Page 37 of The Mountain Echoes

“Yes,” she murmurs.

I start the truck. It’s a good forty-minute drive to Longhorn, and my goal is still to convince her to sell. I may not like seeing her like this, but I’m ruthless enough to use it to get what I want out of her.

After we’ve been driving for fifteen minutes, I ask. “What’s the real reason you don’t want to sell?”

I glance at her.

Her eyes are still closed. But her jaw tightens. “You sound like someone who thinks I owe him an explanation.”

Ah, the painkillers are making her feel better.

“Celine warned me that you’d hold out, wanting me to sweeten the pot.” I change lanes and wave at a rancher. “I’m happy tosweetenwhatever you want, baby.” I intend it as an insult, and I’m happy when it lands.

She opens her eyes. Her gaze flicks up. “Celine says a lot of things. Most are lies.”

“From what I hear, you’re the liar.”

That gets a flash of something. Was that hurt? No, not a woman like her. “That’s cute,” she says flatly. “Did she also tell you I eat children and kick puppies?”

I laugh. “No. Are you sayin’ that you’re not here for your share of Longhorn?”

“I’m here to bury my father,” she retorts sharply and winces, like her own voice hurts her.

“And take half of Longhorn.”

“Let me ask you a question. Why doyouwant Longhorn so badly?”

“Land. Hay fields. Location. Sentiment.” I lean in. “But mostly because I can make it work.Youcan’t.”

“And you think if you keep pushing me and poking at me while I’m struggling to not throw up and keep my head straight, you’ll get your way?” There’s condemnation in her tone and her words.

They don’t bother me. I don’t think I have a lot of respect for the woman I think she is, and so it doesn’t matter a damn what she thinks about me.

But…you still want to fuck her.

Well, my dick doesn’t have a conscience.

“I think everybody breaks eventually. Just depends on what it takes.”

“Are you sleeping with my sister?” She surprises me by asking.

“No.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

Now, it’s my turn to be insulted by her remark that I’m lying. “I don’t fuck married women.”

“How noble of you!” she jeers.

“It’s not noble. I don’t share.”

“So, when you sleep with someone, you expect a loyalty clause?” Her tone is cold.

I turn to look at her.

Her color is better.

She’s still in pain. I can see it in the way she frownsand holds herself. “When I sleep with someone, I make sure they’re not wantin’ anyone else.”