His Revenge E-Book

Scarlett King

• Herausgeber: Michelle Love
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

She strolled into town like a ghost from my past.
My high school love, the one who tore me apart and ran.
I own the ranch outside this place now, a billionaire cowboy with no time for games.
She’s still gorgeous, still dangerous, and I keep my distance.
Until I see her daughter—ten years old, my eyes, my blood.
She kept her from me. I should hate her, but I don’t.
I’ll seduce her, make her fall, then walk away with our kid.
That’s the plan. But her touch, her voice—they pull me back to what we were.
Revenge might break me more than she ever did.

Keywords: Guaranteed HEA, no cliffhangers, happily ever after. billionaire, bad boy, office romance, steamy romance, contemporary romance, love books, love stories, new adult, alpha male, romance, action, adventure, steamy romance, small-town secrets, hot, alpha hero. free book, free novels, romantic novels, and sexually romantic books.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

HIS REVENGE

Copyright

DO YOU LIKE FREEBIE ROMANCE BOOKS?

Blurb

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Epilogue

Sneak Peek - Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Other Books in This Series

DO YOU LIKE FREEBIE ROMANCE BOOKS?

HIS REVENGE

Secret Baby Romance

(Irresistible Brothers Book 2)

Scarlett King & Michelle Love

©Copyright 2023 by Scarlett King & Michelle Love

All rights Reserved

In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights are reserved.

Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

DO YOU LIKE FREEBIE ROMANCE BOOKS?

Sign up for my newsletter and get The Unexpected Nanny, Dirty Little Virgin and other romance books for free!

Sign up now

https://www.steamyromance.info/free-books-and-audiobooks-hot-and-steamy/

Want to see the rest of my books?

Go Here!

https://books2read.com/ap/8YkZvR/Michelle-Love

Blurb

 

I don’t believe in seconds chances,Especially when they come in the form of Tiffany.The only woman I’ve ever loved.The only woman to shatter my heart and skip town like I never mattered.She hasn’t been the only woman in my bed,But she’s the only woman that I could never forget.The day she left, I swore I’d do everything to forget her,But hell if the feelings don’t come rushing back the minute I see her.What the hell is she doing back in this town?She’s still as beautiful as the day she left—but something’s different.The little girl she brought back home with her,Looks exactly like me.I’ll be damned if she thinks she’s going to show up here,With zero explanation and secret so big it could blow up my entire life.I’m going to make sure she knows the pain she caused me,One slow, toe-curling orgasm at a time.Revenge can be sweet,And I plan to make sure she knows exactly what she missed out on.I just have to keep my heart from falling for her all over again.

Chapter One

Jasper

Carthage, Texas—Panola County

January 1st

In the matter of one week, our lives changed drastically. My older brother, Tyrell, sat between me and my younger brother, Cash. A limo had picked us up at the small airport in Carthage, Texas. We’d come in on a private jet—I’d never felt so cool in my life.

We’d never met our grandfather who’d passed away a little before Christmas last year. We’d never met any of our extended family though, so it wasn’t that strange—for our family anyway.

We’d grown up in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, called Seagoville. The town we drove through wasn’t a thing like what we’d come from. The population sign at the Panola county line said there were only a little over six thousand people who called the place home. It wasn’t the smallest town in the world, but it sure was close.

Our grandfather’s attorney, Allen Samuels, sat across from us. Taking a piece of paper out of a folder he had on the seat next to him, he finally started telling us why the hell we were summonsed to Carthage in the first place.

“The whole of the estate—that includes Whisper Ranch, the thirty-thousand square foot home that’s on the ranch, and, of course, all of the vehicles, including the Cessna Citation II you came in on—belong to you three men now.” He tapped lightly on the window that separated us from the driver and the chauffeur rolled it down. “Davenport, we need to make a stop at Mr. Gentry’s bank, please.”

“Sure thing,” the driver said, then the window up slowly rolled back up.

The lawyer gave my older brother his attention. “Tyrell, what have you been told about your paternal grandparents?”

“Not much,” Tyrell said. “My mother’s famous quote when any of us asked about our grandparents was that if one couldn’t say anything nice about a person, they shouldn’t say anything at all. We’d assumed our grandparents weren’t very good people.”

I added my two cents. “Yeah, Mom and Dad didn’t even like to be asked about them. So, we stopped asking early on. Just asking them who our grandparents were put them in terrible moods.”

“I see.” The man’s brown eyes seemed a little on the sad side to me. “Here we are.” Looking around, I noticed we’d pulled into the parking lot of a bank. “I’m going to have you all added to the ranch’s bank accounts. And then we’ll transfer the remainder of your grandfather’s money into personal accounts for each of you—if that’s okay with you. You certainly can open accounts elsewhere if you’d like to. Your grandparents used this bank exclusively for years. I can assure you that the president appreciates Whisper Ranch’s business and does everything they can to keep their customers happy.”

Since neither Cash nor I spoke up, Tyrell looked at us, then shrugged. “This bank seems as good as any. What do you guys think?”

Cash pushed his hand through his thick dark hair. “Sounds fine to me. It’ll be my first bank account anyway.”

I just shrugged. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do. “Sounds okay to me, too. All I’ve got in my bank is about twenty bucks. Hell, I might not even have that. I bought a bottle of Jack before getting on the plane; that might’ve overdrawn my account.” I’d never been real good at keeping track of my monetary gains.

None of us were that experienced with money as we were pretty young. Tyrell was twenty-seven, I’d just turned twenty-five, and Cash was only twenty-two. And none of us ever had great jobs either. Money and The Gentrys didn’t exactly go hand in hand.

Tyrell let the man know what we wanted to do. “This bank will do for us just fine, Allen.” We got out of the car, and I saw the driver standing there. Tyrell greeted him. “Thanks. He said your name is Davenport, right?”

The old guy nodded. “Yep. I also drive various tractors and trucks at the ranch. If you need a ride, you call me, and I’ll get you there.”

Tyrell being who he was, didn’t much cotton to formalities. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your first name?”

“Buddy,” the man told him. “Your grandfather liked to put on airs.”

“We’re not like that at all.” Tyrell shook his head. “Mind if we call you Buddy instead?”

“Not at all.” The old man smiled. “It would be nice, actually.”

I figured we ought to introduce ourselves to the man who’d occasionally be driving us around. “Nice to meet you, Buddy. I’m Jasper, this is Tyrell, and the little feller there is Cash, the baby brother of the Gentry family.”

I loved teasing my baby brother; it pissed him off.

“Jasper, you’re the littlest out of all of us, you jerk.”

I flexed my bicep and shoved my hand through my hair in the sexiest of fashions. “By a smidgeon of an inch, Cash. You’re shorter.”

“Also, by a smidgeon of an inch.” Cash wasn’t waiting around for us; he walked up to the door of the bank. “This bank is pretty fancy.”

“It’s the best one in this little town.” The lawyer got in front of Cash to open the door. “Here we go. Mr. Johnson is the bank president; he’ll be handling this for us.”

“The president will handle all of this?” Tyrell asked like he thought that was kind of weird. “How much money are we talking about, Allen?”

The lawyer gave my brother a look that said he couldn’t believe he’d asked such a dumb question. “Are you telling me that even with the jet, the mansion, and the ranch, that you still don’t understand how much money your grandfather was worth?”

“Not a clue.” I finally made it into the bank lobby and looked around the big space kitted out with all sort of leather seating and cowhide rugs on the marble floor. “Whoa. Posh.”

Tyrell looked up at the giant chandelier. “I haven’t seen many banks with a thing like that hanging above peoples’ heads before.”

“This bank deals with a lot of exclusive businesses here in Carthage.”

Everyone inside had turned to look as us as the lawyer escorted us to the very back of the building.

“They can afford certain luxuries that other banks cannot.”

We went through a door and a woman jumped up from behind her desk. “Hello, gentlemen. You must be the Gentrys!”

Tyrell reached out and shook her hand. “Tyrell.”

I gave her a nod. “Jasper.”

Her face lit up when she looked at Cash. “Then you must be Cash.”

He shook her hand. “Yep.” With a smile, Cash asked, “And you are?”

“Sandra, the bank president’s personal assistant.” She turned to lead us through the door behind her. “And if you gentlemen will please follow me, I’ll let Mr. Johnson get things started.” As she opened the door, she looked Tyrell up and down and smiled. “Judging by your blue jeans and T-shirts, I’m going to guess that you all will be greatly surprised by what you’re about to inherit.”

Our dad had shared some things when we got the call about inheriting the ranch he’d grown up on. He’d said not to get our hopes up, that we’d get much more than a headache from the massive debt he was sure our grandfather had gotten himself into.

Mr. Johnson rose from his desk as we entered his large office. Gesturing to the many seating options, he said, “Bryce Johnson, at your service, gentlemen. Please, take seats anywhere you’d like. Can I offer you cigars? They’re Cuban. Or a drink, perhaps? I’ve got a thirty-year-old scotch that would be perfect for this occasion.”

The three of us sat down on the nearest couch as Tyrell got right to the point. “Okay, Bryce. We’re pretty sure this ranch is swimming in debt. And we’re not even close to being ranchers. Our father’s advice was to find a buyer for it and move on.”

Cash gave Tyrell a look that could kill. “I’d love a scotch, Tyrell. Let the man handle this meeting, will ya?”

“Scotch for everyone then,” Mr. Johnson said, and his secretary hurried away. “So, Allen hasn’t filled you all in on things?”

“I have. Not the exact numbers, but I’ve told them about everything they now own.” The lawyer made a long sigh. “They don’t seem to get it, Bryce.”

In no time at all, the woman returned with our drinks. “Here you go, gentlemen. Enjoy.” We each grabbed one, and just by the smell alone, I knew I held something expensive in my hand.

“A hell of a lot of hoopla, don’t ya think?” I asked before taking a sip.

“You’re all worth it,” the woman said as she took a seat.

Mr. Johnson handed us all papers as he explained, “I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.”

After reviewing the sheet, Tyrell said, “Not sure how to say this number and not sure I understand what it even means. Our father told us there has to be built-up debt.”

The numbers didn’t make sense to me either.

Mr. Johnson just laughed out loud. “Whisper Ranch is one of the most profitable businesses this bank deals with. What you are each looking at is your third of the money that Collin Gentry had in his personal accounts.” He handed another paper to Tyrell. “And this is what’s in the ranch account.”

I’d never seen a more confused expression on my older brother’s face. “If I’m seeing this right, the ranch is worth millions.”

“You’re not seeing it right,” Mr. Johnson said. “Look again.”

“Oh, thousands.” Tyrell just wasn’t getting it.

Cash did get it though. “Tyrell, the ranch is worth billions, and we’ve each inherited fifteen billion dollars.”

Still unable to believe it, Tyrell said, “Dad said there’d be more money to pay out than we’d get.”

Mr. Johnson just shook his head, grinning, as he said, “Your father was wrong. Your grandfather went on from raising cattle alone to raising racehorses, too. You might’ve heard of some of his famous horses. The General’s Son? Old Faithful? Coy’s Burden?”

I still felt more confused than ever. “We’ve never followed horse racing, sir. I guess those are horses on the ranch?”

“They are.” Mr. Johnson nodded. “And they all are prize-winning stallions. Your grandfather began selling their semen, and he made a killing from it. Those sales, along with the cattle and the racehorses, have made him a pretty penny. Pennies that now belong to you three.”

“Our father isn’t mentioned at all in the will?” Tyrell asked.

The lawyer had compassion in his eyes as he looked at Tyrell. “Look, I know it’s difficult to understand, but let me show you in writing why that is.” He pulled another paper out of a folder and handed it over. “See, your father signed this paper, stating that he wanted nothing from Collin or Fiona Gentry from that date forward. He wasn’t forced to sign it. Coy did it to prove a point to his parents when they refused to acknowledge his marriage to Lila Stevens.”

Tyrell seemed incapable of understanding any of this. “Wait. What?”

The bank president, Johnson, tried to help out. “Your grandparents wanted to make the Gentry name something akin to royalty around here. But your father fell in love with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. A girl whose family lived on welfare. A girl who’d once worked as a maid at the ranch house.”

Tyrell looked at me and Cash, both of us just as confused as he was. “Why did they never tell us about that?”

The lawyer spoke up. “Most likely because they didn’t want you three to know what they’d walked away from. They chose love over money and their families. Your mother’s family was just as against their marriage as the Gentrys were.”

“Wow,” Tyrell said. “Seems our parents hid a hell of a lot from us.”

“There’s one more thing you need to know about the will, gentlemen,” the lawyer said. “It stipulates that neither your mother nor father are ever allowed on the property. And your grandfather’s money can never benefit them in any way. If you do so much as hand your parents five dollars, the entire estate—that includes the money—will revert to the state of Texas.”

“Harsh,” Cash mumbled.

“Yeah,” Mr. Johnson agreed. “Your grandfather was considered to be a harsh man. So harsh that most people think your grandmother died at the age of forty-five, only two years after your father left the ranch, because of his hard ways.”

Who do we come from?

Chapter Two

Tiffany

We’d had a particularly hard day at the Dairy King, the little café my parents bought seven years back. We’d moved out of the Dallas suburb of Seagoville when they bought the place in Carthage. The café came along with a small two-bedroom house that sat behind it. Mom and Dad, along with my younger brother and sister, had moved into it, and I got a small apartment not too far from them for my daughter and me to live in.

With Jasmine at my parents’, I decided to hit the local bar, The Watering Hole, for a little drink before going home myself. Dad had put corndogs on sale for a quarter at the Dairy King, and the whole town had to have what seemed like five apiece. I’d spent the entire day on the fryer. My legs ached, my back hurt, and my brain was just about as deep fried as all those corndogs I’d dunked.

Heading into the dimly lit bar, I looked the room over to see who all I knew there. I could hardly believe my eyes when they landed on a tall, dark-haired man with the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen.

I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. Like a moth to a flame, I was drawn to the man—much the same way I’d been back in our high school days. “Jasper Gentry. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Jasper had grown into quite a man over the years we’d been apart. He stood and wrapped his strong arms around me; he smelled like leather and sunshine, and I felt like I’d come back home with him holding me like that. “It sure has, Tiff.” He let me go but left one arm draped over my shoulder as he steered me to sit at another table. I noticed that he’d been sitting with his older brother, Tyrell, and I should’ve said hello to him, but I couldn’t quite pull my attention away from Jasper for even a second.

The broad shoulders and wavy dark hair that I knew was so thick and lustrous and soft to the touch, that it all came together, reminding me of the days when he and I were like one. “I just can’t believe I’m seeing you here in Carthage, Jasper.”

I took the seat he’d pulled out for me, my eyes glued to him as he sat down in the other chair, then pulled it closer to me, the sound of the wooden legs scraping against the hardwood floor.

“I can’t believe I’m seeing you here, either, Tiffany McKee. It’s been a very long time since I’ve laid eyes on you. How long have you been here?”

“Since high school graduation.” I’d left town without telling him a thing. I’d thought it best to do that at the time. “My parents bought this little café here in Carthage, and we all made the move with them.”

“So, Bo and Carolina are here, too?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Carolina got married last year. She moved to Abilene. And Bo joined the Marines. He’s on his second tour.”

Jasper’s eyes went wide. “Wow, it’s hard to believe that hyper little brother of yours went and joined the military. And the Marines of all things. Just, wow. And you’re doing what now, Tiffany?”

“Working at the café. It’s called Dairy King.” I wasn’t sure if I would tell him about my daughter or not. So, I didn’t say a thing about her.

“You living with your folks then?” he asked as he reached over and played a little with a lock of my hair, making me tingle just a little inside.

“No, I’ve got my own place.” I knew what he’d ask next.

“So, you wanna show it to me?”

I laughed. “No.” His bearded face was so familiar to me, yet so unlike how he used to look. “I see you finally got enough hair on your face to make a real beard instead of that peach fuzz you used to have.”

His fingers grazed my cheek. “Yeah, I’m all grown up now, Tiff. And so are you. Come on. Let me come over.”

It wasn’t like I could actually allow him to come over anyway. “Look, I’ve got a little girl to think about. I don’t want to ever have men coming and going around her. That’s why you can’t come over.”

I saw his chest stop moving as he held his breath, then slowly released it. “You and her daddy have anything going on?”

“No, we do not.” I hadn’t had a thing to do with Jasmine’s daddy since leaving Dallas. “He’s not in her life—never has been.”

“I’d say that was a real shame, but then I’d be lying.” With a sly and sexy smile, Jasper leaned in real close—so close I thought he might kiss me. “I’m glad to hear you have no ties getting in my way of getting you back where you belong, girl.”

I couldn’t ever get back together with Jasper Gentry. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but I can’t start seeing you. I can’t start seeing anyone. Since I had my daughter, I’ve kept to myself. It’s best that way.”

“Even mommas need love, Tiffany.” His lips barely brushed my cheek. I felt the whisper of his warm breath on my skin.

The flood of desire that rushed through me took my breath away. “Oh, Jasper, you are still bad, aren’t you?”

He leaned back, giving me space. “I wouldn’t say that. I still have it bad for you, Tiff, that’s all. Always have. When your whole family disappeared without a trace, I did more than worry about you. And to be honest, I was kind of hurt that you hadn’t told me a thing about you leaving. I mean, why not tell me, the guy you were seeing, why you had to move and where the hell you were moving to?”

I had my reasons—good ones. “We were kids, Jasper. I’ll have you know that most young couples don’t last. It was time to move on. How would you have gotten to Carthage to come see me anyway? You had no car, no money, no way of getting to me. So, why tell you where I’d be? I felt it best to sever all connections. I stopped talking to my friends from Seagoville, too. I just wanted a brand-new start.”

I wanted to be where no one could look at me with sad eyes and wonder what had happened to little Tiffany McKee—she’d had so much potential until she met that boy and got herself into trouble.

At least in Carthage, no one knew me. I would’ve experienced those looks and more had I stayed in my hometown. But I couldn’t explain that to Jasper.

“Yeah, I know you stopped talking to them.” His blue eyes moved slowly over my body. “I asked around about you. I asked them all. No one knew a damn thing. Not even your younger brother’s and sister’s friends. Why did they dump their friends, too, Tiff?”

They did it for me.

“We all wanted a fresh start.” I knew that sounded insane, but I had nothing else to say.

His eyes cut away from me as if he were a little upset or mad about my answers. “I had no idea life was that damn bad for you guys back then.”

It hadn’t been bad at all. My father had managed a popular restaurant in Dallas and made great money doing it. We’d had plenty of money, a nice home, nice cars—the works. My brother, sister, and I made good grades and were popular in school. Our abrupt departure didn’t make any sense.

“It wasn’t that bad.” I boldly reached over and ran my hand over his shoulder, feeling the muscles he had grown in our time apart. “It was more like we came to this town to start a business and wanted to give it our all. I enrolled in an online college and got my bachelor’s degree in food science, so I could bring more to the table at the café. We dove into the business headfirst.”

“But you’d always talked about going to Texas Tech,” he reminded me. “And not for food science, either. You wanted to get a degree in agriculture so you could work with animals one day. So, your parents buying some little café changed everything you’d ever wanted? Them buying a café made you not want me anymore, either? I could’ve come with you, Tiff. I didn’t have a damn thing else to do.”

I couldn’t tell him that I chose online courses, because I didn’t want any of my schoolmates to see my big belly.

“I wouldn’t have asked you to follow me around, Jasper.” And I couldn’t have counted on him to be able to do what was best. The fact was, Jasper Gentry was on the immature side when we’d graduated. His only goal after graduation was to get a job flipping burgers, so he could get free meals. “What did you end up doing anyway?”

“I got a job at the Piggly Wiggly stocking groceries at night.” A smirk pulled his lips up. “But I don’t do anything at the moment.”

I knew he’d turn out to be a loser.

“So, your older brother moved here, and you came along for the ride,” I said, knowing that was what had happened. Jasper wasn’t one to have big dreams.

I couldn’t fault him. His father made very little money and didn’t seem to care at all about trying to get a better paying job. He had poor role models; I’d never blamed Jasper entirely.

“Nope.” Jasper looked me right in the eyes. “I’m not riding anyone’s coattails, Tiff. My brothers and I have recently inherited our grandfather’s ranch. Whisper Ranch is now ours, and so is all the money that comes with it.”

Whisper Ranch is theirs?

“I knew the man who owned it was a Gentry, but how in the hell was he your grandfather when you all lived the way you did?” I knew it came out sounding rude, but I was at a loss.

“My mother and father have been keeping secrets. My grandfather didn’t approve of their relationship, and my father chose love over money.” His hand trailed over my shoulder. “We Gentrys are passionate men. I thought you needed to be reminded of that fact.”

I didn’t need to be reminded of anything—I’d never forgotten how passionate this guy could be. And that was back when he was just a teenager. By now, he just had to be out of this world in bed. “Jasper, no one ever said you lacked passion—just money.”

“Well, I’ve got more than I can ever spend now, honey.” Once again, his eyes moved over my body. “But you don’t care about that, do you?”

Not about that.

Chapter Three

Jasper

Pulling her cell out of her back pocket, Tiffany frowned as she looked at the screen. “I’ve gotta go. My daughter wants Mommy to give her a bath and put her to bed.” Looking over her shoulder, she huffed. “I’d wanted to get at least one beer before I had to go on mommy duty. Oh, well.” She turned back to look at me softly. “It really was nice seeing you again, Jasper. Since you live here now, I’m sure we’ll see each other from time to time, especially if you come down to the Dairy King. I’m always there when it’s open.”

Getting up, I pulled out her chair and helped her up. “It was really nice seeing you, too, Tiff. I wish I could see a hell of a lot more of you, but I get it. You don’t want me around your kid. I can’t be too pissed about that. Since you won’t even let the kid’s father be around, how can I be mad?”

Looking a little nervous, she nodded. “Yeah, how can you be mad?” She turned to leave, but I stopped her by grabbing her hand.

Pulling her back to me, I hugged her nice and tight to remind her of what she was walking away from. “I’ve missed you, girl. And don’t you ever think I stopped.”

I felt her body sag in my arms, and for a second, I thought she’d change her mind about us. “I’ve missed you, too, Jasper. Not a day goes by that I’m not reminded of you.”

Letting her go, I had the idea that—given time—she’d want me back in her life. “See ya around, hot stuff.”

The smile on her face made my cock twitch.

“Hot stuff? I haven’t been called that in forever.”

“About seven years, if I’m not mistaken.” I smacked her ass as she walked away, making her look over her shoulder to give me another huge smile. “Be good, honey.”

“You be good.” She headed to the door, then left me standing there like a fool.

I went back to the table I’d left Tyrell sitting at alone. Only he hadn’t been alone long, because Felicity, a nosy reporter from the local paper that we met earlier, had joined him. But now she was vacating the seat I’d left open when Tiffany came in.

Giving her a nod, I looked at my brother as he asked, “Did you two reconnect?”

“Kind of. But not nearly enough. She left.” I looked over my shoulder as Tiffany went out the door. “So, I noticed Felicity came by to talk to you. She’s got a hard-on for our story. Cash and I have both told her it’s not quite the story she thinks it is. Plus, we don’t want to be front page news in our new town.”

“Me, neither.” Tyrell’s eyes went to the door. “Who’s that?”

I turned to look at who he was seeing and did a double take. “Naw. It can’t be.” It looked an awful lot like the little maid from our new home whom Tyrell had caught on more than one occasion already. But she wasn’t the type to be hanging out in a bar. Ella wasn’t the type to be anywhere but at the mansion.

“She almost looks like…” Tyrell squinted as he peered at her.

“Ella,” I whispered. I’d never been more sure of who I was looking at. It was the little maid who’d never worn any makeup or had her hair out of a ponytail. But there she was, all dolled up. And I had good reason to believe she’d done that for my older brother—to catch his attention. Little did she know, she already had it. “Yep, it’s Ella, Tyrell.”

“No way.” Tyrell stood, walked halfway across the room and then abruptly returned to take his seat again. “What in the hell? I have no idea what she’s doing.”

I pulled my chair around, so I could see her, too. “Well, this ought to be interesting. Little Ella Finley, drinking at a bar.”

The barmaid, Bobbi Jo, the girl Cash was interested in, put a shot glass in front of Ella, then filled it with whiskey. Tyrell said, “She ain’t gonna drink that. It’s gonna come right back out of her mouth.”

Cash looked back at us as Ella picked the glass up and took it all at once. He looked stunned when she put the empty glass down on the bar, then nodded. The glass was filled again, and Tyrell shook his head at Cash who merely shrugged as Ella downed another shot.

“She’s old enough to drink, Tyrell,” I reminded my brother before I took a sip of the beer I’d left on the table before Tiff had shown up.

“But she’s not a drinker, Jasper. She’s making rookie mistakes right there.” Tyrell looked at the door as some guy walked in, and the man’s eyes went right to Ella. He walked over and sat in the empty barstool close to her.

Seemed Ella knew the guy, as he ordered them both drinks and extended his arm, which Ella took. They took their drinks and went to sit at a small table together. I couldn’t help but grin; it was pretty damn obvious that the girl my older brother was interested in was out with someone else. “Would you look at that?”

Tyrell’s words came out in a growl. “I’d love to know what the hell she thinks she’s doing.”

“It looks like she’s trying to act normal for a change.” I took another drink, then turned my chair back around. Watching Ella on a date wasn’t as captivating to me as it was to Tyrell. “Boring.”

Tyrell couldn’t let it go. “She’s got work tomorrow; maybe I should go over and remind her about that.” He picked up his beer and started to rise. I watched him as he stopped himself again. I noticed that Ella had gotten up, too, and was returning to the bar by herself. “Or, I’ll sit back and see if she’s going to do the right thing all on her own.” But he didn’t sit back down. He stood there, watching Ella as she ordered another shot. “That’s way too much for her.”

I had to laugh, because my big bro was losing his mind. “Relax, Tyrell. We’re right here. We won’t let her drive home drunk. Maybe she took a cab.”

Tyrell peeked out the window, then came back and took his seat. “Seems she took the Corvette.”

Now, that surprised me. “She drove it here?”

“That’s what it looks like.” He took a long drink of the beer in his hand as he looked confused as all get out.

I had my own things to think about, and I decided to ignore him. But Tyrell made that impossible as he suddenly jumped up, knocked the chair over, then flew into a rage toward the bar.

I got up and watched as my brother grabbed the guy who’d left his table and now stood at the bar, holding Ella in his arms. Holding the front of his shirt with one hand, Tyrell clocked him with the other, sending the dude flying backwards. Next, Ella was flung over his shoulder like a rag doll, and the two exited the bar. Her fists pummeled Tyrell’s back as he carried her out.