Page 85 of Property of Legend

I step around the corner, heart in my throat, and there he is.Door’s wide open.

Legend.

Naked.

Inside her.

Becki.

Under him.

Her mouth open.

My stomach lurches.

They don’t see me at first.I stand there just long enough to feel something inside me snap.

“You didn’t waste any fucking time,” I say, loud and flat.

Legend jerks his head up, eyes wide.

“Sophie,” he says, pulling his dick out of her.

I hold up a hand.“Don’t.I don’t want to hear it.”

Becki’s smirking like the devil’s got her back.She doesn’t bother to cover herself.

“I hope you burn in Hell,” I whisper.“Together.”

I turn and walk out before he can say another word.I don’t look back.I can’t tell him anything now.Not with Becki there.Not about the Reverend.Not about Daddy.

Because if I do…

My father dies in prison.

Besides.

I’m not sure I want him to know.

Chapter 48

Sophie

Months pass.I sit beside Sam at the garden party thrown by one of the racing syndicate wives.He’s holding court as usual, handsome in his pressed button-down and boots that have never seen mud.His hand finds mine and squeezes.

“I talked to the PR team today,” he says, smiling for the cameras still flashing across the lawn.“We’ve got a spread in the Courier Journal.They want to cover the wedding.”

“Oh,” I murmur, my stomach twisting.“Wedding?”

He turns to me, and suddenly, he’s on one knee.Right there on the manicured grass, surrounded by wine glasses and polite applause.“Let’s make it official, Soph.You and me.Let’s build something strong.Stable.No more drama.”

I nod.Say yes.Let him slide the ring on.Smile for the crowd.And when he kisses me, I pretend I don’t feel hollow.

After, I walk through the garden alone for a moment, barefoot in the grass, heels dangling from one hand.The scent of roses makes me dizzy.Or maybe it’s the lie pressing down on my chest.

At home, my father is sitting on the back porch with a tumbler of bourbon and the race schedule in his lap.He looks like he did before the coma, sharp-eyed, loud, fully himself again.But we keep his new nurse close by.

“Don’t stay up too late,” he calls.“Big day tomorrow.We’ve got three yearlings headed to Keeneland, and I want to be there.”

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