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“I’m sorry, but I heard a wounded animal and look at them. Just look. They’ve all been abused. Who does that?” I winced from the light, turning my head to the side.

“You are infuriating. Tank. Heel.” Exhaling, he growled at me then shifted his light into the fenced area while thrusting his arm out. “Grab my hand. Do it, Juliette.”

My heart was racing so fast, but mostly out of anger. He could be pissed at me all he wanted as long as he called the police.

When he pulled me to my feet, he did so with so much force I was pitched against him. “Goddamn you, lady. I should spank you for hours for this. Maybe I’ll lock you in a room. Hell, I’ll keep you in a cage.”

His vehemence almost pulled a laugh. “You were worried about me.”

“You’re damn right I was!”

“Look at the horses, Kage. Look at them. They’re all in terrible condition.”

“Yeah, I get it.” He held me close, his breathing labored. “That doesn’t give you the right to disobey me.”

“You don’t care about them at all. Do you?” I jerked from his hold, rubbing dirt off my jeans.

He softened, but only somewhat. “It’s not that I don’t care, Juliette.”

“Then what? I can take care of myself.”

Obviously exasperated with me, he lowered the light, using his arm to wipe his eyes. “That’s not a discussion we’re going to have. We’re going back to the house.”

“Not until you tell me that you’ll call the police. We can’t allow this to continue. I won’t. I’ll walk into town if I need to.”

He cocked his head and even in the dim light of the late afternoon, I could see his eyes, the pain and worry. And anger. The man was always angry.

“You don’t understand,” he said.

“What don’t I understand? You have a neighbor abusing their animals. That’s pretty clear.”

“That’s not what’s happening here.”

“Then what is?”

He shifted the light once again, shaking his head. “You don’t understand because I own the property and the horses. They belong to me.”

“What?” I pressed my fists against his chest and managed to break free from his hold.

He grabbed my arm, swinging me around. “This is a horse sanctuary. These horses are being saved. They have experts. Hell, I don’t know their stories, but they were brought here to be healed. Why did you run from me? Why?”

Shock was right there, disbelief as well. “You own the ranch?”

“Evidently so. I just found out. That’s what I was doing when you had to find out on your own. Do you know what might have happened to you? Do you seriously not get it?”

“Why do you care so much? You act as if nothing matters to you. So why? You tell me why!”

His bristling only infuriated me even more.

“Why?” I repeated.

“Because you didn’t follow my orders. You didn’t seem to care that any mistake could cost you your life.”

His words were laced with anger, the fire in his eyes more intense than I’d witnessed before.

For some insane reason that would haunt me for weeks to come, I’d thought he cared about me. Why should it matter?

Because the man hovering over me, the larger-than-life soldier was everything I’d never wanted. Dominating. Arrogant. Unyielding.