“An opportunity for what?” I scoff. “There’s nothing nefarious about this other than we didn’t tell anyone.” Telling them about Vegas will just make things worse.
“No.” Kaden’s lip curls. “You couldn’t buy the ranch yourself, and you saw her as your in.”
“Mywhat?”
“Jesus fuck.” Holden’s snarl carries out into the night. “I swear to god if you—”
“If I what?” My blood rushes through my veins as I push off the truck. “Clue me in here. What the hell are you accusing me of?”
“You know damn well what I’m saying,” Kaden seethes, and then he laughs. “Shit, it all makes sense now. That crap you pulled with Smoke? When you told me what we did with him was my decision? You were trying to prove a point because you hate that you’re not in charge anymore.”
I clench my hands into fists when it finally clicks. “You think I married your sister to get part of this ranch?”
“If the shoe fits.” He flashes a smirk, and it takes everything in me not to punch it square off his face. “But the joke’s on you, because there is no way in hell we’d ever cut you in now.”
Now? What the hell does that mean?
“I’ll be home in the morning,” Holden snaps. “Langston, so help me god if Kaden is right—”
“He’s not.” And if they think I’d stoop so low, they don’t know me at all.
Hell, maybe I don’t know them either.
* * *
TESSA
By the time I get Carly settled with a cup of tea and a promise that no blood will be shed tonight, Dean’s taillights are barely visible in the cloud of dust he left when he tore out of the driveway.
“What did you do?” I demand when I meet Kaden on the front porch. “Where is he going?”
“If he knows what’s good for him, as far away from the Magnolia Blue as possible.”
“I swear to god if you fired him…” I stand tall even though every cell in my body shakes. “What happened between us has nothing to do with his job.”
“It has everything to do with it,” my brother roars. “And if you think he got involved with you—marriedyou—for any reason other than his job, then you’re even more foolish than I thought.”
A lump sticks in my throat, and hot tears burn in my eyes, but I will not cry in front of him, dammit.
“Do you honestly believe he cares about you, Tessa? Let’s not forget he wanted nothing to do with you at Christmas.”
“Because he was trying to do the right thing out of respect for you and Holden.”
“Uh-huh. Until he figured out how he could use your little crush to get what he wanted.”
“A crush?” Will I always be a child to him? “I’m not twelve, Kaden.”
“No, you’re twenty-two. And he’s ten goddamm years older than you. If that alone wasn’t enough to make you wonder—”
“Wonder what? If he’d treat me like a woman instead of the little kid you and Holden seem to think I am?” I shove my hands into my hair. “This isn’t a game. Or a joke. This is my life. And my heart.”
“Yeah, well, I hate to be the one to break it, but he married you to get a piece of the ranch, Tessa. Plain and simple.”
“What?” How does that even make sense? “I’m not an owner.”
“No, but you could be. Holden and I already decided that if you wanted in someday, we’d do it. The three of us. Just like Dustin, Luke, and Devin will do at Shadow River.”
“Okay, but I didn’t even know that. How would Dean?” And if he knew, why would he have been so worried about losing his job?
