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It would never leave him.
The pain would never leave him.
And he was going to show Takis what that meant.
Even stepping outside didn’t diminish Chuck’s rage. He was vaguely aware of a small crowd of people that had gathered around, despite Takis’ barked commands that the crowd should disperse.
There were staff members of the ranch, and visitors, too.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this, Chuck,” Takis hissed as he bundled him out of the ranch house. “Putting everything we’ve been building here in jeopardy. All because of your lust. All because you couldn’t trust me. You couldn’t confide in me.”
“You’re not my brother,” Chuck spat. “You’re not family. You’re just a fucking shark. A businessman. You want to change this ranch into a damn theme park.”
With a grunt, Takis released Chuck, pushing him away, down onto the hard ground in front of the ranch house.
“You better stay down there,” Takis said. “Stay down and let go of that anger, North.”
Chuck looked up at Takis. There was a sea of faces around him — all the people that Chuck was getting to know at the ranch. The people hehadstarted to think of as his family.
He looked at them now, and they had a new expression on their faces. An expression that he hadn’t seen before.
Fear.
Confusion.
Dread.
He shook his head. Takis was right. He wasn’t ready to be a Daddy. He wasn’t even ready to be a man. He didn’t deserve this place, didn’t deserve the opportunity, and he sure as hell didn’t deserve Millie.
It was a miracle — a blessing — that she hadn’t seen him fighting with Takis. If she’d seen him making a fool of himself, he knew he’d never get over it.
“I quit,” Chuck said, quietly.
“What did you say?”
“I said,” shouted Chuck, desperately, “Iquit!“ His voice was getting louder and louder, and the crowd was responding, stepping backward. “I’m going to leave this fucking place, and never come back! This isn’t my home. It’s a tomb. And I need to get away.”
“Chuck,” Trent said, “take a moment, find a space to be alone, and let this anger flow away.”
“Always so damn calm. Everything’s so easy for you, you fucking robot.”
“Brother,” Duke said.
“Oh, so the walking tub of whey protein can talk. Thought you’d be loving this.” He was still shouting. It was as though he’d forgotten how to talk normally.
Duke shook his head. “This isn’t you.” It was about the calmest his brother had ever been.
How had Chuck let himself get like this? Things had been going so well. And now, everything was falling apart. He sighed.
End of the road, Chuck. End of the damn road.
And that’s when he heard the scream.
It was Millie. Before he knew what he was doing, he was on his feet, running to the source of the sound.
*
By the time Chuck and the others arrived at the corral, Millie was already out of danger.
