“So you left first, assuming we just wanted a wild fuck?” Archer asked.
/> “Well…yeah. I mean, we met at a rodeo.” She licked her lips and her gaze lifted to mine. “We barely knew each other. I did things with all three of you.”
I grinned, remembering all the things we’d done. All three of us. I could see though how she came to her assumptions.
“We thought you’d just used us,” Lee added. His harsh words were softened with a sly smile and a wink. “Now that you’re here, you can definitely use us again.”
“We want you, Cricket,” I told her, making it crystal clear. “Not just for a night. Now that you’re here, I want to try again.”
“Yes,” Archer added.
“Fuck, yes,” Lee finished.
There was no way she didn’t know our intent now. Hell, we’d just spanked her ass, given her the outlet she needed to tell us her problems. We’d gotten off track though, so I asked, “You didn’t say exactly, but tonight, did they make you strip?”
I didn’t know who the fucker was, but when I did—
She shook her head, her hair flying about. “No. I…I climbed out a bathroom window before it was my turn.”
She climbed out of a window?
“That’s why you were speeding,” Archer said, thinking aloud.
“I climbed out the window because they wouldn’t have let me leave otherwise. So, yes, I was speeding because I thought they might come after me. I didn’t tell you there on the side of the road because they told me not to.” Her lower lip wobbled at that. The idea of someone taking advantage of her in such a way, of debasing her to the point she was scared of talking to a fucking sheriff, made me see red.
“You were coming here to Steele Ranch,” Archer added, giving me a second or two to take a breath, to try to calm my need to kill. When she nodded, he continued, “If you knew about this place, of your inheritance, why didn’t you give them the money? Or get in touch with Riley Townsend and tell him the problem? He’d have paid them off.”
Her eyes flared, the anger was back. That was better. I couldn’t handle a crying woman. And Cricket? It gutted me. So did hearing this story. While Lee and I had been with the horses earlier, she’d had to climb out a fucking window at a strip club. Alone. Even though we’d known nothing about it or her whereabouts, I felt as if we should have been there. It seemed she’d taken care of herself and could continue to do so, but why? Especially with these assholes. She needed backup. Of the big, brawny variety.
“I only got the letter from the lawyer last week and I’d already paid him back by then. I’d thought, until this afternoon, that I was done with the loan and with the guy. I didn’t tell him about my inheritance because I didn’t want him to know about all this. If he was trying to…make me strip for two thousand, I didn’t know what he’d do for an entire ranch.”
She lifted her arms indicating the house, the handcuffs rattling. Archer reached out, took hold of her wrist, got the key and released her from the restraints. He rubbed her wrists once they were off, ensuring the metal hadn’t marred her skin.
“You’re right. It’s none of his fucking business,” Archer said, lifting her wrist to his lips, kissing the inside. “Smart thinking, keeping the money a secret. For escaping and coming here.”
“That’s right. You’re such a good girl,” I murmured, impressed I sounded calm when I was barely hanging on. “You’re not alone in this. Not anymore.”
Whoever the fucker was, he was going down. It was probably good that one of Cricket’s men—one of us—was in law enforcement, otherwise there’d be a body buried on Steele property instead of soon being behind bars.
“That’s right. We’ll take care of this,” Archer added. While I knew he meant finding out the details about the guy and getting the local cops to arrest him, the look on his face and the dark tone of his words had me thinking he might be carrying the shovel for me instead. “You don’t have to worry about a thing.”
Lee laughed. “Didn’t you hear, baby? Sutton killed the last fucker who went after a Steele heiress. And that was Kady, who belongs to Cord and Riley. Imagine what he’ll do for you.”
Cricket stared at me wide eyed. I’d killed the hitman who’d come after Kady. He’d been hired by her drug-addicted sister’s scheming husband, who’d known all about the inheritance and he’d been a greedy fuck wanting it all for himself and using Kady’s weak-minded sister to attempt to get it. This guy? This fucker who was going to force my woman to strip? If he showed up on the ranch, I wouldn’t just put a bullet in his heart.
I leaned in, put my lips to hers. Gentle, chaste. Brief. “I’ll do anything for you.”
6
LEE
* * *
Holy fuck.
She was here. Cricket was here between us, kissing Sutton. And that wasn’t all of it. She was one of Aiden Steele’s long-lost daughters. I should go out and buy a fucking lottery ticket. What were the chances? While I’d never told Sutton or Archer, I’d never expected to see Cricket again. Not after the wild night we’d shared, the weekend she’d had with Sutton. She’d slipped out, clearly not wanting anything long-term.
I hadn’t been happy about it. Hell, it had been the best and wildest night of my life. Sharing a woman with my two best friends hadn’t been something I’d considered before then, but now, it was all I imagined. Not just any woman, but Cricket. And so I’d cock blocked myself ever since.