Chapter 23
“Y ou gotta promise me you're gonna keep your cool,” I warn Wade, as we stare outta the windshield at the Mason’s gate.
I know how mad he is about what happened to Leia Walker, and my brother’s had a thing for her for as long as I can remember, but he’s barking up the wrong tree with that one.
She’s never gonna lower her standards to a cowboy, it don’t matter how big his ranch or his fortune is.
“We’ll just see how he responds. If he starts making excuses for him, I don’t know if I can be good on that promise, bro.” Wade warns, and I take a deep breath before I drive through the gates.
It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I never bother to attend any of the parties Ronnie Mason puts on as an excuse to brag to the folk in town, and looking around, I can see the place has developed a lot since I last visited.
Our ranch used to be the town’s sole supplier; no one could touch us.
We branched out all over the state, but these days we can’t compete.
If it weren't for all the family money that we still have, invested from the days when our great, great grandad mined the Ridge, we would have probably gone under last winter.
There’s more than enough of it left for us to live on, but that ain’t how the Carsons, that came before us, built their legacy.
They worked hard, so they had something to pass on. I see no pride in taking a dead man’s money and failing with it. And I vowed last year that we would never see another winter the same. No matter how underhanded I have to be.
Pops sees getting his government seat as more important than our future here, and I see things differently.
We get some dodgy looks from the bunkhouse boys when we pull up in the yard, and me and Wade stare ‘em right back as we get out the truck.
“We’re here to speak with your boss,” I call out, to no one in particular.
“He’ll be inside,” one of them speaks up, and I recognise Seth, who I sacked a few weeks ago, now wearing the Mason shirt, as he gestures his head toward the main house. He’s irrelevant to me now, so I don’t give him the courtesy of a response as I head in that direction.
The Mason home is modern; its glass front and shiny steel frame look intrusive against the beautiful valleys behind it.
I move toward the front door with Wade behind me, noting that I saw no sign of Cole in the yard.
He probably made sure of that because he knew we were coming.
He’ll already be getting the shit pulled out of him because of who he is, and where he’s come from.
Us being here, will only be a reminder of that.
I tap my knuckles at the door, and when a pretty brunette answers, I give her one of my more friendly smiles.
“We’re here to see Mr. Mason,” I tell her,
“Which one? There are five of ‘em,” she tries being smart with me.
“Senior,” I inform her, before looking back at Wade. He's already breathing like an ox, there ain’t no way he’s gonna keep his cool, and I hope and pray that Caleb Mason ain’t anywhere near because, right now, Wade wants to make someone hurt.
“Come in, I’ll get him for you.” She opens the door wider and shows us to the bench seat in the hall.
Everything here is so urban; it’s like someone picked up a New York penthouse and dumped it in the middle of the plains.
Nothing about this structure belongs here, especially the people living in it.
Neither of us takes a seat, we remain standing while we wait, and when the decrepit, old man hobbles out of his office, relying on his stick, I understand why he doesn’t seem to have much of a presence around town, anymore.
“You boys here for work, too?” He laughs to himself, and when Wade moves to step forward, I hold out my arm to block him.
“No, sir. We’re actually here with some information that I think you might find useful.” I step closer to him myself, making sure I tower over his hunched frame.
“Leia Walker was drugged at a party last night,” I start off, feeling the tension coming from Wade beside me. “Another girl was drugged and raped,”
“What is the world coming to?” Old man Mason shakes his head but doesn’t look much like he cares.
He will.
“We spoke to the kid responsible,” I assure him.
“And I hope that all those extra taxes I’ve been paying, ensure he’s reprimanded for it,” he looks up at me, unfazed.
“He told us where he got his supply.” Knowing I’m about to ruin this fucker’s day helps me stay calm.
“What ya here to do, Garrett, round up a posse?” The bastard laughs again, and now I really do have to hold Wade back.
I turn my body into his and warn him with my eyes. I’ve never met anyone as laid back as Wade, but when he’s loaded like he is now, there ain’t no reasoning with him.
“Cool it,” I warn him, through my teeth.
“Would you be cool if it was Maisie who got drugged?” he asks, raising his eyebrows, and when I decide I have no argument back to that, I turn back around to face Ronnie Mason.
“Your son, Caleb, he’s a vet, right?” I narrow my eyes at him.
“Opening his own practice in town next spring,” he smiles proudly.
“So he has easy access to drugs, like Vetalar?” I let him know where I’m going with this.
“I don’t know what you're suggesting, but…”
“I ain't suggestin’ anything. I’m tellin’ ya. Your son’s supplying these predators. He’s putting that stuff out on our streets, and if Mayor Walker found out that it was your son who put his daughter in that situation, I think he might want to re-evaluate your relationship.”
It’s not a secret that the Mason’s success wasn’t just built by their fortune. They also relied on a lot of influential power. I step even closer to him, keeping hold of his stare.
“You know, before you came to town, ranchers around here looked out for each other. So, I’m gonna give ya a little taste of how it used to be.
I’ll keep your secret. I’ll rely on the hope that you're a good enough man to teach that boy of yours a lesson of your own. Because I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I can assure you, he wouldn’t want to learn that lesson from us,”
I turn to walk away, noticing how Wade ain’t budging.
“I’ve heard a lot about how this town was run before I came to it. Apparently, Carsons used to brand men like slaves.” His words have me turning on my feet and staring back at him.
“Then you heard wrong. Branded men were free men. They protected our ranch, and they protected each other. They took the brand out of loyalty. Maybe if you had some of that, you’d understand them better.” I put him right.
“But mainly, they protect you, right?” He has a pretty, smug smile on his face for someone who just found out his son’s a drug-supplying cunt. I head straight for him and grip him by the fancy jacket he’s wearing, and just like my father, he looks much more like a politician than a ranch owner.
He gasps in shock when I shove him into the wall and lift him up off his feeble feet.
“Do I look much like I need protecting?” I ask, and when he doesn’t answer, I let him drop to the floor like a bag of bones, and along with my brother, I head back out the door.
* * *
Wade doesn’t have much to say on the way home, and he heads straight out to the stables when we pull up at the ranch. There’s a mustang Pops had Tate and Finn round-up yesterday; apparently, the thing’s bat-shit crazy. I guess he’s gonna throw himself around on that to let off some steam.
I head inside, and when I find Maisie lying on the couch talking on her cell, I hang up my hat and head into the kitchen.
I grip the basin and restrain myself from ripping it from the damn wall.
She seems to be everywhere. In my space.
In my thoughts. I can still taste her on my tongue, and I can’t close my eyes without seeing her smiling back at me.
“I was talking to Leia. She invited me back over, tomorrow night,” Maisie mentions casually as she steps around me and grabs herself an apple from the fruit bowl. She hops herself up onto the kitchen work surface beside me, and sinks her teeth into it.
“I’m bored. You wanna hang out? Maybe we could take another shower?” She’s taunting me, and I feel my cock stiffen under my jeans. I wish I didn’t care enough about her, to stop myself from doing all things I’ve thought about. And like always, the girl knows exactly how to make me lose control.
I shift my body, so my hips rest between her open thighs. It would be so easy to take her like this. To allow myself everything I’ve desired since she first stropped onto my porch and started fuckin’ with my head.
Placing my palms flat on the work surface either side of her hips and pressing my forehead into hers, I decide to give her a taste of her own medicine.
“I warned you ‘bout teasin’,“ I growl, letting my cock press between her legs.
“You did, but I suck at doing as I’m told.
I like teasing you. I like making you mad.
What ya gonna do about it?” She shrugs her shoulders, then gasps when I snatch her jaw in the arch of my hand and squeeze.
I look down at her lips and admire the way I’ve pursed them together.
It’s hard not to imagine how pretty they’d look with me feeding my cock through them, and I can’t help wondering if she’d manage to take me all the way to the back of her throat.
I’m sure I’d like the sound of her gagging just as much as I do her laughter.
“I ain’t gonna do nothin’,” I assure her. The only justice in my torture is the fact she suffers it ,too. I’m a cruel-hearted man for having those kinda thoughts, but it’s the only pain I ever want her to feel, and for that reason, I can’t keep Maisie Wildman. I have to set her free.
I drop my hand from her jaw and turn away, heading out the door and getting as far away from her as I can manage.
“You're a coward, Garrett Carson!” she calls out after me, and I don't turn around to see if she’s smiling or pouting. I also don’t correct her. I could drag her to watch me kill a hundred men to prove to her that I ain’t. But when it comes to her, she’s right. I’m a fucking coward.