CHAPTER 40
The car kicks up dirt behind it as it speeds toward the ranch house. I don’t need to see it to know Cade has returned.
Knox pulls Honey to a stop, offering her a gentle hand to ease her nervousness, and I do the same with Apollo, my hat shielding my eyes from the high noon sun. Dust and dirt coat my skin, making it feel tight, lips a little dry.
It’s been days since Cade left to deal with my uncle, no word, no way to contact him, and now he’s here.
He comes to a stop by the side of Knox’s Chevy, cutting the engine until silence falls, the dust settling behind him.
“Is he going to get out?” Knox grumbles.
I try to see him through the glare on the windscreen, but the angle of the sun makes it impossible, and nerves flitter through me.
Throwing my leg over Apollo’s back, I jump down to the ground, his reins loose in my hands as he follows me a few steps toward the car.
Knox remains on Honey, but he keeps at my side.
Cade finally opens the door, climbing from behind the wheel with a pair of sunglasses shielding his eyes and a cigarette dangling from between his lips. He adjusts his suit jacket and then plucks the cigarette from his mouth, letting it rest between two fingers.
“Miss me?” He asks cockily, a curl of smoke rising with his grin.
“It’s been fucking days!” I snap at him, Apollo following dutifully behind me. He huffs a breath, clearly uncomfortable.
“It takes time,” Cade shrugs. “I had to put on a ruse to get your uncle to trust me enough.”
“What the hell do you mean?”
Beside me, Knox gets down from Honey, tying her up to a post before he takes Apollo’s reins and does the same.
“This is no time for games, Caden,” Knox pinches the bridge of his nose.
“I do you a favor and this is the thanks I get?” Cade shakes his head.
“Cade, please.” I step closer, but Knox grips my hand, stopping my forward motion.
Cade sighs heavily, taking a long drag on his cigarette before he throws the smoking stick down onto the ground and treads on it with the toe of his black leather boot. He crushes it into the gravel and leans on the hood. “He’s distrusting. Anxious.”
“As he fucking should be,” I grumble.
“One would think he is being haunted,” Cade laughs, “Even when you’re not around, you call the shots.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“He wanted to know why I suddenly wanted to see him after I rejected his last invitation. Wouldn’t give me anything, so I had to keep going back. He called, and I fucking came,” He sneers. “Quite frankly, De Luca, I almost called it. No one treats me like a fucking dog.”
“I get it,” I swallow, “I do, but Cade, please. What happened?”
“He’s agreed to a business deal. He wants guns from me, I want money.”
“What?” I hiss. “Is that it!?”
Cade chuckles, “The topic of you came up. I have to give it to the man; he almost had me convinced. The grieving uncle, the girl he watched grow up gone too soon, and now the shoes he must fill are full of lead and sorrow. I offered my condolences.”
My lip curls, “And?”
“We’re set to have a meeting in two days, long enough for me to have a shipment brought over and for him to get the money together.”
“This just sounds like you’re doing business with him,” Knox growls, his body vibrating at my side. “You’re turning, aren’t you, you fucking prick!”
I grip Knox’s arm. I know my battles, and this isn’t one either of us will win. Cade and his men will murder every single living thing on this land and walk off it without even blinking. Knox thinks I’m the devil, but right now, he’s standing in front of an even bigger evil.
But Cade chuckles at Knox. “Calm down, Carter,” He replies. “I’m not turning. I’m laying a foundation of trust. We want to catch him off guard.”
“So does he believe I’m dead? What was his story?”
“Accident on the way to a meeting with a man named, Rossi,” Caden flicks his eyes to Knox, “Driver survived and claimed you were killed on impact, but your body was never recovered, they’re still looking, you know, to give closure to the family and the men who served you.”
I scoff, “No, he wants proof.”
“Precisely,” Caden nods, “They’re not loyal to him, Elena, at least not all of them. He has his circle, of course, but seventy-five percent are demanding proof of your death before they swear their loyalty to him.”
Pride shifts inside my chest. Seventy-five percent is good; it gives me a chance to get back what’s been lost, to do exactly as I promised.
“So what is the plan exactly?” Knox presses, “You have your trade and then what? Because you’re arming him, Caden, and that doesn’t seem like the smartest idea.”
“You just have to trust me,” Cade replies. “That’s all.”
“Not fucking likely, Blackwood.” Knox snaps at him.
“Got yourself a guard dog, princess,” Caden chuckles. “You’ll need him.”
His shoes scuff in the dirt as he moves to stand from the hood of the car, tugging at the sleeves of his suit jacket as he walks toward the driver door.
“It’ll all work out,” He says with his back to us.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Meet me in town tomorrow.” He looks over his shoulder. “Only you, Elena.”
Knox moves toward him, but Cade gets in his car and slams the door shut behind him, stopping any argument. I grab him before he can do anything, attempting to hold him back, but this man is much too large to be held back.
“Knox!” I yell.
“The fuck did he mean, only you!?” He snaps his head to me. “I do not fucking like this, Elena.”
“I know,” I sigh, “But I trust him.”
“Why?” Knox growls.
“What does he have to gain by double-crossing me?”
“I don’t fucking know!” Knox explodes, slapping his hand against the side of his truck.
His sudden show of anger startles me, making me flinch.
“I don’t claim to know the inner thoughts of mad men but there’s a damn reason he wants you there alone.
And you’re going to go, aren’t you!? Despite the glaring red flags, you’re going to go! ”
Swallowing thickly, I cross my arms. “I have no other choice. We need this to end.”
“We don’t need anything, Elena. You do. Is this not good enough?”
“It’s more than that, Knox,” I try.
“It isn’t!” He throws his hands up. “It isn’t Elena.
You’re going to risk your life for something that would chew you up and spit you out without a second thought.
Have any of those seventy-five percent even come looking for you?
They’re not loyal to him, but they don’t care enough about you either. ”
His words hit me in the chest.
“You’re going to get yourself fucking killed!” He continues, “And what? I’m supposed to watch?”
He spins on his heel and storms toward the barns, his steps sure and heavy, his shoulders so tight they may as well be touching his ears. Both of the horses remain with me, watching him like I am.
“Knox,” I call after him, but he just shakes his head and heads into one of the barns, the whole building seeming to rattle with how hard he rips the door open. A moment later, I hear the loud rumble of the ATV.
I’m no longer even doing this for me or my family name.
I’m doing this for him.