• Six •

It wasn’t like I killed every man who spoke to her.

Thatcher

Present Day

Resting my forearms on the fence, I watched as Capri rode Zephyr around the track. I’d told her not to go full speed today. Let him stretch out some, but hold him back. She was doing exactly like I’d asked. Her tiny form looked even smaller when she was sitting on him. Bloodline was big, but Zephyr was a beast. She hadn’t been intimidated in the least. The smile on her face was fucking insane. I had a hard time looking away from her. The pull she had on me seemed to be getting worse.

“She’s got the Belmont Derby Invitational next week with Bloodline,” King said as he came to stand beside me. “He’s leaving Sunday to head up there.”

I didn’t bother looking at him. “Yeah,” I replied as annoyance began to ruin my mood.

“Don’t you think she should be focused on him and the race?”

I was gonna need a smoke. Not saying anything, I straightened and reached for the pack in my pocket. Fucker was starting to piss me off.

“She wanted on Zephyr,” I told him, then put the cigarette in my mouth and lit it up.

“The entire fucking ranch is scared to even breathe her air. She’s noticed it too. Miller barely looked at her yesterday, and she’d shaved off almost half a second on Bloodline’s best time,” King informed me.

“She’s fine,” I said through my teeth, although I’d seen it too.

I wasn’t enjoying seeing her frown when one of the dumb fucks ignored her or walked away from her. But that wasn’t sending me into a blind rage, so this would have to be the way it was. Miller was our top trainer though. I was gonna deal with him. He didn’t need to make her feel unwanted, but he needed to be careful with how he spoke to her.

“She asked Jim this morning if she’d done something to offend him. He feels like a shit for the way he’s having to treat her. The man is happily married with kids. He’s not gonna flirt with her. Can I at least let him talk to her when she tries to make conversation?”

I inhaled deeply as I watched her slowing down. Jim would probably be fine, talking to her. She liked all that chatty shit. She was nosy as fuck too. Why that made me want to smile, I didn’t know. I wasn’t about to actually do it, but the tug on the corners of my mouth was there. I’d heard her asking him about his kids more than once. He seemed happy to talk about them and his wife. Might as well let her have that. Maybe it would stop her from frowning so damn much. It was her smile that I craved.

“Yeah,” I said as she made her way over toward us.

“Yeah, he can?” King asked.

I cut my eyes at him. “Yeah,” I repeated.

“He needs this job. He needs the insurance for his family,” King said.

“I get it,” I snapped at him, then turned to watch Capri as she came to a stop in front of us.

It wasn’t like I killed every man who spoke to her. I just punished the ones who upset her and steered away the ones who wanted to fuck her. I didn’t see Jim doing that. He was one of those decent guys who lived a boring-ass life.

“He’s incredible,” Capri said, grinning down at me.

She glanced over at King, and the wariness in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed. Had he told her she was supposed to be focused on Bloodline? Fucker needed to mind his own business.

“I’m going to go get Bloodline out here next,” she told him.

I didn’t like her trying to appease King.

“Take Zephyr for a cooldown, then back to the stables for Jim to take care of,” I told her.

It wasn’t wise for her to stay here and talk to King like that in front of me.

She nodded, and I could see I’d made her nervous. That was a good thing.

Seven years ago, I’d had to force myself to stay the fuck away from her because my reactions to when others did something to her that I didn’t care for had been getting more violent. Perhaps the stalking I’d been doing wasn’t completely staying away from her, but I needed reassurance she was okay. I was letting that get out of hand now that she was here several days a week. When she wasn’t here, I found myself going to watch her. I used to not do that so much. It had just been every couple of weeks.

“I’m not mad, Capri,” King told her, and my muscles tensed up.

What the fuck was he doing?

Her expression eased, as if she was relieved. Why did she care so damn much what King said? I’d made it real clear that I was her boss. Maybe not to her. But the rest of them knew.

Her gaze shifted back to me, and she flashed me that smile. Damn. The irritation that had been mounting evaporated.

“Thanks for letting me ride him.” The slight waver in her voice, as if speaking directly to me made her nervous, was cute.

I nodded my head and said nothing. King was listening, and I wasn’t about to give him some shit to dissect. He didn’t understand. None of them did. Hell, I didn’t even understand it. But what I did know was, she was a drug I needed. When nothing else worked, just seeing her settled the darkness inside me. I could feel something. The connection or whatever it was she stirred in me was unlike anything else I’d experienced.

She turned Zephyr back toward the track and left to go cool him down like I’d told her.

“You scare her,” King said.

I turned to look at him with the cigarette between my teeth. “I scare most people.”

He smirked. “Yeah, but you like her. Why are you scaring her?”

“Who said I liked her?” I replied, not appreciating his interest in this.

“Every action you’ve made since she started working here,” he said.

I glanced back out at her. He had no idea the depth of whatever this was I had for her. Like wasn’t even in the ballpark. It was closer to compulsion.

“What I do and how I do it isn’t anyone’s concern.”

King let out a short laugh. “All right. I’ll stay out of it. But figure this out before you kill someone.”

The corner of my lips curled. It was too late for that. Years too late.

I heard him walk away as I watched Capri take Zephyr back to the stables. Jim came out, and she spoke to him. He seemed so damn uptight and nervous that even I could see it from here. King was right about that. I had to ease his mind about Capri. She would be hurt if they all treated her that way. I hadn’t gotten her the job here for her to be unhappy. Her smile had become a necessity I required.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I pressed Briar’s number.

“Hello?” she said after the second ring.

“I need you to go get me the cookies again,” I told her.

She let out an amused laugh. “What did you do?”

I took the cigarette from my mouth. “Nothing.”

“Fine. Keep your secrets,” she replied. “I’ll leave them in your truck like last time.”

“Thanks,” I said, then ended the call.

My phone immediately started ringing, and I smirked at Storm’s name. Jealous motherfucker.

“Yeah,” I said, enjoying this a little too much.

“Why’re you calling my woman this time?” he asked.

“Needed a favor,” I told him.

“Then, ask me.”

Damn, he almost made me want to laugh. “Can’t. They’ll know you at the bakery.”

He let out a sigh. “You’re sending Briar to go get those damn lemon cookies again?”

“Yeah.”

“What is up with the cookies?”

That I wasn’t telling him. Briar respected that I’d given her the nudge she needed to forgive Storm for his possessive, controlling actions. I would use that small leverage to get the cookies when needed.

“Nothing.”

“No, it’s something. You’re not shoving them down someone’s throat that’s allergic to them, are you? This isn’t a punishment of some kind for someone breathing Capri’s air?”

I took another pull from the cigarette and dropped it on the ground. “You sound like a woman,” I told him, then ended the call before sliding my phone back into my pocket.

I’d leave the cookies on Capri’s front porch, then watch her for a while tonight. I slept better the nights I stayed in her backyard until she turned off the lights and went to bed. Letting her see me the other night had been a bad idea. It spooked her. I hadn’t wanted that, but I could see now how that might bother a female.

She wouldn’t see me again.

Especially when I was in her room.