Page 93 of Claimed By the Cowboys
It took everything not to roll my eyes at her. “Out of hand? You’re trying to take my daughter away from me, my entire ranch too.”
Turning up the seduction, Caroline leaned against me, pressing her chest to mine. Her fingers wound through my hair, and she flicked her cool stare back and forth from my eyes to my mouth.
“It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s not too late.” She was practically crooning at me like some teen pop star going for a medal in flirting. “We can run the ranch together—you and me and the pack. We’ll have Maisie here. We’ll be a strong pack and make a fortune.”
With a sigh, I adjusted in my seat, trying to put more distance between us. My skin was crawling from her proximity, and I pushed at her shoulders, which did nothing because she was damned determined.
“Caroline,” I warned, “this is not the place for this. We have lawyers to negotiate through, and I’m pretty damn sure we’ve made our point clear.”
“Forget all that. I will.” She slipped her arm past my defenses, going for the top button of my shirt and undoing it. “I’lldrop the suit if you just agree to be with me. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
More buttons were popped open on my shirt, and I leaned back, but I was trapped by my chair, with nowhere to escape this woman. Her sharp red nails dragged across the skin of my neck, and Caroline tried to curl my chest hair around her finger before I forcibly removed her hand.
“Caroline.” My voice was a low growl, the anger dripping through every syllable. “Get. Off.”
“Come on,” she whined. “This is how it’s meant to be. You’re not supposed to be with that outsider. She’s not even that?—”
Her words stopped short as the annoying pulling at my collar revealed my neck. Her eyes flared wide, horrified shock painted all over Caroline’s face. She was staring at the side of my throat, unblinking, and I knew immediately what she was seeing.
“You…you bonded with her!” Caroline’s shrill voice echoed through the room. “That bitch! How could you do this to me?!”
I grabbed her hands, using the surprise to my advantage, and got her off me. As I stood, another set of footsteps made the floorboards at my office door creak loudly.
“This bitch?”
Piper stood in the doorway, wearing a fitted top that showcased her round belly. A beaming smile stretched across her face, and I turned back to Caroline to see her terror double down.
She didn’t know Piper was pregnant, of course.
“What the hell is this!?” She threw her arm out at Piper, practically buzzing with fury. “You knocked her up?! How could you! You…you piece of shit!”
Caroline screeched like a damn banshee, jabbing her finger at me across the distance as she fumed. “That’s it! I’m done. You can keep the fucking brat.” Shaking her head, the surprise fully melted away to reveal the venomous snake beneath. “I didn’teven want you! Or her! You stolemyassets, forced me to have that stupid baby!”
The disgust on Caroline’s face was palpable, and as much as I wanted to scream back at her, I kept my cool. If only barely. She was so far from the woman I’d known. I had no clue who this person was, and there was no way in hell I’d want her around my child, or my pack, for that matter.
“The ranch. Ugh! You were supposed to give me the fucking ranch so I could make a damn living. You were just a means to an end. Well, screw all of you.”
Just as Caroline began to storm out of the room, Zeke popped out of the small closet near the door. My ex’s expression dropped when he held up his phone, the screen displaying a big red circle.
“Excellent projection, Clay. I could hear every word plain as day.”
Her eyes bugged out of her head. “You… you weren’t?—”
“Oh, but I was. Every last insult, captured forever on this here recording.” Zeke crossed the room to stand next to me, Piper stepping in alongside him. “Great doing business with you.”
“You can’t use that!” Caroline was scrambling. “You can’t! I didn’t consent!”
“This isn’t a locked office. You made your statements with an open door, honey. Anyone could have walked by and heard you. I’m just bummed that I couldn’t hide under the desk and get an even crisper recording,but—”he gestured down at himself“—I'm a pretty big guy. Couldn’t fit. And here I thought old Clay just wanted me to record some porn for him.”
Caroline screamed, the vein in her temple pulsing like it was going to pop, and stormed out. The sound of her heels on the floor faded into the background, and I was left with only Zeke and Piper at last. Piper immediately hurried to me, and I wrapped my arms around her, kissing the top of her head.
“I know that wasn’t fun to hear. You did great, babe.”
She grinned up at me, only a slight flicker of discomfort in her eyes. “It really wasn’t. But we got what we needed.”
“We did, and now—”I pressed a kiss to her lips, allowing her presence to ground me“—I need a goddamn shower. She contaminated me.”
Piper nodded, chuckling lightly and scrunching her nose, and then leaned back, scooting to Zeke and getting another hug.
