Page 6 of Burned & Bound

Jesus fucking Christ.I ran a hand over my face as I tried to process all of that. I’d convinced myself that West was off living his best fucking life, but it sure as hell didn’t sound that way. Not that it fucking mattered.

“Finally found him in a biker town in Colorado. He rents out a crappy trailer by the week, pays cash for everything, works under-the-table jobs, uses a burner phone,” Maggie continued. “It’s like he didn’t want to be found. The man could’ve died and no one would’ve known.”

“If we’re entirely done with the gossip, Maggie,” Hart interjected loudly as he rejoined us. “I told you my client would be here.”

My gaze snapped to the door where West McNamara stood.Fuck me.He looked good—dangerously good for a man I wanted nothing to do with. Unkempt dark hair flared around his ears and off his neck and stuck out around the aviators atop his head. The thick beard on his face matched the unruliness of his hair. He’d filled out with broad shoulders and muscles in places no man had a right to be showing off in a shirt that fit that tight. The pushed-up sleeves on his Henley showed off ink on both arms and hands. He still wore the leather cord from his mother around his wrist, and the rest of his clothes looked just as old and worn as the cord—dirty work boots, faded jeans, and an old leather jacket that he carried.

But those gray eyes. Shit, there was a void there. Broken. Haunted. I couldn’t quite explain it, but he looked every bit the invisible man he was trying to be.

His chin lifted slightly when he caught me staring.

“Jackson,” he greeted without an ounce of emotion in his voice.

“About fucking time you showed up,” I growled. “Next time you set a fucking meeting, you show up for the goddamn meeting. No one owes you shit here, and we sure as hell don’t need to be waiting around for your ass to decide to show the fuck up.”

The tension in the room skyrocketed as Hart and Maggie held their breath, waiting for whatever retaliation would come. The West I knew was a fucking fighter. There was a reason we needed lawyers and a neutral location to hash this shit out. Once he got started, there was no stopping him.I wanted that fucking fight with him.

“Let’s just get this shit over with so I can get the fuck out of this state,” West replied, giving in much to my surprise. And a little to my disappointment. He found a chair at the farthest end of the room and sat, putting his back to a corner.

“It’s what you’re fucking good at,” I quipped just to be an asshole. His jaw ticked, but he said nothing.

“It’s not going to be that easy,” Hart said. Like the good attorney he was, he moved his chair to sit next to his client. I didn’t miss the way West stiffened at his closeness.

“And why the fuck not?” West demanded.

“Well, your father—Harrison,” he corrected quickly when West’s scowl deepened. “Harrison had… concerns about your personal investment in Double Arrow Ranch after… well, he said… I’m not sure I want to repeat—”

West’s hand slammed on the folder Hart held onto, making the man jump.

“You say the exact words he said, and I’ll put your ass in an early grave, you feel me?” he growled.Jesus fuck.“Learn to summarize, Charles.”

“Of course.” The actual relief on the man’s face was surprising. I found myself real damn curious about what Harrison had said. “Your father—Harrison didn’t think you’d be of sound mind and clarity upon returning to Double Arrow Ranch.”

“Of course he didn’t,” West scoffed.

“As a result, he had his will changed.”

“To what?”

“In order to benefit from the sale of Double Arrow Ranch, you have to work the ranch for no less than one year. If you don’t, you forfeit the money you’d make and everything automatically goes to Jackson Myles.”

CHAPTER 03

west

Ihave towhat?” I demanded. There was no way in hell I’d heard the stupid attorney right.

“In order to benefit from the sale of Double Arrow Ranch, you have to work the ranch for no less than one year. If you don’t, you forfeit the money you’d make and everything automatically goes to Jackson Myles,” Charles repeated.

“The fuck I will!” I exclaimed, shooting to my feet. Just the idea of going back there made my skin fucking crawl.Was the room warm?It felt fucking warm. I paced the length of the table, desperate for something to do with the panic clawing at my chest.

I didn’t want to go back there. I didn’t need that shit.

“There sure as fuck better be a workaround,” Jackson growled. From the look on his face, he didn’t have a clue about Harrison’s change either.

Fuck, this was just one last ditch effort by my own fucking father to screw me over.

“There isn’t,” Charles said. “He has to work at Double Arrow Ranch—as an employee, not an owner—”

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