Page 21 of Cash’s Trouble

“Never said it did.”

There’s no handshake and no sudden alliance. The sheriff remains the law, Kane remains the president of an outlaw club, and neither man pretends one shared enemy changes that. The difference is personal and enough. The sheriff knows the man holding the gavel isn’t the one who bought his deputy. Lilly-Rose comes straight to me and slides both hands inside my cut. I pull her against me, finished with pretending distance would make this easier for her father. The sheriff’s gaze drops to my hand at her waist. Then he notices the fading mark beneath her hair.

He closes his eyes briefly. “I gave you two instructions.”

“I told you which one I could promise.”

“Cash,” Kane says, but the warning has no real weight behind it.

Lilly-Rose turns within my arm. “Dad, he saved me outside the bank, protected me here and listened every time I told him what I wanted. What happened between us is mine. Wade didn’t get to decide I was confused, and neither do you.”

The sheriff looks at his daughter for a long moment. His disapproval doesn’t vanish, but he no longer mistakes protecting her for controlling her.

“I don’t have to like it.”

“No,” she says. “You don’t.”

His eyes settle on me. “If you hurt her⁠—”

“I won’t. I might not escape the cuffs a second time.”

Lilly-Rose’s mouth curves. The sheriff doesn’t find it amusing, but he hears the truth beneath it. He kisses her forehead and tells her to call when she’s ready to go home. She doesn’t promise when that will be. He gives me one final look, then walks to his vehicle and leaves the compound. Judge sends the brothers back inside. Gray closes the gates, Tank returns to the garage and Kane takes the remaining old records into church. Everyone played the part Kane needed, but nobody celebrates. Kingdom Come corrected one piece of King’s damage without becoming something respectable.

The yard settles around us as dawn begins to lighten the sky beyond the trees. The adrenaline leaves Lilly-Rose in a small tremor I feel through both our bodies, so I sit on the edge of the garage workbench and draw her between my knees.

“Let me see your wrist.”

“It’s sore, not broken.”

“You’ve used that line before.”

She gives me her hand. Corbin added fresh red marks over Doran’s bruises, and the sight makes my jaw tighten. Lilly-Rose touches my split knuckles.

“You put the chief deputy on the ground twice.”

“He was clearly too slow to understand you.”

“You weren’t.”

That lands harder than either fight. I slide my hands to her hips and pull her between my knees.

“I stayed away because I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep this casual.”

“Good.”

“Good?”

She steps closer. “Because I don’t want casual.”

“I’m not asking you to give anything up.”

“I know.”

“Your job, your house, your father. I want all of it to stay exactly where it is.” My grip tightens. “I just want to be part of it.”

Her hands settle on my shoulders. “Then stop waiting for me to change my mind.”

“You know what comes with me.”