“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” he says, low and final.
“Get your hands off me!” I bite back, yanking my arm out of his grip. Hot tears spill out of my eyes and my throat feels like it’s tightening.
My phone rings in my hand and I answer without looking, spitting the words out through a sob. “How could you do this?”
“It’s me,” Jax’s voice cuts through, low and steady but he’s caught on to the panic in my tone.
I gasp, the words tumbling out before I can stop them. “He sold them, Jax. The horses. Jonathan sold them.” My voice breaks completely, ugly sobs shaking me.
There’s a pause on Jaxon’s end of the line. The unmistakable roar of his bike in the background. “Get Big Ben,” he orders, voice like steel. “Don’t let them leave. I’m on my way.”
Shanae comes running up just as Mom’s knees buckle.
“Mom!” The word tears out of me, sharp and panicked. I try to rush into the barn, but the man in front of me grabs me with both hands, yanking me back. My phone slips from my grip, hitting the dirt and hay with a dullthud.
“Let go of me!” I growl, twisting against him.
Shanae reaches Mom first, slipping an arm around her shoulders and guiding her toward the nearest chair. “I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” she murmurs, but her own voice is shaky.
“Ben!” I shout, scanning the property. His truck isn’t here. My heart lurches. Please, God, let him be in the pastures. Please don’t let him have gone into town.
“Call Ben!” I scream at Shanae while I keep struggling against the man’s grip.
The first guy is already inside the stall with Dominion, and the big gelding’s eyes are wide, whites showing as he tosses his head. The other horses are starting to react—snorting, stamping, restless in their stalls.
“Stop!” I yell, the sound raw in my throat. I slam my heel down on the man’s foot and drive my boot into his shin. He cusses, jerking me forward before regaining his hold.
Over his shoulder, I catch sight of Shanae pulling her phone out, her lips moving fast. I can’t make out the words over the roaring in my ears. My heartbeat is pounding so loud it drowns everything else out.
Then I see Dominion being led out with a lead rope, muscles bunched, fighting the pull with every step.
Something inside me snaps. I thrash harder, my nails digging into the man’s wrists, my boots scrambling for leverage. He swears again, shoving me forward until my front smacks into the barn wall.
“Enough!” he snarls, pressing his weight into me, using his body to pin me there. His breath is hot on my neck, his voice low and threatening. “We’re taking these horses, sweetheart. One way or another.”
Dominion rears back, whinnying in panic, but the man at his lead keeps yanking him forward, bit by bit toward the trailer. My chest aches watching him fight, his hooves skidding in the dirt, but it’s not enough. He gets him inside. The sound of the gate clanging shut is like a death knell in my ears.
Helplessness crawls up my spine, but I can’t stop fighting. My arms are burning, my muscles screaming from strainingagainst the man holding me, but I won’t give up. I can’t let them leave. I shove and twist, trying to push him off me, but it’s useless.
Then I hear a truck engine and a shout.
I whip my head toward the sound and see Ben’s pickup skid in sideways at the front of their truck, big and loud and perfectly blocking their way out.
Thank God.
Ben jumps out before it’s even fully stopped. “Get away from the horses!” he shouts, his voice booming across the yard. He’s a big man and in his younger days he would probably give both these men a run for their money.
“He has Dominion!” I call out, my voice raw.
The man holding me shoves his forearm against my throat so hard it cuts my words off mid-breath. “I’m tired of hearing your mouth,” he growls, leaning in so close I can feel the spit when he says it. He’s choking me. Rage twists his features, and for the first time, I think he might really hurt me.
Ben’s already stepping into the trailer, and I hear muffled shouting. Then a grunt—and Ben goes flying backward, landing hard on the ground outside, clutching his jaw.
“Don’t hurt him!” I scream like my voice has any power here.
“Ben,” Mom calls out from her chair, her voice weak and trembling.
“Stay with Lilly!” Ben barks toward Shanae as he pushes up to his feet, blood bright at the corner of his mouth.
