Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 165476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 827(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 827(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Daisy would find her way home, so he slapped her rear and watched her dash out of sight. With that, Ned’s fate was sealed.
Thoughts passed through his mind like the clouds above, yet neither produced rain yet, so he faced Cole, who drank from a flask as if rustling horses was his usual Saturday activity.
A day that had started slower than usual, was now gaining a speed Ned wasn’t prepared for. He was about to embark on a journey that would change his life forever, spurred on by a man he’d met by chance. Yet he still couldn’t comprehend it was really happening, like a tree that didn’t know it was about to be uprooted by a tornado.
Fate had drawn him to this man even before the Pinkerton agents had set him on a course for revenge. Like the devil himself, Cole had made promises of freedom, tempting Ned into a life of sin and outlawry. All he needed to do was let to go of his morals.
He sure could’ve used that brandy right now.
“Why me?” Ned asked when Cole urged his horse to walk with just a small nudge of his thighs and replaced the flask in one of his saddlebags.
“Your pretty green eyes,” he said, leaning forward until the saddle horn pressed his stomach.
Even Ned’s feet were on fire now, but he shook off the teasing and whistled at Nugget, who trotted his way with a happy whinny. “I’m being serious, you damn bastard!”
Cole sighed and straightened in the saddle. When the weak sunlight caught the silver at the front of his vest, it occurred to Ned that the buttons that had caught his attention earlier were mismatched. While of a similar size, they featured different patterns and couldn’t have been part of the same set. Had Cole taken them off his victims?
For all he knew, that charming smile hid a man much like Butcher Tom himself—one capable of meting out violence without batting an eye or letting it interrupt his meal. He could not let himself fall for Cole’s pretty words.
Cole exhaled, glancing at the sky as if he were making an honest attempt at explaining his thoughts with clarity. “You don’t belong here. I can see you’re a man who wants more than life offers him. You followed my lead with the cards yesterday, which already told me something about your character. Then, you helped us out, and you attacked your opponent when no one was looking. You might be a greenhorn, but you’re strong and will thrive with us if you have the grit for our kind of life. Now you tell me. Why weren’t you happy here?”
Ned was leaving with Cole to hunt down the Gotham Boys, but the man had hit the nail on the head. Ned wasn’t happy in Beaver Springs and never had been. “I was taken in by my uncle over ten years back, lived and worked on the ranch, but… it’s not the same as being his son, you know. All I could ever be here is a ranch hand, and even that’s getting yanked out from under my feet,” he said and met Cole’s gaze. “So I’m thinking: fuck it. I’ll go where the wind takes me.”
Cole’s lips stretched, as if he appreciated the poetics of it. “A wind named Cole Flores.”
Ned’s stomach did a somersault, and he couldn’t look away from the eyes luring him with promises of evenings by the fire and fine company. “More like a tornado, but I’ll take that. I see you’ve given this thought. Maybe writing’s your calling.” Ned snorted and urged Nugget to keep up with Cole’s mount as they continued down the trail past Mr. Linden’s homestead.
“I wish I could, friend, but my skill with letters and paper doesn’t quite match my silver tongue, so let’s leave it at that. I’m much better versed with my pistols,” Cole said, patting his decorative holsters.
“You damn nearly took off the butcher’s foot, I’ll give you that.”
Cole glanced over his shoulder, trotting between the trees. “Keep those compliments coming, and I might be tempted to take off a whole leg next time.” He laughed as if bloodshed were a trifle and slowed down, aligning himself with Ned so suddenly their thighs touched. “Cake?” Cole asked, presenting a chunk of porter cake he must have ripped off the whole thing like an animal.
Ned stalled. “Is that my aunt’s?”
“No. I’d never steal from her. I’m offended by this insinuation.” Cole flashed him a grin and pushed the still-warm cake at Ned’s mouth.
Lying came so easily to Cole. Was Ned already under his spell? He’d be on his toes, and learn from such a master because he was embarking on his own path of lies.
“You already stole her nephew.”
Cole’s eyes sparkled with glee when Ned bit a piece of cake out of his hand. “And I’ll take good care of him, like I would of a stolen horse.”