I'm cold, scared, and alone. The room where he'd left me to sit just outside the door he'd gone through was a wide-open area with hardwood flooring and only artificial lighting as far as I could see, except for a couple of very high windows whose light barely reached the ground. It was obvious we were in an old barn that had been renovated into something else. I looked around the room, trying to figure out just what exactly this place was.There was a bar that took up the whole of one wall, tables and chairs in another sectioned-off area and then what looked like a lounge area with couches and more chairs scattered all around. On the walls was a mix of ranch and biker photos and other things you'd expect to see in a manly space in the Midwest.Through a little archway, I could see what looked like a game room, with just the corner of a pool table visible from this angle. The air was filled with the scent of cigarette smoke and other things but somehow didn't look as dark and sinister
"Get this piece a shit out of my sight, make sure he doesn't leave here until I've had a chance to question him.""Uh, Law, he needs the hospital; I'm thinking we need to be heading to Starling General; he looks real bad.""I give a fuck." I walked over and picked her up out of the chair, and headed for the door."We'll continue this later. I gotta go see to her. Kyle, go check on the mother and make sure she's settled in okay. Have someone go get her some groceries from the storage. I don't think there's anything in the cottage."She was shaking like a fucking leaf again, and I wanted to go back in there and finish the fucker off. It was good to see that my distrust of human scum was well justified."It's okay, Dana; you're fine now." She folded herself around me with her arms around my neck and cried silent tears.Aww fuck, those are the worse kind. I'm not equipped to deal with this shit. I have no compassion left for anyone but my little brother, haven't felt anything remotel
"Are you fucking shitting me?" She looked up at me with those big sad green eyes that were swollen from her dad's fists. I don't trust those eyes or what they make me feel; I don't want to feel anything about nothing except my own shit.I looked away from her so she didn't draw me in with those eyes of hers and that look of sadness that only a blind man could resist.It's been a long time since I let anything get to me, and even longer since I gave a fuck about a female; I had better things to do with my time. But I can't let this shit slide; there's too much here that I can work with.My mind was already moving things around, but I had to think real hard before I did anything. Whatever I chose to do with this was going to impact all our lives.I'd just found out that I was now in possession of something my enemy wanted. I've been waiting a long time to get the jump on him, but could I really use an innocent to do it? Fuck yeah.The only thing was that if I did this, I could be af
"I'm not keeping you against shit, you can go anytime you fucking please, but your daughter stays; she's under my protection now.""But if she doesn't go through with it, there's going to be trouble...""What kind of trouble?" She wrung her hands harder and looked miserable as fuck; still, I couldn't find it in me to give much of a shit.She had stood by and watched her husband abuse her kid; that little bit of heat she'd shown this morning had worn off, and now she was probably thinking that she was better off with the devil she knows.Whatever her reasoning, I couldn't say that I was surprised. I'd seen it often enough to know it.There were kids here whose mothers had crawfished as well. Unlike the government, we didn't give children back to their fucked up mothers who were willing to put their own children in danger.The one time the slimy fuck sheriff had come out here for one of my kids, as they all come to be known, I'd sent his ass packing with a warning.If he didn't wa
I didn't have to rush to do anything about Dana's situation now since I had what I needed, so now I could take a minute to deal with my own shit.Sam, like I said, is a relatively new member, he'd prospected for a good year and a half before moving up, and now he was a full member. He was a nice enough kid, but he had one flaw that was about to land his ass in a whole heap of trouble.I'd let things slide for too long because I was trying to give the kid a break, but a man's gotta be a fucking man; otherwise, shit happens.Sam had taken up with one of the sheep, and it was getting serious. To each his own, if he wants to plow a field that had been trampled by other men, that was his business.She's a nice enough girl, I guess if just a little high-strung. I don't do high-strung.I stay out of her way as much as possible because she tends to be bossy, and I tend to not give a fuck. So to avoid petty bullshit drama, I avoid too much contact with her.Plus, the fact that I fucked
It was time to go back and deal with Dana, but first, I had one last thing to take care of. I pulled my phone again and made the call that would set things in motion. "Clay, get Brandon and Kyle and meet me in the clubhouse in five."I headed back to the house in search of her and was surprised to find her in the kitchen cooking."I hope you don't mind; I cook when I'm nervous. It relaxes me.""No problem." I was sure what I was about to do would either scare the fuck out of her or make her knee me in the balls."I'm going to ask you this outright this once, so think hard before you answer. Do you want to marry Royce Davis?""No." She started that shaking shit again, and I glared at her ass until she stopped."Your mother is leaving, but you're staying." I figured telling her that would ease her mind and stop that shaking shit; I don't know why but it bothered me."Why is she leaving? She can't want to go back there, you can't send her back, how can you..." she actually moved to
By the time I made it back to the house, I'd been stopped by three more people who needed shit done. She was bending over, taking something from the oven that smelt like heaven, but it was the sight of her ass that made my cock jump. I need this fuck."You just about done in here?""Ahhh." She jumped and dropped the pan of cookies on top of the stove. "Lawton, you scared me half to death."It was the first time she'd said my name, and it did something to the nerves in my gut. I felt like an ass standing there wanting to ask her to say my name again in her sweet voice. I'm a fucking romance novel."Sorry, are you done? You need to go say bye to your mother." That made her sad, and she gave me the pouty face sad eyes look as she removed her apron and turned down the oven."I know you said not to ask you about your...""So don't."She actually glared at me and huffed. Shit, she was one of those."As I was saying, I don't see why mom can't just stay here with me.""I don't like pe
An hour and a half later, after a fuck load of calls, I had everything I was going to need. Now I just had to take care of things on my end.This shit was a delicate situation. I didn't know all I needed to about everyone that was here on the ranch right now, as was evident by Bill the asshole, and I needed to keep what I had in mind a secret until I was ready to use it. If there were any spies here now, I'd have to be extra careful.I wasn't too sure how I was going to pull it off, but after the lockdown, no one was allowed to come or go except me and my crew, so that should keep shit contained until I learned what I needed to know.Apart from that, there wasn't much else I could do. First things first, take care of Dana. At least I told myself that that's what I was doing, but I think down deep inside, I knew there was something else going on. I just choose not to look at that shit right now.I was surprised when she came into my office just then with a plate in her hand."I mad