Free Owned for Christmas by Willa Edwards Page A

irritation tingeing his words.
    What fucking reason does he have to be irritated? He’s the one who attacked Kate.
    Kate nodded to Grant. “I’m fine.” She clasped her small delicate hand around Daniel’s, squeezing it reassuringly. “Really.”
    “What the hell were you doing?” He turned to his brother, red flooding his vision.
    “Nothing,” Grant growled, his body tense. “I was just showing her something.”
    Confused, Daniel looked back and forth between the two of them. “What could you possibly be showing her by pushing her up against the house?”
    Unable to meet Daniel’s eyes, Kate dropped her gaze to the ground.
    That’s never a good sign.
    “Nothing’s going on, Danny.” Grant took a threatening step toward his brother, his fists slightly raised. “Just leave it alone .”
    “This is my girlfriend. I love her. I’m not going to just leave it alone.” Daniel glared up at his brother, the pieces finally clicking together in his head. All the offhand comments, all the stolen looks. “What’s going on between the two of you?” He motioned to Kate.
    Grant crossed his arms over his chest, widening his stance. “Kate and I know each other from Dallas.”
    She finally met Daniel’s gaze, her eyes huge. She fumbled her fingers at her sides. He fought back the urge to reach out and grab her hand, to steady her and help her. That was always his role—the steady, calm protector.
    “Is this true?” he asked.
    Her eyes misted and her chin wobbled. She appeared about to cry—and damn it, he hated that. If Grant had done this to her, he was going to pay for it.
    “It’s okay, Kate,” Granted stated.
    His brother’s voice remained calm and reassuring, which only irritated Daniel further. How could Grant be composed right now? Daniel was about to punch a hole through the wall of the house.
    “You can tell him the truth.”
    What truth? What are they talking about? He focused on Kate, the worst scenarios he could think of floating in his head.
    She gulped and raised her eyes to meet his for a second time before returning her attention to the ground. “Grant is the man I was with before you.”
    Daniel recoiled, almost as if he’d been struck. A punch probably would have been less shocking.
    This couldn’t be true. If Grant and Kate had been together, he would have known. Right? He would have seen somehow. Though they never talked about the asshole who had hurt her. She didn’t like to delve into that pain. Could Grant really be that asshole?
    “He’s the one who left you? The one who broke your heart?” Daniel yelled at her, not entirely sure why he was so angry.
    “I left her because I had to come back to this ranch and take over after Dad got sick,” Grant growled through a clenched jaw. He fisted his hands at his sides. “You weren’t man enough to do it.”
    Daniel raked his fingers through his hair, wanting to pull it right out of his scalp. “I’m so fucking sick of you throwing that in my face. I didn’t come home. And you did. Get over it. No one forced you to. No one made you give up anything,” he spat the words like bullets, hoping they hit their target and blew a hole in him as big as the one he’d made in Kate.
    “That’s not true. You made me give up everything. I had to come back here. Someone had to help Mom out. And everyone knows you’re too big a pussy to work this ranch. Just like you’re too big a pussy to satisfy her.” Grant pointed at Kate.
    Daniel saw red. Anger, hot and fierier then he’d ever experienced before, boiled up inside him.
    “So you thought you’d hump my girlfriend against the wall?” Daniel screamed at his brother. His face burned. His pulse pounded in his ears, drowning out every rational thought he’d ever had.
    “I kissed her real good in the barn too.” Grant smiled smugly, motioning toward Kate. “I figured someone should give her a thrill this weekend.”
    Daniel’s stomach lurched and he fought the urge to throw up on