Page 67 of Some Cowboys Fight for Love

Aria groaned, crumpling over so she could put her head in her hands. “He’s on some sort of board that chose Daniel’s application for that scholarship thing. He threatened to make them take it back.”

“They can’t do that!”

“I don’t know what they can or can’t do. I have no idea how this works, but I know Cayden.” She lifted her itchy, swollen eyes to her cousin. “Cayden always gets what he wants. He has the money and the connections. He doesn’t make empty threats.”

There was an ominous tone to the sound of her words that even she could hear. Still, Sophia didn’t seem to be affected by it. “I don’t care how much money he has. I don’t even care if he has connections. No one is above the law, and what he’s doing is definitely wrong.” She made a move to get to her feet, but Aria’s hand reached out and stopped her.

“It’s not only Daniel he’s threatening.”

Sophia stared at her expectantly. When Aria didn’t expound on her statement, she asked. “What? Is he threatening your mom? Your sister?”

Aria shook her head. She didn’t know if she’d just been lucky when she’d run off the first time or if Cayden had gotten smarter, but he’d left her immediate family out of his plans.

“Then who is it?”

She gnawed on the inside of her cheek until it burst with pain. Sophia wasn’t hot-headed like Daniel. She might not even care that her own livelihood hung in the balance. But she wouldn’t let it stand just on the principle of the thing.

“Aria, who is he threatening?” she asked softer.

Closing her eyes, Aria attempted to draw strength from what little she might have left inside her. “He said that he would do whatever it took to ruin this place. He’d ruin what you and Mateo have built.”

Sophia bolted to her feet with a scoff. “He can’t do anything to hurt us.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. Even if he tried, he wouldn’t be able to do much.” She stood with her hands on her hips, her cheeks flushed with afresh wave of anger. “Is that all? Daniel’s schooling and our dog training business?”

Slowly, Aria shook her head. “He said he’d mess with the Keagans’ ranch, too.” Once again, she felt numb all over. The weight that had been pressing down on her from the moment Cayden had made his threats was easing up a bit. Simply knowing that Sophia was aware of the whole truth made it feel as though Aria could weather the storm.

Sophia glowered, shaking her head. Her body seemed to vibrate with a new sort of wrath. “He can’t get away with this. I take it you haven’t told Daniel.”

Aria’s eyes widened. “Of course not. He…” She didn’t want to tell Sophia how scared she was of Daniel taking matters into his own hands. The scars were enough to force Aria to keep her mouth shut. If Daniel lost his temper, there was no telling what might happen.

What if he went to prison?

Instead, she whispered, “I couldn’t let him risk losing out on his dream.”

Sophia snorted. “He wouldn’t care about losing his scholarship. If you think that’s the most important thing to him, then you’re dumber than you look.” When Aria’s mouth dropped open, Sophia’s expression softened. “I mean that in the nicest way.” She settled onto the couch beside Aria and took her hand in her own. “Daniel…” She pressed her lips together as if she wasn’t sure how to express what she wanted to say. “He cares about you more than that. You have to believe me.”

That wasn’t the problem. Aria knew Daniel cared about her. He might even love her. But her own love was what kept her from walking away from Cayden. She nodded, but words got stuck in her throat.

“And as for the other threats, I’m sure we could get Cayden to back down if we all grouped together. You’re talking aboutWade and all his brothers. Do you honestly think Cayden could go up against that family?” She made a good point, but that didn’t change the fact that Aria wasn’t willing to be the reason for anyone getting hurt.

Sophia got to her feet. “If you’re not going to tell Daniel, then I will.”

Aria jumped up from the couch and grabbed onto Sophia. “You can’t. I don’t want?—”

“This goes beyond what only you want, Aria. He’s threatening all of us. We deserve to have a say in how we deal with this. I know you haven’t been here long, but we can handle ourselves.”

Before Aria could stop her, Sophia wrenched away from her grasp and marched toward the door. She gave Aria one more determined look and left the cabin, leaving Aria swimming in her own tumultuous thoughts.

29

Daniel

The house was dark and quiet, and while there were other family members at home, Daniel couldn’t have felt more alone.

He couldn’t sleep. His mind continued racing with thoughts of Aria and how different she looked. The light had left her eyes. No longer did she seem to have the energy for easy banter. He would have given anything to hear a snarky comeback, even if it meant she was protecting herself from him.

---