Page 78 of Cowboys Next Door

“Now you want to talk?” I scoff, pushing her hand aside. “Now that you’re caught lying to me?”

Her face shadows, and now Rose folds her arms over her luscious breasts defiantly, cocking her head.

“No one lied to you, Connor!” she insists, and I’m irritated that she can’t understand why I’m so furious with all of them. “It wasn’t even Hudson and Eli’s deal.”

I wave my hand dismissively and grunt. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“You can’t sell to MVP out of spite, man,” Eli growls.

“It’s not spite,” I counter. “It’s self-preservation. Half the ranches have already signed off. I can make a shit ton of money from this deal and retire somewhere else. I just need to get away.”

“I’m going to find a solution, Con. I have a friend, who is also a lawyer, coming this week, and he already has an idea?—”

“I don’t care,” I interrupt. “I just want to be left alone.”

Without waiting to see them out, I storm back up the stairs, calling the dogs to follow, and I hear Eli and Rose speaking softly amongst themselves in the kitchen.

I’d wrestled with the thought of selling the ranch, especially to MVP Development, but staying would be so painful. I am sure that the big corporation will ultimately get their way in the end, despite all our best efforts. That’s just the way of the world, anyway. It might take a few more years to get Eli, Hudson, and the Winterbournes if they continue to fight, but in the end, our ranches will all become a highway or a football stadium.

And I can’t imagine sitting around watching Eli, Hudson, and Rose living happily together until that happens while I find myself abandoned. Again.

CHAPTER27

Hudson

Istare at the array of scattered papers strewn across Katherine Winterbourne’s dining room table and then at Rose again. She offers me that reassuring smile that I’ve come to trust so well over these past months, but I’m lost all the same, even though I return her smile easily.

“I’m not sure I understand,” I admit, humiliation rushing through me just saying the words.

I can almost hear my father’s mocking laughter in my head.

“Of course you don’t understand. You’re stupid and good for nothing.”

But Craig Stephens and his partner, a lovely, round-faced redheaded woman named Sera, who obviously adores Rose, are happy to explain it to me, Eli, and Katherine as we congregate in the house at the BB.

“MVP is a seedy, ill-run developer,” the attorney explains, tapping a particular document as if it proves his assertion. I don’t bother to look, but I see Eli nodding in agreement.

“They can’t be that badly run if they’ve got so many properties,” I counter slowly, still embarrassed.

Craig, a civil and estate attorney for Rose’s former employer, beams appreciatively at my comment, and my embarrassment eases.

“That’s a valid observation, Mr. Walker?—”

“Hudson,” I correct him quickly. “

Craig smiles again. “Hudson.” He continues. “They’re ill-run in the sense that they are not reputable in the least. Over the years, there have been hundreds of complaints, lawsuits, and outright threats made against their ‘business’ practices. Granted, development is a risky field, and there are bound to be issues, but at this point, MVP should stand for Most Vile Practices.”

My eyes pop in disbelief.

“How do they keep getting away with it?” Eli demands, shaking his short-cropped hair.

“Another great question,” Craig says, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s not humoring us. “Sera has suggested that they haven’t been shut down because they have organized crime ties.” He pauses to rub his nose against hers, and they kiss as Rose’s eyebrows shoot up, the open display of affection between them clearly surprising her.

She lifts her head and looks at me, an amused grin forming between us, but Sera catches it as she falls back on the dining room chair.

“Shut up, Rose. You don’t work for Galor anymore. You can’t rat us out,” Sera reminds her wickedly. “And we’re doing you a favor by being here.”

“You’re getting a vacation from your kids,” Rose teases. “This is basically a honeymoon for you.”

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