Chapter 144 Lines Drawn Too Late
POV Maya:
A few days later
I am awful. And cruel. There is definitely a place in hell reserved for me. I’ve been teaching Mikhail for almost ten days now everything I was taught. Every morning, we go over the alphabet and syllables. It’s a bit easier than I thought it would be. I have to admit that he remembers some things, which helps a lot when forming words, both for teaching him to write and to read. However, he’s stubborn. He doesn’t believe in his own potential. Mixing up some words is normal for someone with dyslexia, but he thinks I’m just being nice to him, that I don’t want to be honest and tell him he’s stupid and won’t learn.
I’m very hurt by the way he sees himself. I don’t like it when he puts himself down. That’s one of Mikhail’s flaws—he wants everything done yesterday. He doesn’t understand that before reaching our final goal, we have to walk a long road. That’s why I’m changing my teaching tactics, and they start now. I grab a piece of paper and write, in big letters, what I want him to try to read.
“Fuck, what kind of teacher are you?” I jump at Dominic’s voice right by my ear.
“Do you want to kill me, you brute?” I ask, slapping his arm. “And the answer to your question is simple. I’m teaching in the only way your stubborn, indecent brother is going to learn.”
“And that would be?”
“With sex, obviously.” I shrug and receive a bite on my neck. “And don’t even think about saying what’s written on that paper. He needs to fight to learn how to read or he’ll never know just how indecent I am.”
I say this, making Dominic laugh.
“Alright, you filthy thing. I won’t say anything.”
I nod and go back to writing the indecent note. Since Mikhail told his brothers the truth about not knowing how to read or write, everyone has been committed to helping him. As much as I’m willing to teach him, I instructed him to seek specialized help—a speech therapist, a neurologist, a psychopedagogue. The sooner he resumes treatment, the sooner he’ll get results. But the moment I touched on that subject, he and his brothers became withdrawn with me again. So I said a big fuck it, determined to help him my way.
“Maya.”
I lift my head and see Dominic looking at me with a different expression than his usual scowl.
“Yes?”
“I’m going to sell Salazar.”
I drop the pencil, and my eyes immediately fill with tears.
“I know you’ve been taking riding lessons with Sebastian, and that you got very attached to Salazar. That’s why I’m here telling you.”
I swallow hard for several different reasons. The first and hardest one is the imminent sale of Salazar. The second is Dominic’s consideration for my feelings. The third is seeing on his face how much he hates having to tell me this. I didn’t expect any news to hurt me as much as this one. I started to love that stubborn horse. I love the freedom I feel when I’m on him, running across the field with the wind on my face. I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose him.
“How much are you asking for him?” I ask, already imagining how much I’ll have to take out of my emergency fund.
“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
“What?” I shout. “That much?”
I don’t even have thirty thousand dollars in the bank, let alone one hundred and fifty.
“I need the money, otherwise I could consider accepting your offer of thirty thousand.” He looks at me and smiles.
“Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes, you did.” I nod, feeling even sadder.
“Why are you selling the horses?” I finally find the courage to ask what has been hammering in my head for a long time.
Dominic looks at me for a few seconds and then looks away. I know he’s going to avoid the subject like they’ve been doing for the past few days, but that’s fine. Because now I’m more than determined to find out what these brothers aren’t telling me.
(...)
POV Dominic:
Things aren’t going well. Every time I think we’re finally going to pay off the farm’s debts, new problems appear, new debts pile up. It took days for my father to finally get in touch, and unfortunately, his delay wasn’t to bring good news. They still haven’t managed to find a bank willing to approve the amount we need.
I’m doing everything I can, but I fear it won’t be enough. So I made the decision to sell all of our animals. We can’t keep them. It takes money to maintain them—money that, right now, is the one thing we don’t have.
Despite my conflicting feelings about Maya, I would be incapable of selling Salazar without telling her. It’s obvious to anyone how close she’s become to him, and it was impossible not to notice how much she suffered with the sales of Atrevido, Nala, and Arrow. I wouldn’t act behind her back. I wouldn’t let her say goodbye in the very last second, just before he stepped into his new owner’s trailer.
I see her eyes fill with tears and swallow hard. I already knew she wouldn’t take the news well.
“I don’t even have thirty thousand dollars in the bank, let alone one hundred and fifty,” she whispers, and my heart tightens.
“I need the money, otherwise I might consider accepting your offer of thirty thousand,” I joke, forcing a smile. There’s no reason to let her know everything my family has been dealing with over the past few years.
“Did I say that out loud?” she asks, the tip of her nose turning red—a clear sign she’s about to cry.
“Yes, you did.”
Maya stays silent for a few seconds, then locks her eyes onto mine.
“Why are you selling the horses?” she asks, and I hate what I’m about to do—especially what I’m about to say.
I look away. I knew this question would come. Nothing escapes her sharp eyes. Still, I have to constantly remind myself that she isn’t part of our family. Maya is nothing more than a woman who wants to fuck five different men—nothing new compared to what we’ve already lived, nothing different from what we’ve been through before.
And thinking like that, I decide to act like the brute she’s always calling me.
“Maya, it’s none of your business,” I say, and her eyes widen.
“We don’t have to explain everything we do. You’re not important enough to have that privilege.”
She lowers her head, and I clench my fists. I shouldn’t have used those words. Fuck.
“I mean—”
“It’s fine. I understand,” she says, leaving the note for Mikhail on the table as she stands up. “Today I have some things to take care of at the flower shop. I might be gone all day.”