Chapter 7 #2
“We may wear cowboy hats, but crypto bros, as you call them, can exist outside of California. Maybe it’d be more accurate to call us cowboy crypto billionaires,” he amends humorously. “How does that sound?”
“Billionaires?” Kiki gasps, eyes going round.
“Last I counted,” I quip right back. “Not that we’re counting.”
Kiki’s utterly still.
“So you’re not cowboys.”
“No, we are,” Cason states, his eyes on the road before flicking to Kiki with amusement. “But the cattle business has thin margins, if any margin at all, and so we’ve always been traders. Even back in college we were making bets, although of course, crypto didn’t exist then.”
“Wow,” Kiki murmurs as the truck turns onto a dusty road with a large barn on the distance. We roll past a grove, past the barn, and then a massive house materializes, with a bunch of trucks surrounding it.
“Come on,” I say, smiling as the Durango pulls to a stop. “You’ll love the party.”
Sure enough, the sound of country hits our ears, and as Cason grabs the food, I lead Kiki over to the back area where a spread is set up.
It looks normal enough. There’s a huge canopy providing shade, with people under the tent eating and drinking from a massive buffet.
There’s also a birthday cake in the corner with a banner that reads, “Happy Birthday Josie!” People smile, laugh, and chatter as kids scream with joy on the lawn.
I see that they’ve brought out a pony, so the children are going for rides while stuffing their faces full of chips and popcorn.
“Wait a minute, is this a birthday party?” Kiki asks, looking confused. “I thought we were going to a neighborhood get-together.”
“This is a neighborhood get-together,” my brother says, coming up behind her with the sheet cake in hand. “But it’s at the house of our sister, Becca. Hey Becs,” he says jovially when our sister comes over. “Good to see you. We brought a special guest today.”
“I see,” my sister smiles merrily. “Please, introduce me.” Becca is a beautiful woman of about thirty-five with our same dark hair, but the green eyes of our mother.
Becs started having kids early, and I think her oldest is about to leave for college.
However, even after seven children, our sister is still trim and fit.
You would never guess that she’s basically been pregnant for the last fifteen years non-stop.
“Oh hey,” I say, trying to seem casual although my heart’s suddenly going rapid-fire. “This is Kiki,” I say. “Kiki, Becs. Becs, Kiki.”
Fortunately, I managed to avoid clarifying our relationship, although my sister obviously suspects something going on. You don’t turn up at a family event with a beautiful woman in tow with that woman just being a “friend.” But my sister is discreet and smiles sunnily.
“Welcome, Kiki, to the Madewell family,” she says with a broad gesture at the guests milling about and chatting around us.
“We’re so glad to have you, even if it’s a children’s birthday party.
I’m not sure if you’d like something to drink?
Oh, here, let me take you over to the frozen margarita stand.
Our sister June insisted on renting the machine, which is so over-the-top for a ten-year old’s birthday party.
But I have to admit that the cocktails are divine. ”
Then, Becs pulls Kiki away from us by the elbow, with the pretty blonde shooting us a confused glance over one shoulder.
She’s so stunning that of course, all the men in the crowd are watching from the corner of their eyes as the two women head over to the churning margarita machine.
But it’s not a problem because we know everyone here.
Those fuckers wouldn’t dare step in on a woman that arrived with us.
“So it looks like the plan is working,” Cason drawls to me while setting the sheet cake down on a table. “You think our date will survive?”
I shake my head, watching as more Madewells crowd around Kiki, now standing innocently with a red drink in her hand.
“I don’t know. We threw her into the snake’s nest without any preparation, and now she’s going to be hounded until she can’t talk anymore.
But here’s to making it out alive,” I say dryly, while passing my brother a cold Corona.
We bump beers and then both take swigs. “I certainly hope she comes out with her smile intact, and that big bottom still swinging.”
“Yeah,” my brother grunts, his blue eyes sealed to where our brother-in-law, Troy, is practically bent sideways trying to impress Kiki with some kind of ridiculous pantomime.
Troy has always been such a wannabe, but hey, he’s married to Becca so we have to tolerate him.
Cason grimaces as Troy makes a funny face before wiggling his hips like a hippo.
“I just hope Kiki doesn’t come out of this hating us.
Wouldn’t be the first time someone quit the Double C their first week on the job. ”
I nod because hard labor isn’t for everyone, and the life of a ranch hand can be taxing both mentally and physically.
“Yeah, but this would be the first time someone quits because she’s fucked us both and also can’t stand to see our faces.”
“True that,” my brother grunts before we clink bottles again.
Fortunately, things seem to be going pretty well.
Troy eventually leaves, and then Kiki chats with our sister June, while kids run up to the women to ask for snacks, show them tricks, and generally clown around.
It seems our girl loves children because she beams whenever a mite tugs on her hand, and gives them her full attention, which of course, makes the child shine.
I stare at the beautiful blonde, my mind churning.
What would it be like to see Kiki swollen with our child, her features smiling as she glows with pregnancy?
What would it be like to see her nursing a baby at her breast, her golden head bent as she feeds our child?
My heart contracts, and beside me, Cason jerks.
“Fuck,” he growls as Kiki bends down to tend to our niece, Ella. It seems Ella fell, bursting into tears, and it’s Kiki who’s comforting the sobbing child. We both stare as the gorgeous girl takes Ella into her arms for a hug, and for a moment, their blonde hair mixes to make them one.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he rasps under his breath, blue eyes fixed to the scene.
“I think so because it seems she has a knack for kids,” I reply.
“You want to knock her up?” he asks.
“I damn well sure do, and you know it.”
Our words are obviously fucked up. We haven’t even had three conversations with the young woman.
Yet we already know that Kiki is warm, womanly, with a gorgeous smile and the curves we crave.
She’s slutty in bed, too, which is a requirement for a couple of motherfuckers like us.
There’s no way we could be with a woman who only does it missionary with her eyes closed and the sheets pulled up to her chin.
“So what do we tell Hart?” my brother grunts. “He asked us to give him our honest opinion.”
“Tell him we see no red flags,” I shrug. “It’s the truth.”
My bro exhales, his blue eyes still glued to our girl’s voluptuous figure.
“Let’s hold off for right now,” he decides, “because we don’t know her well enough yet.”
I shrug.
“Yeah, makes sense. Hart can wait for a full report later. It’s not like he’s getting married or anything, so no rush. If things become urgent with Hart, he’ll let us know.”
After all, our buddy Cameron Hart put in a weird request a while ago.
He said he’s dating a woman who’s sexy as hell, but who comes from a shady family.
Even crazier, she was separated at birth from her identical twin, whose name happens to be Katherine Thornton.
Yes, it seems Kiki was adopted away from her biological family as an infant, and has no idea that she has an identical twin sister floating around out there.
It seems she has no idea that her biological father was an abusive drunk either, or that Cameron Hart, billionaire asshole, is having her observed.
Worst of all, my brother and I are the observers taking in the sweet girl’s every move without her suspecting anything.
Like I mentioned, Cason and I are straight-up motherfuckers on a mission … and Kiki just doesn’t know it.