Page 93 of For Cowgirls and Kings

“Why don’t you leave?” My eyes snap up to Stetson’s stoak face, the memories she shared with me about her own abusive family flooding me like a wave of icy water. She was so much younger than Faith is now, and she got out.How painful this story must be for her?

“I could never leave my sister. If I take the punishment, Reiny doesn’t have to. I’ll let them kill me before they hurt her.”

“But you could both?—”

“No!” Faith hisses, pinning Stetson with a heated glare that would make lesser people wither. “There’s no escaping them. They don’t just have power and control, theyarepower and control. There’s the top of the food chain, the top of the justice system, the top of social classes, and then there's my parents.”

Stetson and I just stare at her, too lost for words to even try. And she knows it. Her eyes harden, the set of her lips thin and firm. She looks like a different person, no longer innocent or shy, but hard and angry and bitter.She looks like the blade of a knife, beautiful and shiny, but lethal.

What she’s describing—years of the kind of abuse I only endured for days—and she doesn’t look the least bit afraid. She looks angry, even vengeful.

“Cosmo believes in justice and balance,” Faith repeats her words again, and Stetson and I continue to stare at her. Not knowing what to say, we continue to wait, and wait.

The room grows quieter, my eyelids heavier with the silence, and Faith’s face slowly softens. I watch the heat of anger melt away from her features, replaced with the shy, coy girl I’ve grown to adore over the last few months.

I’m too drunk and tired to sort out what her words mean. For tonight at least. But even as I drift off, my head leaning against Stetson’s knee, I keep picturing Cosmo, and hearing her words like stones rattling in my brain.

THIRTY-FOUR

MATEO

March 1st, 2025

Gus stretchesout in the wooden adirondack chair, his hat pulled over his face. He looks like he could be napping, but I know better. He’s ignoring me.

“Want a beer?” I ask, trying to cut the tension. He crosses his arms in response, settling farther into the chair.

I sigh, standing up, making my way through the back door quietly so I don’t disturb the girls. Their quiet chattering fills the space, and I can’t help but smile. My home has never really felt like a warm, inviting place—my father ran it like an army base, and my mom preferred to travel and buy new wardrobes, than homestead.

When my father died, and Valentina moved out, I made some of the spaces my own—my room and the main living space mostly. But hearing their chattering and giggles fill the space feels an awful lot like walking into a real house. I want to bottle it up and save it for once I’m alone again.

I shake my head. I can’t think about that now. Not when I’m desperate to have Dale over and over, even though she’s made no move after that first night. I want to give her her space—I respect her enough to not ruin this for her.

But fuck I’m about ready to crawl out of my skin.

I quickly grab two beers from the fridge and slink out of the room before being noticed. Walking onto the deck, I notice Gus has shifted, sitting slightly straighter, his knuckles white where they ball against his biceps.

Instead of trying to apologize,again,I go for a different move. Maybe I can annoy him into talking.

“I really need some advice about relationships, since you’re an expert now.” I crack open both beers, setting one next to him. He still doesn’t move.Fucking stubborn dickhead.“I don’t like to kiss and tell, but I’m going fucking crazy. I want to help her heal, but I also want to destroy her. You know what I mean?” I pause, taking a sip of my beer. “How did you walk around, acting like you didn’t like Stetson, when really you were stalking her for years? How did you not crawl out of your skin? Jump her at every turn? How did you have patience for that long?”

He shifts, and I can all but see his angry glare, heating my skin even through his hat.

“Did you hook up with other people, just to keep yourself sated? How did you watch her struggle without helping her? Why did you wait so long?” I take a second swig, preparing for another stream of questions when I hear him growl, ripping the hat from his face.

“How, the fuck, do you know all that?” he snarls, and I shoot him a sheepish smile.

I’ve successfully poked the bear, now what?Now you be honest, you dickhead.You owe him that much.

“McCrae talks about you a lot. And when he realized you were in Moztecha, working forthe girl, he felt it was important to fill me in on everything. Especially because you were hanging out with a friend I’d told him to keep tabs on.”

Gus’s face’s scrunches, and then he takes a long sip of the beer.

“He acted like you were a dangerous criminal.” I shrug, and Gus sits back, still offering nothing beyond a hate filled glare.I can do this—anger’s better than silence. “My sister hired McCrae about two and a half years ago—not sure where she found him, but V’s always had a soft spot for dangerous, violent men. Probably why she hates me so much.”

Gus’s eyes scour my face, and then he leans forward slightly. “What does he do, exactly?”

“He’s V’s security, or enforcer. I use him only when I have a less than savory job, but really he’s more Valentina’s.”