Page 66 of Branded

The betrayal hits harder than any of Walker’s accusations.

“You think I’m the leak,” I say to Sebastian. It’s not a question.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” My voice is cold. “You’re wondering if your father’s right. Suppose I’ve been playing you since California. Suppose everything between us has been a lie.”

“Lennox.”

“No.” I step back, away from all of them. “You know what? Fuck you. Believe whatever you want. Think I’m a spy, a plant, a traitor. I don’t care any more.”

“Lennox, wait.” Sebastian reaches for me.

I jerk away from his touch. “Don’t. Just don’t.”

I walk out of the hospital room, down the sterile hallway, past nurses and visitors and the ordinary people with everyday problems who aren’t being accused of treason by their husband’s family.

The automatic doors slide open, and I step into morning sunlight, Texas heat already building despite the early hour. I have no car, no way to get back to the ranch, no idea where I’m even going.

I just know I can’t be in that room any more. Can’t stand there while Walker destroys me with suspicion, and Sebastian lets him.

“Lennox!” Footsteps behind me. Sebastian’s voice. “Stop. Please.”

I keep walking across the parking lot. “Why? So you can interrogate me some more? Try to trip me up, catch me in a lie?”

“So we can talk about this like adults.” He catches up, moves in front of me, blocking my path. “You can’t just walk out.”

“Watch me.”

“Where are you going to go? We’re twenty miles from the ranch, and you don’t have a vehicle.”

“Then I’ll walk. Or hitchhike. Or call a cab.” I try to move around him. “I don’t care. I just need to not be around you right now.”

“Lennox, please.” His hands settle on my shoulders, holding me in place. “Dad’s just scared. Paranoid and on a pile of pain meds. He’s looking for threats everywhere because someone has betrayed us.”

“And I’m the convenient scapegoat because I’m new? Because no one really knows me. Because it’s easier to blame the outsider than consider that one of your loyal ranch hands might be the problem.” I shove at his chest. “You bought me, you brought me here, so how do you explain that? Huh, Sebastian? I’m leaving, this is too stupid for me.”

“Not until you listen.”

“Listen to what? More accusations?” My voice cracks despite my best efforts. “I risked everything last night. Went back onto Marshall land, where I could’ve been killed. Moved twenty-three head of cattle in the dark, alone. And now—because I wanted to prove to you that I’m more than just a woman you bought and paid for—I’m being treated like a criminal?”

“I don’t think you’re a criminal. And you weren’t alone, I was with you.”

I scoff.

“Your father all but called me a spy, and you just stood there.” The hurt bleeds through now, sharp and cutting. “If you believed in me, if you trusted me at all, you would’ve shut him down immediately. But you didn’t. Because part of you wonders if he’s right.”

Sebastian’s hands drop from my shoulders. “It’s not that simple.”

“It really is. Either you trust me or you don’t. And clearly, you don’t.”

“I barely know you!” The words burst out of him, frustrated and raw. “We’ve been married two weeks. Most of that time, I’ve been trying to figure out who you really are underneath all the performance. And now my father is pointing out legitimate concerns about timing and access.”

“Nothing adds up in a way that makes me guilty!” I’m shouting now, past caring who hears. “If I were working for Marshall, why would I help you recover the cattle? Why not just let them stay lost? Why put myself at risk?”

“To maintain cover. To gain trust for a bigger play down the line.” He shrugs.

“Or maybe, and I know this is crazy, maybe I was just trying to help my husband’s family recover their stolen property because I’m good with cattle.” I step back, creating distance between us. “But if you can’t see that, if you’d rather believe your father’s paranoid conspiracy theories than give me the benefit of the doubt, then we have a bigger problem than cattle theft.”