Chapter 35
LENNOX
Sebastian has been working long hours in the week we’ve been home, constantly on the phone or locked in his office with Nathaniel and Caroline.
Planning something. I could feel the tension radiating off him every time he came to bed this week, his body tight with stress even when he tried to hide it.
But he kept his word. He doesn’t threaten me, doesn’t try to control where I go or what I do.
And makes me come till I can’t scream any more.
God, sex with this man will probably kill me before old age.
But each time we’ve been intimate, a little more of Sebastian appeared, and I like the man I am seeing.
He’s still very much in control in the bedroom, which I don’t mind, but there’s more than just primal need.
We are connecting with one another, making more of our time together.
Since Montana, it feels like we’re making love, rather than doing whatever it was before.
I spend my days working at the ranch. Riding out with Pete to check fence lines. Helping move cattle between pastures. Learning the rhythms of this operation the same way I learned my father’s. The work is familiar enough to be comfortable, different enough to require attention.
With all this work, I’m able to avoid the palace.
Walker’s home, and I still don’t want to face him after the accusations.
But that also means I see very little of James since he’s the one keeping Walker informed of everything that’s happening.
James is a light in this family, the only one who seems to have escaped the pressures of the name.
On the fourth day back from Montana, I’m in the barn grooming Duchess when I feel it.
Eyes on me. Watching.
I turn slowly, scanning the barn. Nothing. Just horses and shadows and the familiar smell of hay and leather. But the feeling persists. That prickling awareness that comes from being observed.
“Hello?” My voice echoes in the empty space.
Nothing. No response. No movement.
I go back to brushing Duchess, but my shoulders stay tense. The mare feels it too, shifting nervously, her ears swiveling toward the barn entrance.
“Easy, girl,” I murmur. “It’s nothing.” Which is a total lie; it absolutely is something.
I finish quickly and lead Duchess to her stall, keeping my back to the wall as much as possible. The feeling of being watched intensifies near the tack room, and I grab my phone, ready to call Sebastian, Pete or anyone.
Then it’s gone. Whatever presence was there, if anything was there at all, vanishes like smoke.
Paranoia. I’m being paranoid. Too much stress, too many days of watching Sebastian plan something he won’t tell me about is too much. Thomas Marshall is probably looking to avenge the man that I shot. I can’t help but wait for the retaliation to come. Because it always comes.
I head back to the house, trying to shake the unease crawling up my spine.
Sebastian is in the kitchen making coffee when I come in. He takes one look at my face and frowns.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Well, probably nothing.” I lean against the counter. “I felt like someone was watching me in the barn. But when I looked around, there was no one there.”
His entire body goes rigid. “When?”
“Just now. About five minutes ago.” I study his reaction. “Sebastian, what’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Pete!” Sebastian is already moving toward the door, phone in hand. “I need security on the barn. Now. Check for signs of intrusion, anyone who shouldn’t be there.”
“Sebastian,” I shout, making him stop and turn back to me.
“Stay here. Lock the doors. Don’t go outside until I come back.” He’s already out the door, moving fast toward the barn.
I stand in the kitchen, adrenaline spiking, trying to understand what just happened. Sebastian’s reaction is too extreme for a feeling I might have imagined. Which means he knows something. Suspects something. Something he hasn’t told me.
I pull out my phone and call Caroline. She answers on the first ring.
“Lennox? What’s wrong?”
“Sebastian just went full security mode because I felt like someone was watching me in the barn. What’s going on that he’s not telling me?”
Silence on the other end. Too long.
“Caroline. Tell me,” I demand.
“Marshall’s men have been more active lately. Making moves we don’t fully understand yet. Sebastian doesn’t want to worry you.”
“What kind of moves?”
“Surveillance. Testing our security. Looking for weaknesses.” Caroline pauses. “He’s trying to protect you.”
“By keeping me in the dark?” Anger flares hot. “That’s not protection, Caroline. That’s control.”
“I know. And I told him that. But he’s scared, Lennox. More scared than I’ve ever seen him. Marshall crossed lines with Adam’s sister. Used a teenager as leverage. Sebastian thinks they might…” She lets her words trail off.
“Might what?”
“Might come after you. To get to us.”
The words hang in the air, and suddenly everything clicks into place. Sebastian’s tension. The increased security I noticed but didn’t question. The way he watches me leave every morning, like he isn’t sure I’ll come back.
“I’m coming down there,” Caroline says. “Stay in the house. Lock the doors. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” She hangs up before I can argue.
I lock the front and back doors and check the windows I know are already secure.
I pace the living room while watching through the windows as Sebastian, Pete, and several ranch hands spread out and search the barn and surrounding area.
Looking for someone who probably isn’t there any more. If they were there at all.
But the feeling was real. I knew that bone-deep certainty that comes from being watched. My phone buzzes. Unknown number. Texas area code. I almost don’t answer. But something makes me pick up.
“Hello?”
Silence. Just breathing on the other end.
“Hello?” I repeat, my voice sharper.
“Mrs. Drake.” A man’s voice. Older, rough, with a Texas drawl. “I hope you’re settling in well to ranch life.”
My blood goes cold. “Who is this?”
“A friend of the family. I just wanted to check in. Make sure you’re being treated right by your new husband.” A pause. “Though from what I hear, you didn’t have much choice in marrying him, did you?”
How does he know? How could he possibly?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you don’t. Just like Sebastian doesn’t know about the interesting auction he participates in. The one where he bought himself a wife.” The voice is pleased now, satisfied. “See, we’ve been doing some research. Learning things. And that’s quite the story you two have got going.”
I can’t breathe. Whoever this is knows the one thing that can take this family down instantly. “What do you want?”
“Right now? Just to let you know, we’re watching.
That we know more than Sebastian thinks we know.
That you’re not as protected as he’s trying to make you believe.
” The breathing gets closer, like he’s leaning into the phone.
“Beautiful day for a ride, isn’t it? Cool, but clear.
You can see for miles. It’s easy to watch someone working in a barn.
Or to follow someone who thinks they’re safe on their own property. ”
It is real. Someone had been watching me in the barn.
“If you touch me…” I can’t finish, bile rising in my throat.
“Who said anything about touching? We’re just observing.
Learning. Waiting for the right moment.” A pause.
“Tell your husband we’ll be in touch. And Mrs. Drake?
Be careful out there. Accidents happen on ranches all the time.
Kind of like guns misfiring. My ranch hand made it, case you were wondering.
He’s been in a lot of pain. If he hadn’t been wearing Kevlar, you would have killed him.
It would be a shame if you weren’t so lucky. ”
The line goes dead.
I stand there shaking, the phone still pressed to my ear, trying to process what just happened. A threat. Clear, unmistakable threat. And they know about the auction, the fact that I’d nearly killed someone.
The front door opens, and it is Sebastian, his face tight with worry. “There’s no sign of anyone. But there are tire tracks near the back access road that Pete doesn’t recognize. Fresh. Within the last hour.”
“Sebastian.” My voice comes out strangled. “I just got a call.”
“What?” He crosses to me in two strides. “From who?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t give a name. But he knew, Sebastian, he knew about the auction. About the man I shot. He didn’t die but still, that was what I was aiming for.”
All the color drains from Sebastian’s face. “What exactly did he say?”
I recount the conversation word for word, watching Sebastian’s expression grow more intense with each sentence. By the time I finish, his hands are clenched into fists, his jaw so tight I can see muscles jumping.
“Thomas Marshall,” he says quietly. “It had to be him.”
“How does he know? About the auction?”
“I don’t know. But if he knows, if he has proof.” Sebastian pulls out his phone and dials. “Nathaniel. I need you at the house. Now. Caroline too. We’ve got a problem.”
He hangs up and looks at me, and I see real fear in his eyes. Not for himself. For me.
“Pack a bag,” he says. “Enough for a few days. You’re leaving.”
“What? No. I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. He’s threatened you directly, showed they can get close enough to watch you, to call you. I’m not taking chances with your safety.”
“Where would I even go?”
“Montana. Back to your family. Somewhere they can’t reach you.” He’s already moving to the bedroom. “I’ll have the jet ready in an hour. You’ll be in Sweetwater by tonight.”
“Sebastian, stop.” I grab his arm. “I’m not running. If Thomas Marshall knows about everything, if they’re planning to expose it, then hiding me in Montana doesn’t solve anything.”
“It keeps you safe,” he yells.
“For how long? A week? A month? Until they decide to come after me there, too?” I grab his face and force him to look at me. “We’re in this together. That’s what partners means. We face this together.”
“I can’t protect you if you’re here,” he says, his voice strangled.
“Then we figure out how to protect both of us. But I’m not leaving, Sebastian. Not when things get dangerous. That’s not who I am.”
We stand there, locked in a battle of wills, both terrified for different reasons.
The front door opens again. Nathaniel and Caroline come in, both looking grim.
“Adam’s sister,” Caroline says without preamble. “Someone tried to grab her this morning. At the house in Austin. Adam got to them before security did, he fought them off, but they know where we put her. They know she’s under our protection.”
“Jesus Christ.” Sebastian’s hand goes to his hair. “How?”
“We’re trying to figure that out. But Sebastian, if they know where we moved them”—Caroline’s eyes cut to me—“and about other things, we’ve got a serious problem.”
“So what do we do?” I ask. “Run? Hide? Let them control us through fear?”
“We end this,” Sebastian says, his voice hard, the way I haven’t heard it for weeks. “We go to Marshall, directly. And we settle this once and for all before anyone else gets hurt.”
“That’s suicide,” Caroline says. “They’re expecting aggression. They’ll be ready.”
“Then we don’t go aggressive. We go smart.
We negotiate. Figure out what they actually want and whether we can give it to them without losing everything.
” Sebastian looks at each of us. “But first, we need to know what they know. About the auction, about the contract, about everything. We need that information before we make any moves.”
“How do we get it?” Nathaniel asks.
“We ask them.” Sebastian pulls out his phone. “I’m calling Marshall. Setting up a meeting. Face to face. No ambushes, no games. Just a simple fact-finding call that may lead to negotiation.”
“You can’t be serious,” Caroline starts.
“I’m completely serious. They threatened my wife. Used a sixteen-year-old girl as leverage. They’ve shown they’ll cross any line to win.” Sebastian’s voice is ice. “So we end this. Now. Before they do something we can’t come back from.”
He walks into his office, already dialing, leaving the three of us standing in the living room.
“This is a mistake,” Caroline says quietly. “Meeting with them. Showing weakness.”
“Maybe,” Nathaniel agrees. “Or maybe it’s the only way to stop this from becoming an actual war.”
I don’t say anything. Just stand there trying to process everything that happened in the last hour. And Sebastian’s response, not to threaten back, but to try to end this through conversation.
It’s either the smartest thing he’s ever done. Or it will get us both killed.
* * *
I lie in bed unable to sleep, hyperaware of every sound outside. Every rustle of wind through trees. Every creak of the house settling. Every distant sound that could be someone approaching.
Sebastian is awake too. I can tell from his breathing, from the tension in his body beside me.
“They’re not going to try anything tonight,” he finally says. “It’s too risky. They got their message across. Now they’ll wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“For us to make a mistake. Show weakness. Give them an opening.” He rolls toward me. “But we’re not going to. We’re going to handle this smartly. Carefully. And then it’ll be over.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No. But I have to believe it. Because the alternative…” His voice catches. “The alternative is you getting hurt because I made you a target.”
“I’m not a target, Seb.”
“You are, if he’s been watching, he knows you are the way to get to me. Because if anything happens to you, I don’t know how I’ll survive.” He pulls me into his arms, and I rest my head on his chest, listening to his heart hammer.
“This isn’t your fault,” I whisper.
“Yes, it is. All of it. I caused Marshall to retaliate after that land deal, the threats, the danger. I brought all this to the doorstep because I did everything I could to run him out of this county.” He touches my face gently. “And I’ll fix it. Whatever it takes, I’ll fix this.”
“We’ll fix it,” I correct him. “Together.”