out my plan, Hendrixx turned on me, his face thunderous.
“Nixx, there is no way, little brother. No fucking way we are employing him.”
“Drixx, just hear me out.” Holding up my hands, I backed up two steps when Hendrixx walked closer to me. “What Dusty did was wrong, no doubts there. You can punch him and break his nose as many times as it takes to make up for getting you shot.”
Ignoring Dusty’s shout of complaint, I kept going.
“We aren’t about seeing the people we have known all our lives lose their livelihoods and income through no fault of their own. We also don’t want to see land go to outsiders, rich arseholes who don’t love the valley like we do. Am I right so far?”
“Keep talking.”
Okay, so good so far.
“I don’t want him here on the Triple H, and I know you don’t want him anywhere near Blake. So what if we get him at Mack’s place, use him there. Noxx will have fun keeping him in line, work him hard and generally make his life miserable,” I continued to sell my idea, pleased when Hendrixx gave me a smirk, obviously liking the idea our oldest brother would be in charge and Dusty would not be here.
“Think of it this way mate, we are helping Dusty’s mum. You know how broken Mack was when she told us everything her old man did, what he sold. Being a farmer’s wife isn’t the easiest job, but for some reason, they suffer the most.”
Hendrixx stood stock still, his jaw ticking and his fists clenching, but I could see the fight in him starting to fade. Just like me, I knew he was thinking about not only Mack but our own mother and how it could have easily been her in this situation, had fate had another plan for her and our dad.
The Triple H was successful, but my parents could have easily been in the same boat as some other farmers in the area. My father might have been a hard arse, but one thing he did have was persistence and determination. The only thing missing was his heart.
Hendrixx glared at me, his eyes narrowed and pissed off, but I saw in them he was seeing things my way. Hendrixx might be the triplet with a temper, but he was also very fair. He knew I wouldn’t do anything to put any member of our family in danger, and Dusty might be a dickhead, but no way would he consciously make a choice to hurt Blake or anyone else.
“Give him a month’s trial. If he fucks up, we beat him up and drop him off in the middle of the bush. Okay?”
“Fuck you and your ideas, Fenixx. He puts a foot wrong and I get to do the beating.”
“Agreed.”
Turning to Dustyn and lifting an eyebrow, he nodded his head in agreement too.
“Damn it,” he huffed, then punched me in the arm, hard.
“Get out of here before Noxx turns up, I can only imagine what he will have to say about this shit. I am going to find my wife and cuddle.” Glaring at Dusty, he made a motion with two fingers. “I will have eyes on you over there, Nixx has gone to bat for you, so don’t let him down. If you do, you get the shit kicked out of you.”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I watched my brother stalk off towards the horse paddock. To me, Hendrixx was more bark than bite, mostly. Although, when pushed, fuck he hit hard.
“Fenixx,” Dusty said my name with a certain amount of trepidation, not that I could blame him after facing Hendrixx for the first time since seeing him at the police station the day after the shooting.
“Yeah,” my response clipped.
“Thanks mate, I mean that thanks.”
I looked at Dusty, and saw genuine remorse on the man’s face.
“Just don’t fuck up. Hendrixx as you know isn’t one to use his common sense when the temptation to punch someone in the face comes his way,” I reminded him, then looked over my shoulder again when I heard Drixx let out a whistle.
“I will send your son out, Nixx,” he shouted, “good kid, that one.”
Son. Hell, I liked the sound of that. Farron wasn’t pregnant, she took a test because she couldn’t wait for her period to come. I had to admit I was disappointed at first when I saw the negative sign on the small plastic wand. Logically, I knew having a baby now wasn’t