19. Montana

19

Montana

T he smell of coffee hits my nose, and I open my eyes to Gunner standing over me, fully dressed with a paper cup in his hands. “Drink. Get dressed, and pack your bag. We’re leaving in thirty minutes.”

I sit up with my head pounding and chug the brown liquid, hoping it’ll help me wake up. Today’s the day. Today we’re going to Arizona, and I’m giving Blackheart my runaway fund. Today’s the day we say goodbye to each other.

I look down and see I’m wearing a shirt that’s not mine. My nightgown peeks out underneath. I look up into two blue eyes, and he shrugs his shoulders. “You got cold.”

I smile at him and set my half-empty cup to the side. “Thanks.” An image from last night flashes in my mind, and I wonder if what I’m thinking of happened or if it was a dream. “Were you singing? ”

Gunner’s mouth hangs open and he tucks his hands in his pockets. “The fuck would I be singing for?”

Maybe I was dreaming. But no—I couldn’t have been.

I had the nightmare again. The one where my father . . . and then it just stopped. It stopped right before my father slammed his head into mine, and then I heard a voice. A man’s voice. Singing to me.

I sit on my heels and look up at him. “You were singing to me. I heard you.” He sang me to sleep. My angry, kidnapper, ass-beating cowboy sang me to sleep.

His cheeks turn bright red, and he rolls his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get your ass up. I want my money, and then I want to be on my way.”

Any bit of joy I just had turns into nothing at his brashness. This is what our entire arrangement has been about. Three days ago, he saved me for the sole purpose of a higher payout. And he’s right. We need to get to the money, and we need to do it fast. I was supposed to be dead by today, and since I’m not, Mason Barnes will be after me again. I can’t let him find me again.

I pull myself out of bed to use the bathroom and find my single T-shirt and a pair of denim shorts to put on. Gunner gathers his things, and I ignore my nausea while I brush out my hair. I need to wash it, and I need to do it soon. But right now, we need to get out of here .

After I put on my black rugged boots, we head out to the truck and get inside. Gunner hands me his shades, and I put my seat back while he drives down the road.

I play with my fingers as he drives, and after an hour, my mood starts to sink lower. Usually he tries to get a conversation going with me, but today, he hasn’t said a word.

Did he mean a damn thing he said to me last night? He revealed things I never expected him to, and I’m starting to wonder if I imagined the entire thing. Did he just say all of that so I wouldn’t run off in the night? Am I really nothing more than a money bag?

I wait another thirty minutes for Gunner to say something, and when he doesn’t, I start to drift off. My worries start to fade while the low vibrations from the moving truck lull me to sleep.

When I wake up, it’s noon, and we’re halfway to our destination. After filling up gas, we stop at some pancake house, and I’m suddenly reminded that I haven’t eaten today .

I wait for Gunner to hold my hand after he helps me out the truck, and when he doesn’t, I realize it’s time to face the music.

We’re seated quickly, and he holds out a chair for me to sit next to him, but I take the one across from him instead. After we get our menus, he takes off his white hat and finally speaks to me. “What’s this goddamn attitude about?”

I keep my eyes on the laminated page in front of me, trying to figure out what I can stomach. “What attitude?”

“The attitude you’ve had since you got dressed this morning, Montana.”

I feel my emotions brewing within me, getting ready to rush out like a geyser when I put my menu down. “I’m just tired and ready to be done with all of this. Why don’t we just hurry up and eat, and then we can go our separate ways.”

He puts his menu down, looking at me like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t. Unlike our other meals, he doesn’t order for me. We choose different options, me with a BLT and him with pancakes, and after we eat, we go back to the car, and once I give him the address to the shed, I sleep the rest of the way.

I’m woken up a little after six p.m. with a nudge on my shoulder. My eyes trail up the white dress shirt in front of me, and then I look into the cerulean pools that I met three days ago. Gunner holds out his hand to help me out of the truck, and I take it, still feeling tired and not wanting to fall on the gravel.

The sun is still high, but I feel cold. Like something is lurking nearby, waiting and watching. But I’m probably just freaked out being several rows deep into the storage lot with no one else here but me and my companion. I go up to my unit, typing in the code I have burned in my brain, and once we double-check that no one’s around, I open it, holding my breath the entire time with my eyes closed.

When the door is pushed all the way to the top, I open my lids, and my knees buckle when I see what’s before me.

It’s all there. Every last dollar.

I glance over at Gunner who stares at my stacks of cash with wide eyes as if he’s in disbelief himself.

“My God, Montana.” He runs a hand over his face, and I give him my back, going up to a stack and grabbing some bundles.

After I tuck them in my purse, I nod my head at him. “There you go. It’s all there.”

He steps into the shed, giving the cash a once-over. “Where are you going?”

I push back my tears, walking away from him. “Back to the road. I’ll find a payphone and get a cab. ”

The gravel crunches under my boots, and I try to walk faster, not wanting him to hear me cry.

I’m almost to the end of the row to turn the corner when I hear a loud gunshot right next to me, and pieces of gravel fly up by my feet. Turning around slowly, I see him back by the truck, staring at me with his pistol in his right hand. “Stay with me, Montana.”

I don’t move, and he takes a step closer to me. “Get back over here. Stay with me. Let’s take this money and go somewhere new together. You, me, and all of my damn horses.”

Unable to hold back my tears, I walk back to him, stepping into his outstretched arms. I’m going on the run with my captor. I look up into his eyes, not knowing what the hell’s gonna happen next. “Where to?”

He licks his lips. “Home. But I don’t want to stay just anywhere with all this cash. We’ll head back to Utah and stay with a friend of mine. Then we’ll head back to Wyoming in the morning and figure things out from there.”

“And you’re sure your friend’s not going to rob us?”

He smiles, shaking his head. “He wouldn’t dare. And he’s got fifty times more than what you have right here.”

Deep down, I know his words are too good to be true. That we’re chasing a dream that doesn’t exist. But right now, I don’t want to care. I just smile at him and head back into the storage unit, helping him shove our money in the car so we can go somewhere new.

It’s nearly two a.m., and we’re twenty minutes away from Gunner’s friend’s house when he gets a call. I tense up, wondering who would ring him at this hour. Is it Dallas?

But my blood turns cold when I hear the voice on the line after he answers it. There’s no need for him to put it on speaker. The car is so quiet that I can hear every word.

“Blackheart.”

Gunner glances over at me, putting his finger over his lips for me to keep my mouth shut. His voice is confident and elevated when he answers back. “Mr. Barnes.”

“It’s Tuesday morning, and I want to know why my job isn’t done.”

Rage floods my system, remembering where my father kept me for a week and reckoning with the fact that he paid to have me killed. I don’t know what Gunner’s going to say next, but there is no right answer. He’s screwed my father, and Mason Barnes will make it his mission to make him pay .

He keeps a hand on the wheel with the other on the phone while he glances at me. “Mr. Barnes, I changed my mind.”

My father curses and growls. “I need you to elaborate for me, son.”

I roll my eyes at the way my father calls him son when he’s only ten years older than him, and Gunner does too. Slowing down when we reach a stoplight, he gives my knee a light squeeze. “It means I didn’t feel like doing the fucking job. If you want her dead, you’ll have to find someone else.”

The light turns green, and he drives ahead slowly on the empty road.

My father’s voice raises. “You think I was waiting around for you to get it done? For all you know I could’ve had someone else kill that fucking cunt already.”

I bring my fist to my mouth, biting my knuckles so I don’t scream. Gunner drives faster and laughs over the line. “You’d have to find her first in order to do that.”

I want to yell at him to hang up the phone, but it’s already too late. He’s called out my father, and Mason Barnes will take his comment as a challenge.

His sinister voice lowers when he finally answers. “You have her. You took my fucking child from me, and I will find her.” He laughs deeply. “Oh, I’m coming for you, Blackheart. Both of you. And when I’m finished with the two of you, there’ll be nothing left of your useless carcasses. Not even your fucking bones.”

I hear a beep, and Gunner throws his phone in the seat behind him while he floors it. “He’s not gonna do a damn thing.”

I raise my voice, hoping he can hear me through my tears. “He meant every word. He will find us. We can’t go back.”

His eyes widen, and he turns down some long single-lane road. “Montana, we have to go back. I have my house. My horses. There are things to settle before we do anything else.”

My hands start to shake, and my throat starts to close up. “He’ll be there. He’ll be waiting for us. If we go back, he will kill us, Gunner! Why can’t you understand that?!”

He groans and scratches his jaw. “If he shows up before we get back, Dallas will deal with him. If he’s there when we return, I will. We’ll be ready. Quit panicking.”

I can’t quit panicking. I’m filled with dread. I’m dreading what’s to come. I’m mourning the loss of everything Mason Barnes is getting ready to take from us.

We ride another ten minutes in silence, and after a few turns, we end up in front of one of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever seen. Three stories. Brick mansion with a large front porch. Fenced in with stables and other animals out back. It’s almost as nice as the home I grew up in.

Gunner parks on a patch of grass behind the house and types something on his phone. After a minute or two, he helps me out of the truck. “Colton will be back in a little while. You can meet him in the morning.”

Colton is Gunner’s friend who owns this house. I don’t know what he does for work, but he must be loaded.

With our bags in hand, Gunner leads me to the front of the house. He pulls out his key ring, finding a silver key, and once he gets the door unlocked, we head inside.

I’m filled with emotion the second we step through the doors. For a brief moment, I’m transported back to when I was a little kid. Back when my mother was still alive, and I thought I lived in a fairytale.

It feels weird, trekking through someone’s home without them being present, but Gunner walks through like he’s been here a million times before.

I follow him upstairs to the third floor, and when we get to the end of the hall, he takes me in a massive bedroom with floor-to-ceiling windows, a circle bed, and a chandelier.

The floors are wood and shiny, there’s a wet bar, a mini fridge, and a massage table. There’s no question this is the master bedroom .

I use my T-shirt to fan myself, getting nervous. “Are we allowed to be up here?”

He drops the bags down and laughs. “He’s very hospitable. And he hardly sleeps here. Parties too much. Relax, Montana.”

I take a look around the room, feeling like I’m at a Western retreat. There’s a deer head above the bed and an American flag on the opposite wall above the TV.

“Where’s the bathroom?”

Gunner points at a concealed door along the wall, and I go to it quickly, needing to relieve myself.

Thank God my period is over. One less thing to deal with.

When I go back to the room, Gunner is sitting on the edge of the bed with his hat off in just his undershirt while he scrolls on his phone. He looks up at me, and his cheeks flush as if he’s just realizing we’re in an empty house in a bedroom alone together.

Standing up slowly, he pockets his phone, and then he approaches me, leaving a foot of space between us.

He’s sweaty. And he looks exhausted. But all I want him to do is kiss me. He clears his throat and pulls a loose strand of hair off my shoulder. “Do you want to do something fun?”

I nod my head eagerly, not wanting to wait any longer .

Grabbing his hat off the edge of the bed, he heads toward the door. “Come on. I wanna show you something.”

When Gunner asked if I wanted to do something fun, I didn’t think it would be brushing a horse in the middle of the night, but here I am.

He rubs something onto the mane of the golden beauty in front of me, making her hair look shiny. “This is Skye. I lost her in a bet about five years ago. Colt treats her well, but she still likes me better.” He rubs her ears and grabs a saddle. I put my brush aside so he can put it on her.

After it’s secure, he grabs the horn and pats her side. “Go ahead and climb on.”

“What?”

He grins at me. “Get on her, Montana.”

It’s after two a.m., and I’m in the middle of nowhere in Utah about to get on a horse at some rich man’s house. A man who doesn’t know me. I feel like I’m breaking the law.

“I can’t. I’m not comfortable.”

He raises a brow. “You still on the rag? ”

My face burns and I scowl at his laughter. “No, asshole, I’m not. Look, Gunner, I haven’t been on a horse in ten years.”

Rubbing Skye’s nose, he comes over to my side, placing his hand on my lower back. “You don’t forget how to ride. Come on. Put your foot in the stirrup. I’ve got you.”

Taking comfort in his fingers on my spine, I hoist myself up while he gives me a boost, and I cling to the horn for dear life while Skye gets used to me.

He opens the gate to her stall, leading us out onto the open field.

I look down at him while my pulse raises. “What about the reins?”

He kisses Skye’s muzzle. “She doesn’t like reins.” Without another word, he whistles at her, and she takes off while I hang on, screaming into the night.

I don’t know how long she runs for, but when I look over my shoulder, Gunner looks like a speck. She loops around a lone bale of hay, heading back the way we came, and she jumps over a pole that’s set up in the field then runs over a ramp while I keep a hand on the horn and the other on her neck.

My screams turn into laughter while she takes me through her obstacle course, and once she sees a carrot, she takes me back over to Gunner, eating the treat from him eagerly.

He gives her pats and tells her what a good girl she is. “I taught Skye how to do all of that before I got Willow. Then I taught Willow this same routine.”

I watch Gunner while he gives Skye affection, feeling my heart pound. He wasn’t lying when he said he still has his heart. He does. And his love still flows from it too. It’s wrapped up in all of his beautiful horses.

He walks me back to Skye’s stall, and after he helps me down, he gets her secured. I don’t even realize he’s grabbed my hand until I feel his thumb brush over my wrist, and he pulls me to a stop in the middle of the backyard.

I look up at him, and he lets go of my hand, bringing his thumb to my cheek. I stand frozen, not wanting to scare him off while he brings his other hand up, cupping my face while he looks in my eyes.

I can see the stars behind his head, and I hold my breath, waiting for him to say something snarky or pull away. But his cold ring on his right hand brushes against my neck while he holds me closer, and then he lowers his face to mine, and then he press his lips to my lips, sucking up the moan I let out when he does.

I wrap my arms around his waist, holding onto him for support while he devours me. His kiss is needy and hungry.

“Montana,” he breathes against my mouth. I open my mouth to say his back, but I can’t before his tongue is inside me, tasting and taking from me. I’ve never been kissed like this before, and I never want to be without this kiss again.

His hands slide down my body while he bites and sucks my lips, and when I feel his hands at the hem of my tee, I lift my arms willingly, letting him break our bond for a second to toss the garment to the side.

The cool air from outside nips my skin, but I welcome it, holding my chest high when he unclips my bra. Then his hands are at my shorts, and he yanks them off with my shoes, leaving me in a pink lace thong while we stand outside together.

“Gunner,” I moan as his hands roam all over me. I want him to fuck me, but not out here on the grass.

Knowingly, he scoops me up, wrapping my legs around his hips while he leaves my clothes outside, leading us back to the house. I wrap my arms around his neck with my tits pressed against his chest, feeling my pussy leak for him.

Last Friday morning feels like years away. The girl I was then is a distant memory to me. The man who pointed his gun at me isn’t the man with his nose in my hair, palming my ass while he carries me upstairs. Today isn’t anything like that day.

I dig my nails into his shoulders while I move my face in front of his, making him kiss me again. Being aware that we’re both sweaty and filthy only makes me want him more. When we get back to the bedroom, he shuts the door behind us with his foot and sits me down on the bed.

“I need you, Montana. I want you. Tell me I can have you, baby.” The man in front of me stares into my eyes, looking like he’s ready to burst.

I sit with my legs wide, my tits on display, ready and eager for whatever he wants to do to me. “Take me, Gunner. I’m yours.”