• twenty •

“I will regret it for eternity.”

Rumor

I finished hanging the rest of my clothing on the clothesline just as the sun was beginning to set. Washing them in the tub by hand had been a much-needed distraction. Hopefully, the book I was planning to start next would be equally distracting.

Every time I had thoughts of King and the way he’d been with that woman, it got me all twisted up. The one thing that was really bugging me was the way she had walked up to him and touched him. The look in her eyes, like she wanted nothing but to be near him. That wasn’t a woman who was scared of a man or tolerating one. I should know.

She had been…enamored with him. She didn’t tense up when he scolded her. She’d seemed…to enjoy it.

I was finding myself trying to figure that out more than anything else. As much as I didn’t like it, I kept coming to the same conclusion: King was sexy and charming. He was hot. She was willing to do anything he wanted so she could be with him.

Was that what she got out of it? What they all got out of it? Since she was clearly not an exclusive thing. Or was she? Sebastian had said King was with different women, but he didn’t say King wasn’t just with her right now. Were they dating?

Jerking open the back door, I walked inside, angry with myself for not being able to stop my train of thought. I was going to read. First make myself a sandwich, then read. Get lost in a story that wasn’t reality and forget all about King for a while at least.

I was almost in the living room when a knock at the door snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked straight ahead through the doorway leading into the kitchen to see Sebastian through the window. He lifted a hand to wave, and I let out a weary sigh. He’d come to check on me. I was not going to get to shut King and his kinky sex life out of my head as soon as I’d thought.

Walking through the kitchen, I unlocked the door and then the screen before pushing it open.

“Hey,” I said in greeting.

He ran a hand through his hair and smiled. “I, uh, came to check on you. Make sure you made it back okay.”

“I did. Thank you, and I’m sorry about running out today. It was rude,” I told him. That had been bothering me too. How I had acted. It just hadn’t bothered me as much as it should have. Unfortunately, King seemed to be the center of my thoughts.

“No worries. It was a lot, I’m sure. Seeing as…well, what you’ve been through. It has to look different to you,” he said.

I nodded and let out a sigh. “Yeah. It definitely does or did. I don’t know anymore. She seemed to be happy with it, and who am I to judge?”

He laughed then and raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, King has always been persuasive.”

That much I knew. He’d gotten me in his truck when I was at my most vulnerable. I wasn’t sure there was another person alive who could have convinced me to get in a truck with a strange man that day. Or any day really. I was cautious. I didn’t take chances. I knew the consequences. But King…he’d been different.

“I’ve experienced that,” I replied.

Sebastian nodded. “Yeah.”

Stepping back, I waved a hand for him to come inside. “I was about to make something to eat and read. But if you want to come in, I’ll find something better than a sandwich to feed you.”

He seemed to hesitate, then finally walked inside the kitchen. “You don’t have to feed me. The cook at our house has dinner made. I was about to head over there and eat. But you could come with me. We’ve got a pretty impressive library, too, with reading areas that will make you want to stay awhile. There is no chance that King will be, uh, well…” He trailed off.

I thought about it for a minute, and at first, I was going to say no, but another library and seeing his house was a temptation. If his house was bigger than the stables, that would get my mind off things. It might be the only chance I ever got to seeing a mansion. A real one, which was what I was expecting.

“Okay,” I agreed. “That sounds nice. If you’re sure it’ll be okay with your family.”

He let out a small laugh. “My parents are out for the evening. The cook made dinner for Thatch and me. She makes enough for an army though. There will be plenty.”

In that case, it sounded like a great idea.

“I’ll go grab my sandals,” I told him, then made my way to the bedroom.

My tennis shoes were at the back door, dirty from walking outside so much today and then being in the backyard, hanging clothes. I slipped on a pair of Tory Burch flip-flops, then glanced in the mirror. My hair was a bit messy from blowing in the wind. Curls were everywhere. I went over to the cabinets in the bathroom and found a hair tie to pull my hair up the best I could.

Stepping back, I assessed my clothing and decided a hoodie over my tank top would be better since the evening air was cool. The white linen shorts I was wearing worked with the blue hoodie that had a stack of books on it and the words I’m with the banned underneath. It had been a gift from a coworker for my birthday three years ago. Hill had hated it and called it tacky. Getting to wear it when I wanted was freeing.

Sebastian was texting on his phone when I walked back into the kitchen. He glanced up, then read my shirt before breaking into a smile. “That’s awesome.”

I nodded, pleased with his reaction. “Thank you. I happen to love it.”

He slipped his phone back into his pocket. “As you should. Let’s go, shall we?”

Sebastian let me go out first, then followed me out. The silver Porsche parked in front of my house shouldn’t have surprised me. But it did.

“Nice car,” I said, looking back at Sebastian.

He smirked. “Thanks. You know much about cars?”

I shook my head. “I drove a 1998 Honda Accord that didn’t crank most days, and I had to talk to Patricia real nice to get her to stay running when I stopped at red lights. Then, I married, and…I drove a Mercedes…on days I was allowed.”

Sebastian was silent for a moment, and I wished I’d left the latter part out.

We almost reached the Porsche when he stepped in front of me and opened the passenger door. “Patricia sounds like she was special.”

I nodded, relieved that he hadn’t asked any more about Hill. “She was. We were tight.”

He was smiling when he closed the door behind me.

I studied the interior of the car while I waited for him. Everything—from the leather seats to the console—was a brick color. I’d never seen anything like this. It was far superior to Hill’s Mercedes. This was another level of luxury. Even the leather seats were softer, smoother, like butter.

Sebastian opened his door and slid inside. “Well, this will mean little to you, but this is a custom 2024 Porsche Panamera 4. I designed it myself. Ice-gray metallic exterior, barrique interior, all the bells and whistles.” He stopped and patted the top of the steering wheel. “Haven’t named her, but now, I feel as if I should.”

I laughed, and he winked at me before starting the engine and backing up.

“Want to take it for a spin before we go to the house? See just how fast it can go?”

I was tempted, and for a moment, I almost agreed. But what if a cop pulled us over? That would be bad.

I shook my head. “No. That’s okay. I think just going to the ranch is all the fun I should have tonight.”

He shrugged. “Very well. But you’re missing an experience.”

“I’m sure I am, and I will regret it for eternity,” I replied.

When we passed Maeme’s, I caught myself looking for King’s truck, and when it wasn’t there, I felt a stab of disappointment I had no business feeling. I wondered if he was going to keep his distance from me now. My chest felt heavy at the thought, and I wished it didn’t. I wished I didn’t care at all.

“How are you related to Maeme?” I asked him.

He turned into the massive arch that read Shephard Ranch, then glanced over at me. “That’s an interesting question. You see, we aren’t technically related. The Shephards and Salazars have been in business together for a very long time. Before even our fathers were born and their fathers.”

That was odd. “In business with the horses?”

He nodded. “Yeah, among other things. It’s like a corporation, if you will. Our families and the Jones and Kingstons are all inside the same one. There are a couple others as well, but they don’t have homes in Madison. They’re in other parts of the South. But here, it’s our four families that run the Georgia side.”

I sat up straighter in my seat. “What things do you own?” I asked. “I mean…if it’s not my business…”

I felt my face warm. I was being nosy, but I wanted to understand their dynamic. Why they all came to Maeme’s on Sundays and acted like one big family. It was strange yet nice at the same time.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind,” he assured me. “We own a couple of restaurant chains, hotels, casinos, A few malls, corporate buildings. Quite a bit of corporate real estate.”

That explained the stables then. They were billionaires. The kind Hill did business with. He handled corporate real estate in Atlanta. I wondered if they knew him. They had seen the news, so if they knew of him, then wouldn’t they have mentioned it? Maeme would have said something, surely. I decided against bringing it up.

“I’ve been overseeing things in Vegas for a few years. One of our casinos and handling the purchase of another one. But I’m thinking it’s time to come home. That life was fun for a while, but when I go back, I start missing this place almost immediately.”

I could understand that. Even if they weren’t all blood, they might as well be. Having a family that big must be incredible. I wouldn’t want to leave it either. You’d never feel lonely or lost. Someone would always be there for you when you needed it. If this had been my family, then I’d have had someone to call the first time that Hill had hit me. They would have saved me, and I wouldn’t be in this mess.

The lights outside caught my attention, and I turned to look at what we were approaching. It was phenomenal and lit up like a castle. The stone exterior matched the stables, but it was all just more. Much more. There was even a turret on each end of the mansion, making it appear even more castle-like.

“Whoa,” I breathed as he pulled the car around to the side of the house and down into what appeared to be an underground parking garage. There were at least ten other vehicles parked under here. “And I didn’t think it could get any more impressive,” I muttered as he pulled into a parking spot.

He cut the engine and opened his car door. “We like cars,” was all he said.

I stepped out of the Porsche and looked at the other expensive vehicles of all kinds. Sports, SUVs, convertibles, all luxury. Shaking my head in amazement, I turned back to see Sebastian standing there, watching me with his hands tucked in the front pockets of his jeans.

“Ready?” he asked. “Or we could take one of these for a spin. Your call.”

I laughed and started in his direction. “No, that’s okay. I think staying here is the best idea.”

“All right,” he replied. “This way.”

We walked over to what I thought was a solid stone wall until I heard a click, and a door slid open to reveal the inside of an elevator. I wanted to laugh at how insane this was getting, but I didn’t. I stepped in behind Sebastian, and he pressed a code instead of one of the buttons, and the doors closed.

“How many floors is it?” I asked him.

“Four,” he replied. “And a basement.”

The doors opened back up, and a wide hallway with a marble floor stretched before us. He waved for me to go out, and I did, doing my best not to gawk, but finding it almost impossible.

“This way to the kitchen,” he said and started to go left.

We walked through two different hallways, through a large sitting room with a roaring fire in a fireplace bigger than I had ever seen, then down another hallway before we reached what no one I had ever met would call a kitchen. It was much too elaborate to be labeled as such.

“Minna made a Mexican spread.” He went to the buffet set out with silver covers over serving dishes that were sitting over warmers. “Fajitas,” he began, looking under one, then continued, “enchiladas, refried beans, tamales, mole,” until he took off the last cover. “I hope you’re hungry.”

“That is for two people?” I asked.

He shrugged. “More or less. Some of the guys might stop by later and eat. Never know for sure. What’s not eaten Minna will pack up and take home with her. She hates to cook for her family since she cooks here all day, so she takes the leftovers.”

That made a little more sense. At least this food wasn’t wasted.

“She’ll have the cold stuff in the fridge, trayed up for us,” he said and walked over to open a commercial-sized refrigerator that had been camouflaged to blend in with the cabinetry. He pulled out a long silver tray and set it on the island bar. “This should be it. Grab a plate and fill up,” he said with a smile.

What kind of world had I walked into?