Page 42 of Ace of Spades (Hidden Creek Ranch #1)

“We don’t have much of a choice, now, do we? Someone just had to meddle around,” the man at my back snarls, the cold metal of the gun shoving into the back of my head. I don’t move—can’t move, as I look pleadingly between my dad and Brad, silently begging them to stop this madness.

“Dad—” Brad says, his eyes widening as even he realizes that this is going too far.

“She’s my daughter, Scott!”

“Fine,” Scott grinds out, the gun lowering to his side. “Then she’s coming with us, and you’re going to have to find a way to shut her up.”

I don’t get a moment to stop and think of a way out of this before Scott grabs a rough handful of my hair and pulls me to my feet, a yelp escaping my lips as I wince in pain from the brutal force.

My hands shoot up to wrap around his wrist, trying to relieve some of the pressure from my scalp as he drags me towards the truck, my mind racing as my adrenaline skyrockets. I know one thing for certain, and it’s that I’m damn sure not letting them get me in that truck.

“Dad,” Brad bites out once more, Scott and I both looking up to find his arms slowly rising. I hadn’t heard the second click of a gun, my chest flooding with relief as Weston steps forward, the barrel of his pistol resting against my ex-boyfriend’s temple .

“I suggest you let go of Hailey right now, unless you want to watch your shithead son’s head get blown off,” he growls, his voice rough with warning.

Scott’s arm wraps around my neck, caging me in as he brings the gun back up to press against my temple.

Another click sounds, and I look over to find Rafe with a gun to my dad’s head, the six of us locked at a standstill.

“Just let me take her,” my dad grinds out. “I’ll get out of your hair and leave you alone for good, just let me have my daughter back.”

“No!” I scream, but they both ignore me.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Weston states calmly.

“Why? Why can’t you just leave my family alone?”

“Because I’m in love with your daughter.”

My heart skips a beat, his words causing butterflies to swirl in my stomach, even with everything going on around us.

“And that’s the only reason you’re still alive at this very moment,” Weston finishes.

He loves me.

Even my dad seems taken aback, at a loss for words as he stares at Weston as if he’s grown two heads.

“So how about we all put the guns down and have a conversation like adults,” Rafe chimes in. “Do you think we can do that?”

Scott presses the gun harder into my skull and I wince.

“The thing is, we’re the ones with the advantage here, because unlike you, we have nothing to lose anymore. I’m guessing if we put our guns down, you’ll have us arrested, right? And that’s if you don’t shoot us on the spot as soon as this gun leaves her head.”

“Dad,” Brad grinds through his teeth. “Just put the damn gun down.”

There’s a momentary pause as Scott seems to consider what to do, and then everything happens in one big blur.

The gun leaves my head as Scott directs his aim at Weston, the shot ringing through the air as I whip my head back just in time for him to lose his aim. Brad uses the distraction to knock the gun from Weston’s hand, the two of them breaking out into a scuffle.

Throwing my elbow back with every ounce of strength I can muster, I clock Scott in the jaw as the gun goes flying behind us.

All hell seems to break loose near the truck, and I barely catch a glimpse of Weston and Brad rolling around on the ground before shoving Scott and running after the gun, his body weight bringing me tumbling down as he tackles me to the ground.

It all happens so fast.

I scramble for the weapon, the two of us reaching it at the exact same time, fear choking me as Scott’s large hand manages to wrench it from my grasp.

The hard metal whips me in the face as stars explode behind my vision, my cheekbone throbbing with blinding pain as I roll onto my side, trying to regain my breath.

“Hailey!” I hear Weston’s panicked shout as Scott gets on top of me, crushing my ribs as he straddles me, the barrel of the gun staring me in the face as I regain my vision .

“You little bitch, you ruined everything,” he seethes, and I feel my life flashing before my eyes. Everything I could have had here at the ranch—the friends I made, the love I found.

The man I gave my heart to.

“Go to hell,” a familiar voice cuts in, Scott’s head wiping up just as a bullet hits him square in the shoulder, the force knocking him off me as blood sprays across my face.

I spin around to find my mom standing on the dirt path behind me, a rifle in her arms, Rhonda and Debbie flanking her on either side.

“Mom,” I breathe.

“Lenora,” my dad rasps, looking over to find him pinned on the ground by the truck, Rafe’s knee digging into his back as he presses a gun to the back of his head.

Scott’s hand presses to the wound on his shoulder as he crawls backward, panting.

“Lenora, let’s be reasonable about this.”

“The time for being reasonable has long passed,” Weston says, his gun back in hand as he kicks a half-conscious Brad at his feet before walking our way, cornering Scott between him and my mom. “I’m thinking now we show you how we do things here at the ranch.”

“Wait,” I cut in, everyone turning to look at me. “We can’t kill them.”

“Why not? They tried to kill you, and they nearly killed Dakota and Chance,” Rafe asks.

I look to Weston, my eyes meeting his beautiful green ones .

“He’s still my dad,” I tell him, pleading for him to understand. “I don’t want to ever see him again, but I don’t want him to die either. I don’t want anybody to die, especially not because of me.”

Weston looks to Rafe and then past me to my mom, a war brewing in his eyes.

“Fine,” he finally states. “Then how do you two want to handle this?”

“I want him arrested,” my mom says. “I want him to be locked up for all of the crimes he’s been committing over the years, the ones he threatened me to never talk about.

Embezzlement, extortion, lying to his investors, all of it.

If you kill him now, the world will never know what a fraud he was—what a fraud they both were. ”

Weston looks to me for confirmation that this is what I want.

“I don’t want to risk any of you getting in trouble,” I tell him. “I’ve already brought enough problems to your ranch.”

“Our ranch,” he corrects. “You’re a part of it too, just as much as any of us.”

I look to Rafe who nods in agreement, turning to find Rhonda and Debbie do the same. Something swells in my chest, my heart thumping against my ribs as I finally feel it—the sense of home that I hadn’t felt in the longest time.

“Then that’s what I want to do,” I state.

“I don’t want them to disappear on this ranch forever, for everyone to talk about how brilliant they were and how sad of a loss it is.

I want everyone to know that Easton & Sorrels was run by two very bad men, and I want them to spend the rest of their lives paying for their mistakes. ”

“Then so be it,” Weston says. “Rhonda—call the cops, tell them to meet us out here.”

I push to my feet and dust off my jeans, my head still spinning slightly from the blow to the face.

“I can drive them to the station. I got some of my ropes in the back of my truck,” Rafe says, nodding his head over to the truck that I now realize is parked behind my dad’s, explaining how they must have gotten here so quickly.

“Don’t waste your diesel on them,” Weston tells him. “Besides, we’ll have to show the cops the damage to give them the proof they want. I spotted gas cans in the bed of their truck, not sure if they’ll need fingerprints or any of that shit but it’s there in case they need it.”

“And I can dig up all of the proof of his financial crimes,” my mom adds. “I have access to the paperwork, you’ll just have to give me a few days.”

Weston nods, Rhonda stepping away to call the emergency number.

“Just one more thing, though,” Weston says, stepping up to where Scott sits on the ground, still cupping his injury as his face twists in pain.

Out of nowhere, Weston cocks his arm back and whips him across the face with his pistol, the sound of bone cracking ringing through the trees surrounding us.

Scott falls to the ground, rolling to his side as he coughs blood all over the dirt path.

I brace myself as Weston moves over to Brad, my ex-boyfriend crawling backward in fear before his back hits the truck behind him .

“Please, Weston—Please, I’m sorry!”

Weston wrenches him up by the forearm, slamming it against the hood of the truck. I flinch as I watch him draw up his gun, bringing the butt of it down onto Brad’s hand, a scream piercing the air as Weston shatters it completely.

“I’ve been meaning to give that to you for a while now. You ever hit another woman again, you’ll lose that hand completely. You ever lay a hand on Hailey again? They won’t find your body. Are we understood?”

“Yes,” Brad wails, falling back down to the ground as he cradles his limp hand.

My heart drums in my chest as Weston turns to face me, the bandana still wrapped around his neck giving him even more of an intimidating aura that sends a shiver down my spine.

He tucks his gun in the back of his waistband, taking controlled strides until he’s standing directly in front of me, everything around us forgotten as I look up at his handsome face.

“Sorrels,” he breathes, his hand reaching up to cup my face, tilting it to better inspect the bruise that I’m sure is forming over my cheekbone.

“I’m okay,” I whisper.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I tell him. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You got here in time, I’m fine—promise.”

“Don’t ever run off on me like that,” he says, the tremble in his voice betraying his brave face.

“Were you scared, Langford?” I ask, trying to lighten up the mood with a playful smirk. The hard lines in Weston’s face don’t budge .

“Terrified.”

I reach up to brush a few damp hairs from his forehead, my expression softening as I feel the fear emanating from him.

“I’m okay, Weston,” I repeat, my eyes boring into his. “Really.”

“Anybody lose a horse?”

Beau and Mike ride out from the treeline, cutting our moment short as I’m flooded with relief at the sight of my mare. Beau jogs over to us, reaching down from his saddle to throw me Casino’s reins.

“She ran right up to us—figured a riderless horse wasn’t exactly a good sign. Then we heard a gunshot, what the hell even happened here?”

“Caught the fuckers that started the fire,” Weston tells him.

“Super. Fire’s out, by the way—you know, in case anybody was wondering or anything.”

Debbie runs up to the three of us, phone in hand and a wide grin on her face as she extends it to us, Chance’s voice sounding over the speakerphone.

“Heard you guys got in a shootout! The one time there’s a real-life standoff and I’m at the damn hospital.”

I chuckle, glad to hear that he’s okay.

“Don’t worry, bud, we’ll make sure you’re invited to the next one,” Beau tells him.

“Hey Chance?” Weston asks, grabbing the phone from Debbie. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah, man, just needed a few stitches but I’ll live!”

“Great. Now get back here so I can kill you. ”

“Oh, uh—the nurse just came in, I should probably—”

The line goes dead, Weston pinching his nose as he shakes his head.

“Come on,” I tell him, reaching out to rub his arm. “Give them a break.”

“Did you know about them?”

“No, but I’ve had my suspicions. You really haven’t seen the way they look at each other?”

“No, she’s my little sister. I refuse to even think about her having feelings for a man.”

The two of us are left alone, a comfortable silence passing over us as Weston brings his attention back to me, his lips meeting mine in a lingering kiss before he pulls back, his eyes studying me intently—as if he was drinking in the sight of me.

“So,” I start, biting the inside of my lip. “You love me?”

A cheeky grin tugs at his lips.

“Now where did you hear that?”

“Weston,” I scoff.

His lips meet mine once more in a tender kiss.

“Of course I love you. You’re my Ace of Spades.”