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I opened my mouth and shut it again. I wanted to inform him defensively that the CaffApp had been a highly profitable endeavor, and itdidimprove people’s lives, and it was none of his business which projects Sterling Chase chose to contract for… but the words got stuck in my throat because a tiny part of me agreed with him.
“Now, I know I could simply ask you, as my loyal board of directors, to intervene and push my project through, but that hardly seems fair. That’s why I’m suggesting that the inventor take his project elsewhere. To Justin Hardy, perhaps, or anyone else you believe might be interested.” Rowe gave Dev a bright smile. “With Sterling Chase’s personal recommendation.”
The look of outrage Dev shot me should have sent the barn up in flames. “Bash, I need to speak to you a moment. Alone.” He shoved me back toward the main area of the barn. “Now.”
Before I turned, I saw Rowe’s smile turn to panic. “But… shouldn’t you look after Trigger? He’s not in his cage. What if he bites someone?”
Cage?
“He’s a free-range horse,” Dev said, rolling his eyes, though Rowe couldn’t see. “Feed him an apple from the bag on the table, and the two of you can chat.”
He dragged me away from Rowe and around the corner toward the trainer’s office before hissing at me, exactly as Silas had the night before, “What the fuck?”
Since my insides were screaming the same question, I had no answer. “I know.”
“Sterling Chase’s personal recommendation?He’s using you to gain access to people who can invest in his little project, and you’re helping him. I don’t care how hot a piece of ass he is, Bash—”
“Stop! It’s not like that.” I paused, then admitted, “Notentirelylike that. And I’m not helping him do anything—”
“Silas said you spoke to the guy for twenty minutes last night. You showed up with him today. You don’t think people noticed? You don’t think that gives your little liar credibility?”
Christ. I remembered the way Constance Baxter-Hicks had looked at me holding Rowe’s hand and groaned.
“I brought him here to figure out his game,” I shot back, temporarily glossing over the other half of my plan for the day. “If he’s targeting our business, shouldn’t we figure out how and why?”
“Sure. What did he say when you confronted him?”
“I…” I opened and closed my mouth like a fish.
“Right.” Dev folded his arms smugly.
“He’s… I just… I like being around him.” It felt like I was confessing a dark sin. “He’s kind and ridiculously innocent. He lies through his teeth, but even that is amusing. He makes me laugh. He makes me want to makehimlaugh. He’s… beautiful. And I keep putting things off because I… I want more time with him.”
“Bash.” Dev shook his head sadly. “You wanna fuck him, fuck him. But the more time you spend with him, the more chance you’re giving him to dig his claws into you. There are lots of ways people lie about who they really are.”
Shit. “Dev, your brother—”
He made a slashing motion through the air. “We’re not talking about me. You gotta promise you’ll confront this guy. Today. Ideally, right now.”
I blew out a breath. As much as I hated it, this was the advice I needed to hear. There was a reason it had takenallof our brotherhood to make Sterling Chase successful. “Yeah. I promise. Today.”
“Good. Now, let’s go make sure your beautiful liar hasn’t fuckingcagedmy horse.” Dev huffed in amusement and shook his head as we turned and walked back. “You sure know how to pick ’em, Bash.”
But as we rounded the corner, we found Rowe stroking Trigger’s neck and murmuring to him gently. Dev froze and yanked me to a halt, too, just out of Rowe’s sight.
“You’re actually a very good boy, aren’t you?” Rowe asked, brushing his hand down Trigger’s deep brown coat. “I apologize for misjudging you. It’s just that my only experience with a horse before today was… not positive.”
Trigger nickered.
“Yes, itwasunfortunate. Thank you. His name was Apple Butter, and he was known far and wide—well, far and wide around Linden, Indiana, so not particularly far or wide—for being unfriendly.” Rowe paused. “Akicker.”
The horse whuffled, making Rowe chuckle, and beside me, Dev made a low, startled noise before covering his mouth with his hand.
“But maybe it’s not all that surprising that he had a chip on his shoulder, now that I think about it,” Rowe went on, stroking the horse’s ears. “Since they named him for a breakfast condiment. Give a creature a name likeNobleorLegendaryorSterling Chaseand they’re automatically taken seriously. But when you’re named Apple Butter—or plain, old Rowe Prince—you’ve kinda gotta misbehave to get your point across.”
Dev darted a look at me. I had no idea what expression my face wore, but it was probably something sappy and sympathetic. Whatever it was made Dev come to some kind of decision. Without a word to me, he stepped fully into the open with a deliberate clomp of his boots that Rowe couldn’t miss. Frowning at his back, I followed.
Rowe turned, looking suddenly nervous again, and rubbed a thumb over a spot on his hip in that nervous gesture I’d seen him do before. “Oh. Hello. Trigger and I were just having a pleasant chat.”
