. You would’ve let me go down for this. You and Travis set me up so that if this fell apart, you, at the very least, would go free.” I get to my feet, done with this. The whys and whos and hows don’t matter anymore. He could explain it all and at the end, it changes nothing. “I would’ve done anything for you, Nathaniel. We’ve been friends since we were eighteen.Decades of trust, loyalty, and a brotherhood you broke and for what? Money? I hope it was all worth it.”
Then I walk to the door, bang a few times and wait for the guard.
“Killian?” Nathaniel calls out. “It wasn’t worth it. None of it. I’m sorry.”
I stare at him, wishing the door was open and I didn’t hear that last part, but I dip my head and exhale. “I’m sorry too, but I don’t think it’s for the same reasons.”
The door buzzes and then slides open, but I walk out, putting him and everything behind me so I can have the life with the woman who is waiting outside for me.
~Nine months later~
“This is so exciting!” Tessa says as she grabs my hand.
“It will be if we win.”
This is one of the last races that will award the points Midnight Valor needs to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. When I entered him into the first prep race, I really didn’t think much of it. He’s a great horse, and when I decided to breed his father with Midnight, I had no idea that this would be what came. Midnight Valor has speed, agility, and I thought if I could get him to win a few races, when we went to breed him, it would yield higher returns and make it so my sister’s horse could live on forever.
We won the first race. Came in fourth for the second, and we’ve had really consistent results each race.
This is the last one, and we need a high finish in order to qualify, which…is beyond my expectations.
“Either way, this is great for the ranch.”
She’s not wrong about that. When Midnight Valor started to gain traction, we sold every horse we had available.
Now our breeding program is back on track, and we are already being asked about when he’ll be entered into the rotation.
“I wish my sister was alive to see this,” I say, squeezing Tessa’s hand. “She would’ve loved that Midnight helped create a winner.”
Tessa smiles. “I think Alicia is with us. I think her heart, her spirit, and her tenacity live inside that horse. It’s why he’s a winner.”
I lean in and kiss her softly. “He didn’t start winning until you came into my life.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re ridiculous, but I love you.”
“I love you more.”
