Chapter 107
COLE
Men like Jake Callahan think territory is something you hold. Fence it. Guard it. Bleed for it if you have to.
They're wrong.
Territory is leverage, and leverage doesn't disappear just because someone makes threats.
I drive one-handed, headlights cutting through the dark. No rush. No reason to look over my shoulder.
But I do replay the scene at Blackthorn Ranch in my head, like I’ve done every day for the past month.
Jake Callahan standing in his house, Mason Rivera watching from the doorway like a guard dog. His face when I told him he owed me—priceless. I grin. Too bad I couldn’t have a picture of that.
Jake's response was immediate. All you did was sign your death certificate. No hesitation. No negotiation.
Just certainty.
I chuckle. Most men facing Jake Callahan would have pissed their fucking pants. Me? I loved it.
Jake Callahan revealed everything at that moment. He didn't deny what I said. Didn't pretend Emma Hayes wasn't the center of his entire world. He promised to kill me for threatening her.
Which means I was right: Emma Hayes isn't just his weakness. She's his only weakness.
And now I know exactly how deep it goes.
Jake Callahan thinks he won. He eliminated Eli. Claimed Emma. Made his threats. But he made a mistake: he showed me what matters.
And now I have options he doesn't even see coming.
Option one: Emma Hayes becomes leverage. I don't touch her—I just make sure Jake knows I could. That I'm watching. That she drives those mountain roads alone, and anything could happen. The threat alone will paralyze him.
Option two: I use what I know. Jake Callahan killed my brother. No body, no evidence, but I know. And if I need to, I can make that knowledge very public. Very expensive for him.
Option three: I turn him into an asset.
That’s my favorite option.
Jake Callahan is former Delta Force—so are his two friends. Men with those skills don't just disappear into ranch life. They get bored. They get restless.
And they can be useful.
I've seen how they operate—the precision, the discipline, the way they extracted Emma from the ridge under fire. That's not amateur hour. That's professional-grade tactical capability—the kind of capability that's worth a lot of money.
The kind I could use.
Here's what Jake doesn't understand yet. He thinks he's protecting Emma by threatening me. He doesn’t get that every time he moves to protect her, he shows me exactly where to apply pressure.
Every time he positions himself between her and danger, he shows me the one thing he'll sacrifice everything for.
And men who'll sacrifice everything?
They're easy to control.
I don't need to kill Jake Callahan. I just need to make him understand that Emma's safety depends on his cooperation. One job. Then another. Then another.
Or I make a phone call, and Emma Hayes has an accident on one of those mountain roads she loves so much.
Jake will see it coming. He'll know exactly what's happening.
And he'll do it anyway.
Because that's what men like him do when you threaten the one thing they can't lose.
They break.
In less than two hours, I arrive at the property on Old Granite Highway. I had to shift everything east after Callahan and his buddies blew up my operation in Iron Ridge. We have contingency plans for situations like that.
This building is the same as the others: forgotten and isolated. The kind of place people avoid.
By the time I pull in, the trucks are already there. Engines idling. Men moving. Routine. I step out, boots hitting gravel.
The nearest man straightens. "Everything's set,” he assures me. “We're rotating drivers. No repeat patterns."
I nod once and keep walking.
Inside, it smells like dust, oil, and flop sweat. The crates are stacked, ready to be moved out.
It takes a couple of hours to pack the vans. I stand outside and watch the night swallow the last set of taillights. My gaze drifts out over the dark land stretching past the lot.
Quiet.
Waiting.
I love the wait—the anticipation.
And unlike my brother Eli, I'm patient enough to wait for the right moment.
That moment is now. I’m ready to make my move.
Jake Callahan thinks he's won because he made his claim. Put his mark on Emma. Promised to kill anyone who threatens her.
But he just handed me the keys to his entire life.
I know exactly where to apply pressure now.
Jake Callahan is a dead man.
Or maybe—if he's smart—he'll realize he's something much worse.
He's mine.
Some men protect what’s theirs.
Mason destroys whatever threatens it.
And in brOKEN OUTLAW, the threat gets closer than ever.
Read on for a sneak peek.
You’ve already crossed the line by finishing this book.
Might as well come closer.
Bonus scenes. Dangerous men. Zero restraint.
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