Chapter 1

The West Texas air was thick with the smell of dust and blood. My blood. It was the fourth time in three years. Another miscarriage. The sterile white sheets of the small ranch clinic felt like a shroud.

A sharp knock on the door made me flinch.

It was him. Ethan Scott. My former fiancé. The man who had burned my world to the ground.

He stepped inside, looking just as he always did in my nightmares-impeccable in a dark suit that didn't belong in this desolate landscape. He was a D.C. power player now, his ambition a tangible force in the room.

"Jocelyn," he said, his voice smooth, a weapon I knew all too well. "I've made a deal. The federal investigation into the Duncan ranching empire is... being redirected. You're free."

He let the words hang in the air.

"I'm here to take you home."

Home. The word was a bitter poison on his tongue. I stared at the cracked ceiling, the water stain that looked like a screaming face. This hell was the home he had made for me.

"No," I said, my voice a dry rasp.

"Don't be a fool, Jocelyn. This is your only way out."

"Get out, Ethan."

He took a step closer, his shadow falling over me. "I own your freedom now, just like I owned your family's ruin. You will come with me."

A nurse, a woman with a hard face and cold eyes who worked for the Duncans, entered without knocking. She carried a tray with a glass of water and some pills.

"Mr. Duncan wants her medicated," she said, not to me, but to Ethan. She looked me over with contempt. "She gets hysterical. Thinks she's still some Louisiana princess."

The nurse shoved the pills and water at me. "Take them."

My hand trembled as I reached for the glass.

Ethan watched the exchange, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. He saw the way she treated me, the casual cruelty. He saw my compliance. This was the life he had chosen for me. He thought he understood it, but he understood nothing.

"See?" the nurse said to Ethan with a smug little smile. "She knows her place."

Suddenly, the door flew open, slamming against the wall with a deafening crack.

Caleb Duncan filled the doorway. He was all raw power and sun-scorched leather, his eyes burning with a rage that was always simmering just beneath the surface. He ignored the nurse, his gaze locking onto Ethan, who stood too close to my bed.

"Get your hands off my property, Scott," Caleb snarled, his voice a low growl. He strode into the room, grabbing Ethan's shoulder and shoving him back.

Ethan stumbled but quickly regained his composure, straightening his suit jacket. "Your 'property'?" he asked, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "I believe the legal term was 'ward.' And I have the paperwork that says her guardianship is terminated. She's my fiancée."

Caleb laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Fiancée? You're the snake who threw her to the wolves. She's mine now. I'm the one who broke her. I'm the one who keeps her."

He turned his furious gaze on me, his hand shooting out to grip my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Tell him, Jocelyn. Tell your old boyfriend who you belong to."