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“She’ll answer me,” I say. “And if she doesn’t, she will as soon as she realizes she isn’t safe.”
He clears his throat, brows pensive. “Are you afraid the Garrison brothers will get to her first?”
Yes, the truth is, I am. But I can’t force her hand…yet. I have to give her an opportunity to come to me before I take her forcibly. She doesn’t know what the Garrisons are capable of, that if she stays on her dead husband’s land, she’s in danger.
“I’m watching her,” I say.
“How? Don’t tell me you did something weird like assign a guard to her house?” Through the dim light, I see him roll his eyes.
“No, I installed a security camera outside her barn.”
“Jesus,” he says, but he doesn’t berate me about it. He knows if she didn’t really mean something to me, I wouldn’t have done this. He’s used to the shades of gray we operate in at Sovereign Mountain. There’s no way anyone builds the largest ranch in Montana in two decades without stacking the deck and playing a few dirty hands.
And he knows I won’t stop until I have what I want.
We didn’t get to sleep until past midnight. I wake so early that my eyes burn as I dress for the day and go into my office to check my emails. My laptop is still open on my desk by the window.
I sink down and her name jumps out.
Keira Garrison.
It took her long enough. I rarely have patience for procrastination. Everything in my life runs efficiently and promptly because I’ve made it do so.
But for the redheaded Garrison girl, I seem to have all the patience in the world.
I have the biggest ranch in the state and everyone asks for favors eventually. That means that all roads lead to Sovereign Mountain at some point.
I’m confident her road will bring her here as soon as she realizes she’s out of options.
I crack my neck and click on the email. That last name bothers me to no end. In my last several months of research, I discoveredshe was the reason my land now directly bordered the Garrison ranch. Before that, I’d shared a boundary with Stowe Farms. She was the Stowe daughter who had inherited the land and married into the Garrison family. She was the reason that land had been annexed into theirs, putting me squarely against their ranch.
Keira Stowe sounds better, and I wonder why she hasn’t gone back to her maiden name. Her husband is gone.
Thoroughly gone.
I watched the accident happen. I stood over his broken body and helped load it into the truck to take to the hospital.
Her email loads on the screen.
Dear Mr. Sovereign,
I’ve thought it over and will accept your request for a business meeting.
I look forward to speaking with you Wednesday.
Kind regards,
Keira Garrison.
The corner of my mouth tugs up. She’s trying to be formal, but she’s probably never had to arrange a business meeting before. I wonder if my invitation made her nervous. Or maybe she wanted to make me wait.
I cock my head. Normally I don’t like to chase. But for this woman, I’ll make an exception.
Every night for seven months, I’ve fallen asleep to the thought of Keira. The irony that I’m pining after a woman with that surname isn’t lost on me. Garrison used to be poison on my tongue.
Now I whisper it while I come.
Keira Garrison.
