Page 29 of Roped

Once again, I’m left staring at the fucking screen, even though I know I won’t get a text back. I won’t get what I want. Not until I deliver the fucking cargo. Also known as Peyton Turner. The Turner Princess. The wrong girl.

This is the reason I took her that night. I didn’t do it for the Graysons or for my best friend or for the land. I did it for this. For my own purposes.

The Graysons and the Turners have been at war for decades. But this will start a new shitstorm. Kidnapping the Turner Princess from under everyone’s nose—especially when the Graysons have promised to let her go at the end of their own agenda—is going to blow everything to pieces. Not only will the Turners come after me for taking what’s theirs, but my own family will see it as a grave betrayal.

And I don’t give a fuck.

Seething, I look up at the window again. No one can save her from me, definitely not her blue fucking curtains or any promises that the Graysons have made. Or her piece-of-shit father. I will steal her away and I will get what I want. There is no other option.

It doesn’t matter that every time I think about handing her over to these people, I want to kill something or burn something down. Or my chest feels ready to crack with both anger and remorse—something I thought I’d buried with my parents and wouldn’t ever feel for anything else—for using her for my own purposes.

It also doesn’t matter that I still watch her, and that any number of those acceptable reasons are not really why I do it. I don’t still watch her because it’s a habit or because she’s the enemy. I do it because she doesn’t feel like one. She doesn’t feel like the Turner Princess. She just feels like she’s mine. She feels like a prize, a reward, a fucking treasure under the debris that is my life. Something that I deserve after everything I’ve been through. Something I’m owed.

I watch her because I’m the hunter and she’s my prey. The one I want to capture and never let go of.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“GIRL TROUBLE?”

The question is asked by me and addressed to the youngest Grayson brother, Axton. Or Ax, as everyone calls him. Apparently, they really like their nicknames at Rawhide: Mars, Arsen, Ax. Anyway, it’s day two of my captivity, and we’re gathered at the little eating nook in the kitchen because it’s lunchtime. By we, I mean me, Reverie, Haven, and Axton. Ax is sitting opposite me and he’s yet to touch his tuna salad sandwich because he’s focused on his phone. And with the way his fingers are flying on the keypad and the frown he’s sporting, he’s having a deep discussion with someone. At my question, though, he looks up, his fingers coming to a halt as he stares at me with those dark eyes of his.

All Grayson brothers look more or less the same. Dark thick hair with piercing dark eyes; Mars also sports a mustache that looks really sexy on him, I’m not going to lie. The Grayson brothers also have sharp and handsome features that I’m sure every woman in the vicinity swoons over. They’re all built the same too: broad shoulders, towering height, a body sculpted from hard labor. With Arsen being the tallest and Marsden being the broadest. Axton falls somewhere in the middle but by no means is he any less impressive than his older brothers. In fact, I think he probably gets the most attention. On top of being a filthy rich cowboy, he’s also a senior in high school and the quarterback of his football team. Even though I only met him yesterday—was forced to meet him—I already know Axton Grayson is the most popular guy in town. The girls at the bonfire certainly flocked to him like their lives depended on the attention he gave them.

This also means I know he doesn’t have girl troubles. I’m just fucking with him because why the fuck not? His family has taken me captive; it’s the least I can do. If I rile them up enough, maybe they’ll slip and reveal something I can use to my advantage. So I throw him a sweet smile and his eyes narrow. Pointing to the phone still in his hands, I ask, “Anything I can do to help?”

He lowers the device and cocks his head to the side. “You’re awfully generous.”

I raise my eyebrows. “You mean for someone who just got kidnapped?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, if you’re waiting for me to flinch and cower at your presence, then you’re going to have to wait a really long time.”

He studies me for a few moments. “Not sure what you’re tryna do, but if you’re lookin’ to buy favors around here, you’re barkin’ up the wrong tree.”

I shake my head, smirking. “I’m not a dog, Ax. I don’t bark. I purr.”

He smirks back. “You mean, like a pussy?”

“Axton Jonah Grayson,” Haven snaps, smacking him on the back of his head. “Watch your mouth.”

Frowning, he rubs the spot. “What, she started it.”

“And you don’t need to finish it,” she states.

“You know, Mars ain’t around right now,” Axton grumbles. “You don’t need to act like a lady or whatever.”

Another swat. “Again, watch your mouth. I am a fucking lady.”

I chuckle, shaking my head, and Ax snaps his eyes over to me. But before I can taunt him some more, I feel a pinch at my side. My best friend is giving me a look. I rub the spot at my waist. “What?”

She shakes her head. “Don’t.”

I roll my eyes at her. Apparently, she’s a little spooked right now. Because this morning, I took her snooping. We’re both in enemy territory. They’re keeping us here against our will. Yes, they say they’ll let us go if we cooperate, but I’d be a fool to trust them. I’d be a fool to not be prepared in case they decide to go back on their promise. And yes, I think something is brewing between my best friend and the man who brought her here in the first place. But again, I’d be foolish to trust him to abandon his revenge plans, something he’s been harboring for years, for whatever is happening between them.

I’m brought back to the moment when Haven declares, “I have to go deliver lunches to some ranch hands by the south stream. They can’t make it back to the bunkhouse, and they need to eat.” She turns to me. “You’re coming with me to help.” Then, speaking to Reverie, “And you’re staying here with Ax.”

“Can’t I just stay here with Axton instead?” I blurt out before I can stop myself.