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Raven came from behind me and joined us, her eyes on Fender.
I had no idea what the fuck she was doing.
I turned to her, giving her a glare that told her to leave—now.
But she was too absorbed in Fender’s gaze to notice mine.
Fender stared at her with narrowed eyes, the energy around him immediately menacing, like he might grab her by the throat and choke her to death right then and there.
But she held his look anyway. “I just wanted to say thank you…for what you did.”
Her appreciation would mean nothing to him, and I wished she hadn’t come this close to him.
He held her gaze in silence, his eyes becoming more terrifying with every passing second. His stillness was sinister, and his clenched jaw showed how hard he was working not to strike the woman I had claimed as mine. “Your appreciation means nothing to me because my intervention had nothing to do with you. My only interest was keeping my brother’s dick clean. Speak to me again, and I will cut those blue eyes out of your skull and feed them to my dogs.” He shook slightly, like it took all his strength not to make good on that threat.
My hand moved to her stomach, and I forced her to back away and give my brother space. “Get in the wagon. Now.”
She did as she was told and walked away.
Fender continued to stare at her, his face flushing slightly, like her proximity was borderline insulting. It took a few seconds for him to look at me again, to pull his look away from the woman who had destroyed his camp and brought him humiliation. “If you want your whore to keep sucking your dick, make sure she stays away from me.”
We took the journey down the path to where my car waited at the end.
She didn’t speak for hours, just looking at the luscious landscape around us.
I didn’t speak to her either. I was annoyed with her stupidity, and I needed time to calm down. My hands gripped the reins of the horses, my knuckles aching every time I made a fist.
She seemed to feel my anger because she waited until it was at a simmer before she spoke. “I just thought—”
“You thought wrong.” I watched the road ahead.
She stared at the side of my face. “I thought if I was kind to him—”
“Doesn’t work that way.”
She faced forward again and sighed.
“Don’t speak to him. Don’t look at him. Keep your head down when you’re near him.”
“I’m not a dog.”
“To him, you are.”
She shook her head as she sighed loudly. “I know I pissed him off—”
“Just leave it alone.”
She turned quiet and swallowed the response sitting in her throat. “I’ll probably never be near him again, so it doesn’t matter.”
“You will on Saturday. Don’t embarrass me again.”
“Embarrass you?” Her head snapped back in my direction. “I was just trying—”
“I know what you were trying to do. But as you can see, that got you nowhere. Just leave it alone.”
She studied me. “You’re mad at me.”
“Yes.” I continued to avoid her gaze.
“Why?”
“Because you were fucking stupid. That’s why.” I turned to look at her, so she could see just how furious her little move made me. “He has bent for me many times, and the last thing you should do is get in his face after what you did.”
“Wow.” She shook her head. “He should be grateful I’m even thanking him given all the shit he does in that godforsaken camp. Let’s not rewrite history here. He captured me, and I escaped—just as he would escape if this were flipped around—”
“This conversation is over.” I looked ahead and gripped the reins in my hand. There was no point in discussing my brother when there was nothing we could do about it. We’d established the unbearable moral dilemma I had to suffer. It didn’t need further debate.
She watched the scenery around her, letting the conversation die. But minutes later, she addressed it again. “Wait…what do you mean, I’ll see him on Saturday?”
“He’s having an event. I’m bringing you.”
“An event?”
“A party.”
“And he’s fine with that?”
“He was when I talked to him about it…before you pulled your little stunt.”
It was hard for her to swallow her retort, but she managed it by clenching her jaw. “I don’t even want to go, but I know she’ll be there.”
“That’s why I wanted to bring you.” I hated get-togethers and conversations. It was all just a bunch of bullshit, rich people talking about how rich they were. Fender had a god complex, so he enjoyed flaunting his wealth and success, like it was a big fuck-you to our father…who’d been dead for nearly ten years at this point. “So, I suggest you swallow your pride and do as he asked because you’ll never see Melanie without him.”
