I shake my head, my lips drawing to a firm line, and then I cross my arms over my chest, just as they’re both doing. There’s silence between us as we all glare around in a circle. Daniel gives first. I see him sigh and loosen his arms, putting his hands in his pockets instead. He sees that I have a
Kent climbs out of the second of three cars that take him and his captains to the meeting. He has shown up in force today, his overblown security force a deliberate message to Alden. Kent is done being pushed around and will rally his superior forces to stop it, if necessary. Climbing the short few
Kent clenches his jaw and looks slowly between Ivan and Alden, rage festering in his stomach. As he does, every single one of his men puts a hand on the gun at their hip. This was certainly not part of the plan. Alden was pushing the envelope here, letting Kent know that his allegiances have change
“Fay!” Kent yells the moment he walks into his house, storming down the hall. His household staff freeze and then scatter when they sense that something is wrong. Kent is passively pleased by this – they, at least, know their place. Still, Fay doesn’t answer him. Kent calls for her again, heading
The stable workers react in much the same way as his home staff did – getting out of his way as fast as they can and making themselves scarce, so that when Kent strides through the stable it looks like a ghost town. Only the horses are curious enough to peer at him over their stall doors. When he g
I gasp air back into my lungs after a moment of real fear when I couldn’t pull any in – It aches as it fills me, having been so roughly knocked out of me in the first place – God damnit, I think, shaking a little with the shock of falling off a horse for the first time, of the sudden violence that
I’m just so mad in this moment, as I continue to care for my horse. So angry and sad at myself all at once. And sore, physically sore, where I fell on my chest and stomach. Poor little rich girl, I think bitterly, my inner voice rich with sarcasm. Seriously, Jerome aside, what the hell did I think
Kent is as cold as ice the whole ride home. On the way there, he had been burning with fury, his mind racing, desperate to lock her down, to burn down everything, if necessary, in order to secure her allegiance any way he could. And he had…he had just lost it. Twice, at the stables, he had lost hi