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)
“Oh my gosh, yes!” Bex let out a delighted squeal that made me pull the phone away from my ear for a moment, laughing softly. “I was hoping you’d say something like that. I’m so excited for you. And I’m selfishly thrilled my best friend is finally moving down here for good. No more counting down the weeks until summer. Year-round bestie time without the eight-hour drive!”
Her contagious excitement bubbled through the line and wrapped around my heart like a hug. For the first time since my grandfather’s stroke, the future felt a little less heavy. Even with the hurdles I was bound to face.
“Do me a favor and keep up that positivity because I’m going to need it.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and leaned back against the headboard. “There was an addendum in the will. If I don’t elect to keep the ranch, Grandpa named who gets first right of refusal before the place can be offered to anyone else.”
“Really?”
I shrugged even though she couldn’t see it. “It doesn’t really matter. I’m not selling. The ranch is mine, and I won’t give it up. I’m moving down there permanently.”
“Hopefully soon.”
“I’m driving down tomorrow morning. I’ll take stock of the house and the land, see what kind of shape everything’s in since it’s been weeks since Grandpa was down there, and then come back to finish packing the rest of my stuff. And my parents are having Daisy sent down, too. She should get there right after me.”
“Let me know if you need help,” Bex offered. “I could always drive back up with you. Unless your brothers are still in town?”
“No, they’ve both headed home already.”
I was the youngest of three and the only girl. John was a real-estate developer in the Bay Area, and Justin was an architect in Vegas.
“Did you get to spend some time with them before they left?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I heaved a deep sigh. “But once I told them about my plans, we spent most of it with them lecturing me.”
She made a sympathetic sound. “They’re giving you a hard time about it?”
I traced a seam on the comforter with my finger. “Yeah, John thinks I’m being too sentimental. He keeps talking about maintenance costs and market value. He’s pretty sure I’m going to regret the decision later.”
Bex snorted. “Then he doesn’t know you as well as he thinks he does.”
“Right?” I shook my head. “I get it, though. He’s so used to viewing land through the lens of how it can be developed, so he doesn’t get why I’d want to stay on the ranch forever.”
“What about Justin?”
I rolled my eyes. “He wasn’t quite as judgmental, but he’s such a city guy. Neither of them can picture me out there alone. They still see me as their sweet little sister who needs protecting.”
“Yeah, I get how it feels to be on the receiving end of that with how my dad is with me.”
Bex’s father was the sheriff down there, so she absolutely understood my frustration. “I get why they’re worried. I’m a little nervous too. But deep down, I know this is the right decision.”
“And your grandfather believed in your dream. He wouldn’t have given you the land if he didn’t.”
“Yeah,” I whispered, filled with sadness yet again that he wouldn’t be here to see what I’d do with it.
“I don’t want to kill your buzz,” she murmured. “But the ranch is basically an island in the middle of Black Crowns territory now. I’m not sure if you’re aware that they’ve bought up everything around it over the past several years. Maybe that’s part of why your big brothers are so worried.”
I’d never interacted with anyone from the club, but my grandfather had mentioned them several times over the years. “I can’t imagine that I need to worry about them. Grandpa always said they’re good men, and he was a great judge of character.”
“Maybe, but everyone around here knows not to cross them because they’re scary dudes,” Bex added. “My dad doesn’t seem to hate them, or to be in a rush to arrest any of them. But he’s always told me to stay clear. And it’s not just him being overprotective. They’re dangerous.”
A flicker of unease stirred in my stomach, but I refused to give in to it. “I’m not going to let them scare me off my grandfather’s land. If the Black Crowns are surrounding the ranch, then I guess we’ll all just have to learn to coexist. I’m not running.”
And the same went for Brogan Rourke. It didn’t matter that my grandfather wanted him to have first right of refusal because Rutledge Ranch was my home now.
2
STRYKER
Judge found me in Black Castle’s Protective Intelligence Operations Center a little after five, one shoulder braced against the edge of an analyst’s station while I reviewed a revised route package for a client moving through Central America. The campus sat on the western edge of Sable Canyon, all glass, stone, dark steel, and polished corporate efficiency on the surface. But nothing about the secure garages, layered access controls, surveillance divisions, training classrooms, or armed response personnel existed for show.