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“Yeah, it is.”
“Thatwoman she mentioned was Piper Novak, wasn’t it?”
“Probably.” I kissed her lips because I loved her, and she looked fucking adorable angry. “I love you.”
She stilled. “After you left, I…decided not to let emotions sway me. And I succeeded. I was always controlled. It was hard when you were here with…her, but I held on.”
“And now?”
“Now?” Her forehead creased. “Now, I feel like I’m stepping out of a self-imposed prison, that I can be myself.”
I held her close because she was the most precious thing in my life. “You set me free from all of my prisons, too, baby.”
CHAPTER 40
elena
“Next time, have someone at the gate who doesn’t get fuckin’ scared because a hundred-pound woman throws her weight around,” Duke barked at Hunt.
He’d assigned a young ranch hand to the gate, and the kid had let Gloria through. She was Duke’s mother, after all. Even though he’d been instructed to call Hunt, Duke, or me before allowing any guests in, he’d been too intimidated to question her and let her drive in without alerting anyone.
“Go easy,” I soothed Duke. “No harm done.”
“But what if she had a gun on her?” Hunt shook his head. “The woman is whacked.”
Even as life normalized since the shooting incident, it also changed.
Duke was running the place now, and that was a hell of a lot different than when Nash was. Back then, Hunt and I were left to make the tough calls on our own—especially after Mama died and Nash checked out emotionally. Now, we had someone to turn to and make decisions with. That was the good part.
The bad part was the tension hanging over Wilder Ranch like a storm cloud. Security had been tightened, and everyone—hands, staff, even the damn horses—seemed on edge, waiting, both literally and figuratively, for the next shot to be fired.
I tapped my fingers on the dining table and looked at a lounging Hunt and a pensive Duke who’d called us to the house for a meeting. We were gathered in the formal dining room—though calling it that felt wrong, considering we mostly used it as an office. Meals were had in the kitchen or with the hands in the mess hall.
“I know you’re busy,” he said contritely. “But we’re waitin’ on a couple more people.”
“Who?” Hunt asked.
“Mac and Nokoni,” he said cryptically.
I turned to Hunt. “You know about this?”
Hunt raised both his hands, palms out. “I’m Paul, this is betweeny’all.”
“All evidence to the contrary since you’re in this fuckin’ meeting,” I quipped.
Once Mac and Nokoni came, there was a flurry of greetings, and then everyone settled.
“How much does everyone know?” Mac asked as he opened his laptop.
“We know fuck all,” I replied.
Mac grinned. “Right. How’s the shoulder?”
“Dandy,” I said at the same time as Duke revealed, “It hurts her to sleep on her side.”
I arched an eyebrow. “That your way of telling Mac and Nokoni we’re sleeping together?”
“Wildflower Canyon is a small place, darlin’, the entire county knows,” Nokoni remarked with good humor.