Chapter Twenty-One - Diane

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

DIANE

My life went from bad to so much worse in a few short weeks. Now, there's no Westin and no hope of getting out.

I wake early, before the men are up, and put on a thin cotton dress to withstand the kitchen's heat. My hair has to be tied up to keep it away from the grease and smoke. Thomas fired the kitchen help when he married me, so I'm the only cook. I think that was his revenge for refusing to sleep with him. He's going to keep me isolated and overworked until I give in.

I can outlast him.

I'll raise him one and hit back too. It's my new goal to torture Thomas every opportunity I get. I'm careful about it. I had a lot of practice with David. Every crime has to be tiny and leave no breadcrumbs that could lead back to me.

I catch a mouse in the barn and release it in his truck. It makes a nest and chews the electrical wiring.

I put a cricket in his bedroom and lay quietly listening to him curse and tear up the closet looking for it.

I can't do anything outright to hurt him, but I can torture him so subtly, he never puts the pieces together. I hope he feels like he's losing his mind .

He fucked up my life, so I'm going to fuck up his until I find some way out of this prison.

It doesn't take long for it to be obvious he regrets picking me. He thought he could bend me, break me, but he didn't expect me to show my teeth.

He won't go back on it. I'm the best free employee he could have. But more than that, he's afraid if he makes a fuss, Avery will find out he hasn't fucked me. I can tell it's embarrassing for him that I won't sleep with him. He's so dependent on what his brother thinks of him that he'd do anything for his approval.

So, we exist, locked in a constant, unspoken standoff.

At night, I sleep with that rope around my wrist. In the morning, I get up and cook for Thomas, sometimes Avery, and all the ranch hands. I clean up and have leftovers in the kitchen, rinse and repeat for every meal, until it's ten at night and I'm still scrubbing pots.

My hands are rough. My back hurts. I'm thinner than ever because I have no time to eat and I'm on my feet all day.

I'm too nervous to eat anyway.

The worst part is the isolation. If it wasn't for Billie, Thomas' sheepdog, I wouldn't say a word to anyone. She belonged to him when I showed up, but he ignored her most of the time. I struck up a friendship with her, and pretty soon, she started sleeping at the foot of my bed. I count myself lucky on long nights she's there. Sometimes, I'm so ruined by what could have been, I can't sleep.

I almost ran off and hitched up with a cowboy from Sovereign Mountain. But I didn't. Now, I have to lie awake and hope that saving Carter Farms is worth it.

Maybe, if I can just get back to the cemetery, I can get some kind of sign to keep me going.

Then, something comes that breaks my bleak world apart. It's late September when I'm standing in the front hallway staring out through the screen door, and a truck with the Sovereign Mountain emblem comes up the drive.

My mouth goes dust dry .

It has been weeks. I haven't seen Westin Quinn in over a month. Truthfully, I never thought I'd see him again.

A thrill moves up my spine.

The driver's side opens, and a big, broad man even taller than Westin steps out. He's got a gun in his open holster. My eyes drag over him, and I get a chill even though it's hot out. There's something about his washed-out blue eyes that seems dangerous, almost foreboding. I know without a doubt this is Gerard Sovereign, the infamous head of Sovereign Mountain Ranch.

Billie bursts past me and starts yapping on the porch. I follow her, keeping my arms crossed tight.

The passenger door opens, and Westin Quinn steps out.

My pulse goes wild—he looks so damn good. His chestnut hair is swept back. He's in a t-shirt that shows off his torso, just as handsome as he was the day I last saw him at the swimming hole.

Blood shoots to my head.

He never came after me, not all summer long, and now, he shows up today, sauntering out of the truck like he barely knows me. My vision flashes red hot, and I stomp to the edge of the porch. Westin circles the truck, and for a second, our gazes lock.

There's a warning in them.

Don't say a word, he's begging.

I remember what David said, about how the Garrisons would hurt me if they found out I'd slept with a man from Sovereign Mountain. I have a split second to make a choice, and in it, he makes it for me.

"Where's your husband?" he drawls.

Like he barely knows me, like he didn't ask me to run away with him and have his babies. My mouth tastes sour. If I get a chance to be alone with him, I'm going to murder him. Or fuck him. I'm not sure which yet.

I jerk my head toward the barn. "He just got in. What do you want?"

Westin tilts his head. "We want to talk to him. Nothing you should worry about…darling. "

I inhale sharply. "Don't call me darling," I spit. "Unless you want to lose your fucking balls, Westin Quinn."

His brows shoot to his hairline.

Behind him, Gerard laughs softly and starts walking to the barn. Westin's eyes drag over me, and I can't read them. He stares at me for a second, and that second feels like a lifetime. Then, he turns and follows Gerard around the house and out of sight.

My heart hurts so badly, all I can do is go inside. The kitchen is empty, dust glittering in the shaft of sunlight from the window. I sink down, and Billie slinks over to lay in my lap, begging for me to rub her belly. I wrap my arms around her warm body and push my face in her hair.

Tears seep out. She feels them and shakes her head.

I can't live like this. I'll slowly lose my heart that longs for freedom and my soul that wants to rest on my land.

That night, Thomas is in a horrible mood. He eats in silence and tosses his dish into the sink so hard, it cracks. He has a habit of doing that, and it reminds me of David. Silently, I clean up and go out on the porch where he's smoking.

"I'm going to the cemetery soon," I say.

He shakes his head. "I said you weren't leaving."

I gather my courage. "If you don't let me go, I'll ask Avery to take me, and you know what he'll do to me then."

His throat bobs, sweat glistening on his bare neck. He knows Avery wants to sleep with me, and it would kill Thomas if that happened. This isn't the first time I've subtly threatened him with Avery before. It's incredibly effective.

"Fine," he spits.

I narrow my eyes, triumphant.

"But I won't take you," he snaps, flicking away his cigarette. "You can walk, and you'd better have breakfast, lunch, and dinner done before you leave."

He stomps back inside, and I hear him go upstairs. At some point, Thomas is going to snap. I feel it coming, like the quiet whistle of an oncoming train. He'll snap, and underneath his weakness, I'll find violence. But for now, I'll keep pushing him, because that's the only freedom I have.

I go to my bedroom and lay on my back. The rope is looped around my wrist. The gun is under the pillow.

I'll see Nana, and I can ask her to get me out of this mess.