Page 19 of Anton

I fling my brown hair over my shoulder. “I have not.”

“Thora.” She lifts her chin.

“What?”

“Is it a guy?” Her lips quirk.

A laugh slips out too fast. “What? No. Of course not. I was just thinking about the…new horse.”

Anton’s sort of like a stallion. Where’s the lie in that?

Greer tilts her head, not buying a single word. “Uh-huh.”

I turn away before she can keep digging into my brain, bending down to scratch behind one of the other goats’ ears.

“Okay,” she says from behind me, drawing the word out. “I’ll be keeping my eye on you.”

Damn it.

When I glance back, she’s still watching me for another second before she pivots.

“All right, I’ve got work to do. Don’t get into any trouble.” A few steps away, she pauses and peers over her shoulder. “You know, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if you did meet someone.”

Yeah, it would. If you knew who.

“Maybe one day,” I say instead, brushing my hands on my jeans. “Same goes for you, by the way.”

A snort leaves her. “No men for me.”

“Women, then?”

“Not them, either.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Love you.”

“Right back at you, babe.”

She heads toward the bed-and-breakfast a few yards away, leaving me alone with the animals and the dark thoughts already taking hold. The ones I try not to acknowledge. The ones that come far more often than I would ever admit to my family.

Since that day, I’ve done everything I can to keep the memories buried, but they still surface when I least expect them.

Goose bumps sweep over me as the past surges up, so vivid it drags me back there. I try to push it down, but it only sharpens, forcing me to relive every second. The way I fought. The way he fought back. But I escaped; that’s all that matters.

He can’t hurt me anymore. Because he’s dead now.

ANTON

The engine revs as I weave through traffic toward the meeting with my brothers while Thora Whitlock forces her way into my thoughts the entire ride.

That perfect curve of her mouth. The teasing look in her eyes.

My fingers tighten around the throttle. She’s becoming a problem. Konstantin needs to give the order soon because the longer she stays alive, the more space she takes up in my head.

She’s a nuisance. An irritating distraction. Nothing more.

I gun the engine, forcing every thought of her back as the Marinov Holdings building rises ahead of me.

Soon enough, she’ll be gone, and I won’t have to think about her again.