“I had that thought,” Joel said. “There wasn’t much taken. Few bits of jewelry. Anything of value is kept in the safe anyway. But I didn’t like it.”
“Anything happen since?” I asked.
“No. I thought it might be one of the hands I fired. I caught him napping on the job a few times. Nothing has happened since I put the system in so he’s probably moved on.”
I remembered the blown bulb in Ariana’s security light. I’d changed it, but I made a note to check the lock on her door.
She needed to stay here. She’d be safe here. And that was the most important thing.
Chapter Five
Ariana
I put the ear buds in my ears and slowly stretched, biting back a yawn. The muse had kept me up until three in the morning, so I’d figured I’d sleep in. Too bad I hadn’t remembered to turn the alarm off on my phone. And once I was awake, I couldn’t get back to sleep.
Now, I felt sluggish, and I was hoping a workout might get some blood flowing to my brain. I really wanted to get Raine and Jack’s story finished today.
I stretched, trying to motivate myself. I loved working out—once I got moving. It was the motivation to actually get off my butt and get going that was the challenge. But with the music pumping, I started my routine.
Luke
I stared through the window knowing I was acting like a peeping Tom, but I couldn’t help myself. I was spellbound. She didn’t know I was standing there as she danced back and forth, her hips gyrating to music only she could hear, her lips moving as she sang.
I needed to move. I shouldn’t be watching her like some pervert. But my feet were glued to the small porch of her cottage. I’d never seen her like this. She was wearing dark tights and a bright pink top that molded to her body.
And damn, under those baggy clothes she’d hidden a gorgeous body, curvy, with a nipped-in waist, and generous breasts.
My lips quirked up into a smile as she threw her arms into the air, her head going back, obviously reaching her finale. I managed to force myself to move, knowing she’d be embarrassed as hell if she realized I’d seen her. I walked to the door and knocked loudly.
It took her a while to answer, and, when she did, I saw she’d thrown a hideous cardigan over her outfit.
“Luke, hi.” She stared up at me, biting that lower lip once more.
I couldn’t resist. I reached out and freed it. “Stop abusing that poor thing.”
“What are you doing h-here?”
I ran my gaze over her, nearly smiling as she pulled the sweater closer. “It’s close to ninety degrees out here. Bit hot for a cardigan.”
She gave me a quelling look. “I’m fine. C-can I help you with something?”
“Can I come in?”
She glanced back inside the cottage, and I was surprised at her hesitation. Had I upset her with yesterday? Then she sighed. “Sure, but I wasn’t expecting a visitor.”
I walked in, stopping in shock. “What the hell happened in here? Did someone break in?”
She moved around, picking up clothing hastily. “No. No one broke in here. I just haven’t had time to pick up or do laundry.”
“What? For the last month?”
She placed her armful of clothing in the corner and turned to me, her hands on her hips. I was pleased to see that instead of looking unsure she was glaring at me with fire in her eyes. Maybe it was crazy of me to enjoy her temper, but I’d rather she stood up to me than be scared of me. I might be a Dominant, but that didn’t mean I wanted my submissive to be frightened of me. In fact, I liked a little sass.
Shit, what was I thinking? She wasn’t my sub. She probably had no idea what BDSM was. Ariana was an innocent. No way would she be interested in submitting to me. And I had learned long ago I needed it. I’d been in vanilla relationships, and there’d always been something lacking.
“Did you come here to pick on my housekeeping skills or was there something you wanted?”
“Can you claim to have housekeeping skills with this mess?”
I avoided the sock she threw at me with a laugh.
“Jerk,” she muttered, but she was smiling.
“I came to make sure we’re okay.”
“Of course we are. Why wouldn’t we be?”
“You didn’t come in for dinner last night, and I hope it wasn’t anything to do with yesterday. I have a temper, and I was a bit mad, but I wasn’t angry at you.”
Ariana
What had brought this on? I moved closer to where Luke was leaning against the arm of one of my wide armchairs. Daringly, I cupped his cheeks between my hands.
“I didn’t come to dinner because I was working, not because you got a bit angry. Jeez, how many times have I seen you guys get mad at each other? What’s brought this on?”
He gave me a small smile and took hold of my hands pulling them down. I blushed as I realized I was still cupping his cheeks. Whoops.
But he kept hold of my hands on his lap.
“We were talking last night about how we had the old man’s blood in our veins.”
I frowned. “And you think that means you’re like him? You’re not. None of you are. And if I have to drill that into each of you, I will.”
He tapped my nose. “So fierce.”
When it came to them, I was. When it came to anything else, I was pretty much a pushover, but with Lola’s help, I was working on that.
“You’re nothing like Jared, Luke. You’re not violent or out-of-control. You could never harm someone you cared about. I know this.”
He nodded then stood. “Come on, enough of this. That lawyer will be here any moment, and Joel wants us all up at the house.”
“I don’t need to be there, do I?”
Luke shrugged. “Apparently you do. He asked for you. Guess the old man left you something in the will.”
“Why would he do that?” I asked.
“Who knows why he did anything? Come on.”
I dug my heels in as he started to prod me towards the door. “I’ve got to get changed.”
Luke ran his gaze over my body, and a warm flush rose through me at the appreciation in his gaze. “No, you really don’t. But if it makes you feel better you can hide beneath that hideous thing.”
I wanted to protest that I wasn’t hiding, but that was exactly what I was doing.
“Not sure why you always hide under such baggy clothes.”
Because I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I didn’t want people seeing me. It was safer that way. Not that it always worked. Lola had walked straight up to me, plonked herself down in my space, and insinuated herself in my life.
And I’d always be grateful to her.
“You gonna lock the door?” he asked as I followed him out.
“Why?”
“Joel told us about the break-ins at the main house. I don’t want you leaving your door unlocked, whether you’re home or not.”
“Luke—”
“And before you protest, I’m also going to get you a deadbolt.”
“You’ve been living in the city too long.” But I went back inside and grabbed my key, locking my door.
“Lola’s been trying to get me to wear some of her clothes,” I admitted as I wrapped the hideous sweater around me like a shield.
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “I thought I might let her pick a few things out.” It was all part of me building a new life and becoming more confident.
“I think you should do whatever makes you comfortable.”
But that was the problem. I needed to push myself. Otherwise, I was afraid that in thirty years’ time, I’d still be here, lonely and frightened of the outside world.
Things had to change.
Luke
I had to hold back my impatience as the lawyer droned on and on about unimportant shit. I had things to do and sitting here waiting for him to tell us the old man had left everything to Joel wasn’t high on my list of priorities.
I glance
d around the study. It was as gloomy as ever, filled with dark, leather furniture, a huge, wooden desk, and deep red curtains. It was masculine and oppressive. On the wall behind the desk was a large painting in a gold frame. The painting was of our family before our mother died. It was an odd choice for the old man. After our mom died, he’d destroyed nearly every photo we had of her, yet he’d kept a painting of her in his study.
Caleb yawned, and I saw Ariana poke him, her gaze never leaving the lawyer, as though what he was saying was of vital importance to her. Caleb smiled at her then reached down and tickled her side. She jumped with a squeal, and the lawyer paused.
“Everything all right, Ms. Monton?” he queried in his droll voice.
Ariana glared at Caleb, her face growing red. “Y-yes. Sorry.”
I frowned at Caleb. I knew he was just playing around, but he was embarrassing Ariana, and he needed to watch it. He gave me a salute.
“To my son, Mac, I leave my collection of handguns and rifles. Hopefully one day he will develop a backbone and grow into a man.”
I scowled. Leave it to the old bastard to insult us from beyond the grave. I glanced over at Mac who was staring out the window, his arms crossed over his chest, completely closed off.
“To my son, Caleb, I leave my grandfather’s watch. Hopefully, he can find some sense of work ethic and responsibility.”
Caleb snorted. “Because being a firefighter is a completely irresponsible job.”
The lawyer paused, glancing around. “I know this is a difficult time. I’m afraid there’s still more to get through.”
Joel nodded. “Keep going.”
“Right, the next part is for Donovan, so I’ll skip over that as he couldn’t be here today.” He paused for a moment. “To Luke, I leave my chess set. I hope one day he might learn the value of patience and planning rather than rushing like a fool into every situation.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Patience? That’s rich.”
“To my oldest son, Joel, I leave all the money in my account. The future is promised to no one. I hope you take this opportunity to create your own path rather than following in my footsteps. And get rid of that wife. A more useless, vain woman I’ve never met.”
Everyone in the room, except for the lawyer, whose name escaped me, seemed to pause. There was no movement, I don’t think anyone even breathed as the enormity of what he’d just said hit us.
“The ranch?” Caleb finally managed to ask. “He didn’t leave Joel the ranch?”
Joel just sat, his face inscrutable, staring at the lawyer. Then he sat up straight. “That old bastard.”
“I bet he’s looking down and laughing his ass off,” I muttered.
“Who did he leave the ranch to?” Mac finally asked the most important question. “Donovan?”
Caleb laughed without amusement. “Van doesn’t want the ranch. He’d hate that.”
“All the more reason to give it to him,” Mac said. “Last thing I want are his guns. And Luke hated playing chess with him. Why not give the ranch to Van?”
“A giant fuck you to us both,” Joel said. “The future belongs to no one. Maybe I should turn that into a tattoo. Keep it as a permanent reminder.”
“Actually, um, no, Baton Ranch was not left to Donovan Carlson.”
“It wasn’t?” I sat forward. “Then who?”
His gaze turned to Ariana, who’d been quiet up until now. Dread tightened in my stomach, and my heart beat faster.
“To Ariana Monton, I leave Baton Ranch.”
“What?” Joel jumped to his feet. “What the fuck? Why the hell would he do that?”
I stood, not liking the way Ariana paled and sat back in her chair. “Don’t yell at her.”
Ariana
I tried to make myself as small as possible as the Carlson brothers erupted in fury. Not that I blamed them or didn’t understand. Well, no, that’s not right. I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand any of this. Jared had left Baton Ranch to me? But why? Surely, it had to be a mistake. I didn’t want the ranch, didn’t know the first thing about running a ranch.
Maybe that was the point. Maybe this was his way of messing with us all.
“I wasn’t fucking yelling at her. Keep your head in the game, Luke. Do you know what he’s done?”
“Of course I know what he’s done,” Luke yelled back. “I’m right here. He’s fucked with us all one last time. Including Ariana.”
“He left the ranch to someone who isn’t even family. My fucking ranch. I’m the one who’s been here day after day, year after fucking year taking care of this place.”
Joel swept his arm around, and I couldn’t help but flinch at the fury on his face.
Someone who isn’t even family. I wasn’t blood-related, but I thought of them as family just the same.
“Ariana is family,” Luke said.
Joel scowled Everything he’d worked for had just been handed over to me in one cruel action. I couldn’t call it thoughtless because Jared had probably thought this out carefully. Had he really done it just to hurt us all?
“You all fucked off. You got to leave. I stayed.” Joel thumped his chest as he paced back and forth across the room. “I put up with that asshole. I’ve put my sweat and my blood into this place. I gave it everything, my marriage; my time; my goddamn sanity. And for what? For it to all be given away to Ariana!”
He pointed at me, and I tensed, that ill feeling that had developed when I heard the lawyer’s words only grew deeper. He hated me. And why wouldn’t he? In his place, I’d feel the same.
Luke slammed his hands against Joel’s chest. Joel stumbled back a few steps. Joel was even bigger than Luke, but it was obvious Luke had put a lot of strength behind that shove. I jumped to my feet, my breath catching in my throat. Oh, God, were they about to break out in a brawl. It wouldn’t be the first time, not even the tenth time I’d seen them fight. But this was different. They were adults. And this time, it involved me.
Joel came forward, his hands clenched into fists. He swung out, slamming his fist into Luke’s face. I couldn’t help the scream that erupted from my throat, fear holding me almost paralyzed
Immediately, Caleb grabbed Joel, wrapping his arms around him. He wouldn’t be able to hold him long, Joel was bigger, and he was fueled by fury. Mac got in front of Luke, forcing him to go through his younger brother to get to Joel.
“Ah, this is not helping matters,” the lawyer offered.
Joel shrugged off Caleb’s hold and turned to snarl at the lawyer. “Get out. Get the fuck out of my house.”
The lawyer cleared his throat. “Well, actually . . .”
Oh, God, he was not going there. He was not going to point out that it wasn’t Joel’s house. Surely, he wasn’t that much of an idiot.
“All of you get out!” Joel screamed.
“What’s going on in here?” The calm voice broke through the tension and anger in the room.
I looked up at Donovan, who stood in the doorway staring at all of us. Built like a brick wall, with an ugly scar marring his face, he made a frightening sight to most people. But I never saw the scar on his face anymore or worried he might use that strength against me. Out of all the Carlson brothers, I was closest to Van. He was a brother, protector, and friend all rolled into one.
Without hesitating, I raced towards him and threw myself into his arms.
“Hey, little bit,” he whispered, pulling me up against his chest so my feet dangled off the ground.
“I’m s-so p-pleased to see y-y-you.”
He squeezed me tightly then set me down, tucking me in against his side. He stared around at everyone, taking everything in. “Someone want to tell me what’s going on? And why Ariana is terrified?”
“It’s o-okay,” I whispered. He didn’t know they were essentially fighting because of me.
He glanced down at me, one eyebrow raised. “No, it’s not,” he said firmly. “They’re not kids anymore, and fighting where you might get hurt is una
cceptable.”
Joel turned away, moving to the window. His shoulders were tense as he gripped the windowsill and stared outside. Luke turned to look at me, his eye was already starting to close, and I gasped.
“Come here, Ariana,” Luke growled. I didn’t like the look on his face. A mix of anger and . . . possession? But that couldn’t be right. Sure, he was possessive of me in a brotherly way, but not like this. He looked hungry. Aggressive.
“I’ll go-go get some i-ice,” I said nervously. I needed to get out of there. Not just because of the shit storm that had erupted, but because the way Luke was looking at me made me wonder if he didn’t see me as just a friend or sister. And I couldn’t start thinking that way. Because if I got my hopes up, if I started to wonder if we could have more then I was going to be crushed when I realized it wasn’t going to happen. That his emotions were just high, and I was reading too much into things. He had a girlfriend. I didn’t have a chance with him.
He’d never be mine. That’s what I had to remember.
“Come. Here.” He took a step towards me, and I jumped.
“Y-your e-eye is swelling.”
“It’s fine,” Luke growled. “Ariana. Here. Now.”
“Calm down, Luke,” Van warned as I ducked out of the room.
I couldn’t take the tension and testosterone anymore. My mind was reeling trying to understand what I’d just heard. Why? Why’d he do it?
Already forgetting the reason I’d come into the kitchen, I sat at the table, leaned my elbows on the scarred wooden top, and rested my throbbing head in the palm of my hand. What a disaster. Why did Jared do this to me? It was so ridiculous to leave me the ranch. I was nothing. No one. Joel had worked the ranch, ran it for so long.
Joel. God, how he must hate me now. I’d seen it on his face. He’d never been anything but kind and protective towards me. I’d never seen him look at me the way he just had, and who could blame him? I’d taken away everything he’d ever wanted.
Now I just wished I could crawl into a hole and disappear.
Luke
“Well, look who the cat dragged in,” Caleb drawled.
Luke (Bad Boys of WildeSide Book 3) Page 5
