AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Before we start,” I said. “Are you certain that you don't want to rescind all your accusations and for us to put this in the past?”
“Why would I do that?”
“You are my brother, even with everything that you've done to me. And I don't even know what caused this, or how we got to this point, but we could walk away right now if you wanted to.”
He stared at me and then shook his head, letting out a laugh.
“You don't understand. You've never understood.”
He took a step closer, all of his attention now on me. I felt a sense of relief, knowing that he was at least not focused on Mari now.
“Go,” I told her. “Please, sugar.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Mari,” Stella called. “Get off the stage.”
“No,” Mari growled.
“Sugar, please,” I begged.
She glared at me and then moved, running towards backstage where Stella and her mates stood.
I could finally breathe knowing that she was out of the way.
Now, I could focus on my brother.
The crowd had mostly left the saloon, leaving us alone. The silence settled over the venue, as if the building were holding its breath.
The two of us squared off, glaring at each other. My guns were strapped to either side of my hips, ready to be pulled. I also had my rope ready to go.
Rider was also ready, his weapons in their holsters. But he didn’t use rope the way I did.
“We don't have to do this,” I told him again.
“We do,” he said. “After all this time, of you always getting what you want, always being treated better than me, I'm finally going to show the world just how bad and terrible you are. You never deserved all the things that you were given. And I had to fight to even be seen. It was never fair.”
“You stole everything from me,” I said. “You stole my invention, you stole my home, you took me from our family. How is any of that fair?”
“It was punishment,” he snarled.
“You killed Jolyene. And then you framed her murder on me. Why?Whatdid I do?”
“You took the ranch,” he said. “You took my dreams. You knew that I always wanted to be the one to run the ranch and yet you're the one that took it.”
“Because you were off being an ambassador,” I shouted, exasperated. “That's why I took on the ranch. I never wanted to run the ranch to begin with. That's not what I want for my future. I wanna fly off into the stars with my mate, and live a happy life. I want nothing to do with any of this. Take it and let’s walk away.”
“We can’t now. Can’t you see that?” he growled.
Shouts and sirens suddenly filled the hall. The two of us glanced up, seeing the authorities come through the doors.
“This is a duel,” Rider yelled.
The three officers that had come in stopped moving towards us.
It was unfortunate but true—once a duel was announced, no one could do anything until it finished.
I drew in a deep breath, focusing now.
