Page 105 of Never Started
"Guess I don't even need to ask if it was you since the answer is pretty fucking obvious." My words spew out like venom, laced with every ounce of my anger.
"Do you have my money now?" he asks, still with a playful hint in his voice. But I know there’s no room for playing when it comes to him, so I tread carefully.
"As I've said before, that was never in the arrangement. We had a deal."
"The deal’s changed. You will pay the price either way. The glory of it all is that you get to choose what the price is. You should be thanking me."
He's lost his fucking mind. "Thanking you? You're fucking kidding, right? And I don't have that kind of money right now. I'll never have it if you kill off and free my cattle. If you're after money, I'll get it to you when I can if it means this shit ends. But the fucking with me ends here."
I'm sick of this shit hanging over my head.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk.Oh, Jett, you're forgetting you don't call the shots. We’ll talk again soon," he says with another laugh, just as the call ends and the line goes dead.
Fuck, so much for treading lightly.
I take off my ball cap, coursing a hand through my hair, and kick over the chair in front of me out of flashing anger.
"Fuck!" I shout out into the silence.
"What's wrong, bro? Who was it who called?" Kas asks as he rushes in.
"All good, Kas. I'll be out there soon," I lie, forcing my tone to stay even.
He's one of my best friends, but I can't let him know this is happening. It's bad enough he's stressing over the ranch's well-being with me. I can't letanyof them worry about this shit, too.
I'll carry this burden alone, and somehow, I'll figure out a way to make shit right.
It's what I do.
“If you say so,” Kas says skeptically. He doesn’t leave. Instead, he pushes on, thankfully changing the subject. Although the subject he changes to manages to put me even more on edge. “Hey man, what’s going on with Mark?”
I sigh, really not needing this shit right now. Not needing one more person to worry about. “What do you mean?”
“Well…” Kasten clears his throat, averting my gaze. “He’s been acting sketchy, Jett. There’s no fucking way you don’t see it. I just saw him, and he doesn’t look right. He’s stumbling, slurring, spaced the fuck out. I think he fell off—”
“He wouldn’t.” My tone is clipped, leaving no room for discussion, and Kasten catches on. He takes a step back, leaning against the wall of my office as if trying to make light of the heavy topic. Still, he’s my best friend, so I check my tone, adding, “He’s probably just fucking tired, man. We all are. You know we’ve been working around the clock to recover the losses.”
“Look, all I’m saying is keep an eye on him. That’s all. I know he’s been through a lot and he’s come a long way, but if he falls off again… Just remember all the sketchy ass people he used to hang around. Jett, that could be bad for you. You don’t need that shit around the ranch.”
For a moment, I find myself questioning if Mark would turn on me.Is he using again? Could he be behind all the shit going on currently?
I shake my head, dismissing the thought. There’s no way Mark would do that. Not after all I’ve done for him.We’re brothers now.
“I’m thankful for your concern, and I’ll check in on him. But I really can’t deal with this shit right now, Kas. I’m fucking stressed enough as—”
He waves a hand dismissively, cutting me off. “Consider this conversation over. I’m around if you need me.”
Chapter fifty-one
Izzy
November 2025
After my encounter with Jett earlier, the rest of the afternoon was relatively quiet. Everyone else arrived not long after I did, and now we're all out at a bar in town that I can't remember the name of—all of us, minus one.
I don't care.
Okay, so maybe I do care a little. I wish I didn't, though, so technically that counts as not caring.
