“That’s all? They were after Blake and the horses, Dustyn. What would you have done if Blake was the one that took that bullet and not me? Would you have stopped him? Or would you have gone through with slaughtering the brumbies and fuck Blake?”
“I would answer his question carefully, but honestly if I were you, Dusty,” I warned, getting closer to Hendrixx again just in case Dusty fucked up and said the wrong thing.
“Of course I didn’t want Blake to be hurt, I had no idea about Roberts’s issue with her. As far as I knew, it was just about getting the mob on the Triple H, I swear to God it’s true.”
“But you know how she feels about them and you still trespassed and brought that piece of shit with you,” Hendrixx accused, his voice dangerously quiet. Not a good sign for Dusty or his unbroken bones.
Darting a look at Dillion, I gave him a questioning look, then sighed with relief when he held up five fingers then a thumbs up. Either Noxx was close or Marty was on his way; either way, all I had to do was stay between my brother and Dusty, and the afternoon should end without further violence. Not that I would stop Hendrixx from punching Dusty one or three more times. The night he was shot looking for Blake, I was in a panic myself, I had seen her only minutes before she took off on Hercules that night. We had been talking about Farron, but Eddy interrupted with a phone call. Had I known her intentions, there was no way I would have let her go out there on her own. Had I gone, Hendrixx wouldn’t have faced the rustlers by himself, and Blake would not have been in danger and—
“Nixx, don’t,” Hendrixx muttered roughly, “I know what you are thinking, so stop it,” he warned, giving me a quick wink then turned his attention back to Dusty.
Ahh, the joys of being part of triplets. It was good sometimes and sometimes not.
Patting him hard on the shoulder, I stood side by side with my brother and glared down at Dusty. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the bloke; his family, like many others in the district, struggled to keep their farms from going under. Unlike Makena, whose farm was now part of the Triple H and under control of HBC, Dusty’s parents lost hundreds of acres of their land, sold to pay off their loan requirements. It was a shitty hand to be dealt with, but Dusty took the wrong path to help out his family.
“Dustyn, I don’t understand why your old man didn’t take up our offer to let us lease some of his land?” I enquired, adopting to play the peacekeeper until the level-headed Noxx arrived. Hendrixx was rearing to fight, we might be able to read each other’s thoughts, but you didn’t have to be his brother to know he wanted to continue dishing out some pain to our former mate. He oozed tension, but I could also see he was worried about Blake’s whereabouts, she had only taken off for the stables minutes before Dusty pulled up. She must have heard the commotion unless she was doing something she shouldn’t be.
Shit.
Lancelot.
“Dillion?” I called out without looking at the boy.
“Yeah Nixx?”
“Do me a favour and go check where Blake is, will ya mate? Try the stables, yeah?”
“Okie Dokie, damn this is much more fun than shooting hoops or kicking the footy around,” Dillion decided, laughing.
“Dill, if she isn’t in there, go straight to the horse paddock behind the main stable building,” Hendrixx huffed, knowing where my mind was going, “and if she is there, tell her she is going to get her arse … just tell her to get her arse away from the stallion.”
“Yep, so much more fun,” Dillion concurred, walking off in the direction of the stables.
“You know she would be here, ripping Dusty a new one any other time.”
Nodding my head, I agreed with my brother, if Blake saw an opening to be alone with her big black stallion, she was taking it. Pissing Hendrixx off just an added bonus in her book.
“So, Dusty, you gonna answer my question?”
“Hell, you know my old man Fenixx, he is stubborn and proud. Will would have given Dad shit if he’d asked for help,” Dusty admitted, the blood coming out of his nose, starting to slow down a little.
“Will isn’t running the Triple H anymore,” Hendrixx interjected, “that offer was made by the three of us. Our company HBC has a slew of generous and fair grants on offer to anyone in Cattle Ridge who is struggling, farmers and business owners alike. Agreeing to work for Roberts was not your smartest move, mate.”
“Fuck, I know that, Drixx. I didn’t want to take it, but Mum did nothing but cry after the bank threatened foreclosure. Then Dad went and sold off some of the best grazing land to some dude from Mansfield, then went about selling machinery and cattle. Fuck he even sold Mum’s wedding rings, he did everything arse about. By the time Mum involved me, it was too late.” Dusty stood there red-faced and embarrassed to be admitting how much financial strain his parents were under. That was farmers for you, stubborn, proud and sometimes fucking stupid.
“He sold your mum’s jewellery?” I asked, but not surprised. Makena had a similar story; her dad did everything wrong too, in an attempt to dig himself out of the hole he’d dug for himself and his daughters.
“Yeah, sold them to Bluey’s Antique shop. All I wanted was enough money to get them back for her. It’s not her fault the drought lasted for years, or that Dad is a dick.”
As I listened to Dusty’s tale of woe, an idea started to form in my head. Hendrixx was not going to like what I was thinking, and I will most likely be on the receiving end of one of his hard punches, but Noxx on the other hand? The businessman in him would see the advantage of having a man with Dusty’s farming skills and it would free me up from spending half my week in Waterford.
“Dusty, let me ask you something,” I started, discreetly moving out of arm’s length of Hendrixx.
“How do you feel about travelling for work? Steady work, like maybe four days a week to begin with?”
“Don’t bother me, why, what do you have in mind?”
Before I could proceed with laying out my plan, Hendrixx turned on me, his face thunderous.
“Nixx, there is no way, little brother. No fucking way we are employing him.”
“Drixx, just hear me out.” Holding up my hands, I backed up two steps when Hendrixx walked closer to me. “What Dusty did was wrong, no doubts there. You can punch him and break his nose as many times as it takes to make up for getting you shot.”
Ignoring Dusty’s shout of complaint, I kept going.
“We aren’t about seeing the people we have known all our lives lose their livelihoods and income through no fault of their own. We also don’t want to see land go to outsiders, rich arseholes who don’t love the valley like we do. Am I right so far?”
“Keep talking.”
Okay, so good so far.
“I don’t want him here on the Triple H, and I know you don’t want him anywhere near Blake. So what if we get him at Mack’s place, use him there. Noxx will have fun keeping him in line, work him hard and generally make his life miserable,” I continued to sell my idea, pleased when Hendrixx gave me a smirk, obviously liking the idea our oldest brother would be in charge and Dusty would not be here.
“Think of it this way mate, we are helping Dusty’s mum. You know how broken Mack was when she told us everything her old man did, what he sold. Being a farmer’s wife isn’t the easiest job, but for some reason, they suffer the most.”
Hendrixx stood stock still, his jaw ticking and his fists clenching, but I could see the fight in him starting to fade. Just like me, I knew he was thinking about not only Mack but our own mother and how it could have easily been her in this situation, had fate had another plan for her and our dad.
The Triple H was successful, but my parents could have easily been in the same boat as some other farmers in the area. My father might have been a hard arse, but one thing he did have was persistence and determination. The only thing missing was his heart.
Hendrixx glared at me, his eyes narrowed and pissed off, but I saw in them he was seeing things my way. Hendrixx m
ight be the triplet with a temper, but he was also very fair. He knew I wouldn’t do anything to put any member of our family in danger, and Dusty might be a dickhead, but no way would he consciously make a choice to hurt Blake or anyone else.
“Give him a month’s trial. If he fucks up, we beat him up and drop him off in the middle of the bush. Okay?”
“Fuck you and your ideas, Fenixx. He puts a foot wrong and I get to do the beating.”
“Agreed.”
Turning to Dustyn and lifting an eyebrow, he nodded his head in agreement too.
“Damn it,” he huffed, then punched me in the arm, hard.
“Get out of here before Noxx turns up, I can only imagine what he will have to say about this shit. I am going to find my wife and cuddle.” Glaring at Dusty, he made a motion with two fingers. “I will have eyes on you over there, Nixx has gone to bat for you, so don’t let him down. If you do, you get the shit kicked out of you.”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I watched my brother stalk off towards the horse paddock. To me, Hendrixx was more bark than bite, mostly. Although, when pushed, fuck he hit hard.
“Fenixx,” Dusty said my name with a certain amount of trepidation, not that I could blame him after facing Hendrixx for the first time since seeing him at the police station the day after the shooting.
“Yeah,” my response clipped.
“Thanks mate, I mean that thanks.”
I looked at Dusty, and saw genuine remorse on the man’s face.
“Just don’t fuck up. Hendrixx as you know isn’t one to use his common sense when the temptation to punch someone in the face comes his way,” I reminded him, then looked over my shoulder again when I heard Drixx let out a whistle.
“I will send your son out, Nixx,” he shouted, “good kid, that one.”
Son. Hell, I liked the sound of that. Farron wasn’t pregnant, she took a test because she couldn’t wait for her period to come. I had to admit I was disappointed at first when I saw the negative sign on the small plastic wand. Logically, I knew having a baby now wasn’t the right timing, Farron and I were a month into our relationship and she had yet to move in officially, but that didn’t stop me from being put out that my guys didn’t swim hard enough to hit the mark.
I needed to amp up my efforts to plant my baby in her belly because I wasn’t wearing a condom, that was for damn sure. Bare in Farron’s pussy was the greatest feeling in the world and not one I was going to give up, ever. Before long, Dillion is going to have a sibling, then another one. And maybe just one more.
***
“Some drama back there, hey Dill,” I said, as casually as I could. We left the farm when Noxx had turned up, and I’d filled him in on the plan to employ Dusty at Waterford. After explaining about the dilemma his parents were in, and being the reason Dusty hooked up with Roberts … and after Noxx blindsided me with a left hook to the jaw–knocking me on my arse, I decided it was time for Dillion and me to leave.
“It was awesome, Nixx. The way Hendrixx broke that guy’s nose, then Noxx took you out,” Dillion practically gushed, “good times.”
Choking on my laughter, I touched the tender side of my jaw. There was going to be a fucking cunt of a bruise tomorrow, fucking Noxx.
“Then Grandma takes broken-nose dude inside for scones and cream after she gives the three of you a slap on the head each. Really good times.” Dillion chuckled again.
“So happy we kept you amused, Dillion,” I replied dryly. “My mother has a sometimes unorthodox way of showing her love,” I allowed, snorting out a laugh.
“She is so cool, Nixx. Ya know she asked me to call her grandma, my own grandparents like me to use their given names. They reckon it stops the awkward questions, whatever that means.”
Gripping the steering wheel, I held onto the anger directed at the stupid people. They had no idea what their arrogance caused them to miss out on. My mum loved Dillion and welcomed him into the family with open arms. To her, he was as much her grandchild as Daxx and Onyxx.
“Fuck ‘em, mate, their loss is our gain. Now … about Noxx. He did not take me out, he blindsided me, there is a difference,” I scoffed, injecting some humour to the situation. Dillion might not be mine by blood, but only after weeks of being with his mum, he was more my son than Alec’s.
“Oh please, Nixx, he copped you with a beauty, wait till Mum hears how her big, strong boyfriend was knocked on his butt. Pow! One punch!”
“Oh, for the love of god,” I grumbled, praying that the kid was only joking. Telling Farron that my brother hit me wasn’t the problem, telling her it happened in front of her son was, not forgetting about Hendrixx breaking Dusty’s nose.
“You should have seen it Mum, Hendrixx just pulled his fist back and broke the man’s nose with an almighty cracker of a punch,” Dillion relayed the story for the second time, using more creativity than the first telling.
“Hmmm, yes son, so you told me already,” Farron responded, turning her head to look back at me. The minute Dillion and I walked into the restaurant, Farron had our table ready for us with pizza and cokes, enough to feed two hungry males. My woman knew how to look after her men. As soon as we sat down, I snagged an arm around her waist and drew her onto my lap, where she stayed listening to Dillion embellish the two punch scenes with teenage vigour.
“It was an okay punch, lucky if you ask me.” My contribution only making Farron narrow her eyes more at me.
“Which one, Hendrixx’s or the one that knocked you on your butt?”
“I tripped on the … the cobble path,” I insisted, looking at Farron with innocent eyes, “Farron, I promise Dillion wasn’t in any danger, I made him stand behind me well out of the way. He had Noxx on the phone the whole time, he was safe as houses.”
“Hey, are you worried I am mad?” Farron asked, surprised, her hand coming up to cup my sore jaw, wincing when I flinched under her soft touch.
“Honey, I trust you with my son, he is a teenage boy, he gets in punch-ups with his mates all the time. Thankfully, they are play fights, but he has had and seen his fair share of bloody noses.”
“I think my jaw needs a kiss, you know, to make it feel better,” I pouted, angling my face to the side to show her my new bruise.
“Is that right, so a kiss here.” Kiss. “And one here.” Kiss.
“Anywhere else hurt?”
“Yeah, how about kissing me here.” Raising my face, I captured her lips in a soft PG-rated kiss, lingering long enough to make Dillion squirm at our display of affection.
“I know what you are doing,” Farron muttered around my lips.
“He deserves it, it was a sneaky blindside, and I tripped,” I muttered back, pecking her in between each word.
“Oh shit, Mum!” Dillion’s curse, loud and worried, had me ending the kiss, sensing trouble, my arms automatically tightening around Farron.
“Dillion language!”
“Teaching our son to swear, I see Farron.” A voice I didn’t recognise drawled sarcastically from behind us.
Farron’s body tensed, her hands going from soft and gentle on my forearms to her nails sinking into my skin.
Looking at Dillion, I saw his face scrunch up, his eyes downcast.
Oh fuck, no! No one is taking the happiness out of my family.
Kissing Farron one more time, I stood with her in my arms and sat her in my seat, then turned around and faced the man I inched to give a blindside of my own.
“Alec, I take it,” I sneered, taking in the weasel and hating him on sight. Dressed in a suit and tie, shoes so pointy and shiny black, he stood out in the room full of casually dressed locals.
Fucktard.
“Alec Hill, Farron’s ex-husband and Dillion’s father. And you are?”
“Fenixx Hott, Farron’s soon-to-be-husband and Dillion’s soon-to-be-stepfather,” I introduced myself just as formally, hating the soon-to-be and the stepfather labels.
“My god, you found someone else to take you on Farron, how the hel
l did you manage that. Don’t tell me he knocked you up because you already tried that one on me.” Alec’s sarcastic jibe was not lost on me or Dillion, who stood up from the table, knocking his chair over in the process.
“Dad, watch the way you talk about my mum.”
“I beg your pardon! Who the hell do you think you are speaking to in that tone, kid?”
About to act and defend Dillion, Farron beat me to it, jumping to her feet and coming to stand in front of me. Anger vibrated from her, and I for one, couldn’t wait for her to put the prick in his place.
“Do not swear at my son, you insufferable heartless cocksucker. Just what the hell are you doing here anyway, Alec? Cattle Ridge isn’t exactly your speed, not enough stuck-up yuppies comparing superannuation contracts or what white wine should be consumed with chicken.”
Chuckling at her wit, I wrapped my arms around her, my hands clasped at her stomach, showing her quiet support and comfort.
“Foul mouth Farron, I see you have embraced your new life in hick town. No surprises there, you came from nothing after all.”
“Even got yourself a dumb hick cowboy too, does he go out and hunt dinner every night,” the idiot scoffed, laughing at his own bad joke. “I bet you are missing the comforts of my income now.”
Leaning my chin on her shoulder, I pressed a kiss to her neck.
“You wanna tell him or can I?”
“You tell him yours and I will tell him mine,” Farron answered, winking at me.
“Deal.” Kissing her once more, I let one arm go and held it out to the prick.
“Fenixx Hott, owner of the biggest cattle property in Victoria, the Triple H. Also one-third partner in HBC, Australia’s leading beef export company, my brothers, the other two partners.” I stood waiting for the arsehole to take my hand, not that I wanted his fragile hand anywhere near me but my mumma raised me to use my manners.
Hott and Handled (The Hott Brothers Book 3) Page 15
