Author: Tiffany Reisz

“Why…” she whispered across the sheets as Wesley stirred and opened his eyes.

“Why what?” he mumbled, pulling her close to him. For a minute he and Nora wrestled with arm placement. With Søren in the mornings, she’d simply drape herself across his broad chest—no arm wrestling necessary. She wasn’t used to this side-by-side, face-to-face, can’t-figure-out-where-everyone’s-arm-goes thing.

“What are you doing?” Wesley asked as Nora wriggled against him, trying to find a comfortable position.

“I think I’ll need to cut my arm off if we’re going to lie like this. Or you’ll have to cut yours off.”

“Nora, have you never cuddled before?”

“Not like this. Here. You lay on your back. I’ll lay on you.”

“Fine. Fine…” Wesley rolled onto his back and Nora collapsed onto his chest. He let out a puff of air as she scrambled into position. “Are you made of lead?”

“I’m solid muscle and evil. Stop bitching and cuddle me.”

Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her. “Yes, ma’am.”

Closing her eyes, Nora nestled against Wesley’s chest—not quite as broad as Søren’s, but warmer, closer. And Wesley’s young heart beat faster than Søren’s. Was that his natural rate or just a side effect of having a naked woman on his body?

“How are you this morning?” Nora asked, turning her eyes up to his.

“Good.” Wesley nodded after he’d paused to think about his answer. “Really good. I feel like I could do anything I wanted today.”

“Welcome to afterglow. It’s nice, right?”

“Very. They should sell this stuff on the black market.”

“They do. It’s called pot.”

“Kentucky’s unofficial number-one cash crop.”

Nora’s eyes widened. “I like this state more and more every day.”

Groaning, Wesley sat up and sent Nora sliding onto her back. He slapped her lightly on the bottom and she yelped much louder than necessary. Wesley stared at her with shock.

“Sorry,” she said. “Force of habit. What?”

“Let’s go. Clothes on.”

“Both of those are horrible ideas. Why and where?”

“We’ve gotta figure out what happened to Spanks for Nothing.”

“Really? We are?” Nora crawled off the bed and started throwing clothes on.

“Yeah. You said Talel’s a good guy and wouldn’t kill his own horse. If you believe in him, so do I. After all, no horse owner in his right mind would kill their own moneymaker. Not unless they were completely desperate for quick money.”

“And Talel has money, so that can’t be it. Any theories?” Nora pulled on her jeans and T-shirt. She probably should have taken a shower, but she didn’t want to waste the time and she sort of enjoyed smelling like sex with Wesley. Maybe more than sort of.

“Nope. Let’s just go over there and talk.”

“Good plan. You talk. I’ll…not talk.”

“Deal.”

In ten minutes time they were in Nora’s Aston Martin, heading down the parkway.

“Where are we going?” Nora asked as they took an exit. She’d let Wesley drive, since he knew the way and she planned to imbibe extraordinary amounts of coffee.

“Paris.”

Nora choked on her coffee.

“Paris? That’s a little more than a day trip, Wes.”

“Paris, Kentucky. That’s where Talel’s farm is. Well, one of them.”

“How many damn farms does he have?”

“Two less than we do.” Wesley glanced at her and winked.

Nora rolled her eyes. “So much for my semi-normal guy fantasy.”

“What? Who’s a semi-normal guy?”

“You are. Or were. When we lived together, I would catch myself thinking about how nice it was to be with a semi-normal guy. I mean, semi in that you’re way hotter than actual normal guys. And smarter. And a virgin. Well, you were back then. But now you’re not. You’ve got more money than God. Or at least more than Talel.”

“Well, it’s my parents’, really. But I’ll inherit it all someday, I guess. Ten thousand acres at last count, including the satellite farms in Maryland and Tennessee. Two hundred horses in training. Five or six hundred broodmares and yearlings.”

Nora turned away from him to stare out the car window. She’d never seen so many miles of green in her life.

“What will you do with this empire of yours?”

Wesley shook his head. “I don’t know. The amount of work my father does every day—it’s insane. He’s gotten up at 4:30 a.m. every day for as long as I can remember. He looks strong and healthy, but he’s been fighting ulcers since I was ten.”

“Sell it.”

“What?”

“Sell it. Sell it all. Get rid of it if you don’t want it. You went to college in Connecticut, never told me one word about your life here. We went horseback riding, but only for fun. You want to be a doctor, not run an empire, right?”

“Right.”

“Then sell it. Griffin sold off his grandfather’s horses. Never looked back.”

“This farm is a legend. And it’s been in my family for generations. It’s my father’s obsession. It’s my father’s legacy.”

“Stealing cars, chopping them up and getting whacked by the mob is my father’s legacy, Wes. Just because our parents care about something doesn’t mean we have to.”

Wesley shook his head. “Can’t do it. I’d never forgive myself for selling The Rails.”

“Then what’s the other option?”

“I don’t know. Mom and I talked about it. She said I should marry a woman into horses and let her run the farm, while I did whatever I wanted. Mom’s allergic to horses. She has to take shots every week just to breathe through her nose.”

Nora laughed. “I like your mom. Good thinking. We’ll have to find you a wife who’s really into this shit so you can go play doctor.”

“I’d rather have a wife who’s into me.”

“That’s crazy talk.”

Nora and Wesley crazy talked all the way to Paris. When they drove up to Unstableside Farms, Nora couldn’t help but gasp aloud again.

“What?” Wesley demanded.

“Wesley, this is insane. Why does everyone in Kentucky live in a fucking palace?”

“Clearly, I need to take to you to eastern Kentucky. You’re getting a very skewed perception of this state.”

“Eastern Kentucky? What’s there?”

“Ever seen Deliverance?”

Nora pushed her sunglasses on and scoffed. “Seen it, Wes? I’ve lived it.”

Wesley rolled his eyes as he parked the car in the circular driveway in front of the massive colonial manor that comprised the main house at Unstableside.

“Unstable? Adorable,” Nora said. “Talel has a little too much fun with his English.”

“He gives his horses the most fun names. Mom names all our horses and she’s real conservative. No BDSM references.”

“I want to name a horse.”

“If you stay here, you can name all the horses from now on.”

Nora’s heart tightened at the smile on Wesley’s face. She was so used to Søren loving her that it hardly registered anymore. Søren’s love was like the sky—huge and ubiquitous, always there without fail. She no more expected his love to go away than she would ever imagine walking outside at night and seeing a void where the stars should be. But Wesley’s love…it seemed so strange to her, so novel. Where had it come from? And why? She would understand the origin of the stars before she ever got why this beautiful boy, so sweet and pure, would love a woman like her.

Wesley rang the bell at Talel’s front door and took her hand as they waited.

“So we can just drive up here and ring the bell?” Nora asked, shocked by the lack of security.

“Nope. We can’t. But I can.” He grinned at her again and Nora stuck her tongue out.

“Fine. I get it. You own Kentucky. When we go back to New York, I’m going to take you places only I can get us into.”

“Do we have to?”

“Have to what? Go into places only I can get us into?”

“No…” Wesley’s smile left his face. “Go back to New York.”

Nora sighed heavily as she squeezed his hand. “This is your world, kid. Not mine. You know I don’t belong here.”

“You told me once you loved it down south.”

“I was talking about anal sex.”

“Of course you were.”

The door opened and Wesley started to introduce himself to the young woman who’d answered. She ushered them in before Wesley could even get his name out.

When the woman turned her back, Nora stuck her tongue out at Wesley.

“Big shot,” she mouthed.

“Big money,” he replied, not sounding terribly impressed with himself. Nora could sympathize. Wesley didn’t really care about horse racing. During the year and a half they’d lived together, he’d talked at length about his med-school dreams…becoming a pediatrician, treating kids like himself, with type 1 diabetes and other diseases. Helping people, helping children. He cared as much about his family money as Søren cared about his. Søren had given away every cent he’d inherited. His trust fund had gone to Kingsley, and had financed the Underground empire. The bulk of his inheritance he’d given to his two sisters. As a Catholic parish priest he made about thirty thousand dollars a year. Of course, with Kingsley around, Søren had access to anything and everything he needed. And Nora kept him well supplied with grand pianos and high-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets. Even when he told her not to.

Nora squeezed Wesley’s hand as Talel—wearing jeans and a black shirt and looking as exotically handsome as usual—came down the stairs toward them with a smile on his face.

“It’s always a good day when the Prince of Kentucky and the Queen of the Underground come calling.” Talel shook Wesley’s hand and kissed Nora on the cheek.

“Ex-Queen of the Underground,” she told him. “I’ve retired.”

“I heard the rumors. I didn’t believe them, then. I don’t believe them now. Let me take you to the stables and hand you a riding crop. We’ll see how long it takes before you start swatting someone with it.”

Nora released a wistful sigh. “I do miss all my riding crops. I kept the red one, of course.”

“You’d be Arthur without Excalibur had you given it up. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Talel asked as he ushered them into the front room.

Nora’s eyes widened at all the silver cups and trophies that littered the massive living room. They sat on the fireplace mantel, the windowsills, on shelves and tables and podiums. Ribbons spilled out of the cups. Sashes draped across the trophies.

“Damn.” She nodded in approval.

“If you’re impressed by my winnings,” Talel said as he beamed his smile around the room, “it’s only because you haven’t seen the trophy room at The Rails.”

“No, I haven’t. Why is that, Wes?”

“Because Dad won’t let you in the house,” Wesley reminded her.

“Right. Forgot. Anyway, Talel…we just came by about Spanks for Nothing. What the hell happened?”

Talel sighed heavily and shook his head. “We’re trying to find that out. He was on some medication for some slight congestion. Possibly the dose was off. I can’t say for certain. It’s a tragedy. Amazing horse. Impressive speed and stamina. Could run on any track. Headed for the Derby.”