Page 140 of For Cowgirls and Kings
He’s rough and angsty and so very dark—completely opposite to the sunny sky, colorful flower gardens, and decadent home exterior. Like a reaper gliding through the gardens of life, plucking the prettiest blooms at their peak, ready to return them to the ground with a single touch—a balancer.
“Mateo,” he huffs, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket, lighting it, sucking a deep drag. I raise a brow in question, and he shrugs. “She won’t let me smoke in the car.”
I still don’t understand V and McCrae’s relationship—and I have zero interest in finding out—but I’m glad she has someone. Even if he’s someone I despise, I’m glad she has someone who rivals her as an equal. Valentina’s going to need someone to lean on, and after today, I know with deathly certainty, it’ll never again be me.
My eyes scan past McCrae, back to V who’s still sitting in the car, her knuckles visibly white even from here. My heartsinks—I’d hoped to show her the place before she pieced everything together. But she’s always been so smart—too smart—and now I know it’s going to be a knock down, drag out fight.
“Is she going to get out?” I ask McCrae, my eyes never leaving her pinched face. She shifts in the seat, almost like she’s settling into it further.Great.
“Why’d you drag us out here, Mateo?”
“I didn’t drag you out here, McCrae. My sister did. I invited her to come see my newest investment. I’d like it if she would get out and I’ll show her. If you want to tag along, that’s your own fucking choice.”
He barks a laugh, and my eyes snap to his now scowling expression, a cigarette hanging precariously off his scruff covered lip. “Looks like baby brother’s finally growing a pair of balls.” There’s a hint of something that sounds oddly like pride in his voice, and I don’t know what to do with that.
I’m careful to keep my face perfectly neutral. I know from personal experience, and watching him with Gus, he often says things to get a rise out of people, but this doesn’t feel like that. It feels far more genuine, and that alone is throwing me off balance.
Without taking my eyes off his face, I speak again. “Valentina, you’re a big girl. Get out here and speak your own mind.” Within seconds, the car door slams, and only when I hear the gravel crunching, do I turn my gaze to hers. Internally I cringe, the hatred blazing like a torch in her blue eyes, burning through me like a branding iron. Outwardly though, I remain nonchalant.
She crosses her arms over her chest, the navy lace tank top bunching up above the waist-line of her black leather pants. My eyes trace down to her black, open-toed heels that look like a form of torture device, the red paint on her toes like blood.She’s gonna need a new wardrobe.
“Mateo, what the fuck’s going on?”
I suck in a deep breath, and brace myself, preparing to withstand a dragon-like blow of heated anger at my next words. They take shape in my mind, the recited words like a nail in a coffin I’ve spent weeks preparing and burying.
“I sold the casino,” I state, waiting for the words to land. They take longer to hit than I expect, her face staying stoic for several beats longer than I planned. And then she snarls, her eyes blowing wide.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
I stand straighter, squaring my shoulders. “I sold the casino. And the ranch, since they had to go together. And I bought this place, along with a few old buildings in town. I separated our assets completely with the sale—you own this house, the five hundred acres it sits on, all of the buildings, and the large herd of purebred angus on it. I own a small plot about thirty minutes from here, the old sale barn, and a decrypt building in town that I’m going to turn around into something else. That’s it. They’re completely separate, from here on out.”
Valentina doesn’t speak, but I see her emotions clearly. First hatred and anger, which quickly melts into panic, and finally ends on pure devastation—which is so much fucking worse than anything I could have prepared for.
Maybe I should feel guilt, or at the very least, pity. But I don’t. I feel nothing where V’s concerned. Not for the woman she is anymore at least—the one who hurt those I love more than life itself without remorse, the one who destroys others lives, just to get what she wants. I’d never want ill to happen to my sister. But I’m also done trying to help her.
This—the upheaval of her entire existence—is my last act as her brother, as her family.What comes next is up to her.
It’s McCrae who breaks the tense silence. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
I sigh, my body numb from the overflow of adrenaline. My lips tingle as I mumble, “The Reyes estates are gone, no more, over,dead. Just like the men before us who created it.”
“How could you?” V’s voice is frail, and the tiniest pang of sadness hits me. I hate that it came to this, but something had to be done. Valentina had to be stopped.
“I’m protecting you. I’m protecting Dale, and my friends, and myself,” I say honestly.
“Protecting me?” Her voice begins to rise. “You fucking stole everything from me!”
I shake my head. I was afraid this is how she would feel. “It was all mine, even if I didn’t agree with it. And because of that, I was able to make this decision without you. It’s done. But now you’re the owner—this place is entirely yours to create, or destroy”—my eyes meet hers—“whatever you decide. But this is all that’s left. This is your only chance.”
She steps toward me, her lips quivering, the Texas breeze sweeping her auburn curls across her face. “I’ll just sell this place and buy back the casino, you can’t stop me now.”
I stand straighter, my eyes softening. I’d hoped to show her around, maybe even share my dream for her here. But I know that won’t be happening, not now—probably not ever.
“You won’t. There’s a contract on this place that states you must live and operate this ranch for a minimum of three years before it can be sold.” I step forward, her face going slack. “Not anyone else, V.You.If you don’t live here, if you don’t learn to run the cattle, work the ranch, the entire estate will go to a charity I chose upon its sale, three years from today. This is what Dad and Grandad wanted for us—the casino was about income to run the ranch, to run the family legacy, notthelegacy. I’m sorry it had to come to this but?—”
“Don’t you fucking dare leave me here.” Her voice quiverswith a venom I’ve never heard from her. It races down my spine, leaving a wave of goose flesh in its wake.
I remain silent. I won’t say I’m sorry, because I’m not. She brought this on herself. And even if it doesn’t seem like it, I’m giving her everything, minus the small slice I kept for myself. This ranch is grander than anything I would have wanted for myself—no it’s not as luxurious as our old one, but she didn’t even like that one. This one, although enormous, feels like a home, a place to start a life. That’s what she deserves, even if she doesn’t know it yet.
