 by Silvia Violet.jpg)
Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Eight seconds on a bull was never as scary as falling for a man who might disappear any second. I might have left the rodeo to work my brother’s ranch, but I never lost my taste for danger… and I’ve never met anyone more dangerous than Special Agent Ghost.
My overprotective brothers warned me away from him, but I’ve never been one to take good advice. When Ghost and I came together, it was explosive… and also healing.
We both have secrets, and neither of us ever thought we’d find comfort like we have in each other’s arms, but he doesn’t know how to stick around, and I’ve never learned how to let someone love me.
Unsure how long the fire between us will burn, we keep our relationship hidden until the day when an enemy’s bullet shatters the hidden world we’ve created. Now we’ll both have to make a choice: to keep hiding our true selves or put our cards on the table and fight for the future we want… together.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
ROGUE
One year before the events in The Renegade and The Reaper
Greeley, Colorado
I’d done it. I’d gone the full eight seconds on Fury. I jumped to safety as the bull was lured away. My whole body ached. I’d taken a hell of a spill a few days ago; the bull’s hooves had come damn close to stomping on my head. I was lucky to be alive, but now I had a chance at a win.
When the announcer read my score and proclaimed that Riley “Rogue” Stanton was in the lead, my heart soared. There were only two riders left to compete, and neither of them had more than a five percent chance of even staying on long enough to be scored.
I punched the air and grinned at the crowd as they cheered for me, letting myself take in the glory of the moment. Any prize money I earned went straight into my savings account, but I could let myself enjoy the exhilaration of a high-scoring ride and fans who loved me. I deserved that, even if I still had a hell of a lot to atone for.
A win tonight would give me a solid chunk of money in the bank, money I’d save for when my brothers came back to me. If they came back. They’d bitched at me about the dangers of the rodeo, then gone off and joined the goddamn marines, where they were making shit money for risking their lives.
At least I had the chance of a damn good payout. Somebody had to save for the ranch we all dreamed of running one day. Grant had tried, but our father always found any money he stashed away and blew it on drugs and partying. Rhys, my twin, was too busy trying to save me to try to keep our father from spending the grocery money on himself.
Now that I’d more or less gotten myself together, it was my turn. I was going to save my brothers, even if it killed me—and it just might. If a bull didn’t get me, there were plenty of other opportunities.
Neither of the last two riders managed more than three seconds on the backs of their bulls, and I was officially named the winner.
Later that night, I was celebrating with my crew at a local bar, letting hangers-on buy me drinks and getting openly propositioned by buckle bunnies and fielding more subtle come-ons from the men who knew I swung both ways. They had ways of letting me know they were willing to give me whatever I wanted as long as we kept it discreet. Things might have changed in some places, but the rodeo was still not a place where a man could be open about his desire for dick.
I had plans to take one of the women up on her offer and maybe grab a guy I knew would be up for a threesome on our way to my truck, but as I leaned over to whisper in the woman’s ear, someone called my name.
I turned, hoping I’d guessed wrong about who it was, but it really was him. Teddy Russo. My ex and the man I’d once thought loved me. The son of a bitch still had me doing the same kinds of jobs my father had once done for the Carlottis. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but I knew better.
I did good work, and I’d made it clear from the beginning that I’d take jobs when I could, but I didn’t belong to anyone but myself. I needed to believe that was true.
“I’ll be right back,” I told the woman before motioning for Teddy to follow me.
I headed out to the parking lot. It was better lit than any place out back. I doubted this was the sort of place where anyone bothered to break up a fight or monitor their customers’ safety, but at least I had a better chance of surviving this encounter if I stayed in a place where other people were walking by.
“You owe us a payout,” Teddy said when I stopped and leaned against the side of my truck.
“The men I met with didn’t come through with the money.”
“Then it was your job to beat it out of them.”
I shook my head, fighting to stay calm. “That was never part of the agreement. I do delivery and pickup. That’s it. When those assholes didn’t come through with the funds, I returned the product.”
“That’s not how this works.”
I considered punching the shit out of Teddy and driving off, but he would just keep coming for me. I’d known better than to keep taking jobs with the Carlottis, but it was the perfect way to keep building up savings in the off-season or when winnings were few and far between.
I hoped my brothers never found out that I’d never fully broken away from the life our father had dragged us into, but more than anything, I wanted to have something real for my brothers. I wanted to be the one who could give them their dream. I’d been nothing but trouble to them as a kid. After a few years on the circuit, I’d had maturity beaten into me. The money and the partying were great, but it would only last for a short time, then I’d be used up, broke, and no good to anyone. If I was going to sacrifice myself, I was damn well going to be sure I left something behind for the brothers who’d always been there for me.