“But Sebastian called you.”
“Yeah, it’s for the better. Ford wouldn’t like this life.”
“Do you like this life?” he asks.
Flicking my gaze back to meet his, I shake my head. “Not really, not anymore.”
“That is your answer then, krasavitsa. Go to him, be where you’re happy.”
“I don’t want to see Sebastian hurt. I don’t like him, but I don’t wish bad things on him.”
Kirill’s eyes never leave mine, and they express nothing to me as he stares at me. “I cannot promise you anything. All I can say is that dead men do not pay their debts. So, rest assured, he will not die if I have anything to say about it.”
“Can you tell me what will happen?” I ask.
His lips twitch into a small smile. “I cannot. Just know, you have my protection, nothing will happen to you.”
“If I don’t help him, he’s going to sell the videos of me,” I whisper.
Kirill lets out a loud bark of laughter. “I’ve destroyed them. The footage you speak of no longer exists. Not only have I destroyed the copies he held, I also destroyed the originals. If one was to ever resurface, he understands that he will answer to me.”
“Why are you doing this?” I ask.
He lifts his hand, reaching out he cups my cheek. Goosebumps break out over my entire body from his surprisingly warm touch. “Because, krasavitsa. No woman should live in fear and be manipulated, not like that. Go home.”
“Okay,” I exhale.
He shakes his head. “No, go home to be with your cowboy. It is where you should be. Not here. You are not Sterling LaRue. You are Stephanie. Now go on, find your happiness. I think you deserve it and so does this cowboy, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Turning away from him, I walk back to my car. I don’t bother talking to Kirill’s wife, she’s surrounded by their children. They eye me, but wisely don’t ask any questions. I hear Kirill’s voice boom behind me, speaking in Russian that I do not understand as I make my way toward my car.
I want that.
I want a husband.
I want children.
I want my husband to be home, waiting for my children to come home from school every fucking day.
Starting my car, I shift it into reverse and back down Kirill’s steep driveway. I head home with a single plan in mind. Pack my shit, sell my house, break all of my contracts and leave Hollywood behind me.
I know what I want in life. I want Ford.
FORD
Jimmy stepped up, truly. Once the last steer is loaded, I lock the trailer and look behind me at both he and Erica. She’s got an apron on, I recognize it immediately and swear to fuck my heart squeezes. It’s my mama’s.
“I’m going to cook while y’all are away. That’s okay?” she asks. “You don’t have anything worthy of eating in that pantry or freezer, Ford Matthews.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, shaking my head. She sounds just like a mother, just like my own mother. “Yes ma’am,” I chuckle.
“I’m just going to make you some preserves and casseroles to freeze. You want some pickles and canned vegetables?”
I don’t have the heart to tell her that I don’t eat vegetables unless one of the guy’s wives forces them on me. “Just let her can the fuckin’ vegetables,” Jimmy mumbles next to me.
My shoulders shake as I try to keep from bursting out laughing. “Yeah, that’d be nice.” I smile.
“You boys’ll only be gone a few days, right?”
“Yeah, ‘bout five, maybe six,” I say.
She nods. “I better get to work then.”
“Lemme leave you some cash for all your projects,” I offer.
She shakes her head, but I don’t even let her speak. Shoving a wad of bills toward her, I’m glad when she takes it without fighting me. “Kitchen in the main house is bigger, you can stay there while we’re away. I’d feel better if you did.”
Erica nods. Taking my keys out of my pocket, I hand her the keys to my daddy’s old truck, my old truck. “You need to take that into town, feel free.”
“I can take ours,” she says, thrusting her thumb behind her at their pickup.
“I’d feel better if you had a backup.” I smile.
She takes the keys from me, and I watch as Jimmy makes his way up to her. Turning my back to them, I walk over to my other pickup and climb into the driver’s seat, not really wanting to see their goodbye.
Seeing Jimmy and Erica together the past few days solidifies the fact that I am miserably fucking alone. Since all of my friends have coupled up, I’ve been feeling stagnant, but having Stephanie slide into my life, show me what it could be, then skate right back out again has me completely fucked up.
Jimmy jumps into the truck a few minutes later and we’re off to Fort Worth. We drive in silence for a little while, then he clears his throat and it’s obvious that he wants to talk.
“You ain’t married, don’t got a woman. You have the room, the house, the nice cattle business. Why?”
I was hoping that we wouldn’t come back to this conversation, but it seems as though it’s a never-ending fucking conversation whether it’s friends, family, or me thinking to my goddamn self.
“Workin’ on it,” I mutter.
We don’t say anything else, I’ve effectively shut that shit down. My phone rings and I grab it off of my dash, sliding my thumb across the screen. I don’t look at the caller ID, my focus on the road.
“Found her, talked to her,” Beaumont announces.
I didn’t doubt that he would find her, it’s the state in which he did that has me worried, though I’m not sure why I’m worried at all.
I’m moving on, right?
Why the fuck would I even care?
Except that I do, too much.
“There’s some shit going down, I don’t know what the outcome is going to be, but I think you need to come here. Be here for her.”
“Soon as I do what I’m headed to do, that’s exactly where I’m going.”
“Good,” he grunts. “She didn’t tell me everything, but that fuck was going to leak a sex tape, one she didn’t even know that he filmed. He’s threatened her, she’s worried it’s going to ruin her career, her life. She’s scared and she ran here to try to fix it.”
“I’ll kill him,” I growl, gripping the steering wheel tightly. I knew he was threatening her with something. I also know that there is no doubt a hell of a lot more to the story.
He clears his throat. “I think he’s in some kind of trouble. It didn’t take much digging, but I asked around a little, and he has been seen with some not good guys. I’m guessing it’s all intertwined.”
“I go there, she’s coming home with me, I’m not giving her a choice.”
“You won’t hear me complain. The two of you, always meant to be, since we were five years old, Ford.”
His words, they make my stomach ache, because he’s right. I’ve loved Stephanie one way or another since we were kids. She’s always been mine, always been special to me. I’ve always loved her, never stopped.