His Dirty Hands (The Montgomery Boys Book 2)

by Jessica Mills

  That wasn’t what I got. Being pregnant was one of the most stressful and difficult times of my life. I looked forward to meeting my baby, even if she was totally unplanned and even if my family didn’t want her.

  That was the only thing that got me through the hardest days. Darcy was there for me as much as she could be. She was willing to stand by my side when no one else was and support the decisions I made. After all, they were mine to make and I was the only one who would be able to make them. No matter what anyone else thought I should do or how I should handle the life laid out in front of me. Darcy believed steadfastly that I was the only one whose opinion mattered.

  Those people were not living my life. They weren’t going to have to deal with the effects of the decisions I made. I was. Unfortunately, one of the first consequences of those decisions was my family turning their back on me. It wasn’t a total shock. I knew what they expected of me and that I was disappointing them.

  It still hurt. But for the first time in my life, I had to do something that was not what they wanted or what they thought was right for them but what was genuinely right for me. And for my baby.

  That was how I ended up leaving everything I knew. It was how I ended up here at Darcy’s house trying to find some semblance of normal and create a life. And it was why I was standing there in the bedroom now, frantically trying to fit as much of that life into my suitcase and a few boxes as I could. I had to get the hell out of here.

  Now.

  Rushing out of the bedroom, I went to the closet in the hallway that contained the washer and dryer. The load tumbling around in the dryer had just stopped and I reached inside to pull out mounds of warm clothes. Most of it was Gabby’s, tiny socks and sweet dresses that just underscored how innocent and vulnerable my little girl was. I brought it all into the bedroom and continued filling the bags. Even though I tried to stay focused on what needed to be done, my mind kept wandering back to that morning. As I replayed it all, it felt like a rock sank into my stomach.

  How could he have found me? I was so careful. Everything I did, every choice I made, was meticulous. There was never anything spontaneous or not thought all the way through. I made sure every phone number was unlisted. I had no social media and Darcy knew to never mention me on her private pages. I only had burner phones so they couldn’t be linked to me. I didn’t have bills in my name and Darcy never added me to the lease.

  And yet, he showed up on the doorstep.

  I was in a fantastic mood that morning. Not for any particular reason. It was just one of those days when you wake up and feel really great about the world. Gabby climbed out of the tiny bed pushed against the wall in my bedroom and wandered over to me. She squeezed my cheeks with her chubby baby hands and told me good morning. I pulled her up with me and cuddled her close, breathing in the smell of her.

  I’d never felt happiness or fulfillment in my life that came even close to being a mother. She was unexpected, but she was the greatest gift the universe ever gave me. She was exactly what I needed, exactly what was missing out of my life, even if I never knew it. The two of us could handle anything as long as we had each other.

  “Are you hungry?” I asked.

  Gabby nodded and looked up at me with huge brown eyes.

  “Pancakes,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “Pancakes?” I asked and she nodded. “With bacon?” She shook her head. “Okay. Well, I want bacon, so I’ll just make a little. Come on.”

  We got out of bed and headed into the kitchen. Darcy was already gone for work and the apartment was quiet. I didn’t like the silence. Growing up in a big Italian family meant there was always something going on. There was always noise, loud voices, laughter, shouting, music. That was what I was used to, and I’d never gotten used to not having it around.

  I put a cooking show on to fill the background with sound while Gabby climbed up on her little footstool next to the counter. Braiding her cloud of curls loosely to keep them away from the food, I gathered up all the ingredients for breakfast.

  While the bacon was bubbling in the skillet and pancakes browned on the griddle, I thought about that night’s dinner. Darcy worked hard and never complained about me crashing at her place. I only occasionally scraped together a bit of cash from part-time and temp work here and there. But she never judged me. I tried to do things to help out like cleaning the apartment, running errands, and making meals. She often joked I was the best wife she could ever want, and I figured I was okay with that. I could do a lot worse. I had done a lot worse. At least, almost.

  I decided to throw together a quick dinner to put in the slow cooker. It would be ready when Darcy got home. That way, I wouldn’t have to think about it later in the day or turn on the oven when the summer heat crept up. I had just flipped several pancakes onto a plate, added more to the griddle, and was chopping an onion when someone knocked on the door. Darcy had a somewhat concerning affinity for shopping online, so I just assumed it was another package. Wiping my hands on a kitchen towel, I crossed the apartment to the door and pulled it open.

  My heart dropped into my stomach and my blood ran cold. It wasn’t a delivery driver standing outside. It was Matteo. My ex and the reason I hadn’t had a stable life in almost three years. Clutching a fistful of flowers, he smiled at me in that cool, smooth way he always did. It was that smile that got my attention all those years ago. And the attention of every other woman he walked past. His sleek hair and polished, tailored suit were the same. The sparkle in his eyes was the same. He looked at me like he was happy to see me, but what was also the same was the knot in my stomach and the sense of dread that crept up my spine.

  How did he find me? How could he possibly have figured out where I was?

  Darcy didn’t keep in touch with anybody from back home. She never communicated with my family and especially not Matteo. She used many of the same precautions I did, right down to using her scarcely known actual first name on bills rather than what everyone called her.

  But there he was. Right in front of me. Smiling like he thought I was going to jump into his arms.

  “Matteo,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  “What do you mean what am I doing here?” he asked. “I came to see you and the baby. I’ve been looking for you since I found out about her. I want to meet my daughter.”

  He made a move like he was going to step into the apartment, and I braced myself. Putting my foot behind the door, I anchored it. I held it tight, leaving barely enough space for me to fit between it and the doorframe.

  “No,” I told him.

  The smile disappeared and familiar dark clouds rolled over his eyes. His handed tightened around the flowers until the stems broke and he tossed them aside. “You have no right to keep me from her. She’s mine.”

  “She’s mine, Matteo. You’re not coming in here.”

  “Get out of my way,” he demanded.

  He rushed forward, trying to force himself into the apartment. Much larger and stronger than me, he had the upper hand. I wouldn’t be able to hold out for very long. I was terrified, but I stood my ground. I didn’t want him anywhere near Gabby. I prayed she would stay in the kitchen. She’d wandered to the table to color after we mixed the pancakes.

  Just stay there. “Leave!” I shouted. “Get away from here! Leave us alone!”

  Finally, my voice got the attention of one of my neighbors and a door down the hall opened. He rushed out and ran toward me.

  “Hey,” he said. “Get away from her. Gia, are you okay? Is this guy bothering you?”

  “No,” Matteo said. “I’m not bothering her.”

  “I think it’s time for you to leave,” Grant said.

  Matteo was never one to want to cause a scene. It went against his calm, controlling demeanor. Still seething, he backed up and glared at me. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. There was enough of a threat in his eyes for me to know exactly what he was thinking. I watched him leave, sagging against the door w
hen he was finally out of sight.

  “Thank you,” I said to Grant. “I really appreciate your help.”

  “No problem. Are you all right?”

  I nodded. “I will be. Just a bitter ex. He’ll go away.”

  “Okay. Well, you know where I am if you need me.”

  I nodded again. “Thanks.”

  Grant went back to his apartment and I ducked back inside, sliding down the door and burying my face in my hands. I couldn’t stay there anymore.

  I had to run again.

  Chapter 3

  Clayton

  After Jesse and Shannon left, the other brothers lingered on the porch for a while longer. Eventually, they started to drift inside as well. It was just my oldest brother Cassidy and me still sitting out there. Now that Jesse was gone and we didn’t have to be as careful, we had completely foregone the tea and were just sipping whiskey as we talked.

  The difference in our after-dinner drinks was one of the adjustments we’d had to make since Jesse came back to the ranch after being discharged from the Army. None of us really expected him to ever make his way back to Green Valley. When he left, he made it clear he didn’t want anything to do with Montana or Montgomery Ranch anymore.

  It wasn’t easy dealing with that over the years. Even when there were difficulties and conflicts, the eight of us were brothers. Having him gone left a gap that was very noticeable. Turning his back on the ranch was more about our father than it was anything else, and we knew it. We kept up with him over the years even though we didn’t see him much. Each of us was pretty much resigned to him being at a distance into the future—until we got the call that he had been discharged and needed to come home.

  We weren’t expecting the Jesse who showed back up. At least, I wasn’t. In so many ways, he was still the same brother who left, but at the same time, he wasn’t. His service and the things he experienced when he was overseas changed him. It left him damaged. From the first night he was home, we could see the lingering effects.

  The first time a sound triggered an episode, it hit me just how much he had gone through. It showed everything he was trying to overcome now that he was back. Because of that, none of us minded the things we had to alter. We wanted to participate in his healing and recovery. Jesse was a Montgomery boy and we always stuck together. Any change we made was worth the happiness and peace we saw on his face now.

  It was good to sit around on the front porch with Cassidy and not have much to worry about. It wasn’t always that way. There were definitely times over the years when these evening talks were tense. They focused around how we were going to keep the ranch afloat. Or if we would ever have all of our brothers together again. We still hadn’t had all eight of us together. I wasn’t as worried.

  Colt was one who left the path most of us followed. It had been a long time since he’d been home, but we weren’t as worried about him as we were Garrett. Colt left the ranch not because he couldn’t take the pressure anymore or didn’t want anything to do with it. He left because he knew there was more out there for him.

  And he was right. He joined the rodeo circuit and had been working his way up through it ever since. In the greater scheme of things, he was still new to the sport, but that didn’t stop him from making his mark. He was already becoming a pretty big name in the circuit and his trajectory was only heading up. It didn’t stop him from being wild, though, and barely a week went by when there wasn’t a new rumor or incident with him. But not nearly as much as the other brother, Garrett.

  Garrett was the wildcard. He always had been. Considered the bad boy of the Montgomery boys, he was the one who always caused the most trouble. He had a reputation that followed him. There was a lot we didn’t know about Garrett. But we would never give up on him. Even when the trouble he caused made its way back to us.

  Most recently being the day Roy Hayes showed up at the ranch to find him. Jesse had just gotten back, and Hayes was pissed, even more so than he usually was coming onto Montgomery land. The conflict between the Hayes and the Montgomery families went way back, and none of the sons on either side were happy to see the others. There was particular tension between Roy and Jesse over Shannon.

  When Hayes first showed up in his Sheriff’s Deputy cruiser that day, I thought that was why he was there. Shannon had come by for a visit, having just heard Jesse was back in town, and when she pulled up, he looked at her with daggers in his eyes.

  But he wasn’t there about Shannon or even about Jesse. He was there to tell us he was after Garrett and demand we tell him where he was. Of course, we didn’t know. We might hear a lot about our brother, but instances of actually hearing from him were few and far between. Whatever he’d gotten himself into, I had a feeling we’d be seeing him soon.

  Cassidy and I were soaking in the last of the Sunday evening and chatting about everything and nothing when a sound in the distance stopped us. Coming over on the warm breeze was the telltale sound of stressed frightened cattle in the barn. Without a second of hesitation, Cassidy and I dropped our drinks and ran out across the property to check on the animals.

  Many threats loomed over the animals of a Montana ranch. Ours had experienced their fair share of them, including the brutality of the Hayes family patriarch. Years ago, he decided to take his revenge against our father by slaughtering a good portion of our herd. That horror still stood out to me. But the truth was, most of the threats the cattle and horses faced came from nature itself.

  That was what we encountered when we got to the barn. The sound of the screaming from the animals inside was almost deafening. Only a few head of the herd were kept inside on a night like this. Animals who were sick or about to calf stayed in the barn at night. Most stayed out on the ranch and were gathered up during the day.

  The braying from inside was from terrified animals who could sense that something was wrong. It was the sound we heard when I was a teenager and a fire that started in the fields rode in on dry summer wind and caught the barn. But it was also the sound of animals who knew a predator was near.

  Cassidy and I ran into the barn and mounted horses. Pushing the animals into a full run, we shot out onto the property. We were in search of the threat both of us were afraid was nearby but didn’t want to mention. We didn’t have to say it. Seconds later, a howl sliced through the air.

  Wolf.

  We pushed the horses harder, riding toward the sound. Finally, we came over a hill and found a cow and her young calf in a thicket close to a bend in the creek. Recent rain swelled the creek and made it rush at an intense speed. If it had only been the cow, she likely would have braved it and tried to cross to the other side. But her little baby standing close at her feet, crying and shaking, was far too small to survive the current. The water would wash the calf away in an instant. The protective animal wasn’t going to let that happen. She would rather stand up to the ferocious creature bearing down on her and try to defend her baby than go into the water and save herself but lose the calf.

  Cassidy and I started shouting and yelling as we rode toward the wolf. It got his attention, and he turned toward us, but he didn’t run. He seemed unbothered by the appearance of two humans, which was unsettling and foreboding. A wolf unafraid of people was extremely dangerous, both to us and to all our animals.

  I jumped down off the horse and ran for the branches that had come down from one of the trees during one of the recent storms. The wolf bristled and bared his teeth, growling fiercely. Snatching up the largest branch I could find, I ran and jumped back on my horse.

  Sending up a prayer for the best, I urged the horse toward the wolf. The fact that the horse followed my command and took off toward the wolf was a testament to the trust he had in me. Still making as much noise as I could, I lifted the branch up high and swung it down toward the wolf. Cassidy guided his horse around to the other side of the ferocious animal, continuing to shout. Lifting the horse’s front hooves so he stamped down hard on the ground, I put myself between the wolf and the c
ow.

  The wolf snarled, spitting and gnashing his teeth. I thrashed the stick at him again. The creature leapt toward me, clamping his strong jaws down onto the stick. Gripping the horse on either side with my thighs as tightly as I could, I took the stick in both hands and shook it violently. The wolf came up off the ground. His teeth splintered the wood as I flung him from side to side.

  Finally, he shook loose and slammed down onto the ground. That only seemed to anger him, and he jumped up, lunging at my horse again. I grabbed onto the horse’s mane and held so he wrenched to one side and lifted up his front hooves again. Cassidy came up behind the wolf and made a loud, aggressive sound.

  The wolf turned around and I took the opportunity to rush forward and swing the stick at him again. It made contact with the animal’s side. It didn’t hurt him but was enough to finally scare him away. Cassidy and I chased after him until he was far across the property. When he was gone, we rode back to the cow and calf and got off our horses to comfort them.

  Cassidy had grabbed a rope while in the barn and looped it around the cow’s neck. He guided her alongside the horse as we walked back slowly toward the barn. The calf walked timidly beside her, barely willing to get far enough away from her legs for her to walk without kicking him. The progress back to the barn was slow, but the cow was still trembling with fear, and we didn’t want to upset her any more.

  “Come on, Mama,” my brother said when we got to the barn. “You’ve been through enough tonight. Let’s get you set up in here and you can get some rest.”

  We got the two cattle settled into a stall and offered the cow some feed. Wiping down the horses, we settled them into their stalls with some extra hay. The adrenaline buzzed through me as we walked away from the barn.

  So much for our relaxing Sunday evening. The wolf shot all the calm from hanging out on the porch with my brothers straight to hell. Now I was wide awake and on edge.