Chapter Nineteen
Kat couldn’t stop smiling as she walked the property line. Despite it being her normal routine, something about that morning felt different.
Memories of the night before flashed in her head, brought back how she’d spent it tangled up with the three men. Sure, they’d had sex before, but something about last night had been special.
Maybe it was because, for the first time, she hadn’t held back. She hadn’t hidden, hadn’t pretended to be anything but what she was. After them witnessing her family rejecting her, after them seeing firsthand just how little her actual blood family cared for her, she’d been raw.
Yet…they hadn’t turned away. They hadn’t seen that and thought, ‘you know, these people are right. Katistoo much.’ Instead, even after she’d cried, even after her face was a mess and her mind was jumbled, they’d simply loved her.
She was sore today, but that was to be expected. While the sex had been sweet, in its own way, the men were nothing if not demanding. She wasn’t sure when exactly she’d gotten to sleep, only recalled the way Bradley had stroked his hand over her side, how Olin had pressed his lips to her shoulder, how Dean had told her they cherished her as she’d drifted off.
Kat had never really believed in love, at least not for herself, but she couldn’t bring herself doubt it now. She loved them, each of them, more than she thought possible. She loved Bradley and their history and the way she felt safe with him no matter what. She loved Olin, his sense of justice and the way he never failed to know how to make her smile. She loved Dean, how intense he was, how he never shied away from her own darker sides.
But…love wasn’t everything. She knew that as well as anyone. Love didn’t mean things would work, didn’t guarantee some happily ever after.
For the first time ever, though, Kat wanted to try. She didn’t want to let them go, even if it ended up breaking her heart. She’d never been willing to risk herself before, to open herself up, but the thought of letting go without trying sounded far more painful than the thought of them leaving her later.
Which was a terrifying thought.
The breeze held a chill as it ran through the large ranch, but Kat just pulled her light wrap tighter around herself. Bradley was no doubt somewhere, taking care of some animal, while she’d left the other two working at the house.
Some time alone was probably for the best, and Kat had to admit, she cherished these walks. Her favorite of the livestock dogs, Max, trailed behind her as he always did, as if she were one of the baby goats he needed to look after. It made her smile, made her think about how complete her life felt here.
She walked along the far back fence line and tipped her head back to enjoy the way the sun warmed her face. These walks always calmed her, and so long as she stayed within range of the cameras that spanned the property, her overprotective Doms tended to allow it.
The soft crunch of dirt made her frown. A small dirt road ran the back length of the property, despite Bradley owning that as well. He’d only fenced part of the ranch, however, so the livestock dogs knew where to patrol.
No one should drive there, but it wasn’t the first time it had happened. Folks from out of town often assumed no fence meant free use to the public, and Kat had watched Bradley scoot off others who had tried to camp on his property.
She pulled her shoulders back as the car stopped, ready to defend his land the way Max would. The thought had her smiling, the further proof of just how much she loved this place, how much at home she felt there, that she had no issue with telling people off just to keep it safe.
The back car door opened, and Kat readied herself. No doubt they were someone from LA, especially driving a car like that, and she expected them to dress as most of the tourists did—like they thought they were in some fancy western movie, with fringe and cowboy hats.
Except, Kat’s breath froze when it wasn’t some out of towner, some lost tourist who had no idea what they were doing.
Instead, Kat came face-to-face with Jerry.
* * * *
Dean leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. To most people looking at him, they’d think he wasn’t working. How often had his bosses, back at the start of his career, thought he was slacking off?
It wasn’t the case, though. Instead, he was entirely focused on the problem at hand, trying to figure out the best defense for his client. It was a girl who had stabbed her boyfriend. There was loads of proof—no real denying it had happened.
However, if it had just been a malicious attack, he’d have never taken the case. The black eye the girl had worn, the way she’d flinched when the officer had escorted her by the arm, it had all said what really happened loud and clear.
Convincing a jury that a stabbing was justified was a hard sell, though. Too often people liked to blame women. They asked why she didn’t leave sooner, as what she did to stop it, but when the woman actually did something, she got punished.
Dean sighed and let the chair drop, the strike of it against the floor loud even above the music that filled the room.
He needed to dig deeper into the abuse, show the jury that if the woman had done nothing, she’d have been killed. To start with, the hospital records after the last time she’d run away should help…
Dean yawned, his mouth stretching wide. He hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep the night before, but he wasn’t sorry about it. There wasn’t a better way to spend an entire night than wrapped up with Kat, then enjoying each sound she made, each expression that stretched across her lovely features. She was a delight, and he’d happily suffer the exhaustion today.
Thinking about her made him grin, the way it always did. She never shied away from him, had never condemned him. He’d been so sure that she’d take one look at the real him, at the things he’d done in his past, and she’d walk away.
Then again, Kat was braver than she was smart.
He chuckled and left his room, needing some coffee to try to spur his brain into action. He paused at Bradley’s office, a normal part of his routine, so he could check the cameras to spot Kat. She was usually taking a walk around now, though she might have set up to paint already.Seeing her sink deeper into her art, into the paintings that clearly made her happy, thrilled him.