Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 47758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
“I didn’t say you were.”
“Then do me a favor. Cut the crap and tell me why you got me to bring you home.” Rick folded his arms. “You let me find you. You wanted to be found. Why now? Why after all this time?”
Landon got to his feet.
“And with the Castillo girl as well. We both know her family is looking for her. We also know they’re going to want her to marry one of our own. Tell me, Landon, with a bounty on your head and a brand-new woman you’ve claimed, tell me how this is going to help me. You’ve brought me even more trouble.”
“I can’t protect them. Not Tulip, not Jade. They don’t deserve it.”
“So this is all about protecting your woman.”
“Those last bounty hunters got too close. I can keep on killing every single hunter that comes my way, but after each one falls, another ten take his or her place. They’re everywhere. I know that. You know that.”
“And with Tulip, you can’t risk it.”
“I need that bounty gone.”
“You think I wouldn’t have gotten rid of it?”
“If you’re the leader of the Denton Family. Why can’t you?” Landon asked.
“It’s a debt that needs to be paid. My brother initiated it and when you make a certain oath, they can’t be broken. These men, they’re going to keep coming and coming. You took that chance, Landon. You were warned.”
“I thought I had nothing to live for.”
“And now you do. What are you planning? To train her? I see what you did with Jade. I’m impressed, getting a perfectly trained wife to kill. That’s smart.”
“She doesn’t want this life.”
“Tough.”
“You got out. You left this life. You can’t be so fucking cold.”
“I can be. I paid my debts. Anything I owe to this family was wiped fucking clean, which is why I’ve been able to live a life away from it all. You’re a fucking kid, Landon, with stupid ideals, and you think you can come and go as you please. Make these messed-up mistakes.”
“I didn’t know.”
“No, because deep down, Landon, you’re still a fucking kid.” Rick started to pace the room. “There’s no going back after what you did.”
“Why are we having this conversation? Go after Tamsin.”
Rick burst out laughing. “You must think I was born yesterday. Your brothers can chase the bullshit, I’m not going to do it. I know you and Tamsin wouldn’t give in that easily. You’re not dealing with an amateur here. You’re dealing with a professional.”
Landon got up to his feet. “Then kill me. All I ask is you take care of Jade and Tulip in the process. That’s all I ask. Please.”
“You think it will be that easy?”
“Please, I know you’ll keep your word.”
“You’ve got me mistaken with someone who gives a fuck.”
“I know I fucked up but you and I both know Maddox had to go. He was off the rails. He’d fucked up and he had to pay the price. Taking out another’s woman.”
“Did you know they’re looking for her?” Rick said.
“What?”
“The Smiths. They’re looking for Tulip.”
It was such a dramatic change of subject, he honestly didn’t know what to fucking think. “What? That’s crazy? That’s insane. They’re looking for her?”
“It is what it is. I’m guessing they want to make up for Sarah’s loss.”
“That’s fucked up. You can’t let that happen.”
“I can’t stop it.”
“They gave her up.”
“I know. I didn’t at any time say I agreed with them looking for her,” Rick said. “I found their accounts. They’re paying a private detective who works for me to locate Tulip. Right now, I’m feeding him the information about her.”
“Is this your way of telling me that she can have a normal life?” he asked.
“In a way, I guess it is. She can have a family.”
Landon shook his head. “No. They gave her up. There’s no way she would want anything to do with them.”
“Do you really think so?”
He paused. He honestly didn’t know. “Are you saying you’ll kill me and send her to live with her family?”
Before Rick got a chance to answer, the door to the office was thrown open. Rick already had a gun poised at the people who entered. Guards held Jade and Tulip by the hair and threw them to the ground.
At the way the guard treated his woman, Landon saw red. Even with his body aching, he attacked the son of a bitch, pouncing on him and slamming his fist repeatedly in the guy’s face.
“Landon, stop,” Tulip said.
He didn’t care. No one touched his woman with anything other than respect. This man needed to learn the hard way, and he was going to make sure he paid.
Landon was dragged from the guy’s lifeless body. With his constant hitting, he hadn’t realized there was blood.
Rick had him around the throat. “Now, we’ve got another problem.”
“It’s okay, Landon, I’m right here,” Tulip said.