Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Maddox
“You might want to slow down, man. I can’t drive two trucks back to the ranch on my own,” Shadow says as I knock back a shot. It’s my third or maybe it’s my fourth. I’m not really counting.
I set the empty glass on top of the bar. “I don’t need a babysitter, Shadow.” I turn to stare him straight in the eyes. “I’m a grown ass man who knows how to handle his liquor.”
It’s everything else in life that I struggle with.
“I’m not here to bust your balls, man. All I’m saying is you’ve been here less than an hour and have taken down four doubles like they were water. Now, I’m getting the impression you ain’t in a hurry to get back home, so if I were you, I’d brace myself.”
“It’s only been an hour?” I ask miserably as I tear my gaze away from him and swipe a hand over my face.
“Fifty-six minutes to be exact.”
This fucking guy. He just keeps pouring salt on the wound.
“Fuck.”
“You hiding out here so you don’t have to deal with the funeral, or is something else eating at you?”
“Am I that fucking transparent?”
Shadow shakes his head and reaches for his beer. Holding it to his lips, his eyes cut across the bar to where Amelia is serving a group of guys. “Not usually, but my cousin is standing twenty feet away and your attention is not on her, so…”
My head snaps to the right, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“My attention is never on Amelia.”
He scoffs, hiding a mischievous grin behind the glass of beer.
“You try to make it so it’s not, but anytime you and her are in the same vicinity, you always got one eye on her.
” He takes a drink of his beer, finishing it off.
“I’ve been wondering when you’re going to pull your head out of your ass and shoot your shot. ”
“You’re insane.”
He lowers his glass and shrugs. “I don’t know, maybe I am, but you’re both single, and I don’t see the harm in it.”
If he knew I already pulled the trigger thirteen years ago, and broke both of our hearts, the man would be singing a different tune.
“She needs to cut loose and so do you.” He stares at me for a beat, that sly grin of his returning to taunt me. “Be fun as hell to watch.”
Yeah, about as fun as watching a train derail off the tracks.
I shake my head. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but that will never happen.”
“If that’s the case then whatever is pulling you away from the ranch must be deeper than William’s funeral. You’re a man who thrives on responsibility. Hell, the guys in my club have dubbed you Mr. Do The Right Thing. Yet, here you are, avoiding everything.”
“Not everything,” I mutter. “Just my fucking sister.”
He quirks a brow at that. “Mousey little Della is what has you running from the ranch?”
“It’s been a long time since you’ve seen her.
She’s more mouthy than mousey these days, and I’m not in the mood to hear her tell me all the ways I failed our grandfather.
I figure if I hide out here for a while, she’ll get bored or tired and lock herself in her room.
If God wants to grant me any favors, he won’t make her come out until the funeral. ”
That’s not likely, but a man can hope.
“Are you saying Della blames you for what happened to William?”
My mind wanders back to the phone call. I hadn’t told her the details of what happened before we were at each other’s throats, but she didn’t say much of anything when I finally divulged everything to her. I chalked it up to her being in a state of shock.
“She didn’t say it, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t think it.”
Della drove three hours to come back home today, and I’m sure she thought long and hard about all the ways I could’ve prevented Granddaddy’s death on that drive. I could sense as much the moment she stepped out of her car, and my eyes locked with hers.
“I just have to get through the next few days, then she’ll be on her way, and I can focus on how the fuck I’m going to save the ranch.”
“Save the ranch,” Shadow parrots.
Realizing I slipped up there, I turn to him and flinch. “I didn’t mean to say that aloud.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have had that last double shot after all.
Shadow pushes his beer aside and crosses his arms against his chest, giving me his undivided attention.
“What’s going on with the ranch?”
“It’s nothing. I’ll handle it.”
“Maddox.”
Realizing he’s not about to let me skid away without coming clean, I sigh. Holding all this shit in, pretending like I’m not fucking drowning all the time, is exhausting. Maybe getting it off my chest isn’t the worst idea.
“The ranch is bleeding money, man. We haven’t turned a profit in God knows how long, and everything I do to get us out of the red fails. Costs are just too high, and the business model that worked for my Granddaddy can’t survive in the current economic climate.”
I think about that a lot. Granddaddy didn’t make a fraction of what the ranch’s books show now, and he not only supported his own family, but he kept a full staff on his payroll and expanded the property lines multiple times without going into debt.
“Can you take a second mortgage on the land or even the main house? Get some cash flowing in for a while until you figure things out.”
“We own everything free and clear, so technically it would be a first mortgage.” I pause for a beat, trying to decide how much I’m willing to share. “But yeah, I considered it. I even went to the bank to see if I’d be pre-approved.”
“So what’s the problem? You didn’t get the approval?”
“Oh, no, I got the approval,” I mutter, diverting my gaze to the empty shot glass in front of me. “You ever hear of Landry Oil?”
“I’ve seen their trucks around town, and they got a rig a couple miles west of Saddle Ridge that I pass every now and then.” His brows pinch together. “What does an oil company have to do with any of this?”
I meet his gaze. “They want my land.”
Those four words leave a sour taste in my mouth.
I tried to forget my altercation with the CEO of Landry Oil, but there is no erasing that sleezy motherfucker from my mind.
The bastard did his homework before he paid me a visit.
He knew just how fucked I was before the soles of his pristine loafers touched the dirt of Meadows Ranch.
“I hope you told those cunts to piss off.”
“I sure did, but the CEO didn’t appreciate that, and no isn’t part of his vocabulary.
He threatened to take further action. He wasn’t specific with what that might be, but I did some digging, and there are a couple of routes he can take to get what he wants.
One way he can go over my head is by putting an offer on any outstanding bank notes. ”
“Ah,” Shadow says. “So what you’re saying is that if you took a mortgage on the land, this company can then offer to buy the note.”
“Right, and depending on how dirty they want to play, they can offer well above the original note. If the bank accepts the offer, Landry Oil takes ownership of the mortgage. But that’s just one option.
For all I know, these guys have politicians in their pockets.
What I really should do is sit down with a lawyer, but I don’t have the extra funds to retain one. ”
“Jesus,” Shadow says. “What a fucking mess. I’m taking your sister doesn’t know any of this.”
“Fuck no. The last thing I need is another thing for her to throw in my face. That’s why the sooner she’s gone, the better.”
“Well, if your grandfather dying wasn’t enough of a reason to get drunk on a Monday, that sure as hell will do it.”
Shadow uncrosses his arms and leans forward, signaling for Amelia to pour us another round.
“I wish I could offer you the cash you need myself, but my money is all tied up at the moment. What I can offer you is protection. If Landry makes another appearance on your land, call me.”
“I wouldn’t take a loan from you.”
Granddaddy always said never to do business with friends.
“Pride ain’t gonna fix your problems, brother.” He turns his attention back to me. “You know, I might not have the cash to float you, but I know who does, and it wouldn’t be a loan.”
Curious, I narrow my eyes.
“The club is looking for new investments.” His eyes scan the room before coming back to me.
“Why do you think we bought this place? Closed on The Hideaway as a silent partner too. Lucifer is on a mission to expand the club’s legit business portfolio.
I’d have to bring it up at church and see the consensus, but I think your ranch would be a good fit for the Fallen Demons.
You should come to the clubhouse with your financials.
Speak with Lucifer. He’s got a bad rep, but the man knows how to turn a dollar into an empire better than anyone I’ve ever met.
If anyone can get you out of this mess, it’s him, and you can bet all the tea in China, Landry Oil will back off once word gets out that you’re tied to the Fallen Demons. ”
I don’t know what I was expecting him to say, but that sure as fuck wasn’t it.
I’ve got nothing but respect for the men Shadow calls his brothers but getting in bed with the Fallen Demons motorcycle club, taking them on as an investor—well, let’s just say that is not the vision my grandfather had for the future of the ranch.
Before I can tell him any of that, Amelia returns with our refills.
“I’m about to take my break. Do you guys need anything else for now?”
Her gaze swings from her cousin to me. “I’m good. Thank you.”
Shadow reaches for his phone and turns it over to glance at the screen. “Little early for you to be taking your break, isn’t it?”
“Russell is outside with Dylan.” At the mention of her ex-husband, my body goes taut.
I wasn’t a fan of Russell’s before he got with Amelia.
When we were in high school, people praised him as the jock who was going to put Saddle Ridge on the map.
Then he got injured, and the tide turned.
He wasn’t the golden boy anymore. He became the pill head who knocked up Amelia King, and my dislike for him turned ugly.
She unties the apron from around her waist and slaps it on top of the bar, frustration marring her pretty features as she continues to speak through clenched teeth. “He was supposed to keep him until my shift was over.”
Shadow sets his phone down, but his fist curls against the grain of the wooden bar. “You want me to go outside and speak with him?”
My jaw tightens as I watch her shake her head. “I can handle it.” She cocks her head to the side. “Are you planning on sticking around for a while?”
“I don’t need to be anywhere else.”
“Okay, well, I might need you to occupy Dylan until Jess gets here to relieve me.”
“Not a problem.”
With that Amelia makes her way out from behind the bar, my eyes tracking her every move until she disappears out the front door.
When the door closes behind her, I turn back to Shadow.
Normally, I would keep my mouth shut, but he’s already called me out on paying close attention to Amelia whenever she’s around. I’m not fooling anyone anymore.
“Her ex giving her trouble?” I ask.
Shadow mutters a curse. “When isn’t that piece of shit giving her trouble?” He shakes his head. “I should’ve fucking killed him years ago. Lord knows I wanted to.”
Shadow doesn’t make a habit of discussing his extra-curricular activities with me, but he’s had multiple charges brought against him over the years, and word around town is the bluff on the edge of Rose Creek acts as the Fallen Demons’ burial ground.
“So why haven’t you?”
He meets my gaze. “Bodies don’t always stay buried, and secrets rarely ever do. I don’t want to look Dylan in the eyes one day and have to tell him I killed his father.”