LITMIR.BIZ

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father’s face flashed into his mind. Frozen in time. Remember who you are...

      He’d done his duty by the Hell’s Eight and Tia. But now it was time to do right by his family.

      “More like a promise I’ve got to keep.”

      “What promise?” Caine asked.

      “Nothing that involves you.”

      “If it involves you,” Caine countered, “it involves Hell’s Eight.”

      Caine’s loyalty to those he considered family was all encompassing. Caden drained the glass and set it beside the delicate champagne flute. Such elegance where before there had been none. He turned away. “Not this time.”

      “The hell you say.”

      He met Caine’s gaze squarely. “I do.”

      “At least let Ace or Luke go with you.”

      Caden could see Maddie scooping up her piece of cake. Saw her smile at Tucker shyly as he pretended to grab for it. Inside, something twisted, revealing a touch of...anger? He pushed the feeling aside.

      “You can’t spare the hands.”

      “We can spare what you need,” Caine said.

      Caden knew the state of the ranch as well as anyone. Knew the threats against it. They’d just expanded. Every man was necessary. And now with the cavalry being pulled back East to deal with the discord there between North and South, they had to add the renewed threat of Indian attacks to the mix. “Too many people would draw attention.”

      “Two is hardly too many,” Sam cut in, coming up beside them, a whiskey glass in one hand and a bottle in the other. Behind him was Ace. “Hell, it won’t even get the job done. Remember, I saw the place after Fei blew it up. The woman is thorough.”

      Caden knew he’d eventually need help, a lot of it likely, but right now, he didn’t want it. “I need to do this on my own.”

      “Because of that promise you made your da?” Ace asked, his dark hair flopping over his brow, giving him the look of a devil-may-care no-account. Until you looked a little lower and saw his eyes. No one that had any ability to take a man’s measure could mistake the coldness and purpose that shadowed his light brown eyes. Ace could cut a man’s throat with the same aplomb with which he could perform those card tricks he liked to show off. And with a smile on his face. Not that Ace enjoyed killing, but if it was necessary, he didn’t have any qualms about settling a score. Caden sighed, noting Tracker and Shadow making their way over, too. This had all the makings of a well-intentioned ambush. Shit.

      “Did someone send out an invite I missed?”

      Sam smiled. “Nah. This is more of an impromptu party.”

      “What promise did you make to your da?” Caine asked, with that tenacity that marked everything he did.

      “Nothing.” Caden glared at Ace. Of all the Hell’s Eight, he was closest to Ace, which had resulted in a drunken confession about his father many years ago that should never have been made. Ace merely shook his head.

      “Don’t get your tail in a twist. You’re a grown man. You get to be as foolish as you want.”

      “The hell he does.”

      “Let it go, Caine,” Caden ordered.

      “The hell I will.”

      Sam leaned in and poured more whiskey into Caine’s already quarter-full glass. “Drink that.”

      “Shit, if I drink that, I’ll be drunk.”

      Sam shrugged and offered Ace the bottle, before saying, “At least you’ll have an excuse for spouting nonsense.”

      “It’s not nonsense. That gold mine is in the middle of Indian country, and Culbart isn’t going to be any help if anything goes wrong out there.”

      That was true. The mine wasn’t the only thing Fei had blown to hell and gone. When Fei’s father had sold her cousin Lin to Culbart, Fei had taken matters into her own hands. A lot of dynamite had been blown to rescue Lin. Which meant the only white man close enough to come to Caden’s aid at the mine wasn’t going to be feeling that friendly toward a Hell’s Eight man. Caden mentally shrugged. He’d faced tougher odds.

      “Culbart’s a hard-ass, but no one has ever accused him of being stupid,” Ace said. “If Hell’s Eight calls for help, he’ll be there. He can’t afford to be that friendless with that ranch of his smack-dab in the middle of Indian country and tensions rising the way they are.”

      “Besides, I thought some of the problems with Culbart stemmed from the fact the man thought Lin was being kidnapped?” Caden asked.

      “He’s got a point, Caine,” Ace offered. “Like the man or not, truth is Lin came to no harm in Culbart’s care, and any man worth his salt would go after a woman stolen from his care, even if it was one of us who did the stealing.”

      Caine frowned and took a large swallow from his glass. His green eyes narrowed. “The man still has an ax to grind. He lost good men in that ‘misunderstanding.’”

      “It would have been easier if Fei had bargained a bit before up and taking off with her cousin,” Sam interjected wryly. “Might have saved on the grinding.”

      “Culbart didn’t leave her much choice,” Caine drawled, taking another sip. “He’d lost good money in the deal. Holding on to Fei was his best chance of getting it back.”

      Ace shook his head. “Or so he thought. Fei did a good job covering her pa had gone bat-shit crazy. You can’t totally blame Culbart.”

      Caine cocked a brow at Ace. “You sound as though you like the bastard.”

      Ace shrugged. “I do. He’s tough as nails, but he’s got a strong sense of right and wrong.” He took a drink of whiskey. “Not to mention an interesting sense of humor.”

      “When the hell did you ever see his sense of humor?” Caden snapped, impatience rubbing his temper raw. He wanted to go, not sit here and discuss Culbart’s good qualities.

      “When Caine here sent me to set Culbart straight.”

      “You were supposed to intimidate him,” Caine countered.

      “I decided to socialize first.”

      Caden shook his head. Leave it to Ace to turn an enemy into an ally.

      “I wouldn’t say he’s a friend,” Ace continued, “but he’s not hostile.”

      Caden straightened. He was doing this, and to hell with Culbart and to hell with argument. If that ruffled feathers along the way, then too bad. “Well, if Culbart still has an ax to grind, let him grind it.”

      “Goddamn it, Caden,” Caine snarled. “Why do you have to do this now when we’re spread so thin?”

      Because he did. Turning on his heel, Caden walked away, not answering, pushing past Shadow and Tracker, ignoring the surprised lift of Tucker’s brow. As he reached the garden gate, he heard Caine say, “Would someone tell me about this promise?”

      “It’s personal, not important,” Ace responded with a blatant lie for which Caden would owe him.

      “It’s important enough that the man who never breaks promises is breaking one to keep it.”

      Ace swore, “Shit.”

      Maddie. Caine was talking about Maddie. Caden had promised her he wouldn’t leave the party before she got back. Caden saw her out of the corner of his eye, standing slightly apart from the others, smiling and watching the dancers, looking as pretty and as inviting as sunshine after a storm. Saw Luke head her way, and swore. She’d get over it. He shoved the gate open and kept walking. As the gate slammed closed behind him, he heard her call his name, the surprise and disappointment nipping at his feet in a

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