Page 114 of Live for Me

Abbie was my woman, but she wasn’t my property.

“I should’ve eaten you in the womb,” Lance bit off, baring his teeth.

“Now I understand why Mags can’t stand working with you two,” I noted, tying the barbed wire.

I felt Lance’s eyes on me then. “What do you mean Mags can’t stand working with us?”

Yanking off my work gloves, I shot him a look. “You don’t have to look between the lines of that sentence, Lance. I said what I said.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lawson said proudly as he mounted Lady. “Mags and I are best buds.”

I stared up at him, knowing that, five years ago, Mags had seriously contemplated burning down the bunkhouse with the twins inside. He’d promised Denver with a straight face that he would build a better bunkhouse in its place. Mags being Mags, he brought that topic up after the twins got into some shit in Vegas, racking up debt they couldn’t pay. I remembered the way Denver stared into the bonfire that night, and I could’ve sworn he’d been thinking about it.

“Mags hates you, bro,” Lawson laughed, grabbing his work bag off the ground. He rose back up and looked at me. “Then again, I’m pretty sure that cowboy hates everyone.”

It was Lance’s turn to laugh. “Oh, he doesn’t hate Denver’s pretty lawyer.”

His twin whistled low as he brushed past me. “No, he does not.”

I kept my mouth shut, knowing damn well what they were talking about. I grabbed my shit and headed to where Spirit stood in the shade. His black eyes hit mine, and I knew he was silently scolding me. “I know, I know.” I winced, putting my things in the saddle bags. “That took a little longer than I expected.”

As soon as I was mounted, I looked over to the twins. “I’m going to the herd. You boys mind checking on Johnson’s team?” I asked, jerking my head toward the mountain. They set up a camp at the base of it yesterday, and while Johnson wasn’t present, knowing he’d be back here soon pissed me off.

I snapped the reins as I bit down, grinding my teeth to the point of pain, reminding myself to call Red Snake about it. Ten minutes of riding flew by, and up ahead, I saw the herd, Mags, Mason, and Denver surveying them from atop the hill.

“Told you to take the day off,” Denver muttered as his shades landed in my direction.

I stopped Spirit a few feet from them and looked out to the herd. “Sitting on my ass isn’t the answer to my problems, Denver.”

Mags grunted, pulling his hat off to push his hair back before setting it back in place. Mason jerked his chin to me. “You doing okay?”

Spirit shifted, and I looked down for a moment, trying to find the right words. “I don’t know, boys,” I said.

“Need to tell you something, Beau,” Denver opened, pausing until I was looking at him. “I told her to let you go.”

I stiffened, my fingered tightening around the reins. “Say again?”

Denver shook his head once. “It was a mistake. I was looking out for you.”

“That wasn’t your call to make,” I clipped, ripping off my shades and lifting them in his direction. “My love life isn’t any of your fucking business.”

“Considering you brought her here to my fucking ranch, yes, it is,” he returned. I was ready to rip him a new fucking asshole when the satellite phone started ringing.

Mags leaned back on his horse, reaching into a saddle bag and fishing it out. “Hallow Ranch,” he answered gruffly. “Yup.” His dark eyes met mine, holding out the phone. “Ash.”

I kicked my feet, urging Spirit to take a few steps forward to take the phone. “Please tell me you have something good,” I said to the bounty hunter, not bothering with a greeting.

“Got something on your guy, and it’s going to piss you off,” he informed.

I shot a look at my boss. “Already there. What do you got?”

“Jake and I set a trap for the fucker. For the last two nights, he’s been parking two streets over from Abbie’s, walking over at ten, and confidently walking in the back door. We let him think he hacked into our camera feeds.”

My spine straightened. “You telling me this guy has a tech background?”

“Not a very good one, but yes. He can get by if he needs to, and right now, he thinks he has the upper hand.”

“Why haven’t you just cornered him at the fucking house?” I asked through my teeth.

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