Chapter 172 Fourteen Minutes to Forever
POV Adrian:
Everything is fucked. The absence of that redhead hasn’t lessened; five days without seeing her feels like going without a dose of my favorite drug. Our house has never been as silent as it has been these past few days. I miss her—miss her scent, her smile, our conversations. I want her back. I want her to come back and convince us to try. Why did she leave without insisting a little more? Why didn’t I kiss her one more time?
“This has got to be a joke,” I hear Luca grumble as I see who’s approaching. “What the hell is he doing here?”
“Did he come to get Salazar?” I ask, but Luca doesn’t answer.
David Burt walks toward us and stops at a safe distance. I cross my arms, waiting for whatever he has to say, because my patience isn’t at its best. And if he doesn’t want a black eye, he’d better say what he wants and get the hell off our ranch.
“Where are your brothers?” he asks, and I let out a laugh. “I need to talk to all five of you, and it has to be now.” He raises a black folder toward us, as if that explains what he wants.
“Did you come to get Salazar?” Luca asks, and he shakes his head.
“Salazar isn’t mine. I bought him for Maya.”
Just hearing her name makes my heart race, but knowing Burt bought Salazar for her blinds me with jealousy. Before I can control myself, I’m on top of him, gripping his shirt collar.
“What do you want with her? Don’t you have a girlfriend and a boyfriend? Stay the fuck away from her,” I shout in his face, and the only thing he does is laugh.
“You like her,” he says, straightening his shirt. “I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
I nod and release him. I turn my back and head into the house to call my brothers. Let’s see what’s so important that he had to come here—but for some reason, my heart warns me it has something to do with the redhead who won’t leave my head.
...
We’re all gathered in the living room. Even our parents decided to stay to hear what Burt has to say. He said he didn’t have a problem with that, and now we’re here, ready to listen.
I watch as he opens the folder and pulls out a few papers.
“Before I explain what these documents are, I need one of you to read this letter.” He holds up a folded pink sheet, and somehow I know it’s from her.
My heart pounds. Before any of my brothers can volunteer to take it, it’s already in my hand.
The paper smells like her perfume. I unfold it slowly. At the same time that I’m anxious to know what she wrote, I’m nervous to find out why this letter exists instead of her standing here. I open it and begin reading out loud.
To my five cowboys,
If you’re reading this letter, I must already be far away, so don’t even try it, Luca—this time your whip won’t crack against my ass.
Before I explain the reasons that made me take this step, I want you to accept what I’ve done and not even think about returning it, or finding me to threaten me. You won’t succeed.
I’m speaking directly to you, Dominic, my wild caveman.
For a while, you were mine, and I want you to know that while I was at the ranch, I was yours too.
You are my five cowboys with incredible hearts.
My wild caveman.
My bossy caveman.
My indecent cowboy.
My king of the saddle and my pornographic romantic.
You may not have realized it, but when we were together, I saw us as a family—a family that supports one another in every choice, that worries, that cares, that loves. You were more than I ever expected, and I will never forget you. And that is a promise.
I’m writing this letter to say goodbye. I’m not coming back to El Soledad. I thought I could handle what I feel, but I can’t. I love you, and I was afraid to confess it and have you think I was lying. I wish there were another way for our story to end, but there isn’t. It has to end like this.
I’ll be fine. Loving you is easy—leaving is what’s hard. But I couldn’t leave and let you lose everything. So I did a few things—things I believe you won’t like—but that’s me, always doing something to make you mad.
Dominic, I paid off the ranch’s debt, and in the documents David will give you, you’ll see that the ranch belongs to you. I put it in your name, and there’s no way for you to give it back to me. You’ll just have to swallow that one.
Luca, I paid for your entire veterinary medicine program. Now you can re-enroll and go back whenever you want.
Mikhail, my beautiful one, I would give anything for you to be the one reading this part, but I know that’s not possible yet. Did you hear that? Yet. Because I sought out the best neurologists in Dallas to better understand your dyslexia, and together with a medical team, they will help you learn to read, to write, and to do whatever you want. Because you can do anything—I believe in you.
P.S.: I still expect you to buy the strawberry lubricant when you learn to read, because I love that flavor.
Adrian, I bought a building in the city where you can open your carpentry shop, where you can give life to your hobby that is nothing like a hobby. Maybe you could start by making a new table? To replace your mother’s table that we broke.
Ah, and now my Sebastian—the man who blushes when I talk about filthy things, the sweetest man I could have ever met. Sebastian, I couldn’t let Sapeca be sold, because after Salazar’s sale, I know it wouldn’t have taken long before it was her. So I bought Atrevido, Nala, and Arrow back.
I want you to bring your dreams to life and open your stud farm, so I bought six more horses. Remember when you confided in me that this would be a distant dream? It isn’t.
I want you to bring your dreams to life, because I will do my best to bring mine to life too.
I love you, and I say that with all the certainty in my heart.
With love,
Maya.