Page 109 of Keeping Kaitlyn

When he sees Went filling the doorway behind me, his expression sours even further but he doesn’t say anything, just inclines his head so he can glare up at him. Flicking it in my direction, my father watches me while I ease myself into the already crowded room. “I expect those papers to be signed, Kaitlyn.”

“We’ll get to that,” I say with a bland smile, sitting back in my seat. I can feel Went behind me. Giving me strength. “I have some things to say first.”

My father gives me a disgusted scoff. “You don’t have anything to say that I want to hear,” he says. “Now just?—”

“That’s okay,” I say with another bland smile. “It’s not you I want to say them to…” Turning to look at my little sister, I lean into the space between us. “Abs, I need you to look at me.” She hesitates, but only for a moment before she lifts her gaze to mine. What I see shatters me. Swallowing hard, I shake my head. “Why?” It isn’t a question I planned on asking but suddenly, I need to know. I need to understand. “Why didn’t you let Damien call me to tell me what was happening?” Shaking my head, I feel the corners of my eyes prickle with tears. “Why did you just let him?—”

“Because you would’ve come back,” she answers me quietly. “You would’ve come back and sacrificed everything you loved and worked so hard for to protect me and I couldn’t let you do that. You’d sacrificed enough. It was my turn.”

“Abbey…” Looking away from her on a sigh, I swallow hard against the lump lodged in my throat. “I never wanted this for you. If I’d known?—”

Lifting a hand from her lap, she reaches into the space between us to wrap her fingers around mine. Looking up at her, I see a little bit of the old Abbey in the faint lift of her mouth. “That’s why I didn’t want you to know.”

Nodding my head, I squeeze her hand, holding on to her as tight as I can so she doesn’t slip away. “It’s over now, okay?” Still nodding, I lift the packet of papers from my lap and set it on the desk in front of me. “I’m going to fix it.”

Sensing he’s losing control over the situation, Brock reaches for Abbey, intent on pulling her out of her seat with a disgusted snort. “I don’t know what the hell the two of you are?—”

“You so much as breathe on her, I’m going to pick you up and put you through the goddamned wall,” Went growls at him, the menace in his tone enough to stop Brock in his tracks.

“Now just you wait a goddamned minute,” my father bellows, red-faced, as he lunges out of his chair. “Who the hell?—”

“I’d sit down and shut the fuck up, if I were you, Mr. Barrett,” Went growls, lifting a finger to jab it at his face. “The only reason you’re still breathing is because I love your daughter and I’ve decided to let the cancer kill you, but if you disrespect her one more fucking time, I’m going to change my mind.” Dropping his hand on my shoulder, he gives it a squeeze. “Let’s finish this, Sunshine. I want to go home.”

Reaching up to cover Went’s hand with mine, I give him a nod. He’s right.

It’s time to finish this.

“This is my counteroffer.” Letting go of his hand, I slide forward in my seat. Pushing the packet of papers across the desk to my father. “Went and I had our attorney draw up a new agreement. Everything in it is the same—I’ll sign away my claimto the ranch and I’ll give you what you want, Dad. I’ll erase myself from the Barrett family line. Even if something happens to Abbey, neither I nor any of my descendants will be able to assume stewardship of the trust.” Lifting my hand off the papers, I sit back in my seat. “I’ll be dead to you—just the way you want it.” When I say it, Abbey lets out a small gasp, the sound of it letting me know she had no idea just how far my father wanted to take things. “But I have conditions of my own.”

“Alright.” Flicking a quick look at Went, my father waits a beat before he continues. “Let’s hear them.”

“Damien is hired back as ranch manager,” I say, not at all surprised when Brock doesn’t object. Damien is leverage. A weapon he can wield to control my sister. The look on his face tells me he’s absolutely giddy at the prospect of having another puppet to play with. My father on the other hand, feels differently.

“There’s no room for disloyalty on my ranch,” he barks, repeating what he said to me yesterday.

“This isn’t your ranch anymore,” I remind him. “It’s my ranch and Damien was loyal tome. He earned his place here and if he wants it back, he’s going to get it.”

“Fine.” Waving a dismissive hand in my direction, my father scoffs. “Is that it?”

I give him a smile that tells him I’m just getting started. “I retain stewardship of the upper valley,” I tell him. “The house. The lake—all of it. Abbey can have the ranch but Northpoint is mine.”

Glaring at me, he gives me a curt nod. “What else?”

“If something happens to Abbey or if her family line dies out, you named the Morrises as next in line for stewardship.”

Jaw flexing, my father looks at me. “I did.”

“That doesn’t work for me,” I tell him with a firm head shake. “This is Barrett land and it’s going to stay that way. If somethinghappens to Abbey, stewardship passes to your cousin Gene in Texas. If he’s gone, then his first-born child, and so on.”

“Now wait just a damn minute—” Brock shouts, unable to stop himself. “That’s not what we agreed to, Tom.”

“The deal wasn’t his to make,” I remind him, staring up at him with a cool smile. “Maybe it was six years ago but not anymore. I’m past the age of assumption—the ranch is technically under my stewardship and there’s no way in hell I’m letting your family get their hands on it.”

“Fuck this.” Throwing caution to the wind, Brock wraps a rough hand around Abbey’s arm to jerk her out of her seat. “You might have to take this shit but?—”

Before he can even get her lifted, Went charges him, knocking him back into the wall so hard with his fist, it buckles under the weight of them. “You don’t fuckin’ listen do you?” Hand clamped around Brock’s throat, Went pulls him back, ramming him into the wall a second time before dropping him into a crumpled heap at his feet. “Next time you lose a fuckin’ arm.”

“She’s my wife…” Brock says, staggering to his feet on a sick laugh. Lifting a hand, he swipes at the blood pouring from his nose to dribble off his chin. “I’m gonna touch her any way Ifuckingwant.”

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