Page 41 of Love Me Back
“He did, but clearly he fucked up, or he missed something.”
Nav looked up at me. “Sypher doesn’t fuck up.”
“Someone stole my fucking horse!” I slammed my hand on my desk, and my knee bounced again. I closed my eyes and tried to rein in my temper while simultaneously avoiding the fact that my leg moved a second time.
“Go through everything, Nav,” King ordered.
“What would someone want with a horse they can’t get near?” Cash asked.
Tyson and I shared a look. He might not be working on the ranch with us, but he was still part of this family, and he knew everything that went on here.
“Gray’s horse is worth millions,” Tyson shared.
“What?” King asked. “I know you make damn good money with what you do. But why is this particular horse worth so much?”
“Thunder was born the night my parents died in a car accident. He was the last horse my mother bred. She had been slowly turning everything over to me, and Thunder was the product of two of the fastest racehorses in the world. He had a difficult birth, and his mother didn’t make it. His father had died months before. He’d stumbled during a race and broken his leg;there was no other choice than to put him down.
“I bottle-fed that horse, slept in the barn for months, determined not to let him die. I almost lost him on the day of my parents’ funeral. It was the only day I didn’t spend with him. When he was old enough to leave, his owners decided they didn’t want him. He wasn’t docile like his parents were. They didn’t think he could be trained to race, so they wrote him off. There was an insurance payout on Thunder’s parents, and then I purchased him from them. They made more than he was worth.”
“And now?” Cash asked.
“Now, his semen is still worth millions. He is still a direct descendant of those two horses. If you can get close enough to him to harvest his semen, you have a chance of furthering the legacy his parents created.”
“But won’t his demeanor count against any children he might produce?” King asked.
Tyson snorted beside me, and I glared up at him. He looked down at me and grinned. “Tell them.”
“Tell us what?”
“Thunder was trained to be mean. Gray didn’t want to share his horse, so he trained him to only allow himself to ride the beast.”
“I didn’t train him that way,” I argued. With a loud exhale, I turned to King. “I didn’t take it well when my parents died. Thunder was the only thing keeping me in check. He was kind of like my therapy.”
“Like Diesel is for Aspen.” He nodded.
“Similar, yes, only I didn’t let anyone help. I was everything to Thunder, the way he was everything to me. We bonded, and he isn’t tolerant of anyone else. Except apparently Jessie.”
“What?” Tyson asked. His disbelief was evident on his face.
“She’s been visiting him in the barn every day. I had no idea, or I would have warned her to stay away. But apparently, she brings him treats.”
“Maybe Jessie is behind his disappearance,” Tyson grumbled.
“Why the fuck would you say that?” What the hell was he thinking? “Why would Jessie steal my horse?”
“You’ve been after her for months, and she has made it clear she isn’t interested. Then suddenly she’s here because you’re hurt? Acting all concerned? I don’t fucking buy it.”
“You didn’t see her face the day of the accident, when she found out Grayson had been hurt and was unconscious,” King told my brother. He turned to me and added, “I don’t know why she is holding you off, but that woman loves you.”
“It doesn’t matter. It would never work.”
“You’re an asshole if you are pushing her away because of that chair. She is here to help you learn to adjust. You think she cares whether your legs work? Is your dick broken?”
I glared at King. “My dick works just fine.”
“Then what’s the fucking problem?”
“We are not here to discuss my sex life,” I growled. “Can we get back to the point? I need some men to patrol the ranch. My guys are stretched thin between work and searching for my horse. I need a few guys to protect Jessie and my sister.”
