An Education for Amy [Men of Kinsey 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (7 page)

Closing her eyes, Amy let the breath out that she hadn’t even been aware she’d been holding and put her hands over Ethan’s, trying to push him away, but he would have no part in that. Amy was just about to scream at them how insane it was for her to be there when they knew how much trouble Jasper could cause when she heard a familiar voice calling from outside.

“Where is my bitch?” he yelled.

Before she could say anything, Adam, Ethan, and Jordon had taken off toward outside.

Amy called to them to stop, but when they continued, she followed behind them.

* * * *

Stepping out onto the porch, Ethan and Jordon were right on his heels. Adam saw Jasper and a few of his cronies waiting beside their trucks.

“Get off our property, Jasper,” Adam roared not even trying to hide his disgust at the man.

“Oh c’mon now, Adam!” Jasper laughed. “Where’s my welcome home, buddy?”

Jasper’s friends laughed and slapped him on the back as if he was the wittiest person on the planet.

“I just came to get my woman, and then I’ll leave in peace.” His smile never reached her eyes.

“First off, Jasper, she’s not your woman, she’s ours, and as such, she is under the Kinsey clan’s protection,” Jordon announced.

“Well now, isn’t that just a kick in the pants, boys? Seems my woman has been playing around on me. You just can’t trust a whore, now can you?”

Before he could even think about it, Adam grabbed his brothers’ arms and held onto them. “Don’t let this fuckhead bait you. He wants you to go at him. For now, let’s just get him off the property and away from Amy.”

Adam watched as some of the ranch hands started running up to the house, shotguns in hand. Adam wanted to know how Jasper and his buddies had gotten this close to the house without being noticed.

“A real man doesn’t have to beat a woman into submission, Jasper. A real man takes care of his woman,” he said as a motioned for Amy to come to him.

Amy pushed the screen door open and went to Adam. He could see that her body was shaking in fear, but their brave little woman wasn’t going to allow Jasper to see it.

“Hey there, Amy!” Jasper cooed. “Why don’t you come over here and give your man a big welcome home hug and kiss, and we’ll forget all about these assholes.”

When she started to step forward, Adam gently held her arm, whispering in her ear, “We’re right here, baby,” as he kissed her temple. Jordon and Ethan, too, moved close enough to each give her a kiss on the forehead. Turning, she faced Jasper.

Glancing to Adam, Ethan, and Jordon, Amy realized that she was no longer afraid of Jasper and just how safe she truly felt with the Kinsey men.

“I’m not your woman, Jasper. I haven’t been your woman since the first time you punched me in the face. I was always so afraid of you, but now I see you for what you really are. A coward. Because only a coward would beat up a woman then hide behind daddy’s coattails to get out of going to jail, and let’s face it, Jasper, you hide behind your daddy’s money every time you get into trouble. You’ve never been able to stand on your own two feet, and until you understand that, you never will.” Amy turned to walk back into the house when she heard the cocking of a gun. But just as quick, she also heard at least a dozen rifles being cocked back.

Lowering the pistol, Jasper snarled, “You ungrateful little whore. You get your ass over here right now.”

“You have exactly two minutes to turn your sorry ass around and get off our land, Jasper,” Ethan yelled. “It seems that Amy has made her decision, and don’t even think of coming back here, or next time, we won’t be as friendly.”

Stomping back to his truck, Jasper called out, “This isn’t over by a long shot, Kinsey. I’ve waited a long time to show my appreciation to Amy for her sending me to jail, and you’re not going to stop me.” With that said, he sped off down the gravel driveway.

“He’ll try again, you know,” Amy said quietly.

“Maybe so, but next time, we’ll be ready for him,” Jordon said then called all the ranch hands for a meeting at the cookhouse.

“I want to know how the fuck, that little prick got so close to the house without anyone seeing him!” Ethan barked.

“That’s why we need to have a talk with the hands now instead of later,” Jordon stated. “Someone saw them come on the property and didn’t think they needed to let us know. I want to know who it is, and I want him gone.”

Jordon watched Amy walk back into the house and through the screen door. He could see her sitting at the at the kitchen table, her head lowered onto the tabletop. He had wanted so badly to put a bullet in Jasper’s brain for all the hurt and grief he’d caused her, but that wasn’t the solution and he knew it. It may get Jasper out of the way quickly, but it would put him behind bars.

* * * *

Jordon wanted answers, and he wanted them immediately. Most of their ranch hands had worked for them for a number of years. Finding out that any of them had allowed that piece of shit, Jasper, onto their property wouldn’t sit well, not at all. As he sat on the steps of the house, he looked out across the yard and noticed that two of the younger hands were engaged in a very animated conversation just outside the main barn. Maybe he wouldn’t have to hold the meeting after all, he thought, and he headed in the direction of the two men.

“What’s all the yelling about, boys?” he asked. Both men turned, their faces paling at the sight of him.

“Ah, nothing, Mr. Kinsey, we were just having a friendly disagreement about football. You know how it is,” the shorter of the two spoke first. Jordon watched the taller one as his gaze went anywhere except on Jordon. Both men had their hands in their pockets and rocked back and forth slowly on their heels.

“You two are fairly new here, aren’t you? We generally like to get to know the new hands, but with everything going on around here, we haven’t had the time. Why don’t you boys come on up to the house and have some coffee with me and my brothers, and we’ll get to know each other better.” Stepping back, Jordon gestured for the two men to follow him toward the house.

“Sure, that would be just great,” said the taller man as he slowly walked to the house.

Jordon could see how nervous both men were as they entered the house and saw how his brothers were trying to comfort Amy and how distressed she was.

“Have a seat, gentlemen. I think there’s some business we need to discuss, don’t you?” Jordon made sure his voice was harder than it was before. He needed to find out if these two had helped Jasper and why.

Ethan was the first to speak up, curious as to why Jordon had brought the two men to the house.

“What’s going on, Jordon?”

“Just having a cup of coffee with our newest hands, Ethan. Since we haven’t had the time to get to know them, I thought we could all have a chat over coffee.”

“What’s your name, boy?” Adam growled at the taller man sitting beside him.

“Sean, sir…Sean Beaumont,” he said quietly.

“Beaumont! You’re Wayne’s son, aren’t you? I thought you looked familiar,” Ethan said.

“And you, son, you got a name?” Jordan asked the other man.

“John…uh, John Smith.” The shorter of the two men looked to his friend as if he expected him to contradict him. Sean just looked away, and Jordon could tell he was visibly angry at the other man.

“So John, Sean, which one of you wants to tell us how Jasper got onto our land without anyone seeing him?” The question cut right to the chase and gave the two men no quarter. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

John swallowed loudly, fidgeting in his seat as he looked from one brother to the next. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Kinsey,” he said, noticeably shaken.

“Damn it, Jason,” his friend said loudly. “Tell them the truth, or I will.”

“Shut your fucking mouth, Sean. They can’t prove anything,” John, or Jason, it seemed, whispered angrily.

“Fuck, you are such an idiot, Jason. Jasper fed you a line of crap, and now he’s landed you in some real deep shit. Start talking, now!” Sean slammed his hand on the table making Amy jump.

“Piss off, Sean,” was all Jason said.

Jordon looked to Sean, hoping that he would tell them what the hell was going on

Sighing, Sean said, “John here”—pointing to his friend—“is my moron of a cousin, Jason. Apparently, Jasper paid him to let him in through the gates over on the west pasture, told him that he wanted to surprise his old friends and his girlfriend so he couldn’t come through the front gate.”

Jason’s head hung down as Sean continued, “He didn’t know that Jasper had just gotten out of jail. Jasper told him he’d been overseas for a time.”

* * * *

Amy could tell by the way that Jason shifted uncomfortably in his seat that he knew how much shit he was in. She couldn’t blame him, though. Jasper had a way of making people believe that he was the nicest guy on the planet and he only wanted to make his woman happy.

Quietly, she stood and moved to the other side of the kitchen. She needed to separate herself from all the testosterone that was floating around. She saw Sean glance at her and then quickly look away as if he was ashamed of what his cousin had done. Her story wasn’t a secret in Kinsey. Jasper was the son of the mayor, and she’d sent him to jail for a while, so that was big news at the time.

“Jason,” Adam said, “we need you to be completely honest with us, young man. What you did could have had really bad consequences if Amy would have been in the house alone. Jasper lied to you, we understand that, but allowing any stranger on our property without letting us know is not something that we can let slide.”

Jason lifted his head. Placing his hands flat on the table in front of him, he said, “I’m sorry, sir. I thought I was helping to surprise you and Miss Amy. I never would have let him through if I had any idea of what he’d do. I’ll pack up my things and leave right away. And don’t blame Sean for any of this mess. He didn’t know anything about it until I told him about it, and he wanted me to tell you right away.”

Adam reached over and smacked the boy on the back. “Well, don’t go packing yet, young man. I said we wouldn’t let it slide. I didn’t say we were going to fire you.”

Jordon set cups of coffee in front of the two men and then sat down across the table from them.

“Where did you meet Jasper, Jason?” he asked.

“I was at the Silvers the other night, and him and a few of his friends came in and started throwing money around like it was water. When he found out I worked here, he told me that he’d been out of the country on some military mission and he hadn’t been able to contact his girl to let her know that he had come home. He said he knew she was staying with his best friends here at the ranch and wanted to surprise you all. He gave me five hundred dollars to open the gates and let him through. After I let him in, he paid me,” he reached into his pocket and placed the money Jasper had given him on the table, “and told me how grateful he was. I was so excited, I told Sean about it, and he just went crazy.” Sean blushed, trying not to feel like a bug under a microscope.

“Why didn’t you come to us right away, Sean? You know all about Jasper and why Amy was here,” Adam said.

Swallowing loudly, Sean said, “When he told me about it, Jasper was already at the house. That’s when I went and got Harry and the other guys. I thought you might need some help, so I wanted to make sure that you had backup. I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you before he got to the house.” Turning to Amy, Sean leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees.

“I’m so sorry that he got so close to you, Amy. If I would have known about it sooner, I promise you I would have said something. I know what kind of a bastard Jasper is, and I wouldn’t put any woman’s life in jeopardy that way.”

“I’m sorry, too, Miss Amy,” Jason said. “It was real stupid of me to believe that asshole, and I promise, if I’m still around, he won’t ever get anywhere near you or the bosses again.”

Amy saw the sincerity in the two young men’s faces. “I know you thought you were helping someone, Jason and Sean. I know you would never put my life or your bosses’ lives in danger. You did the right thing letting Harry and the others know right away, and I thank you for that.”

Jordon moved to lean against the counter. “Well, brothers, what should we do with these two?”

Ethan said, “I think that we should put them on night watch for the next week. That should keep them busy and out of trouble.” Jordan and Adam agreed, and both men let out deep sighs of relief.

“Hold it a minute,” Amy said, smiling. “I think that both men should be my personal bodyguards. Don’t you think?”

Adam growled and moved in behind her, pressing her against the island counter. “Oh, trust me, baby girl, you will not have to worry about your body being unguarded at night.” Shivers raced down her spine as Adam wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his hard body. Damn, she loved the way he made her body feel.

Leaning her head back against his shoulder, she watched as Ethan and Jordon rushed the two young men out of the house then came back into the kitchen. Quickly, Adam picked her up and sat her on the counter in front of him. As he stepped between her legs, pushing them open so he could get closer, he roughly pulled her hips against him and brought his mouth down for a punishing kiss.