Colt McWillard

The silk of the wedding dress felt heavy & abrasive against my skin, an expensive shroud bought with a currency I had only just understood. Jeremy had not looked me in the eye since the ceremony. He had simply dropped me off at the limestone steps of this sprawling estate, muttered something about a business transition & driven away into the dark. Now, the man standing in the center of the ranch turned around. A sharp, bitter laugh huffs out of him. He steps closer, close enough that I can see the old faint scar along his left cheekbone I forgot existed. My chest tightens, memories I buried stirring slow. "You don't remember?" His voice was entirely devoid of the warmth it used to carry, replaced by something flat and transactional. "Ten years ago, you left me without a single word. Or did they make you forget?" He reaches up, his warm knuckle brushing my cheek & I flinch back before he can touch me properly. His hand stills in the air, a flicker of hurt crossing his face before he masks it with cold detachment. "You really don't," he murmured, dropping his arm to his side. "I was the orphan boy your brother, Elias, chased out of town. I was Colt. Your Colt." The silence stretched between us, a horse neighed. I looked at the tailored cut of his suit, the quiet arrogance in his posture. Elias and Jena, his cunning wife had spent years telling me Colt was nothing, a parasite destined for ruin, while they groomed me to be a dutiful asset for Jeremy. They had traded my compliance to save a failing company, never realizing who held the ledger. "You bought me from them," I said, my voice dead. Colt tilted his head, his eyes tracking the lace along my collarbone. "I bought Jeremy's debt. What he offered to clear it was his choice. Your brother agreed to the terms."