The man said, “Let me go.”
“Fuck that. You started it.”
“We’re gonna finish it. Still feelin’ tough?” Ben taunted.
“Not when the odds are six against one.”
Kade pushed himself to a sitting position and said, “Let him go.”
“What?” Remy said. “We all wanna take a shot at him so he knows he messed with the wrong f**kin’ family.”
“You’re all McKays?”
“No, some of us go by the name West. Heard of us?”
The man said, “Yeah, you’re all a buncha f**kin’ psycho cowboys.”
“Then you know we ain’t gonna let this slide.”
“Enough. Let him go. He thought I was someone else.” Kade tried to look up at the guy. Shit. He couldn’t see. “His choice. He walks away and stays away from all of us or we go to the sheriff’s office and I file charges.”
“This some sort of all for one and one for all bullshit?” the man sneered.
“You bet your ass.”
Cam shook the big man like a rag doll. “What’s it gonna be, hoss?”
“I’m goin’.” After Cam released him, the guy slithered into the darkness.
“Jesus, Kade. He did a number on you. I think that cut above your eye needs stitches.”
“Screw that, I f**kin’ hate needles. It’ll be fine.”
“Is your mouth bleedin’?”
“Probably. He didn’t knock any teeth out.”
“That’s reassurin’. Need some help up?” Cam asked.
“Yeah.”
Cam and Colt hauled him up and leaned him against the brick building. “Thanks.”
The movement made Kade dizzy and he closed his eyes.
Chet said, “Want us to make sure you get home okay?”
“Nah, you guys get goin’, you have a longer drive. I’ll get him home,” Colt said. “I owe him.”
Murmurs of agreement followed and Kade knew they’d all left. Although, after two fights in one day, he couldn’t muster the energy to wave good-bye.
Lighter footsteps approached, accompanied by click click of metal chains.
“Whatcha think, Indy?” Colt asked softly.
“I think he’s bleeding like a crack whore and looks like dog shit. What is it with you cowboys and fighting all the damn time?”
Kade cracked open his good eye. Great. Skylar’s sister. “What the devil are you doin’ here?” He saw India shoot Colt a look and managed to turn his head to see Colt’s response.
Colt mouthed something to her and she shook her head.
Silence.
“It wasn’t a trick question,” Kade said.
India sighed. “I’m here because I’m Colt’s A.A. sponsor. Tonight was the first time he planned on going into a bar since he sobered up last year. I hung out in his truck so we could talk about it afterward.”
“I didn’t know you were his sponsor.”
“No one knows. Colt wants it kept confidential information, which is his choice, so you can’t tell anyone, not even Skylar.”
“Well, that’ll be easy since she’s pissed as hell at me.”
“Why?”
“Long story.”
“Does that mean you ain’t goin’ to her place tonight?”
Kade gestured to his bloody and mud-covered clothes. “No choice. All my stuff is there. You guys go on. I’ll be fine to drive myself.”
“You can’t see out of your right eye, how are you supposed to drive thirty miles? In the dark?”
“I’ll manage.”
“We’ll take you.”
“I need my truck tomorrow.”
“Fine. Colt can drive your truck. I’ll drive my car. He needs to follow someone who knows the way in case you fall asleep and I’ll bring him back to town.”
Colt said, “Toss me your keys.”
Kade dug them out of his pocket and pushed off the building to follow Colt to his truck.
India’s hand on his chest stopped him. “Huh-uh. You’re riding with me.”
“Great.”
India didn’t speak until they were halfway home. “You know Sky is going to freak out when she sees you all bloody?”
“I figured she might since it’s the second time she’s seen me like this today.”
“This is one of the reasons she refused to date cowboys when she first moved here because they’re always getting in fights.”
His laugh was more grunt-like than humorous.
She shot him a look. “So it shocked the hell out of me when you and I crossed paths—”
“Crossed paths? You cornered me in Sky’s house like I was a stray dog in the chicken house.”
“If the shitkicker fits…”
Kade snorted. “Sky still doesn’t know about your threatening little chat with me that day, does she?”
“No. You think she’s gonna get pissed off that I was doing my sisterly duty? Wrong.
But it was damn shocking to learn that Eliza’s father is not only a cowboy, but one of the notorious McKay cowboys.”
“Yeah, that’s me, one of the damned.” He sighed. “I’d crash someplace else tonight if I could, but everything I own is at her place.”
“What’s going on with you two?”
“Who the hell knows? She’s mad. Thinks I overstepped my bounds today.”
“Did you?”
Kade explained as neutrally as possible.
A full minute passed before India responded. “Lemme ask you this: do you know the real reason why she’s so upset?”
“Because I bucked up and pointed out the security issues with her business and she thinks it’s none of my business to be worryin’ about hers?”
“Close. But no cigar.”
“Then what?”
“Let’s break it down and see if you can’t put it back together correctly.” She offered Kade an impish smile. “As an A.A. and N.A. counselor, I’m big on folks finding their own solutions. The answer means more if they figure it out themselves.
“Now, I’m sure my sister has told you about Ted, and how he used her and robbed her blind. Once he’d gotten what he’d wanted from her—most of Sky’s money—then he divorced her.”
“But see, that’s where what happened today don’t fit. I don’t want anything from her.” Immediately after he voiced the denial, he made the connection. His queasy feeling multiplied. “Goddammit, I threatened to take Eliza from her.”