Without Fear - Reese Knightley Page 0,66

of the barn.

Toward the rear door, the mare in the foaling stall stomped and pulled at the lead rope one of the ranch hands was holding.

“Fucking hold still!” The guy smacked the mare on the muzzle and she cried out in distress.

In two large strides, he fisted the back of the man’s shirt. His other hand came around and clamped on the pressure point on the man’s wrist. The guy yelled and dropped the lead rope. Spinning the man around, Maddox punched him in the nose before shoving him to the dirt.

“What!” The guy scrambled back on his ass, hands holding his nose.

Maddox towered over the guy. “Collect your check.”

“Wait. She’s -”

“She’s in pain. I won’t say it again. Collect your check and get off my land,” he snarled, taking a step forward.

Scrambling, the man jumped to his feet and ran.

He spun and eased up to the skittish mare in the stall.

“Whoa…” He caught the lead rope, careful to leave slack, and lifted a hand to smooth over the red gleaming coat of the skittish mare. She jerked beneath his touch.

“He had that coming,” his young cousin said from behind him.

Ignoring Triton, he ran his gaze over the mare. His mouth grew tight. She was only hours from giving birth. “Easy, girl, you’re going to be fine, you can do this,” he coaxed.

“You talk to her like she’s human,” Triton said, moving closer, almost to his shoulder.

Maddox sent his cousin a look and caught the quick flashing smile. His cousin was always smiling. People liked the young man and gravitated toward his happy disposition.

“She’s more human than some people I know,” he growled.

Triton snorted. The twenty-one year old was cute; all brown curly hair, big, bright eyes, slim, and stood around five feet eleven inches. Not as tall as he or bulky, but not everyone could be as big as him. There was a twelve year age gap between him and his younger cousin, but that never mattered to them. Triton, kicked out of his aunt and uncle’s house because he’d come out as gay, had moved to the ranch three years ago to live and go to college. Maddox had welcomed Triton with open arms and they’d grown close. When he was on leave, Maddox came home in the summer, teaching Triton the ropes of the ranch. The young man had taken to ranching like a duck to water.

“I heard you and Bull fighting earlier,” Triton said.

He gave a hard sigh.

“He did fuck up the finances again, didn’t he?” Triton asked, and then shook his head.

His cousin had been the one to leave the message at the base, the message that had brought him home. Maddox had called home and caught a flight out the very next day. Luckily, Major Jones had granted his military leave. But that was only because the target of their next assignment had gone dark before they could deploy, leaving Maddox with enough time to deal with this bullshit.

“Bull took out a loan against the ranch to expand barn number three, so he could rent out the inside for storage.” Maddox removed the mare’s halter. Sliding it off her muzzle, he hung it near the stall.

“I saw the expansion. I wondered where he got the money. For a minute, I thought you okayed it. I didn’t know any different until you called me.”

“No, I wouldn’t have okayed something like that!” he snapped. “We had only enough to make it through this coming winter without adding a loan payment to the bills. He’s cut the ranch short. And I haven’t seen one payment coming in from the rental. That type of expansion needs to be planned for. And that’s why Tanner’s Feed Store called you about their unpaid bill.”

“Bull’s been having the hands buy cheaper feed over at Smith’s.”

A slow throbbing began behind his temple and he lifted a hand to rub at the spot.

“Bull took money out of the ranch account. A lot of it. I don’t know where it is.” It pissed him off and worried him. When he was pissed, he lost his temper, and when he lost his temper…well, the results weren’t pretty.

“Anything I can do to help? I can skip a few classes.”

“Keep your ass in college,” he snapped.

“Cuz. What the hell?” Triton said incredulously.

“You asked.” He squinted at his cousin.

“You don’t need to be an asshole to me.” Triton threw up his hands. “I didn’t borrow money against the ranch. Or wipe the account out. Don’t take it out