Page 91 of Stay for Me

Chase jerked his chin toward where I leaned against the frame of my front door, making sure no man entered my home while the wives took care of my firefly. “Inside, getting cleaned up,” the Sheriff answered.

The man’s jaw tightened and my stomach twisted, wondering who the hell this man was to Diana.

“Who the hell are you?” Lance asked, rising from one of my rocking chairs, his face guarded.

The suit’s eyes shot up, glaring at the cowboy. “Thomas.”

Just then, Kings rounded the side of the house, pulling his cell away from his face. He tipped his hat to the man. “Thomas,” he greeted, knowing exactly who this man was.

My gut twisted, reminding me, once again, there were so many things about Diana’s world I didn’t know—things I didn’t deserved to know. And fuck me, I still wanted to.

“Denver,” Thomas said, sounding relieved and walking over to shake my boss’ hand. “What happened?”

“Don’t know all the details yet,” Kings replied, shooting a look over to me. I bit down, grinding my teeth as Lawson moved closer to me, his body on alert at this stranger’s presence. “Once Diana is settled, I’m sure we’ll find out,” Kings assured.

“Does she need to go to the hospital?”

“No,” I answered gruffly, pushing off the frame and walking to the top of the porch steps. “She stays here.”

Thomas looked me up and down, his brow pinched together in curiosity. “You’re Mags.”

I stiffened, keeping my face unreadable. “You know me?” I prompted.

The man looked offended. “I know everyone on Hallow Ranch,” he said, jerking his thumb to Kings. “Ranch owner.” He gestured to the twins, who were now on either side of me. “Tweedledee and Tweedle Dumb, Lawson and Lance.” He twisted his torso, pointing to the cowboys coming to the cabin on horseback on the other side of the field. “Mason, Denver’s bother, and Beau.”

“Lance,” Lawson gritted.

“Yup,” he said, popping the “p” as they glared down at Thomas, anger radiating from both of them.

I was too worried about my firefly to care about their feelings, but this distraction could be somewhat entertaining.

“You think those glasses would look good on me?” Lawson asked, taking a single step down, his brother following.

Lance clicked his tongue. “Nah, they should burn with him.”

I said nothing, watching Kings lip curl. “Chill out,” he warned the twins. Thomas looked at Kings and then back to the twins, his eyes filled with panic behind his lenses.

“Nah, Den,” Lawson drawled, pointing at Thomas with his toothpick as he kept his eyes on our boss. “It’s one thing taking bullshit from a cop.”

Chase stepped forward, his eyes hard. They flicked to me for just a moment, flashing with something I couldn’t recognize, before focusing back on the twins.

“It’s something else entirely when we have to take shit froma fuckin’ suit,” Lance spat, finishing his brother’s thought.

“Boys…,” Chase warned.

Behind everyone, Beau and Mason were still approaching, the familiar sound of hooves drumming against the soil filling my ears.

Lance cocked his head at the Sheriff. “If you think we’re going to give you evenan ounce of respectafter the shit you pulled, Bowen, you’re even a bigger dumbass than I had you pegged for.”

Mason and Beau eased both of their horses to a stop as they joined us, their faces guarded underneath their cowboy hats.

“What’s going on?” Mason asked.

Beau paid attention to no one but Chase, the ice in his blue eyes visible underneath the shadow of his hat. His clean-shaven jaw was tight, the muscle jumping as he turned Spirit to face the Sheriff. “The fuck are you going here?” he clipped.

Chase turned his head, glaring at Beau. “I’m here for my fucking friend, Marks. Fuck off.”

“Awe, how nice of you to give a damn about Diana, but not Abbie. Right?”

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