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“Would these people happen to go by Garrison as well?” I ask.
He presses his lips together, but I already have my answer. Silence stretches on until he releases a heavy sigh and sits back.
“I shouldn’t have gone behind your back,” he says.
“Our contract is over.” I’m on my feet, reaching for my hat.
“Wait.”
I’m halfway to the door when that word rings out. I pivot on my heel, gracious enough to offer him one more opportunity to explain himself. He lifts his palms.
“What we have is a non-compete clause. At that point, you weren’t competing with Garrison Ranch.”
“I’m their biggest competitor,” I say.
“But not their enemy. You were doing business with Clint.”
Darkness and rage seep through my veins like ink. Inside, my anger simmers low. Waiting for when I can release it.
“I was, but only because behind the scenes I’ve been buying up their land,” I spit. “Why do you think I own the banks? I’ve been squeezing the life out of those Garrison fuckers with interest until they had no choice but to start selling. You know these things, Jack, it’s your job.”
“No one knows anything unless you want them to, Sovereign,” he snaps.
“That woman…the one I said I was going to marry,” I spit out. “She’s Clint’s widow. So forgive me for distrusting you.”
He pulls back, his brows drawing together. I see the gears turning in his head as he soaks in this information.
This changes everything because that makes Keira my family. And a long time ago, I’d agreed to finance his undergroundbusiness in order to get Lisbeth away from her ex husband and out of debt. He owes me for saving the two of them, and the weight of that debt makes his shoulders sink.
“I was never going to see this job through,” he says finally. “I don’t kill women, but I was curious why he wanted her taken out, so I gave him the card.”
He has me there. We both know that’s over the line for Jack. It might be a rough, wild country out here, but he still has his decency. Maybe he’s telling the truth.
Jack releases a long sigh and rubs his eyes. “Jesus…fuck, Sovereign,” he mumbles. “What do you want from me?”
“What I’ve always wanted from you—a hit man.”
He swallows hard, throat bobbing. His hands go to his hips.
“Avery and Thomas?”
I nod.
“That’ll be six million for both,” he says. “That’s a fucking deal too. Friends and family discount.”
I hold out my palm and he locks eyes with me. Giving me a piercing stare, like he’s trying to split me open and look inside my head.
Then he shakes my hand and I feel the balance of the world shift. I suppose this could be considered signing a death warrant. But I prefer to think of it as doing the Lord’s work.
Jack goes to his desk. There’s a wooden card box printed with a little silver dog that he slides open and takes two black cards from. I keep still as he walks over and tucks them into my shirt pocket.
“I’ll collect them when it’s done,” he says.
I shake my head. “Pack your shit,” I say. “We’re doing this together.”
He freezes. “I work alone.”
The image of Keira in my lap, riding me with her crimson hair falling down her back, bursts into my mind. She’s so fuckingalive, so warm and real. When we first met, I’d wanted her…perhaps I’d thought I loved her. But the realization I could have lost her before I even got a chance to be hers shakes me to my core.
