Page 53 of Knot Your Problem, Cowboy
He straightens his expensive shirt again. “Wild Hearts Ranch is mine. Always was. Rose had no damn right handing it off to someone else, let alone a stray Omega just ’cause her dead grandson dipped his dick in there. And you three? You’re nothing. Just overgrown mutts sniffing around.”
Walker shifts forward, slow and deliberate, like a wolf closing in. “Say her name again,” he murmurs, voice flat and as sharp as a knife. “I fucking dare you.”
Ronan snorts, but the sound is thin. He opens his mouth?—
The rear door of the diner bangs open behind us.
Boots hit gravel.
I glance back just as the five men he was at the bar with pour out. Must be Ronan’s crew. One adjusts a ring on his swollen knuckle. Another grins, tonguerunning along his teeth like he’s already tasting blood.
But I shift my weight, jaw tightening. Five on three. We’ve had worse. I lean just a little closer to Walker and Ridge, sizing up the other men. “We can take those fuckers,” I mutter. “I’ll swing first.”
“No doubt,” Ridge says grimly, cracking his neck. “But we take them here, and it’s gonna bleed inside. Sophia’s in there.”
That’s all it takes.
I turn back to Ronan. “You’re done here. You hear me? Don’t show your face again, or we’ll bury your sorry ass so deep in this town’s dirt, even the worms’ll be scared to touch you.”
Ronan’s jaw ticks, but he doesn’t move.
The diner door creaks open behind us. An older couple steps out. The man squints into the dusk, taking in the squared shoulders and the twitchy fingers.
“This ain’t the place for whatever this is,” he commands. “Y’all wanna throw down, take it to the canyon. Not where folks are eatin’ their supper.”
No one moves. Walker is still locked on to Ronan like a loaded gun with no safety.
Ronan lifts his hands in mock surrender. “Wouldn’t dream of causing trouble,” he says, all syrup and smirk. “Just sayin’ hi to some old friends.”
“Then you said it,” I growl. “Now get the fuck outta here.”
The older couple moves on toward their car.
Ronan eyes me, then Ridge, then Walker. Doesn’t say another word. Just turns and heads for his truck, his little pack of bootlickers trailing after him.
Walker takes a step forward, fury in every inch of him as he clenches his hands into fists.
Ridge grabs his arm. “Not now.”
Ronan chuckles low. “See you boys real soon.”
The engine roars to life, and their truck peels out in a spray of gravel and dust, leaving the air thick with exhaust and threat.
We watch them go.
Silence settles.
I spit to the side, glaring after them. “Next time, we don’t let them leave on their feet.”
Walker nods once. Ridge doesn’t say anything but just stares into the dark, jaw clenched.
We need to tell Sophia.
But not tonight.
Tonight, we let her believe the world is still safe.
For now.
