Chapter 1

The first time I died, it was ugly.

The Texas economy had tanked, or maybe it was just our part of it, the Hamilton empire crumbling under what felt like targeted attacks.

Blake, my husband, wasn't there.

He was with Clara Belle Hayes, protecting her, he'd said.

She was already married to someone else by then, but Blake always saw her as fragile, needing him.

He left me with our two kids, a boy and a girl, in the middle of the chaos.

I remember the dusty ranch road, the sounds of engines not belonging to us.

I hid them, my babies.

Then I faced the men who came for what was left.

I fought. I lost.

The last thing I saw was Blake's face, finally arriving, too late, his eyes wide with a horror that didn't touch the coldness I felt. He'd chosen.

Then, I was back.

The roar of the crowd hit me, and the smell of dust and animals.

The Lone Star Rodeo.

My heart hammered against my ribs, a wild, terrified thing.

I was on my horse, Midnight, ready for the final barrel run, the one that won me "Lone Star Rodeo Queen" in my first life.

The title that got Victoria Hamilton's attention.

The title that got me, Blake.

Panic, cold and sharp, clawed up my throat.

Not again. I couldn't do it again.

My hands, slick with sweat on the reins, trembled.

As Midnight rounded the first barrel, I pulled too hard, too suddenly.

A deliberate, clumsy move.

We stumbled.

Pain shot up my arm as I hit the dirt, a sickening crunch echoing in my ears.

The world spun, and then I focused on the concerned faces above me.

I'd lost.

Good.