Page 38

I stare at the painting on the hospital wall, a chestnut thoroughbred in full gallop, mane flying, hooves blurred like it’s outrunning the frame.

But all I see is him.

Not the horse. Legend.

The way he moved through a room like thunder on two legs. The way he kissed me like I was the only clean thing left in his dirty, broken world. The way he looked at me like he didn’t deserve any of it, me, the farm, a future.

He said we were over.

Said I wasn’t safe with him.

And now I’m in a hospital bed with IVs in my arm and stitches along my ribs, so maybe he was right.

But damn it, I’m still here.

My legs work. My brain’s intact. And my name still means something.

Sophie Montgomery of Paradise Falls, even if I missed every event leading up to the Derby.

Press junkets, sponsor luncheons, the gala.

All gone. They paraded my horses, Ribbons Undone, without me, held meetings without me, probably whispered about replacements while I was bleeding into the hay of a rusted-out trailer.

I glance at the nurse’s clipboard on the tray. James’s name is on every contact line. He’s made sure no one gets in unless he says so.

No bikers allowed, I’m sure

No Legend.

I don’t know if he tried. Part of me prays he did. The other part hates him for not storming the damn gates to get to me.

Then again, maybe he didn’t even look.

Maybe he decided I wasn’t worth the fire after all.

The door opens softly, and for a split second my breath catches.

But it’s not Legend.

It’s Sam.

Polished. Clean-shaven. Dressed like he stepped off the Derby red carpet even here, in the stale light of a recovery room.

“Hey,” he says gently, stepping in with a bouquet of white peonies, my favorite. I hate that he remembers. Hate that he brings comfort when I’m trying not to feel anything at all.

“Hey,” I croak, voice raw from screaming and crying and praying I’d see morning.

He sets the flowers on the table and pulls a chair up to the bed. “You look good.”

I let out a short laugh. “Liar.”

He shrugs. “You’re breathing. That’s good enough for me.”

For a long second, we just sit there. He doesn’t touch me. Doesn’t press. Just… waits.

“James won’t let the Kings near me,” I say finally.

“I know,” Sam replies. “He said they’d only complicate things.”

I stare out the window. Gray sky. Somewhere green hills and twin spires are calling to me.

“Do you think they were behind it?” I ask.

Sam leans forward. “I think you should be careful. You hired men known for doing the dirty work of some very dirty people. That kind of rep comes with blood in its wake.”

I nod, but my chest aches.

Because I don’t think Legend did this. But I don’t know what to believe anymore. The Reverend showed me files, connections, whispers of cartel ties that point back to the Kings, back to their national president at least.

Legend once told me he’d protect me no matter what.

But what if protecting me meant keeping me in the dark?

“What would life look like,” I say slowly. “If I stayed with someone like him?”

Sam’s silent.

Then, softly, “Smaller. Riskier.”

I glance at him sharply.

He meets my gaze, his eyes full of concern.

My fingers curl into the hospital sheet.

“Sam is safe. But what I had with Legend was real.

The way that biker held me. The way he nearly came apart when he thought he’d lose me.

But the lies. The danger. The secrets… All I don’t know.

The scars on my body whisper warnings.

And Derby Day waits just over the horizon.