Dust Storm (The Griffith Brothers, #1)

by Maggie C. Gates

I hated Texas already. The air was so fresh it was nauseating. The breeze was giving me a headache.

Tripp. What kind of fucking name was that? Was it short for something? Trippworth? Trippington? Tripped-Over-​His-​Ego?

“And why are there—” She blinked in disbelief. “Are those pool noodles on his horns?” “He’s clumsy. It keeps him from breaking shit on the property.”

I reached for my door handle, but he beat me to it. “Rule number one. You ride in my truck, you let me open the door.”

The corporate fruit salad she spoke fluently was going to give me a migraine.

“But, Dad,” Gracie whined. God, that sound makes me want to stuff my head into a paper shredder.

“You can eat people, too. Particularly women. Or did your fiancé not do that for you, princess?”

“She carries the weight of my name. She’s a Griffith to you.” They nodded in agreement. I turned back to Jackson. “If you so much as look at her wrong and she wants you gone, you’re gone. Have I made myself clear?”

“You taught your girls the phrase ‘posture like a princess, hips like a whore’?” Christian’s laugh was dark. “That was the saying I was taught with. My girls got the G-rated version.”

“About today⁠—” “It’s fine,” I blurted out. Christian shook his head, then said the sexiest thing I had ever heard. “It’s not fine. I told you I’d be there, and I wasn’t. So, I’m sorry.” I’m so fucked.

“Be a problem solver, not a problem.” I chuckled. “I’m going to start using that with the girls.”

“Well, with your dead mom, you’re halfway to being fairy-tale princesses. It’s statistically impossible to be a fantasy heroine without two dead parents or a dead parent and an evil stepmother. Find some mice and singing birds and figure it out, ladies.”

“I didn’t love him.” Cassandra sniffed back tears, but they just kept streaming down her face, streaking her makeup. “I just wanted to be loved.”

“All the shit that gets stirred up and clouds your mind. Eventually it’ll settle. You’ll be able to breathe easier.” He looked ahead. “Doesn’t make it better in the moment. Dust storms happen. It’s okay to close your eyes and stumble through.”

“I want to be the person that people go to when there’s a problem. I want to be the one who gets the calls in the middle of the night to fix something that’s going wrong. I want to be the one that holds everything together. I want to be irreplaceable.”

“Cassandra?” My breath caught at hearing him use my full name. “Yes?” “Get that goddamn ring out of my house.”

Principal Beeker scoffed. “You think you’re going to—​what? Run a smear campaign against me?” “I have no hobbies and, frankly, hate the outdoors. Living on a ranch is my version of hell.” Cassandra grinned like a dragon about to breathe fire. “So trust me when I say that a smear campaign is child’s play for me. I have all the time in the world to do it. I’ll run for the school board, and my first order of business will be to have your head served on a silver platter. I’ll personally use your resignation letter as my napkin. You wanna look up my track record? The last political campaign I worked on was a senate race, and the man ended up in the president’s cabinet after three months. I dare you to try me.”

“The only time you’ll kneel will be over my face so I can pleasure my queen the way she deserves.”

“Ah. So you don’t have the supernatural self-​control I thought you did. Good to know you’re human.” His laugh turned into a kiss. “Kings, tyrants, and gods couldn’t resist you, darling. How could I?”

“There’s a lot of gray area in that. You wanna be tied up and teased? I’ve got rope. You want me to pull your hair and turn your ass red? It would be my pleasure, princess.”

“It takes a strong cowboy to put up with a bull, and a strong woman to put up with a cowboy.”

“If Daddy ever gets married again and we get an evil stepmother, I hope it’s you.” Well, shit. “I promise to limit poisoning attempts with apples to twice a day,” I said as I hustled back to my room, blinking back tears.

“There are three things I know for certain,” he said as he stood and sifted his fingers through my hair. “The sun is gonna rise tomorrow. My girls love you. And you were meant to be ours.”