Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Judge nodded, his expression thoughtful as he began, “About the acreage—”
“Drop it,” Stryker cut in firmly, his deep voice leaving no room for argument.
I blinked, glancing between the men. “Drop what?”
Stryker’s steel-gray eyes locked onto mine. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why do I feel like I’m missing something important here?”
A muscle jumped in his stubble-covered jaw. “I’m Brogan Rourke, Jacqueline.”
I gasped, unsure how to respond to the verbal bomb he’d just lobbed.
Before I could come up with any words, he spoke again.
“I’m not going to talk you into selling. We wanted the land because we didn’t want a stranger living this close to the compound. That would be a major security concern. Especially if it was a developer.” I opened my mouth, but he shook his head and forged on. “You’re not a stranger. You care about the land, and you’re smart enough to work with us on the parts that affect security.”
Before I could fully process that statement, he turned to one of the men whose name I hadn’t caught yet. “Make sure a prospect brings over my bag from the clubhouse with the security equipment. I’ll be staying in the spare bedroom until the property is secure.”
I scoffed, the sound slipping out before I could stop it. “That’s really not necessary. I have a shotgun.”
Stryker’s gaze swung back to me, one dark brow lifting slightly. The look he gave me made me swallow the rest of my protest. “Already saw it.”
“And my grandpa taught me how to use it,” I added, lifting my chin.
“I’m sure he did.”
There was no missing the quiet certainty in his voice, but he still didn’t budge. And something told me that arguing any further would be pointless.
5
STRYKER
By the time the second patrol unit carried the three men toward county lockup, the last of the sunlight had stretched the barn’s shadow halfway across the yard. Trent Kessler sat hunched in the rear seat, staring at me through the glass with the hatred of a man who had learned too late that a warning from the Black Crowns wasn’t issued for dramatic effect.
I watched the cruiser disappear beyond the rise, then turned toward Jacqueline, who stood beside the barn rubbing one thumb over the crescent marks the shotgun had pressed into her palm. Otis’s flannel hung around her hips, drawing my eyes to a sliver of soft skin just above her jeans. My cock thickened behind my zipper with the same brutal insistence it had shown from the moment I first saw her.
I wanted to lift that shirt and kiss my way down until her legs opened around my shoulders and the only trembling left in her body came from my tongue. It was inconvenient as fuck that the first woman I’d ever looked at and instantly claimed had also decided to make concentration a full-time job.
“I want the barn, both access roads, and the surrounding acreage checked before we lose the light,” Sheriff Raines ordered, pulling nitrile gloves from his pocket. “Photograph anything that looks out of place before somebody puts a boot through it.”
“You planning to search several hundred acres with one deputy?” Hawkeye asked as he tugged on a pair of black riding gloves and glanced toward the ridge behind the barn.
“I was counting on heavily armed—all properly licensed, I’m sure—men in leather developing civic pride,” Raines returned.
“Cuts,” Hawkeye corrected. “Leather’s the material.”
Raines stared at him for a beat. “I’m aware of the distinction.”
The tension in the sheriff’s shoulders had eased when Ghost, Judge, four more brothers, and two prospects arrived, though he would’ve swallowed his badge before admitting it. He and I had worked the same territory long enough to understand the arrangement without discussing it. When evidence existed, we gave him what he could use. But when the system failed, he knew better than to become curious every time a predator abruptly left Southern California or lost the ability to hurt anyone else.
Raines’s gaze shifted toward Jacqueline before returning to me. “So? You helping me search, or are your men here to improve the scenery?”
“We’ll clear the property.” I placed my hand at the base of Jacqueline’s spine and turned her toward the farmhouse.
Her chin jutted out. “I know what belongs in the barns and which buildings my grandpa had used.”
“You can tell us from the porch.” I guided her across the yard with my palm steady against the curve above her ass. “We confirm nobody else is hiding on your land first.”
Jacqueline released a breath carrying more acceptance than annoyance before asking me to recover Otis’s missing post-hole digger if we found it. “He accused three people of stealing the thing before admitting he might’ve forgotten where he put it.”
“He hid it from himself twice,” I told her, and a small smile softened the fear lingering around her mouth.