Colten exhales. He doesn't celebrate, not even the faintest grin. Just adjusts his hat and says, "Good horse."
I clap him on the back. "Good horse that just cost us an extra million."
"She's worth it. I ain’t let this family down yet," he says.
And he’s right.
Hunter's already on his phone. The guys are regrouping near the doors. But the energy in the room has shifted into something cold. The ranchers are chatting, moving on to the next lot. But the Greeks haven't moved. They're standing on the far side of the arena in a tight cluster, and the body language tells me everything… they’re about to start trouble.
"Let's go," Hunter says, slapping my shoulder guiding me out. "Colt, sign the paperwork. We'll have the trailer brought around back. Ace, you're with me."
We move toward the exit. Paulie and Xander fall in. Jett appears from somewhere with Tate beside him.
We're ten feet from the main doors when Holloway's voice carries across the floor.
"Hey, Ace."
I stop. Hunter keeps walking for two more steps, then stops.
“Ace.” Hunter warns me under his breath.
Holloway is leaning against the rail with his arms crossed, his guys fanned out behind him. "Congratulations on the horse," he says, too loud. "Hell of a buy."
Hunter turns slowly. "Appreciate it."
"You know, it's funny." Holloway pushes off the rail and takes a step forward. "Your family keeps buying up the best stock in the state. Horses. Land. Businesses." He tilts his head. Looks directly at me. "Women."
My blood goes cold. If he even dares mention her name…
"That little blonde thing you've been parading around," he says. "Harper, right? Real pretty. Quite nosey though."
The room goes dead quiet, blood pounds in my ears.
"You might've got the horse, Sterling." He grins, showing his missing front tooth. "But I reckon she's worth stealing. I bet her pussy is tight and she needs a real man's dick to ruin?—"
I don't remember deciding to move.
One second, I'm standing beside Hunter. The next I'm crossing the floor with my fist already cocked, and the distance between me and Holloway closes so fast he doesn't get his hands up before my knuckles connect with his jaw.
The crack echoes off the walls.
He staggers. One of his guys lunges for me, and Jett comes from my left like a freight train, shoulder-checking him into the rail. The Greek behind Holloway reaches into his jacket, and Paulie is on him before his hand clears the fabric, twisting his arm behind his back and slamming him face-first into the concrete.
It erupts.
The whole floor goes up at once. Ranch 42 swinging, the Greeks trying to coordinate in a more organized way that won’twork here, and the Sterlings doing what we've always done. Hitting first. Hitting harder. Hitting until the other side stops getting up.
I'm on Holloway. He catches me with a right hook that splits my eyebrow open, and I taste copper, but I don't stop. I drive him backward into the railing, pin him with my forearm across his throat, and hit him again. And again.
"Say her name one more time," I spit. "Go ahead. Say it."
He swings wild. I slip it and bury my fist in his ribs, making him fold.
To my right, Colten has come out of nowhere and is systematically dismantling one of the Ranch 42 guys with calm efficiency. Tate has a Greek in a headlock against the wall. Jett is trading blows with two Ranch 42 boys at once and laughing about it, because Jett is a lunatic who treats violence like cardio.
Xander hasn't said a word. He doesn't need to. He picks up one of the Greeks by the shirt front and throws him into a stack of folding chairs so hard the crash sounds like a car accident.
But it's Hunter who ends it.
