AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I found my baby’s green eyes and stayed locked in her gaze. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she whispered.
“You need to know what kind of man you just fucked, Valerie,” I vowed. Before she could argue, I began again. “Momma was usually back around lunch time, except that day, she wasn’t. We didn’t think anything of it because—because Momma was a photographer. If something caught her eye, it wasn’t unusual for her to photograph it. Pops made her darkroom studio in the room that’s now my office.”
“That’s amazing,” she added.
I nodded. The love Pop had for Momma was unlike any other. “Pops and I were in pasture three with the boys, managing the herd. Mason was back at the house, doing chores in the barn. It wasn’t until we saw the smoke that we knew something was wrong.” My woman grew tense above me, her hand frozen in place on my head. I gave her a squeeze and continued. “There was a forest fire. Normally, we don’t mess with them. Mother Nature has a way of cleansing her land and she does that by fire, but only in a drought. It had been raining for a week straight beforehand.”
“No,” she whispered.
“I don’t know all the details. Pop and his men charged up the mountain. A chopper was brought in to dump water on the fire. It was a small one, contained...forest fires are not contained. Ever. Not natural occurring ones anyway. Took a day to find her body—”
“Denver,” she rasped, sitting up and covering her mouth. I sat up with her, wrapping my arms around her. I buried my head in her neck.
“It was bison hunters, Valerie. Fucking bison hunters. Bison are a protected species in this part of the country. They roam freely. Momma must’ve seen the hunters, and they killed her. They wanted it to look like an accident. She was wearing a Hallow Ranch t-shirt. They knew she would report them to the authorities, so they burned her.” My body shook as emotions I hadn’t felt in years came rushing forth, crashing into me like a wave.
Valerie’s arms were around me, holding me. “Honey, oh, honey.”
She was trying to comfort me. I didn’t deserve her comfort, her touch, her sweetness. I didn’t deserve any of it, because I was about to tell her about that day.
The day that I became a monster.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Valerie
Myheartwasracingas I held onto my cowboy. This man—this broken man—was trembling in my arms. I was in his lap, both of us naked, and his arms were wrapped around me tightly, like if he let go, I wouldn’t be here anymore. His beard scratched the skin on my neck as he spoke, his voice gruff and thick with emotion.
“I don’t deserve your kindness, Enchantress,” he confessed. I put my hand on the back of his head and shook mine.
“Denver, of course you do. I couldn’t imagine—”
“Pop got his revenge,” he said darkly, his hold on me tightening. “We aren’t normal men, baby. We protect our own. We avenge our own. That’s just who we are. No law is going to force that.”
“You were a child…”
“Two days after they found her body, Pop was mad. Mason was scared shitless, because Mason looks like Momma. Same hair. Same smile. Mase was scared Pop was going to hate him for it. I tried to be…I don’t know what I tried to be. Pop and Jigs came to the house one night and said they’ d found the hunters. They were still hunting on our land on the other side of the mountain.”
I held onto him, my soul tensing in fear waiting for his next words.
“Took us two more days to find them, but we did.” His voice was dark now, void of any emotion that he was just showing me. “Pop made me bring Mason.”
My stomach twisted and I shut my eyes, leaning my cheek against his head.No, please God…
“Jigs and Pop did the work, but Pop wanted us there. Told us to close our eyes, to cover Mase’s ears. I closed my eyes, but there was no one to cover my ears…”
“Smoke,” I choked, my body jerking a bit. He pulled back to look at me, his eyes dark.
“Learned how loud a man can scream that night,” he murmured.
There were no words. I felt angry. How could a man make his children watch that? How could he—
“I see the judgement in your eyes, Valerie,” he rumbled.
I cupped his cheek. “It’s not for you. I promise, but your father—”
“He made Mase, and I swear we would protect his ranch with our lives, that Hallow Ranch would always be owned by Langston blood.”
I looked out the window, focusing on the tree that stood tall just outside. “Moonie Pipelines never stood a chance, did they?”
