Rough Rider

  That’s what I’m betting on here. I’m betting on ticking him off enough that he gets sloppy. And when he gets sloppy here? Well, I’m not gonna take his money in a card game.

  …I’m gonna put him in the ground.

  “That how you pick up girls? Pay their daddies for a date?” I roll my eyes. “Man, sounds like you’re a real player.”

  Billy-Ray’s eyes narrow dangerously. “You think I paid him? Fuck that. He came to me. He saw the empire I was building down here with the all those meth-heads that Lawson here won’t sell to—”

  “Cause it’s fuckin’ poison,” the older man growls.

  “It’s solid gold is what it is,” Billy-Ray spits back. “And her daddy saw a business opportunity. And hell, so did I. He’d fund my operations and get us going to the next level, and I’d make us both rich. This little smart-mouthed bitch here was just to sweeten the deal. Make it worth my while.”

  He takes a breath. Fuck, he’s so close to losing it, and when he does, I’m gonna be there. And my hands are going to be wrapped around his throat for ever thinking he could put a gun to the girl I love’s head.

  “But just wait a second.”

  Billy-Ray smiles.

  “She’s yours, you say?”

  “I’m warning you—”

  “And this old asshole won’t give up the money?”

  His grin gets even bigger.

  “Tell you what, shit-bag. It’s the money for her. So,” he shrugs. “Get my money.”

  He nods at one of his guys, and suddenly, the man is handing me a fucking gun. I stare at it for a second, not quite believing it. But then, I get what Billy-Ray is doing here, and I know that gun of his is still pointed right at her. He wants me to get that money from Law at gunpoint, and he knows with Chastity’s life in his hands like that, I damn well will.

  My fingers curl around the handle, and slowly, I heft it in my hand.

  “Don’t think you’re smart here, asshole,” Billy-Ray mutters. “Don’t be the hero. Just get my money, and you and this bitch will walk out of here.” He nods at Law. “Go on, get it.”

  My muscles clench, my hand tightening like iron around the handle of the gun. I look at Law, and slowly, I raise the gun. Yeah, I don’t have to hesitate here, because there’s no choice to make. I don’t have to “decide” anything, because the answer is and always will be her.

  She matters more than anything. She matters more than anything I’ve ever known, and I know without a second thought that she’s it for me.

  So fuck whatever comes next. If it means stealing from Law Banner — fuck, if it means killing him, I’ll do it. Easily.

  “Now, dipshit,” Billy-Ray hisses.

  And I’m about to do it. The gun raises, I point right at Law, and I’m about to open my mouth, when suddenly, Billy-Ray finally does.

  …He finally gets sloppy.

  “You know, shame that you ruined her,” he mutters. I turn, my eyes narrowing as I watch his eyes slide over Chastity. He leans in, like he’s smelling her fucking hair, and the beast inside of me almost snaps.

  “But shit, you know what? Maybe before I hand her over to you, I’ll have one little taste, huh?” He grins, winking at me before he turns to her. “What do you say, babe? How about you and I go into the back room here and I’ll show you just what you’re miss—”

  Chastity stamps down with the heel of her boot on Billy-Ray’s sneaker-clad toe.

  Hard.

  …And there’s my opening.

  It goes down in slow motion. Billy-Ray swears, shoving Chastity away from him as he goes for his foot. The gun raises in my hand, Chastity ducks aside, and even as one of his guys tackles into me, I pull the trigger. Billy-Ray screams, stumbling back as my shot goes wild and wings his shoulder.

  Fuck.

  The whole damn place explodes into chaos — Law’s guys lunging at Billy-Ray’s guys, Billy-Ray’s guys lunging at Law’s guys. I shove the guy who tackled me away, and I’m trying to get my gun up, but even with everything moving in slow motion, I know I’m not gonna make it in time. I watch, time slowing to a crawl, as Billy-Ray clutches at his bleeding shoulder, turns to Chastity lying on the floor where he threw her, and raises his gun.

  And I act.

  I yell her name, and my foot jabs out, kicking the shotgun they left propped up against the bar table. The gun spins across the floor to her, and she snatches it up and swings the barrel right up to Billy-Ray.

  The whole room just sort of freezes at the sound of her chambering a round, and Billy-Ray’s brows go up.

  “Naw,” he growls, shaking his head as a slow smile spreads across his face. “You ain’t gonna—”

  The shot comes out of nowhere. The sound is deafening as it thunders through the dingy bar. But Billy-Ray doesn’t make a sound as he goes flying forward and tumbling over a bar table, slumping to the ground in a motionless heap.

  Law’s guys move fast, and so do I — getting the jump on Billy-Ray’s men and disarming them before they can even blink.

  She didn’t shoot him.

  Chastity is still sitting there, blinking, her face white as she stares at the gun in her hand, and the trigger she never pulled. I turn, and it’s when I see the smoking sawed-off in Law’s hands that I know what happened.

  I lunge for her, pulling her up and into my chest, wrapping my arms tight around her like I ain’t never gonna let her go.

  “Chastity—”

  “I’m fine,” she whispers into my chest, hugging me tight. She lifts her face, her eyes shining as she looks up into mine. “I’m okay, really.” She grins. “Are you okay, princess?”

  I chuckle. “That what I am?”

  “Well, I think I just saved your pretty ass.”

  “You like my ass huh?”

  “I do actually,” she grins, kissing me.

  Law clears his throat, and she blushes as she pulls away, both of us turning to him.

  “Well,” he drawls, arching a brow. “That shit sure got interesting.”

  He sighs, dropping the shotgun onto the bar table and sinking into a chair.

  “Boys, how are we?”

  One of Law’s guys nods. “We’re good boss.” A quick glance has all three of Law’s men looking battered but okay. Billy-Ray and one of his men are dead, with the other the other two looking in pretty bad shape.

  “Good.” Law’s jaw grinds, his eyes darting between Chastity and me.

  “Either of you have a problem with what just went down?”

  “Nope.” I don’t blink as I meet his gaze and answer. “And your money’s all there,” I nod at the bag. “As for the rest—”

  Law shakes his head. “Nah, no rest.” He smiles thinly. “I think we can drop the interest on this seeing as it was you running your mouth as usual that just turned those tables just now.”

  I’m not gonna argue with the man on that count.

  “Shepherd,” he growls, sighing. “A word of advice?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t take money from men like me anymore.”

  I grin, pulling Chastity into me. “Don’t plan on it.”

  “What about your land?” Law smirks as my face betrays my surprise. “This is still my county, kid. I know everything that goes on in Sugar County. You were gonna buy Wilson’s land.”

  I shake my head. “Another day. Or not. Doesn’t look like it was meant to be.”

  “I could loan you the money.”

  I snort. “Uh, yeah, I’ll pass.”

  Lawson grins. “Good. I like a man who doesn’t need to be told a lesson twice. Now, if you’ll pardon me kicking you out, I’ve got some trash to pick up and drop down a mine shaft some—”

  “Mr. Banner?”

  Chastity cuts him off, which, I have to say, is a ballsy fucking move when it comes to Lawson Banner. The look on his face seems to convey that he’s thinking the same thing.

  “Yeah?”

  She clears her throat, turning and pointing to a corner of the room
— at a modern looking security camera I didn’t even notice.

  “Those security cameras—”

  “Miss,” Law chuckles. “You think today is the worst shit those cameras have ever seen in this bar?” He shakes his head. “Don’t worry, the recordings are under lock and—”

  “Do they have audio?”

  He pauses, eying her. Again, like he’s seeing that there’s way more to her than what you catch at first gorgeous glance.

  “Yeah, they do.”

  She nods, and suddenly, she’s reaching into her back pocket, pulling out a thick wad of cash — presumably from her half of the take — and slapping it on the table in front of Law.

  “I’ll give you twenty thousand for the tapes of what just happened.”

  Law arches a brow.

  “You can edit or delete out the part with you shooting him, I just want the minute before that.”

  Slowly, I realize what she’s up to. So does Law, because he starts to grin.

  “Oh, I think I like you.”

  He turns to one of his guys. “Grab one of those thumb drives and make a copy for the lady. From that dipshit kicking my door in to right after quick-draw over here puts a shot in the guy’s shoulder.”

  The man nods and jumps behind the bar, pulling out a laptop and going to work.

  “Let’s say this is on the house, provided they don’t get into the hands of law enforcement.” He gives me a hard look. “And if you’re wondering why I asked him to give the recording of through you shooting that prick, well, that’s my insurance that you won’t.”

  “Got it, boss.”

  The guy behind the bar tosses a small thumb USB drive at Law, who catches it and extends his hand out to Chastity.

  “Don’t lose sleep over it, by the way.”

  She frowns. “Over what?”

  “Over not pulling the trigger. Look, you got balls, darlin’. But it doesn’t take balls to kill man, it just takes something dark inside. And if you don’t have that, that ain’t nothing to be upset about, trust me.” He grins as he drops the thumb drive into her hand.

  “Plus, it gave me the satisfaction of taking that fuck-head out myself.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Banner.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  She turns, and I slip my arm around her as I nod at Law and turn for the door.

  “Hey. One other thing.”

  I stop, and slowly, we both turn back to him.

  “Since the two of you seem pretty good at kicking over meth labs and all…” his face darkened. “You know none of that shit is part of my business. And I don’t want it anywhere near Sugar County. This isn’t just where I do business, this is where I’m from. This is my home, and I want that fuckin’ poison out of here.” He shrugs. “Seems I might be looking for a couple of quick-draw types who’re good on their feet who might just be interested.”

  My brow raises. “In knocking over meth labs?”

  “Amongst other things.”

  “Such as?”

  “Robbing from and generally fucking up the works of anyone who tries to muscle in on Sugar County, especially with drugs. Whatever you’d take would be yours — cash, whatever. But burn the operations, flush the drugs.” He smiles that dark grin of his, folding his arms over his barrel chest.

  “You two in?”

  I blink, turning to Chastity, who looks about as bewildered as I am.

  “You…” She frowns. “So, you want us to go around robbing and shutting down your competition?”

  “Not competition. Cancer. Cancer on this region. Yeah, it’s good for my business if they ain’t here, but it’s good for this community too. Plus,” he chuckles. “Well, seems you might already know now that there’s some very good money in robbing from drug dealers.”

  Chastity and I lock eyes, both of us trying to read the other.

  “Can we think about it?”

  He chuckles darkly, nodding at me before he turns and heads behind the bar, grabbing a beer and cracking the cap off.

  “You go do you. But, whatever you decide?” He looks right at me. “We’re square, kid. Let’s keep it that way.”

  I nod, I slip my arm around the girl I love, and we walk right on out of there.

  Chapter 13

  Chastity

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  Outside of the bar, I turn, sliding into Shepherd’s arms. The adrenaline is still thundering through me so hard my hands are practically shaking, but with him holding me, it’s like a calm comes over me.

  “I am,” I whisper, smiling up into his face.

  He raises a skeptical brow. “You sure?”

  “Yeah,” lean up and kiss him softly. “I really am.”

  And it’s true. I know should be in shock or totally freaking out about what just happened. I know I should be having this major crisis of self, having just almost shot someone — because really, I was going to. I hesitated, and that’s when Law took the shot instead of me. I know deep down that I was ready to shoot Billy-Ray.

  I was ready to kill him.

  But, I really am okay, and I’m not tearing myself apart inside over it. Because I know why I was ready to shoot him — to protect the man I love, and to protect what we’ve found with each other. For that?

  Hell yeah I was going to shoot. Just the same, I’m also really glad Law took it before I could. Maybe there’ll be some stuff inside I have to deal with later for having come that close to taking a life. But I’m not worried about it. I can see it plain as day: he was about to hurt the man I loved, and I couldn’t let that happen.

  Period.

  “So,” Shepherd clears his throat as we lean against the front of his pickup truck. “When do you head to Belize?”

  “Belize?” I turn into him, biting my lip as I look up into those fierce grey eyes. “Oh, yeah, I’m not going there anymore.”

  “Oh yeah?” Shepherd grins, and I whimper as his strong hands suddenly pull me close.

  “No, I heard the strawberry daiquiris were shit.”

  He chuckles, leaning in to kiss me softly.

  “Besides, I’m more of a whiskey girl anyways.”

  He groans. “Keep talkin’ like that and you’re gonna get me all hot and bothered, darlin’.”

  “I—” I take a deep breath as our eyes lock. “I thought I might stay here.”

  His grin spreads across his face, that flash of heat teasing across his eyes.

  “Here, huh? And what makes you think that?”

  “Oh, there this cowboy I sort of screwed a couple of times. I was hoping he might let me stay with him.”

  “Like a pity-fuck kinda thing he threw your way?”

  I punch him playfully in the arm and he chuckles again as he draws me close. His lips brush my ear, and I gasp quietly as they send heat through me.

  “I think if you ask him nice enough, that could be arranged.”

  I groan. “You and saying please, jeez.”

  “Manners, sweetheart,” he winks. “It’s how we do it down here.”

  “Oh, just being polite, is that it? That's why you made me beg for your cock?” I purr. “Just being polite?”

  “Gentleman I am,” he growls, his hand grabbing my ass. “Just so we’re clear, I’m basically broke now and I live in a shack.”

  I grin. “Works for me.”

  “Chastity…” He frowns. “I’m serious. With the way you were brought up, and everything you had—”

  “The way I came up isn’t me,” I say quietly as our lips come together again.

  Suddenly, Shepherd pulls away, his brow furrowing.

  “What are you doing with that security camera recording, by the way?”

  I grin widely. Yeah, the recordings. I don’t know where the thought came from, but the second I saw the camera mounted above the bar in there, the whole thing hit me like lightning. It’s nuts, and it very well might not work. But something tells me, it will.

  “How much is that land you were looking at? The
Wilson property.”

  “Chastity—”

  “How much?”

  He squares his jaw. “Three million.”

  “Okay.”

  My heart races as I pull my phone out of my pocket. I’m about to end all of this. For good.

  “What are you—”

  I turn and press a finger to Shepherd’s very kissable lips as the line rings, until the man I called picks up.

  “Hello Martin.”

  “Chastity?”

  The surprise in his voice tells me everything I already suspected — that he and Billy-Ray have been in touch, maybe even up to right before Billy-Ray stepped into Law’s bar to get the money and maybe even shoot me.

  The thought makes my skin crawl and my fury rises like fire.

  “Don’t talk, just listen,” I hiss quietly. My eyes lock on Shepherd — this man I never saw coming who’s changed everything for me. The man who’s touched something inside of me that I didn’t even know existed.

  The one I want.

  “Billy-Ray is dead. Which means your deal with him is done.” My voice drips acid as I hiss the words into the phone. “Here’s what comes next.”

  “Now, you listen to me, you little—”

  “No, Martin,” I growl. “You listen to me. I have a tape, and Martin? Well, it's pretty incriminating towards you.”

  “I’m sure I don’t know what you—”

  “It’s Billy-Ray, corroborating everything you two schemed up together and the business you were about to be a part of.”

  The phone goes quiet, and I can almost feel the color draining from Martin’s face.

  “So here's what we do.”

  “Listen, Chastity—”

  “A deal, Martin. We’re making a deal. I want nothing to do with you, and I know you don’t want anything to do with me, so here’s how this plays out. I’m going to give you the bank account number of my own private savings account, and you’re going to wire in three—” I bite my lip. “Five million dollars.”

  Martin sputters. “You’re out of your goddamn mind!”