Chapter 19
EPHRAIM
One would think being rebuffed would be enough, but apparently it wasn’t for Corrine West. It seemed that her earlier visit was just poorly timed.
Because as soon as we stepped off the stage, still with the lights and cameras on Larkin and me, she was there to pounce, but with an entirely different tactic from the bitter, angry woman who had arrived at our gate that morning.
Instead, as the kids lined up to do their showcase ride, and the audience clapped in celebration, I felt her hand on my elbow.
It wasn’t an accident, the way her body brushed against mine and her eyes flicked up to mine.
“Ephraim, darling. Congratulations. It all turned out so much better than I had anticipated.” There was nothing darling in the way her fingers grazed my arm.
Larkin’s attention was still on the kids.
She hadn’t turned to see Corrine’s return or how the blonde woman was practically hanging onto me.
That was the only thing keeping me from jerking out of her grip and telling her to keep her hands to herself.
Instead, I tried to step away, moving my body so Larkin wouldn’t notice the woman who had been so determined to step into her role as my wife.
But Corrine followed, stepping in closer to me, her perfume surrounding us, choking out the smell of horses.
“Did you miss me?” she asked with a simper in her voice as she moved to block the audience’s view of our interaction. Her body pressed into mine, her breasts brushing against my arm. It was a tactic she had used on me once, and it was clear she thought the same ploy would work now.
I couldn’t let her think for a minute that it was working.
But I couldn’t just turn and tell her to fuck off either, not with my wife standing only feet away.
The only way out of this was to move around her and walk away, but her hand kept a firm grip on me.
“Let go of me, Corrine.” I kept my voice low, not wanting to interrupt the festivities, but there was no doubt she heard the steel in it.
“And what if I don’t want to?” Her hand moved down, running up and over my hand, her fingers tangling in mine.
I tried to pull away. “Now isn’t the time.”
“All those cameras will get to see us together behind your wife’s back. Just think about how that will play out in the media.” The sneer on her face said this was her revenge for me walking away from our partnership, but I still couldn’t let go of her hand and step away.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because if I can’t have the Holt fortune, you certainly aren’t going to let her keep it. I don’t think it will be hard for them to spin a tale that we are still working together after you left. Not if they see us together like this. She’ll look like the fool.”
I swallowed hard, not giving Corrine the satisfaction of seeing my discomfort.
This was wrong. It was a violation of the relationship Larkin and I had built, and of the people around us who just wanted to celebrate the work this organization did.
This wasn’t a political game anymore, it was people’s lives, and Corrine had no place here.
But with her hand gripping mine and her body still pressed up close, it looked an awful lot like she did.
“Ephraim, can you come see how well Sam is doing with...” Larkin had finally turned, the sentence dying in her mouth as her eyes landed on Corrine.
And just for a moment, I saw the pain in Larkin’s eyes, the betrayal that flared to life there at seeing another woman touching me the way Larkin deserved to be touched, her expression unreadable beyond that sharp stab of hurt. But Corrine just held on tighter.
“Larkin, I’m sure you don’t need us right now.” Corrine smiled at her, like she thought they were old friends catching up. “Ephraim and I are going to discuss something privately.”
I looked up to the lights and the cameras that were still rolling, watching our every move.
They couldn’t have heard us from here. There were kids laughing and parents cheering, but in the footage that was sure to make it into a news report later, we looked intimate together.
Even I could see that. And there was no way for me to pull away without looking like I was trying to hide the truth from Larkin.
I could never give her the wrong impression or do something to hurt her any more than I already had, but I was trapped between the devil and the person I needed to protect.
“We do have some business to finish apparently,” I said, more determined than ever to shut down any connection I might have had with Corrine.
“But let’s make this public. I want my wife to hear, and the press.
” My voice rose in volume. “You want attention? Let’s make sure everyone here gets to hear about how you’ve undermined my wife at every turn, how you think you can somehow insert yourself into our lives without repercussions.
I think the people who have been so supportive of everything that Larkin does deserve to hear about you. ”
“I don’t think they would...” Corrine sputtered, her eyes darting around the room at the audience who had noticed the disturbance and the raised voices, but hadn’t heard the details of our confrontation.
“I’m not giving you the option.” I tugged my hand, finally ripping it out of her grasp.
“You and your family tried to bully me and mine. You tried to step into a marriage you don’t belong in.
And you have the audacity to show up here today and make it look like Larkin and I are nothing but liars to these people, to the children you’ve now upset with your disruption.
” My tone grew more serious, the words I wanted to say to Corrine coming freely from my mouth.
Corrine tried to step back, to escape me, but there was nowhere for her to go without bringing even more attention to the spectacle that she was making this event.
But I wasn’t done with her yet. “You think you’re a big shot?
You think your family’s ranch and all its glory makes you a superior person to these people you insulted with your presence here?
Let me tell you a little secret. I’d rather spend a lifetime mucking the horse stalls alongside my wife than share another room with your greedy, awful self. ”
A gasp ran through the crowd. It was almost comical, but I felt my hands shaking as I continued to look down at Corrine.
I wasn’t even sure when I started moving closer, backing her further from Larkin and the stage where the kids still stood.
But now that I started, I couldn’t stop until I saw her leave, until I knew that she knew exactly what I thought of her and her games.
I pulled in a deep breath and lowered my voice to something calmer and less threatening as the final blows fell.
“You have done nothing to make a single positive difference in anyone else’s life.
All you want is power and wealth, and you’re willing to crush anyone who stands in your way.
Well, that’s over now.” I pointed toward the gate, the only way for her to leave that wouldn’t bring her into contact with even more people.
“You’re not welcome here at the rescue or on any Holt property.
Consider this your trespassing warning. If you do not leave, you will be hauled off in handcuffs by the police. ”
“You can’t ban me from here,” Corrine screeched. “I know you’re powerless here.”
“But I’m not,” Larkin interjected, her voice sharp and strong as she joined me.
She moved in closer to Corrine, giving the blonde-haired woman no room to escape.
“If I have you escorted out right now and have it documented, I can also have the news cover that, show that we don’t support you or anything you and your family stand for.
If you’re smart, you will leave of your own volition, or I will personally make sure everyone in this city knows your name and how much of an embarrassment you are.
” It was the harshest thing I’d ever heard come out of my wife’s mouth.
I loved it. Corrine seemed shocked for a moment, not knowing how Larkin was able to make this threat without batting an eye.
Corrine raised a hand. I was already stepping in front of Larkin to shield her from the oncoming blow. “You b?—“
The strike never came.
“That’s enough of your interruption,” Harlan said as he wrapped Corrine up in a bear hug from behind. “Your time here is done.” He started pulling her away. “And is that liquor I smell on your breath?”
“I’m not drunk, you stupid—“ Corrine’s insult was cut off by a grunt from Harlan as he picked her up, moving quickly toward the parking area with her slapping at his arms as they moved.
My adrenaline was still pumping, even after Corrine and Harlan disappeared from sight.
Larkin and I looked at each other. I wasn’t sure what she was thinking or what she needed from me now.
My whole body was shaking, from the tension, from being so close to letting my temper fly, and from seeing someone come after the woman I was still desperately in love with.
But as I stared back at her, she reached for me, pulling me into her arms, her body firm against mine as I held on tight, not wanting to let her go, afraid that letting go meant I’d never get to be this close to her again.
“Thank you for doing that.” Her voice was so quiet, it was hard to hear her.
“I was protecting what matters most to me.” It wasn’t just her, though she was definitely what mattered the most, but this place and the work, it all needed protection from people like Corrine.
The whole event today was a celebration of what made it all worth doing, and I wasn’t going to let some vapid, shallow heiress come in and tear it all apart for a grudge.