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He goes pale and takes me roughly by the arm again. “Nana would have cut her heart out if it meant saving this farm.”
He’s right, Nana would have done anything to save the farm. And the truth is, if she was in my place, she would have married a man she didn’t love to keep the land from being paved over.
I’m a horrible, selfish person.
But all I can think of is the way Avery looks at me. Thomas won’t protect me from his brother, even if he himself doesn’t hurt me. I’ll be stuck on Garrison Ranch.
Easy prey.
“You were what they wanted, so you are what they’re getting,” David says, his voice like stone.
“Why?” My hands tremble, tangled together.
David’s lashes fall. “Thomas has always wanted you. Avery…I don’t know. But that’s not my problem. I found a way to keep Carter’s Farm safe and intact.”
I run my hand under my dripping nose. “I won’t sleep with him,” I snap, not caring that this is an embarrassing subject to bring up to my brother. “I don’t care if he’s my husband.”
David’s eyes flicker, but he keeps them down.
“I really don’t care what he does with you,” he says flatly.
My face is hot and wet with tears. I sink to the couch and clasp my hands.
“If he’s expecting me to be a virgin, he’s too late,” I whisper.
A crease appears between David’s eyes. I can see the question on his face as he glances up and, recklessly, I decide to answer it.
“Westin Quinn,” I say, my voice small.
His brows rise. “Are you fucking serious?”
I nod.
“From Sovereign Mountain? Jesus—fuck, Diane, don’t ever tell any of the Garrisons that,” he snaps.
“What? They’ll kill me for not keeping my legs closed?” I snap, getting to my feet.
He grabs my elbow, dragging me close. There’s real fear in his eyes.
“No, they’ll kill you because he’s from Sovereign Mountain,” he says. “You keep quiet about it. If he asks, say it was one of the wranglers or hired help. Do not say it was Westin Quinn.”
“Why do you care?” I spit softly.
“You’ll be safe with Thomas,” he says, the emotion leaving his voice again. “I’m making a calculated trade. I don’t have a choice.”
I’m speechless. The entire day was euphoric freedom and pleasure like I never imagined. It was fucking and kissing with the assurance that I would get to go home with a man who makes me feel seen, who listens when I talk, who says I belong to him.
Suddenly, that’s gone.
And I’m numb.
I should have known things like Westin Quinn don’t just happen to women like me. He’s too alive. I’m the girl who dies rusting away at the bottom of a barrel, too small to reach the sun. I’ll pack my things tonight and spend the rest of my life rotting away in misery, married to a Garrison.
I want to scream at David, but he’s right that we have to do everything we can to preserve the farm. It’ll break my heart if the state government comes in and exhumes Nana, taking her from the land where she was born.
If I let that happen, knowing I could have prevented it, I’ll live with that regret until I die.
I can’t have Westin if it means I lose the land.
