Unleashed #4 by Callie Harper Read Free Book Online Page B

the owner of Kara’s ranch, I knew that much.
    Nine a.m., I had my
lawyer make the phone call. Fifteen minutes later he phoned me back.
The deal was done. All that pain and worry I’d put Kara through and
all it took me was a two-minute phone call plus some wait time as my
lawyer did his job. I truly was an asshole.
    You know who might have
been a bigger one, though? That Culpepper asshat. First of all, what
he’d offered for Kara’s ranch had been peanuts, an insult. Only a
desperate, down-on-her luck woman would accept an offer that low. I
hadn’t realized Kara had been backed so far into a corner. Another
strike against me.
    She’d been trying to
be brave, I could see that now, keeping quiet about it all. But if
I’d asked and listened she probably would have told me. I’d done
neither. I’d taken her like a caveman, dragging her off to spank
and fuck her and ignore everything else for my own selfish pleasure.
I could truly be a dick.
    I should have bailed
her out the second I saw her. The minute she told me she needed help,
I should have done it. It was all so simple. But no, I’d put her
through hell because I was a selfish bastard. I chose to torture her
so I could keep her with me instead of helping her and letting her
go.
    I could say I wished
she’d told me how close she was to the edge, but I should have
known. It wasn’t like I’d always had money. How quickly rich
assholes forgot what it was like to be in real dire straits.
    But Lymon Culpepper,
him I really hated. He wouldn’t sell for anything less than double
his offer. Normally, I’d have worn him down. Used time, pressure,
all my bag of tricks. But in this case, I wanted it done. I needed it
done. This transaction took his grubby paws off her deed, and that
couldn’t happen fast enough.
    “The guy’s shady,”
my lawyer, Stephen, confirmed on the phone. “He wanted to rob her
blind.”
    “But it’s done?”
    “You made him an
offer he couldn’t refuse.”
    “Greedy little fuck.”
I flicked a paperclip off my desk. It crashed into the wall, then
fell to the floor. I’d like to do that to Lymon Culpepper. I didn’t
like giving that slimy rat money, but honestly it wasn’t much to
me. And it got the job done. He was out of the picture, effective
immediately.
    “It’s all taken
care of. Money wired into his account. And I’ve arranged to have
the deed delivered to her by courier, as you requested,” Stephen
continued.
    “When will it
arrive?”
    “End-of-business day
today.”
    I exhaled with
frustration. Stephen knew me well enough to understand without my
saying. I wanted it there sooner.
    “It’s a long ways
away, Declan. Even five o’clock is a stretch.”
    “Yup.” I knew it
was true. She lived out in the middle of nowhere. But I wanted that
piece of paper in her hands. I couldn’t rest until I knew her
anguish was eased.
    “And my name?” I
asked.
    “Kept out of it
entirely.”
    “Good man.”
    As per my instructions,
my attorney, Stephen, had purchased the property under the auspices
of an anonymous buyer. There was no need to put my stamp on it, get
involved personally. My name wasn’t on any of this.
    I wasn’t a good man.
But for once in my life I could try. I could attempt to do something
selfless, not take credit, not grab the apple from the tree but let
it hang there to ripen full. I knew she’d suspect I’d done it,
but I didn’t want to take credit. That’s how the good guys did
it, wasn’t it? They made the rescue happen, but didn’t need to
have their photo front and center in tomorrow’s papers.
    Lord knew I was no good
guy. I was a dark beast of a man. But I was a dark beast who’d at
least seen movies about good guys. I could copy them, imitate that
kind of selfless altruism. Even though deep inside I wanted to
pedal-to-the-metal all the way to Kara’s, grab her and shout
“mine!” I wanted to tell her I’d rescued her, given her
everything she’d wanted, and drag her off to a cave. But