Page 35 of Daddy's Little Cowgirl

She froze when she heard someone walk into the barn. She wasn’t supposed to be in the loft that late and without Ridge, but he’d been busy all day, and she had desperately wanted to see how big the kittens were.

There were two men, and they spoke Spanish perfectly. She couldn’t remember if she’d told anyone she was bilingual, thanks to her mother, who taught her their language. The men probably thought they could be less cautious because no one knew what they were talking about.

“When is Ricky going to be in position on the north pasture?”

Another man’s voice said, “He’ll text me.”

“Good. Make sure to repair the fence after you get some of the cattle. Ridge won’t know he’s missing them for a long time.”

The other man chuckled. “How many head of his cattle do we have already?”

“A few hundred, and we’ll get a few hundred more before we move on to the next ranch and do the same thing.”

Ellie listened the best she could because she wanted to remember every word they said. She couldn’t get over the fact these men were stealing from Ridge and had done it before. How rotten was that?

“Let’s get some shut-eye before he calls.”

“Sounds good,” the second man said.

One of the kittens dropped onto her arm, startling her and making her gasp.

“Who the fuck is that?” one of them said.

She knew she had a minute to come up with a story. The one thing she knew was she’d never tell these men she understood them perfectly.

One of the men’s heads popped up, and he scowled when he saw her.

“Who is it?” the guy on the ground asked in English.

“The rancher’s girl.”

“Fuck.”

“What in hell are you doing up here?” the man asked.

She smiled innocently and pointed in the corner. “The kittens,” she whispered. “They have their eyes open.”

The man on the ground snorted. The man on the ladder spoke down at his friend but in Spanish again, and she wondered if they were going to test her. She acted confused and stared at him.

The man turned back to her and said in Spanish. “Shouldn’t you go back to the house?”

Ellie tilted her head to the side. “What’s that kind of talk?”

The man on the ground laughed. “Come on, the girl has special needs, man.”

The one staring at her looked suspicious.

“Why didn’t you call out when you heard us talking?” he asked.

“Oh, well, I heard you guys talking gibberish, so I thought I’d stay here until you left. I’m not supposed to be up here, and I didn’t want you guys to tell on me,” she said.

The man relaxed and nodded. He started to go down but stopped.

“I want one of the kittens. I want to torture them and see them bleed,” he said in Spanish to see if she’d react.

It took all her strength to keep smiling. “Are you talking to me?” she asked.

“There’s no one else up here.”

---