Page 4 of Tethered

“Neither do I. I don’t know if he did it to give the other person access to me or if I was some pawn in a fucked-up game. I don’t know what other reason there can be for what he did, and I don’t care. I want nothing to do with him.”

“If it wasn’t him, then—” he hisses as it hits him. “You said his brother was your tormentor.”

“Yeah, guess I should have said torturer, huh?”

“I…fuck.”

“That about sums it up. When I finally managed to get my body to respond, I crawled home. I don’t remember how many miles it was, but I remember the pain. At one point, I just wanted to lie down and give up, but I was so scared he’d find me again. When I finally made it home, I thought I was safe. But hours later, I was in a cell, charged with murder.”

“I’m going to break his neck, and then I’m going to find his brother and shove him in a wood chipper.”

“No, you’re not. I don’t want to go back to prison, even if it’s on the other side, visiting you.”

“Did you tell the police?” he whispers, but I can see he already knows the answer.

“I was brought to the hospital. They did a rape kit and confirmed what happened. But I refused to name who did it. A lot of people assumed it was my father, and that’s why I snapped and killed him.”

“Why didn’t you tell them who did it? Did you think they wouldn’t believe you?”

“I knew nobody would care. They saw what I was going through daily, and everyone turned a blind eye. My father was a powerful man, but he wasn’t the only powerhouse in town—Austin was. I was already going down for my father’s murder. I wasn’t going to try to take on Austin, too. None of it mattered anymore. I just had to get out, and prison gave me that.”

“So, Austin is a rancher, too? One of your father’s competitors. Maybe this was some revenge thing?—”

“Austin is, or was, a trafficker.”

“What the fuck? And Shepard let him in here with you?”

“I don’t know if Shepard knows him. Shepard came after I left, perhaps after Austin did, too.”

“You think he drugged you to sell you?” The violence in his voice makes me shiver, but in delight, not fear.

“He doesn’t deal in humans—or at least that’s what I heard. As I said, things change, but it was no secret that he dealt arms and drugs. He poured a lot of it back into the town, and he grew up here as the town’s golden boy. The residents were ready to forgive him anything, same with his brother to some extent.”

“I can’t even…fuck I don’t know what to say.”

“What is there to say? It might not be as fucked as your history, but it’s pretty messed up. All you can do is get up, dust yourself off, and carry on. Besides, revenge always tastes sweeter when people don’t know they’re the target.”

“Should I be concerned?”

“Right now, you’re probably the only one who doesn’t need to worry.”

“Good to know.” He sighs before tugging me tighter. “You say the word, and I’ll make them pay, Opie. Nobody gets to fuck with you. Not on my watch.”

“My hero.”

Chapter Two

Itip my head back and close my eyes, feeling the sun on my skin, rejuvenating from it, along with the earth beneath my fingertips. The sweet smell of flowers permeates the air, though that’s the only thing sweet about this place. Hidden within a meadow filled with wildflowers lies the deadly heart of this garden. I take in the wolfsbane, devil’s weed, foxglove, deadly nightshade, monkshood, oleander, and lily of the valley, and give a happy smile at how much they’re thriving. It’s been a long few months since I woke up in the hospital after drainingmyself almost dry. It took me far longer to recover than I’d like to admit. The truth is, I’m still not at one hundred percent, but being home has helped. The house and land have nurtured me as much as Riggs has. And somehow, this place, so full of traumatic memories, has become my favorite place on earth.

Jen has been by half a dozen times, usually under the guise of a form needing to be signed, but I knew she was checking up on me. I’d scared her, so I let her fuss on me a little. She meant well. David had hooked the place up like he said he would, so no more sneaky visits from Austin had occurred, thank god. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop Riggs from tearing him apart.

After finishing my workroom, Riggs transformed one of the ranch barns into a production room of sorts, where everything I was making could be boxed up, ready for shipping. We were getting to the point where I was struggling to keep up with orders. I needed to think about employing someone to help out, maybe more than one. Though I had been loath to let anyone else into the cozy bubble Riggs and I had created here, while I had been in the hospital, he had taken on a small crew of men, none of them native to the area. They’d been instrumental in keeping Riggs from drowning under everything. They were hard workers, kept to themselves, and were paid well enough that they had no problem commuting from a couple of hours away. With the cattle being taken care of, the next order of business was, well, my business.

I slip off my gloves, get to my feet, and stretch to work out the kinks. I take in the vast space around me and chuckle at the twisted vines and bushes that still haven’t retreated. The day I came home, I found that the outer edges of my land had taken it upon themselves to protect me. Thorned bushes and twisted vines grew from nothing until they were easily twelve feet tall. They were impossible to climb, and so densely packed together you couldn’t squeeze through. I felt like a princess in a castle,being protected from the evil outside. But I guess that wasn’t strictly true. The things I was doing would likely make me as evil, in some people’s eyes. I just didn’t care. No, the real reason I was still hiding away here was to heal my wounds. I’d let Austin get under my skin and almost lost my life in the process. I was so mad that I gave him that power over me. I needed to grow thicker skin and get myself in the right headspace before I faced him again.

I grab my things and head back, taking time to stroll through the flowers before I climb the fence and head to where Willow is waiting for me.

“Hey, girl. You miss me?”