Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 128313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
My chest tightened until it was almost painful, and a wide, victorious smile spread on Alexis’s mouth. “Don’t be absurd,” I said in response.
“Darling, it’s written all over your face,” she said, then pressed her hand over my cock. “And your cock is half hard just looking at her.”
I gripped her wrist and threw her hand away from my crotch. “Don’t fucking touch me.” Alexis’s eyes flared at my anger. She liked me scolding her this way. She was so fucked up. “You’re dangerously close to me breaking all contracts with you, Alexis. Know your fucking place and back the fuck down.”
Alexis licked her lips, but I could see an excited spark in her eye. Like she had landed some kind of exclusive scoop. Like she now had something she could hold over my head. She stepped closer to me. “Word on the street is that your run of bad luck of late might not be pure happenstance, Jasper. I’d suggest you don’t push away the allies you still have.”
My heart seemed to stop beating, and my lungs froze. I leaned down and glared into her eyes. “And what would you know about my so-called bad luck, Alexis?”
Unintimidated, she simply shrugged. “All I’m saying is that you should respect those loyal to you, Jasper. It seems like you might already have an impressive enemy.”
Shivers sliced down my spine. Alexis was a bitch, potentially a stone-cold psychopath, but before this I’d never considered she was behind any of the threats, the accidents. Yes, she wanted my businesses, but I’d never believed her capable of setting up my family’s misfortune to get what she wanted.
“It’s time for you to leave,” I said, and began walking back to the golf buggy. It was that or I would toss Alexis over the fucking hill that had given us such a good view of the arena.
I sat in the driver’s seat, and Alexis sauntered out of the woods like she had all the time in the world. I fucking detested this woman. My hands balled into fists on my thighs. I’d stupidly given away my attraction to Hallie.
I was a bloody idiot.
Alexis sat beside me, and we rode back to the yard in silence. When we reached it, her driver was waiting for her outside her brand-new Bentley. Once out of the buggy, I rounded the cart, and Alexis stood before me. She held out her hand. Reluctantly, I shook it. I went to pull away, when Alexis held on, pulling me close. “I’ll keep an eye out for your new riders on the circuit, Jasper. Especially your cowgirl.”
“Don’t even think about it, Alexis. There’s no gossip here for you. Hallie is riding my horse, I’m her sponsor, and that’s all there is to it. You’re fishing for a story that doesn’t exist.”
Alexis leaned in until her mouth reached my ear. “Eyes don’t lie, Jasper”—she smirked—“and neither does the blood that filled your cock just looking at her.” Alexis pulled her hand back and tapped my chest. “Consider the offer I’ve left on your desk, Jasper. If I want something, I won’t stop until I’ve got it. You know this.”
With that, Alexis turned and got into her car, leaving me fuming on the spot. Staff members watched her leave, showing obvious disdain for her on their faces. Alexis seemed to inspire hatred wherever she went, and clearly, she gave no fucks about it.
But I was a veritable inferno. Every part of me was a live wire. Alexis had seen me look at Hallie like I wanted her—because I fucking did. But that information could not be in the hands of someone like Alexis Hobbs. She followed the Sandings Tour, was at every single stop, “taking care” of her clients. She was a wolf, and I’d just made Hallie a sacrificial lamb.
Exhaling in frustration, I scrubbed my hands down my face and fucking hated myself when I felt them shaking. I saw the taillights of Alexis’s Bentley exit the long road out of the property and couldn’t shake the twist in my gut her words had given me.
Word on the street is that your run of bad luck of late might not be purely happenstance . . .
What did that mean? What had she heard? Did she know something? Could she be involved somehow? Surely not. But what if . . .
My head throbbed from all the racing thoughts. Would Alexis go as far as to resort to threats and violence against my loved ones to get her hands on Golden Oaks? The fact that I now wasn’t sure was alarming. It wasn’t like people hadn’t done this type of shit for decades in this industry.
Or worse.
I began to walk, to fucking anywhere, just to stop the slamming of my heart from breaking my ribs, my racing thoughts from shifting to a migraine. My mind was a whirlwind. All I saw were rapid images of pain and sadness—my father’s accident, his broken body, eyes frozen open with death, staring up at me as I clutched his still hand, as the scent of his blood invaded my senses. Next came Genny and Dahlia falling in Saint-Tropez, my sister being crushed, and me watching it all, believing she was dead too—more still hands, lying empty like they were searching for my help. Cold shivers stabbed down my back.