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I unhitched myself from the doorframe of my office.

“How the fuck could you even think about dating a LeBlanc?”

“How is it any of your concern?”

“I bet your family is ashamed of you.”

Now the anger was threatening to spill out of me. “Don’t you dare talk about my family. You know nothing about them. You never bothered to get to know my parents at all.”

“I know your brothers well enough.”

“Because you’re just like them. I wouldn’t brag about that if I were you.”

“Your brothers are on the run because of those damn LeBlancs, and you’re dating one of them. That’s rich, Grace.”

I laughed, but there was no humor. I was seething as I went back to my desk but decided to lean against it instead of sitting in my chair. I was too agitated. “My brothers are on the run because they’re thieves and have no scruples or morals, much like you.”

“Family is family.”

Once again, I wanted to yell at him, but I’d promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t give him that power over me. Nothing he said or did could hurt me, not anymore. He was trying to get a rise out of me, and I wasn’t going to allow it.

“It only applies to my parents in my case.” It wasn’t as if my brothers ever lived by that credo. They were more than happy to let me know that they didn’t want me back in their company once I decided to leave.

“Grace, you can’t be serious. You can date anyone you fucking want in New Orleans, but not a LeBlanc.”

I smiled. Now I was starting to feel a little smug. “Why? You’re pissed off that I found someone who is vastly superior to you?”

He made a sound as if he was drowning in his own words. Hitting his ego was a low blow, but I didn’t really care at this point. I had this innate desire to hurt him as much he’d hurt me.That wasn’t really possible, though, because I didn’t have it in me. But this gave me enough satisfaction.

“If that’s what you need to tell yourself.”

Talking to him now made me wonder what in the ever-loving fuck I ever saw in him.

“I don’t need to tell myself anything,” I replied coolly. “Is there any other reason you’re calling?”

“No, you need to—”

I hung up before he could finish his sentence.

Motherfucker!

I was so pissed, I couldn’t even believe it. I rose from my desk and paced my office once again. I was mad at him, but mostly at myself.

Oh, come on, Grace. You’ve done therapy. You’ve gotten so much better at not letting his words hurt you. Why do you care what he says?

I didn’t, but for some insane reason, I still couldn’t cool off. I bit the inside of my cheek, putting my hands on my hips as I glanced at my computer screen from afar. No, work wasn’t going to cut it. I needed something else to take my mind off this.

And I knew exactly what that was.

On a whim, I called Felicia, keeping my fingers crossed. She answered quickly.

“Hi, Grace, darling.” I loved her voice. It was always warm—just like her.

“Hey, Felicia. I was wondering if you’d mind if I dropped by the ranch this afternoon.”

“Sure, sure. We’d love to see you.”

“I just want to hang out with the horses for a while,” I said because I couldn’t think of a single other reason. Why pretend? And I didn’t want to put any pressure on them about the ranch.