6. Addison
ADDISON
I stared at the photograph on my phone screen until my eyes burned.
"We need to leave." Braxton's voice came from somewhere behind me. "Now."
I couldn't move. The empty shelf where the album had been seemed louder than anything else in the room.
"Addison."
"She wouldn't do this."
“She had access.”
“So did other people.” I shook my head, still not wanting to believe him.
“She knew about the photograph.”
“That still doesn’t make her guilty.” I turned on him. "You don't know her."
"I know evidence."
"Evidence can be wrong."
"Can it?"
The question sat between us like a minefield I didn’t want to wade into.
Braxton moved past me and checked the rest of the storage area. He was methodical and thorough. Looking for anything else that might be missing.
I watched him work and something sharp twisted behind my ribs. He was right. Evie had access and the album was gone. The messages had started after I told her about the photograph. The tracker had been in my crown case—something Evie had access to every single time we traveled together.
But she was also the person who taught me how to survive this life. Who showed up when my own mother told me rodeo queens were just pretty girls playing dress-up. Who stayed when everyone else got tired of the work behind the crown.
"Nothing else is missing." Braxton straightened. "Whoever took the album knew exactly what they wanted."
"Cedar Draw."
"Yeah."
"So they left everything else. All the other rodeo history. All the other photographs."
"They only wanted evidence about Cedar Draw."
Which meant someone was willing to break into a public building during a storm, steal historical records, and threaten us to keep whatever happened at Cedar Draw buried.
My phone buzzed again. I looked at the screen.
Be a smart girl. Go home and forget what you found.
Braxton saw my face and took the phone from my hand.
His jaw clenched. "That's it. No more public appearances. No more rodeo grounds. We're moving you out of Mustang Mountain entirely until—"
"No."
"Addison—"
"I said no."
"This isn't a negotiation."
"You're right. It's not. Because I'm not asking your permission."
Braxton turned to face me fully. "Someone is threatening you. Someone who has been tracking you for months. Someone who was in this room tonight. You can’t keep walking into public spaces like nothing is wrong."
"I have obligations."
"Your obligations can wait."
"They can't. Rodeo Royalty Weekend is in three days. I have junior queens depending on me. Sponsors expecting me. A community that—"
"A community that can manage without you for a weekend."
"That's not your call to make."
"It is when I'm the one trying to keep you alive."
The words hung in the air between us.
I stepped closer. "Mayor Nelson hired you to protect me while I do my job. Not to decide whether I get to do it at all."
"Your job is going to get you killed."
"My job is mine. Not yours."
Braxton's hands flexed at his sides. "I can't protect you if you refuse to follow instructions."
"Instructions? Is that what you call it when you tell me where I can go and what I can do and who I'm allowed to see?"
"I call it keeping you safe."
"I call it control."
"Because it is. That's what protection looks like. Controlled variables. Managed risk. Following a plan."
"Your plan."
"Yes. My plan. Because I'm the one who knows how to do this."
"And I'm just the pretty girl in the crown who needs to smile and do what she's told?"
He shook his head. “That's not what I said."
"It's exactly what you said."
Braxton's expression turned cold. I'd seen that look before. On sponsors who didn't like being told no. On men who thought my crown meant I owed them something. On people who wanted me to be grateful for their attention and obedient to their expectations.
"I don't want obedience, Addison. I want cooperation."
"No, you don't. Cooperation means I get a say. What you want is for me to follow orders and not ask questions."
"One wrong choice can get someone killed." The words came out hard and final.
And suddenly I understood. "I'm not Eli."
Braxton went completely still. I saw what the words did to him. Saw the way his jaw locked, and his hands curled into fists, and something shattered behind his eyes.
I should have stopped, but I didn't. "Every time I make a choice you don't like, you look at me like I'm the one walking back into that barn."
"Don't."
"But I'm not. I'm not your brother. I'm not someone you failed to save. And I'm not going to let you turn me into your second chance by taking away every choice I have left."
Braxton stared at me for a long beat. Then he turned and walked out.
I’d pushed him too far. His truck started. Gravel sprayed as he pulled out of the parking lot too fast.
What was I supposed to do now? I stared at my phone. Braxton thought Evie was involved. I thought Braxton saw threats everywhere because that was how he survived.
At that moment, I needed someone who had known me longer than six days. So, I called Evie.
She answered on the first ring. "Addison? Honey, where are you?"
“I’m at the community center. Someone broke in and stole a rodeo album."
"I'll be right there." She arrived a few minutes later, still in pajamas under a rain jacket, her hair pulled into a messy bun.
She found me sitting on the floor of the storage area with my back against the wall.
"Oh, sweetheart." She knelt down next to me and wrapped both arms around my shoulders. "Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Did you see who it was?"
"No. They were gone before we got here."
"We?"
"Braxton and me. The security system alerted us to motion in the building."
Evie pulled back just enough to look at my face. "Where is he now?"
"Gone."
"He left you here alone?"
"We had a fight."
"About what?"
"He wants to cancel all my appearances. Move me out of town. Basically lock me in a room until he decides it's safe to come out."
Evie's expression softened. "And you told him no."
"I told him I'm not giving up my life because someone sent threatening messages."
"Good."
I blinked at her, not sure I’d heard her right. "Good?"
“Honey, you were handling your own life just fine long before he came along. Don't let him convince you you've suddenly become helpless."
The words landed exactly where they needed to because that was what I feared most. That I'd spent years building independence and credibility and respect, only to have one man with a protective streak decide I couldn't be trusted to manage my own safety.
That I'd fought so hard to be seen as more than a crown and a smile, only to be reduced to someone who needed rescuing.
That I'd become the fragile thing everyone assumed I was.
"You're right."
"I know I am." Evie squeezed my hand. "You're strong, capable, and smart. You don't need some bodyguard telling you how to live your life."
"He's just trying to help."
"Is he? Because from where I'm sitting, it sounds like he's trying to control you."
"He thinks it's protection."
"Maybe. Or maybe he's one of those men who thinks keeping a woman safe means keeping her small."
I thought about Braxton's face when I refused to cancel my appearances. The way his voice had gone cold and final. And the way he'd looked at me like I was making the wrong choice just by insisting I had one.
"He walked out."
"Then he proved my point." Evie stood and offered me her hand. "Come on. Let's get you home."
“Back to the ranch?"
"Is that where you want to go?"
I thought about the empty house. The storm lanterns. The couch where Braxton and I had kissed. The bedroom where I'd heard him pacing downstairs, standing guard.
"I don't know."
"Then come to my place. We'll make tea. Figure out what you want to do next."
I let her pull me to my feet.
Evie's house was small and warm and smelled like lavender. She made chamomile tea and wrapped me in a quilt on her couch.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really."
"Do you want me to call Ruby? Or the mayor? Figure out alternative security for the weekend?"
I hadn't even thought about that. If Braxton was gone, I still needed protection. Or did I?
Maybe the threats were just that—threats. Maybe whoever was sending them wanted to scare me into silence. Maybe the best thing I could do was refuse to be scared. Maybe Braxton leaving proved I didn't need him after all.
My phone buzzed.
I pulled it from my pocket and looked at the screen. Then froze.
He'll leave. Men like him always do.
The number was different from the previous messages. I'd gotten a replacement SIM card two days ago after the tracking device was discovered. Nobody had this number except for Ruby, the mayor, Braxton, and Evie. That was it.
"Addison?" Evie leaned forward. "What's wrong?"
I showed her the screen.
Her face went pale. "How did they get your new number?"
"I don't know."
But I did know. It had to be someone inside our trusted circle, someone who knew Braxton and I had fought, someone who knew he'd walked away, and someone who had access to my new contact information.
I looked at Evie's concerned face. Her protective posture. Her gentle voice telling me I didn't need Braxton's control. And I felt the ground shift underneath me.
"I need to go."
"Addison—"
"I need to go. Now." I grabbed my phone and didn’t look back.