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I didn’t let it rattle me. “Whatever needs doing.”
“What does that mean,Elena?” he asked. The way he said my name was an insult, and I could all but feel Hunt’s temper rise. I didn’t want him to get into a fight with Duke. I never told him about Duke and me, but I knew he knew. He’d been there when it all went down, even if it happened behind closed doors.
“I train horses. I do all the paperwork. I am Hunt’s right hand.”
He looked at Hunt, and his lips turned into a sneer. “Are you now? I thought Dad didn’t want any fucking between hishands.”
Hunt hissed, but before he could say anything, I took a step to stand in front of him. “Is there more information I can give you about the work I do here?”
His lips pressed into a thin line. “No. But whatever you do here, you’re done. Pack up and leave.”
Hunt sucked in a sharp breath beside me. “Duke?—”
I didn’t wait for the argument. I nodded once and turned on my heel, walking out, hoping Hunt didn’t think he needed to fight my battles. There was nothing left to fight for. I’d promised Nash I’d stay if Duke needed me. And I would have. But Duke didn’t need me. He was kicking me out of my home, the only one I’d known since I was eight years old. He must hate me more than I could imagine, and I’d imagined plenty.
I was halfway to the ranch house door when Duke’s voice snapped behind me.
“You’re going the wrong way. Empty your room.Now.”
I didn’t stop, didn’t turn, didn’t even let him see his words hit me. He still thought I lived under this roof like I was some ghost of the past he needed to exorcise. But I’d stopped being that girl a long time ago.
Behind me, Hunt’s voice was edged with anger. “She doesn’t live in the house, Duke. She’s in the fuckin’ bunkhouse.”
I kept walking—faster, now. Because if I slowed down, I wasn’t sure what would give out first—my pride or my heart. I’d thought it was too broken to shatter again, but apparently, I was wrong.
CHAPTER 2
duke
Why the fuck would she be in the bunkhouse? That was no place for a woman like Elena. “What do you mean? She’s always had her room in the house.”
“Not always. Not for…a decade now. She works here, Duke, and lives like the ranch hands.” Hunt has his hands tucked in his pockets, I suspected, to prevent him from hitting me. “And just to tell you, you fire her, you’re up shit creek without a paddle with the horses.”
“We’ll find another horse trainer.”
“Sure, you will. ‘Cause they grow on fuckin’ trees,” Hunt quipped. He shook his head. “And don’t you ever insinuate that she and I are fuckin’ ‘cause we’re not. She’s my sister, and I hear this crap from the asshole cowboys, and I won’t hear it from you. Understood?”
Why did I feel relieved that she wasn’t sleeping with Hunt? I’d seen them stand close, so close when I got out of the car that the pain jabbing through me surprisedme. So, I grabbed Fiona and kissed her. I needed my defenses in place.
I had known that I’d react to seeing Elena again. I knew it. What I hadn’t expected was to feel a sense of possession when I saw her.
Mine! The thought roared from within me.My Florecita. Mine.
Ten years had changed my little flower. Her body didn’t have the softness of youth, and neither did her face. She worked outdoors; there was a roughness to her, yet she screamed of femininity in the way she stood, spoke, and carried herself. She tied her hair into a braid away from her face. She wore a blue button-down, jeans, cowboy boots, and a Stetson. She looked fucking gorgeous, and I had trouble breathing when my eyes landed on her. I wanted her, desperately, like I used to. The first time we were intimate had been a revelation. I’d had sex before, plenty of it, but with Elena, I made love for the first time. After that, I wanted to be inside her all the fucking time because she felt like home to me. Safe, secure, warm, loving.
I didn’t respond to Hunt’s threat about accusing him of sleeping with Elena. He didn’t understand that I had to do something, anything, to keep the hate within me for her alive because that sucker vanished the moment my eyes landed on her beautiful face. I’d always known it would be like this. She’d cast a spell on me, and I was forever bewitched.
I looked around the office. It was neat as a pin. My father was not. This was Elena’s doing. I hadfelt her for the past decade, and now, with her so close in the flesh, I’d lose my fucking mind.
“I don’t want her here, Hunt,” I admitted.
“I get that, but you want to sell the place, and you can’t sell the horses without her. She leaves, and everyone is gonna think something’s wrong with the horses. It’ll be a shitshow,” he warned me.
Hunt knew I was going to sell the ranch. He agreed to stay as foreman until the sale. I’d asked him if I could maybe negotiate a role for him when we sold, but he told me not to worry; he was ready to move on.
“She’sthatgood?” I asked mockingly. “Or are you sure you’re not fucking her and thinking with your dick?”
I hated that he was defending her. That was my job, not his. Christ! I’d been here half an hour, and already Elena was a fire in my blood. How would I manage the next six months or so it would take to sell this place if she was here? I’d lose my fucking mind.