Page 78 of Wilder

Sighing, I popped open the lid of the barrel I’d watched him actually touch. The scent of grain and molasses drifted up, familiar and normal, but that didn’t mean shit. “This all needs to be tested for contamination. Both barrels would probably be a good idea to sample from.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Contamination?” Wilder asked, sounding bewildered. “What happened?”

I turned to look at him over my shoulder. “A few hours ago, I caught Carter messing with the feed. I’m not sure he put anything in it but I don’t think it’s worth risking feeding the horses without actually knowing.”

His expression shifted immediately. The initial confusion drained away, replaced by a slow, simmering anger that settled hard lines into his face. “Messed with how?”

I exhaled, dragging a hand over the back of my neck, my fingers pressing into the tense muscle there before stepping back and gesturing to both barrels. “I came back here to grab a lead for Pelly and caught him with a bottle of weed killer. I don’t know if he was planning on dumping it into the feed or what, but after I chased him off, I looked at the bottle and to me it seemed like it was still full.”

Wilder stiffened.

For a long moment, he didn’t say anything. Just stood silent, staring at the barrels while his eyes darkened into that familiar contemplative stare. The one that meant his mind was working a hundred miles an hour, piecing things together while calculating how to proceed next.

If I knew anything about Wilder Boone, it was that once a line like this got crossed, there was no coming back from it.

However, the tricky part was proving it.

No evidence meant no way to accuse Carter of anything. Essentially, it was my word against his. Wilder may believe me wholeheartedly but that didn’t mean Sully would. He’d want some kind of proof before banning the guy from the property officially.

“We’ll pull the feed and get it moved to the storage shed for now,” he said, moving around me. “I’ll have to call up to the farm and tack shop in town and have them deliver an emergency supply to us.”

My stomach sank. “Sorry.”

Technically, it wasn’t my fault, along with it being the right thing to do after catching Carter and reporting him, but I still felt terrible.

Places like this, breeding and training facilities, weren’t known for turning a massive profit. Most of the time, they were lucky to break even.

The breeding programs paid the bills, sure, but most of that money went right back into the business. Covering the cost of feed, vet care, maintenance, equipment, and paying us ranch hands our weekly paychecks.

Outside of that?

There wasn’t a lot of room for extra spending.

I’d overheard Sully and Wilder talking about it more than once over the past few months—running the numbers, adjusting budgets, making sure they were keeping our heads above water.

Now, because of this bullshit, Wilder was going to have to drop more money on an emergency feed delivery. Money that could’ve gone elsewhere instead of trying to make up for some asshole’s plot to... whatever.

It wasn’t fair.

Wilder turned to me, his brows knitting together again. “Why are you sorry?”

I let out a small, self-deprecating grunt. “My first day back and I’m already causing trouble.”

Something flickered in his eyes, something quick and unreadable—but what caught me off guard the most was the way that harsh crease between his brows softened. “Asher, you aren’t causing anything. Out of anyone, I’m glad it was you one who caught this.”

Butterflies kicked up in my stomach.

God, get a grip, Torres.

“You say that now.” I let out a small laugh, the words leaving my mouth before I could think about them. And then, because I was a masochist, I added, “Maybe I should’ve stayed in Baton Rogue.”

It was meant to be a joke, an offhand jab at myself, nothing to be taken seriously. But to my surprise, Wilder’s expression darkened instantly.

That barely-there softness vanished completely, his frown deepening, something tense settling into the hard line of his shoulders. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true. Don’t you think?” I asked.