Page 218 of Ironwood Ranch Cowboys

Calm. Dry. Hands in his jacket pockets.

The sight of him standing there so casually after everything he’s done makes me feel sick to my stomach.

Beside me, Duke goes terrifyingly still.

Silas steps in front of us automatically. Cody stays near my shoulder.

Jake’s eyes land on me first, and then he smiles. That’s when I understand. He never thought I’d get this far.

“You found the archive,” Jake says calmly.

Rain patters hard against the barn roof.

Nobody answers.

Jake glances between the four of us slowly, gaze flickering briefly on the burner phone in Duke’s hand. “Guess that means Sherry panicked.”

Duke’s voice could freeze blood now. “You threatening her?”

Jake looks almost bored by the question. “If I wanted to threaten anyone, you’d know.”

Silas moves before I fully register it.

One second he’s beside me, and the next he has Jake slammed against the barn wall hard enough to rattle the siding.

“Careful,” Silas says softly.

Even Jake looks briefly startled by the sheer violence packed into those two syllables.

“Silas,” Cody says.

Not because he disagrees. Because murdering people before answers happen is apparently inefficient.

Silas releases him slowly.

Jake straightens his jacket like this is mildly inconvenient customer service. “You boys always were emotional thinkers.”

“You sabotaged the ranch,” Cody says coldly.

“No.” Jake brushes rainwater from his sleeve. “I optimized an unstable asset.”

I step forward before the brothers can stop me. “You rerouted operational funds to manufacture instability,” I say evenly. “You were trying to make the ranch look unstable.”

Jake looks at me with open surprise now. Not because I’m wrong. Because I understood it. “That’s impressive.”

Revulsion crawls up my spine. “You tried framing me.”

His smile returns. “Temporary employees exist for a reason.”

Behind me, Duke mutters something that sounds deeply homicidal, but I can’t stop looking at Jake. Because now that we’re here, now that the mask slipped, I can finally see what’s underneath him.

He thinks he’s right.

“You endangered people,” I say.

Jake shrugs lightly. “Ironwood was collapsing under outdated leadership.”

Silas goes rigid beside me.