• Thirteen •

You’re engaged. Act like it.

King

The mornings were getting warmer sooner. With a cup of coffee in my hand, I watched as the trainers prepped the thoroughbreds that were leaving today for Louisville. It was a reminder that I would have to pack up and leave in three days myself. With Scotlin. Leaving Rumor here.

I fucking hated it. And I hadn’t prepared her for it yet either. The news would cover more than just the horse races. Our engagement would be mentioned, and photos or videos would be posted of the two of us there. I needed to go talk to Maeme about keeping Rumor away from the television while I was gone.

“You cooled down?” Storm asked.

I didn’t turn around to look at him. “He knew better.”

“Yeah, I know. I should have said something. I thought she’d be in bed when you got back though.”

He came to stand beside me, and I glanced over at him to see he had a sausage biscuit in his hand. It smelled good, and I was suddenly hungry. He took a bite and nodded toward the trailers the horses were being put in for travel.

“Sebastian is leaving with them today. That should make you feel better.”

I wasn’t worried about Rumor wanting Sebastian. She wanted me. She’d made that very clear several times. My concern was hurting her. The hurt that she’d faced already in this life was more than any woman should endure. I didn’t want to be another person who broke her or let her down. I just couldn’t figure out a way to fix it. Be who she needed.

A darkness settled over me as I thought about it.

“I want the bastard who is stalking Scotlin to make his move. Weed him out and end this bullshit,” I said.

“We’d all like that,” Storm replied.

My phone started ringing, causing my mood to sour more. No one called me this early unless it was business. I’d left Rumor in the bed to sleep, and I intended to go back up there to her. I didn’t need someone calling me away.

Seeing Scotlin’s name on my phone didn’t help my mood.

“Yeah,” I said in greeting, not wanting to deal with whatever this was.

“Good morning,” she replied cheerfully. “I need to go shopping today, and you need to go with me.”

My grip on the phone in my hand tightened. “I don’t fucking shop. You have bodyguards for that shit.”

“Don’t be a sourpuss this morning. It’s a beautiful spring day, and the sun is shining. And I need you because I need your opinion. You are my fiancé after all.”

I swear to God, she was fucking mental.

“Fake. I’m your fake fiancé.”

She laughed as if I had told her a joke. “That is merely a technicality. We are leaving for the Derby this week. We should be seen out shopping together. I’ll be ready at eleven.”

“No. I have things to do,” I replied sharply, then ended the call.

“Scotlin, I take it?” Storm said.

I nodded and took a drink of my coffee.

“I’d offer to entertain Rumor, but after the shit you pulled last night, I’ll pass.”

No one was entertaining Rumor but me.

My phone rang again. I wanted to throw the damn thing against the nearest brick wall. Glancing down at it, I saw my father’s name. Fucking hell.

“Yeah,” I said into the phone.

“You’re going shopping.”

My head pounded as I glared straight ahead. She’d called my father? Was she fucking serious?

“No, I’m not.” My teeth were clenched so tightly that I could hear them grind.

“It’s not a request. It’s an order.”

“Whose fucking order?” I snapped.

I was a grown man, and my father no longer held any power over me. We were equals, and he knew it. Although he often forgot.

“Blaise said you were to be seen with her. That includes shopping. If you make this an issue because of Rumor, then he will move her to Ocala. I wouldn’t test him. You want the woman, then fine. Do what you are told. Or else he will remove her from the equation.”

“Why? Scotlin has motherfucking bodyguards!” I ground out.

“Because it’s what you’ve been told to do.”

“What about the Insantos, who are after Rumor? I thought that was being handled?” I shot back at him.

I was ready for Rumor to be free. So she could live her life. The way she should have always been able to.

“Blaise is dealing with that. He said he would, and once we have the info we need, then we will move. Right now, however, the daughter of the future governor of Georgia is in danger, and you are the one she’s supposed to be engaged to. Worry about that.”

I inhaled sharply, trying not to lose it. “Rumor has been locked away long enough. I want the Insantos dealt with, or I’ll do it myself.”

A hard laugh came through the line. “Remember who you are. What we are. Rumor is under our protection because Blaise agreed to help her. We never had to save her. We never had to bring her here. It was her husband we were after. Not her. But we did. She’s safe and alive and not being tried for murder because we made sure of it. She’s not our priority. We are powerful because of our connections. Who we have in our back pocket. You know this, King. Getting Jefferson in the governor’s seat benefits the family. The family always comes first.” My father sighed. “Now, Scotlin May is our priority. You’re engaged. Act like it.”

“Rumor is my priority,” I snarled, hating the words coming out of his mouth.

“No. She’s not. The family’s priority is your priority. Jefferson May is a fucking Republican. When shit starts being dug up about him and the fact that his nineteen-year-old daughter had an abortion comes out, we will need the man who’d knocked her up to be by her side. Showing the voters of Georgia that you are a united front.”

“This shit ends once Scotlin’s stalker is found. That was what I was told,” I reminded him, my chest growing tighter by the moment.

“It ends when Blaise says it does. Not a moment before. Do your job, King.”

He ended the call before I could respond.

“FUCK!” I shouted, throwing my phone across the yard and slamming my coffee cup against the fence beside me, causing it to break in two.

“Guess you’re going shopping,” Storm said beside me.

I turned and stalked back to the stables without responding. Right now, I needed Rumor. She was the only thing that could ease the violence pumping through my veins.