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I’d never heard Eli’s voice so low and menacing as when he began to chew my ass. “Then let him pay! Listen, it wasn’t just about making money that Harvey kept me from. Spending my own money, helping my family, that is part of being in that family. I had nothing when I met Noah, and he gave me a job, with fucking pay! And that first time he took me to shop for winter clothes, he took it out of my pay. That meant…so fucking much to me. I had nothing, but Joel has money! He’s been saving for his own ranch, he has his rodeo winnings, and he wants to feel like a part of this.”
I felt so low, knowing I had insisted that Damon and I use our money, dismissing it each time Joel tried to use his own. “Dammit.”
“He’s angry, but he’s a partner, so let him act like it. Don’t put him in chains and show him off then tell him to go sit in a corner when the bills come due.”
“You’re right. Of course, you’re right.”
“He paid for the tents too, but he figures you haven’t seen that yet.”
My anger surged again until all of Eli’s words hit me on repeat. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“His ideas, his face, his money, he finally feels like he is part of this. Don’t take that from him.”
“Never. I want him to feel a part of this, as big a part as me and Damon.”
“Then tell him that.”
I went right to him, but then, I felt like I should do more than take him in my arms, so I got on my knees in front of him, and he stared down, his own anger waning. “What the hell you doin’?”
“Begging for forgiveness.”
He grabbed my arms and, though it was a struggle for him, he got me to my feet again. “That’s my job! Don’t take that from me!”
“Baby, I’m so fucking sorry. It’s…I would say the Dom thing, but I don’t want to be that kind of Dom any more than I want to be that kind of man. It’s an ego trip, I guess, toxic masculinity, and I’m sorry. You are a partner in all this, so yes, we’ll take your money and we’ll shut up about it.”
“Well, dang, that’s good. I was fixin’ ta give you a talkin’ to.”
“Eli did that for you.”
“I knew I liked ‘im.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The morning of the opening was busy. People were arriving steadily, and Damon, Joel and I were rushing to make sure we greeted everyone, showed them where they’d be staying and then heading back to the main house to do it all over again.
A few days earlier, Javi had called to tell me he’d be giving up his ticket and room for the weekend for his charge, the pain in the ass. It was the only way to get him from the Mexican dungeon, the promise of a new club with new men to play with.
He arrived in a stretch limo at ten that morning, and as the driver opened the door, I got my first glimpse of the pain in the ass .
He was beautiful, that I noticed right off, wavy hair down to his collar, strong jaw and piercing gray eyes. He was slight in build despite how he carried himself, like he was seven feet tall and more arrogant than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. “This is it?” he asked as he got out of the back of the car. “It’s…remote.”
I held out my hand to him, and he stared at it for a few seconds, as if wondering if it was clean enough for him to touch before he weakly shook it quickly. “I’m Burke and this is my place. Welcome. Javi told me you’d be coming. I have a room set up for you and any guest you may have brought.”
He snapped his fingers and a man even smaller than him came out of the car. He was blond, bleach blond, and pixie-cute, but he had the same look of disdain as his pal. “Where the hell are we?”
“I’m Thiago Gentry and this is a…friend. Jamiah.”
“Jamiah, Thiago, welcome to Cowpokes,” I said, trying to sound chipper.
“Where are our rooms? This trip’s been tediously long.”
Damon came then, like a savior, and after he was introduced to everyone, he offered to show them to the guesthouse. Before he left, however, he whispered to me, “The pain in the ass?”
“Yes, and Javi was right.”
He chuckled and got in the front of the limo with the driver so they could pull around to the guesthouse and I pulled out my phone to call his new bodyguard. “Hey, Burke, I’m on my way. Got some bad gas at this place and the car’s been sputtering since.”
Hudson MacLeod, the biggest man I knew and the sweetest, if a person stayed on his good side. If not, well, it could get painful pretty quickly.
