Branded Read Online Free Page A

man—you know that?”
    â€œNaw,” Sam returned. “Just a man. A man who can still notice a pretty gal.”
    Deacon turned back to the barn. Pretty didn’tcome close to describing how Mackenzie Byrd had turned out. She was more along the lines of “stunning” or “fucking drop-dead gorgeous” if you asked him. But no one had, and he wasn’t about to state that fact out loud. Hell, he really shouldn’t be thinking it at all.
    â€œShe a good foreman?” Deacon asked.
    â€œBest I ever seen,” Sam replied. “And you know I seen a few.” He sighed. “The girl is tough, smart, and she loves this land. Almost more than Everett did. Takes care of it like it’s her lifeblood.”
    Well, that was damn unfortunate. Despite her wild, pain-in-the-neck ways before Cass’s death, Mackenzie had been the one calm in the storm—shit, more like Noah’s second coming—afterward. She’d offered herself up as sister and friend to each of them. Trying to get them to talk, to rely on her for comfort. Cole had wanted to, but both James and Deacon thought it was best not to bring her into the secret and shameful hell they were in.
    â€œWhere’s she livin’?” Deacon asked the cowboy. “Up at the foreman’s quarters?”
    â€œWas,” Sam answered. “Until a few hours ago, anyway.”
    That brought Deacon’s head around. “What do you mean?”
    The cowboy was leaning on the truck now. “She gave it over to your brother. Thought Jameswould want to be near the horses with his work an’ all.”
    Deacon’s brow lifted. “James is here?”
    The old man nodded. “Got in this mornin’. So all we need is Cole, and the family’s back together.”
    Deacon snorted. “So, where’s Mac staying, then? The river cottage?”
    â€œWhy you so interested in her?”
    â€œJust curious, is all.”
    It was Sam’s turn to snort. “Yeah, I believe that.”
    â€œShe with that cowboy?”
    â€œBlue Perez? Nope. Just good friends.”
    Deacon nodded.
    Sam narrowed his eyes, shook his head, even wagged a finger. “Don’t be settin’ your sights there, Deac. She may’ve had a crush on you back when she was a girl, but she’s a woman now. A ranch foreman. She ain’t interested in slicked-back hair, silk ties, French restaurants, or men who run from the very thing she holds most dear.”
    Heat coiled inside of Deacon, and he asked through tightly gritted teeth, “And what is that?”
    â€œThe Triple C Ranch,” Sam said without a second’s hesitation.
    Eyes narrowed, Deacon turned back to watch Mac and the cowboy lead their horses into the barn. He wasn’t interested in her. Not in the way Sam was implying. Sure, he thought she was abeautiful woman. But hell, there were a million of those running around. He had one reason for being here, and it had nothing to do with romancing the Triple C’s foreman.
    â€œSo, where you staying then, boy?” Sam asked him. “That house on your land finished yet?”
    â€œNope. I’ll be bunking up at the main house, I think. Maybe my old room. If it hasn’t been turned into a smoker or a sewin’ circle or something.”
    â€œThere’s a decent hotel in town,” Sam suggested quickly. “That might be a better idea—”
    â€œDon’t think so,” Deacon cut him off. “Want to be around the family, like you said.”
    Sam’s voice went dangerously soft. “Don’t make no trouble here, Deac. I know what you do in the city. How you earn your billions, breakin’ up companies and sellin’ ’em to the highest bidder. And I know how you play around with all those beautiful, plastic fillies. Don’t bring that ’round here. Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you. Pigs get fat, boy, but hogs get