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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Elsie Silver
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September 10 - September 15, 2025
After he canceled a couple of Saturday dinners in a row, I kind of got the hint. We’ve been nothing short of cordial and professional—if a little cool.
He does have a job to do
We unload him without incident, make sure he’s set with food and water, and then I go in search of my very special jockey, leaving DD behind with Violet to ensure he’s the shiniest version of himself for his big debut.
Why do I have a bad feeling about this?!
The Ice King continues to glare at me. What a riot. He seems like a fun guy. Said no one ever.
“Mothers always think their own children are special. I’ve been in this business long enough to know that a horse is just a horse until it proves itself,” he says. “Same can be said for a trainer.”
Oh...so he's a dick.
“Congratulations. I’ve worked with some of the best horses in the world. You might be a big fish in a small pond, but I’m almost positive I didn’t see any big-name derby wins anywhere on your record.”
🤣🤣🤣 damn son
His eyes narrow. My aim for sore spots is exceptional. “But this horse could actually do that for you. For us. So, you’re going to drop the attitude and listen to me. I don’t really need you to believe he’s special, but I do need you to execute my plan in a very precise fashion.”
Patrick reaches back and gives Double Diablo three hard thwacks with the whip. Something I realize I’ve never seen Billie or Violet do in all the times I snuck around the back of the barn to watch them train.
She said no fucking whip.
“I would rather have watched Patrick get dumped in the mud.”
Honestly same...he ignored her advice.
Zoning out at the bar, musing to myself, I feel the room go quiet. I turn back to the door to see Billie, wild-eyed and muddy. Covered in raindrops, her bronze braid looks darker than usual. Loose pieces of hair plaster against her forehead, and her eyes look like burning coals. Wearing a black pantsuit, she looks downright scary.
I knew she would be pissed. He ignored everything she told him to do because he thinks he knows better. What an asshole.
He’s clueless about what is coming up behind him. And within a few moments I realize I am too. Because Billie stalks up behind the small man, and my brain is obviously a little slow on the uptake, because I am downright floored when she winds up one arm like she’s the batter up at a baseball game, racing whip in hand, and gives him one sharp spank smack dab in the middle of his tiny ass.
🤣🤣🤣
He lets out a high pitch shocked scream and spins around to face Billie.
“You gonna scream like that,” Billie says, gesturing the whip up and down his body in a condescending way, “and then try to tell me it doesn’t hurt?”
“How… how dare you!” he splutters. Pointing that whip right at his throat, Billie leans down just enough to be exactly at his eye level. “How. Dare. You. You fucking rat bastard.” Patrick’s hand falls across his chest in the most scandalized way. Every eye in the room is on Patrick and Billie. You could hear a pin drop. “You work for me. I gave you explicit instructions. I brushed off your small-man-syndrome chauvinistic comments to forge a working relationship. And what did you do?” “I will not allow you to talk to me this way, Wilhelmina. Though, it shouldn’t surprise me that Victor
...more
“I’m not done yet, Little Patty. I want to make myself clear, so look me in the eye before you run and hide.” She bends even lower, her face coming within only a few inches of his, with the whip still resting on his shoulder. “You will never ride another one of my horses again. You will never come near Double Diablo again. The only view you’re going to get of him is of his shiny, black ass while you watch him cross the finish line.” She lowers the whip and stands up tall. “And as for me? My family has no bearing on my professional life. I’m no mother hen. I’m a fucking mother bear. And you
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“Is she okay?” I hear from down the hall. “Hey, Hank.” I drop my hand and look up at the ceiling, “I don’t know.” “Did she put on a show at least?” he inquires with a smile in his voice. A laugh bubbles out of my throat. “Did she ever.” “She’s an impressive woman.”
I reach my left hand up to the emergency exit door and knock three times. “Billie? It’s Vaughn. I’ll just wait here until you’re ready for company.” “Man. You’re like the clap. I can’t fucking get rid of you,” is her muffled response.
moments stretch into minutes. “Why didn’t you go off on me in there?” “Lost steam, I guess,” is her quiet response. “I have a hard time believing that.” “Because I know you well enough to know you’ll be beating yourself up about it anyway. I don’t need to say anything. You’ll shoulder your family guilt and any guilt I give you like you’re a modern-day Sisyphus or something. And you were probably too busy trying to bang the bartender to watch the race anyways.”
That was a low blow, and my fingers clamp down on the metal bar. “Is that really what you think?” “Sure is,” she spits out while turning to rip the door open and head back inside. But not before I can turn and slam a palm down, forcing it closed from behind her.
“Vaughn, I am so not in the mood for your trust fund baby temper ...
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He's not the one throwing a bitch fit right now ma'am
I had been clear with him. Precise. Forceful, but specific. And he had outright defied me, and now an animal who trusted us enough, against his natural instincts, to do what we asked of him was the one paying the price. That fucker was lucky I only hit him once. I was ready to turn him into a spit roast on that whip. Especially after spilling everything about my sordid past in a room full of people.
Just thinking about it makes me feel sick and ramps my heartbeat back up. Heats my blood. I am terrible at letting things go, and I can already tell this will be a night that sticks with me for years to come.
“I’m going to kill that arrogant little fuck,” Violet spits out. Hank and I both turn to look at her with jaws unhinged and flapping in the breeze.
“Vi… did you just swear? Are you sure you’re old enough to talk that way?” I ask, trying to infus...
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“That’s rich coming from you, B,” she barks back. “You swear l...
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“She behaves like one too,” Hank adds with a chuckle. “Or at least that’s word on...
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“Patty may or may not be nursing a big old whip welt across his ass,” I explain with a cringe.
🤣🤣🤣
“I don’t want Vaughn here. I know you have to tell him, but I’m too mad at the Harding brothers right now to deal with their shit. Please, whatever you can do to make that happen.”
Vaughn didn't do shit to you.
I want to be relieved, but I’ll believe it when I see it. She thinks his stress reaction triggered the episode which makes me want to kill Patrick and Cole even more. And probably just maim Vaughn for being such a fucking pushover. Idiots, the lot of them.
A pushover?! He only owns half the ranch..he does have to comply sometimes and fucj you for being mad at him
Her very own Black Beauty.
“I actually do think you’re unstable,” I deadpan, which makes her laugh but also earns me a firm poke in the ribs. “Billie, some people celebrate Mother’s Day for being a ‘dog-mom.’ That’s unstable. Crying over a sick horse that you love isn’t.”
Until you pair it all up with one of the worst cases of trucker’s mouth ever.
“How long you been staring at me, Boss Man?” she mutters. “Since day one,” I whisper in her ear. “Take the sappy shit somewhere else, Vaughn.” I snort. “There she is.”
I revert to Spoiled Brat Vaughn and shove DD’s rope towards her, shaking it. “You’re right. Here. Take it.” She takes it but tries to capture my hand too. I yank it away. “Vaughn, I’m sorry,” she whispers, looking stunned at my reaction.
The good news is that this frightening look is an excellent way to deter Vaughn from whatever has been running through his head since last night. After seeing me in the light, he’s probably already imagining all the fancy well-bred women he can invite on his next date. My raggedy ass just gave him the push he needed.
you're an idiot
What a caveman.
bruh
“I don’t want to talk. We’re not friends.” His words are like a paper cut. They sting, but don’t produce any blood. “What I want is you, straddling me, and I don’t let friends do that.”
“No, Billie.” His hands stroke me. “I’m going to eat that perfect pink pussy and then put you back to bed. And tomorrow? Tomorrow all you’re going to think about is how good you felt with my tongue inside of you.”
Over the years, Hank has implied I may have commitment issues. And the nosy fucker might not be all wrong. Cheers, Mom and Dad! You sent me out into the world with something, after all.
And the really insecure part of me is also wondering why the fuck Vaughn would make date plans with another woman if he really wants to be more than friends with me?
He literally told you last night his mom keeps setting him up and he accepts because he loves her not because he wants to go on dates ffs.
Vaughn said all the right things last night to break down my guarded exterior, and I fell for it.
😒😒
I do think he is a twenty-eight-year-old man stuck under mommy’s thumb, though.
ew, such a bitch
Vaughn has no backbone with his mom, and I’m not here for it.
Or Vaughn is a good sun and sucks it up so his mom feels important and useful
A date I have no intention of partaking in. Especially, after last night. It’s no wonder Billie shot out of here with that too-sunny, awkward smile on her face. She was totally freaking out, and that text was the cherry on top.
You can add ASSUMING SHIT WITHOUT ASKING TO THAT LIST OF ANNOYANCES
“You don’t need to do that! I’m all good. Bye!” Her fake enthusiasm makes me roll my eyes.
I opt to just blurt it out, “You’re going to have to stop setting up dates for me. It’s gone on long enough now. No more.”
My feelings for her scare me. They’ve paralyzed me. Basically, I’m a total pussy.
People taking off on me when things go wrong is common. My mom. My brother. I’ve been here before. But somehow with Billie, it’s worse.
I remain silent, wanting to believe her but warring with my current frame of mind that tells me people you love aren’t always who you think you are. That they can’t always be trusted.
But Billie isn’t him, and I don’t want to spend my life wallowing in his betrayal. I don’t want to be the sad, quiet guy with grand-daddy issues.
And I’m mad at him for asking me what I’m doing, totally rubbing it in.
See there goes that assuming shit again.
