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and wrapped her arms around
herself as she thought of all the ways that this man would take out
his revenge on her. Now she knew her life will truly be a nightmare
and her mind grew so muddled she could not think of any way out of
it.
     
    Dane went slowly down stairs, the woman will
probably not be easy to handle; that he knew was definitely a
certainty. Even though he might have made the greatest mistake in
his life, he could not deny he still wanted her. Desperately.
    He wanted her with a passion that over took
his common sense. He shook his head in disgust at himself. Damn
this uncontrollable lust, well all he could do is hope things would
work out.
    Tuff stood up when Dane came back into the
parlor. He guessed by the look on the boy’s face that things
between him and his wife were not good. “Well boyo I hope yah don’t
live to regret this day. She don’t seem too fond of yah. Let’s just
hope that over the next few days her disposition towards yah will
change.”
    Dane could only silently agree, but he did
not hold out to much hope. Grunting in answer, he ran his fingers
through his hair. “Come on old man let’s get changed and ready to
leave. I can’t wait to get back home.”
     
    Slightly, in control of herself, India
suddenly jumped to her feet remembering his threat to come back up
to her room. By God if he tried to lay a finger on her, she would
shoot him. As she rushed to change her clothes, her thoughts were
on how she might be able escape the bastard.
    That's what she intended to do, escape him.
Her life would be a living hell if she were going to be forced to
spend the rest of it with him. She doubted she could survive
spending eternity with him. They both detested each other, and she
doubted the situation would ever be any different.
    No, she needed to find a way to leave. The
money hidden away in one of the wagons would be enough to live on
for six months or more if she needed to. She just finished pulling
on her boots when a knock sounded on her door.
    Her mouth thinned into a hard line knowing
who stood outside her room. At this point, if she laid eyes on her
brother the thin control she held on her emotions would snap
completely.
    Jarrod knocked again on his sister’s door
and when she refused to answer, he let out a heavy sigh. He decided
to wait for her down stairs. Hopefully, by the time she came down
her anger towards him would have eased some.
    When she heard Jarrod walk away, India
snorted in disgust. Coward she thought as she stood up and started
to braid her hair. Finished she picked up her hat and placed it on
her head. On her way out the door, she swept up her gun and gun
belt.
    As soon as she came down stairs, she saw her
brother waiting for her and sneered. “What do you want now? Surely
you don’t have another debt you want me to pay?”
    Jarrod winced. Not only from his sister’s
look but her ugly words as well. “Please India; you must know how
much I hated doing this to you.”
    “ You ruin my life and all you think
about is your own feelings. You’ve ruined my life.” India spat
him.
    Jarrod’s shoulders sagged but he gazed at
his sister hopefully. “You don’t know that India. Dane seems to be
a good man and who knows, you just might fall in love with
him.”
    A look of incredulous horror spread across
her face and India truly thought that her brother might be insane.
“Oh for God’s sake. Jarrod you ruined my life, and you did it to
save yourself. I despise you both.” She pushed past him and hurried
out of the house.
    Her words lashed at him and Jarrod doubted
that his sister would ever forgive him for forcing her into this
situation.

 
     
    FIVE
     
    Dane finished saddling his horse when Tuff
approached him. He let out a sigh of forbearance and turned to face
him. He knew by the look on the old man’s face that he would suffer
another lecture, and he couldn’t do anything about it.
    Tuff had been part of the family for so long
that he, along with Chin Li