Sexual Expression (Contemporary Cowboys 2)

“He’s a kid,” Liam said.

“I’m twenty-one—that means the law acknowledges me as an adult, but it doesn’t change the fact I want no part of this.”

“Well golly damn. Aren’t you lucky?” Hales stuffed a handful of peanuts in his mouth and held up his index finger as if he wanted them to wait for some kind of punch line. “Instead of three-to-six years for a juvenile charge, if we get busted you’ll do thirty years to life. Man, ain’t it great to be in the gun business and all legal and shit now?”

“I’m not in the gun business.” Mason glared at them. When no one said anything, he reclaimed his seat. “Fine. All right. What’s up? Who is this guy Mom banged and how much does he want?”

“Now someone is making sense here,” Brandon said. “Shall we get down to business?”

In a matter of seconds, they were in a no-holds-barred family meeting. They had a serious problem with Juan Jahno, Juan’s and Jahn’s biological father. A private investigator had the results of their DNA tests. Their mother had apparently requested verification in recent years. Juan Jahno was indeed the twins’ father. Several years prior to her death their mother had apparently made a grave mistake by notifying him and detailing the consequences of their relationship and Juan’s and Jahn’s birth. It went downhill from there.

“He thinks he is entitled to an inheritance?” Kurt asked.

“It would seem so.” Brandon took a deep breath. “Yes.”

“How much?” Liam asked, starting to believe his family had been extorted more than all the A-listers in Hollywood combined. They’d shake off one problem and face another, hand over one large sum to a deadbeat and deal with the next one in line. Payoffs were a never-ending and tedious task.

“It’s hard to say what he feels he’s entitled to, but thanks to the love letters exchanged between them and the fact that his two sons and the woman he claims to have loved were killed, I’m assuming he’ll want half of her estate and all the twins’ life insurance.”

“Half of her estate?” Dallas shook his head so quickly it was as if he’d just seen millions and millions of dollars fly right by them.

“How much would it cost to buy him off?” Dante asked.

“More than we have on hand, I’m guessing,” Brandon said, looking at Kurt. “Do you know how much cash we can move around over the next few days?”

Kurt’s mouth twitched quickly, he narrowed his eyes, thought for a second, and after he’d likely considered all assets, he said, “We could sell some cattle, bring some in off feed, but we’re still looking at a few weeks putting our hands on the cash you’re talking about.”

“How much is in the bank?” Mason asked.

Brandon and Dante exchanged a knowing look. Kurt frowned. Liam scratched his head, dreading what came next.

“Maybe a little over a million,” Dante replied. “Our assets are tied up at the moment.”

“In guns?” Mason asked.

“Business,” Kurt said, obviously still uncomfortable about speaking freely in front of Mason. Liam understood. Legal or not, Mason would always be their kid brother.

“Look, I know you guys still think I’m too young to know what I’m talking about, but think about this situation if you will. We find out Mom had an affair with some dude from—where’s he from, by the way?”

“Mexico,” Brandon replied.

“Mexico. Perfect. So dude comes from Mexico, wants half or wants something, a financial acknowledgment that he was part of our family yet none of us know him and those of us who do—forgive me, Brandon and Kurt, as I glare at you—probably should’ve known better than to do business with him.

“Anyway, has it occurred to you that this fellow could be the very man who killed our brothers and Momma? Seems to me he thinks he has a whole lot to gain and if he approached you on the day of their memorial, well that’s just downright suspicious. He’s not looking like a man who’s above board if you know what I mean.”

“He’s right,” Liam said, thinking Mason was smarter than the average twenty-one-year-old.

Then again, he’d grown up in the business. Like the rest of them, he was able to weigh out pounds and ounces before he could multiply and divide. Then they moved up in the world, stopped dealing drugs, and decided to protect themselves and their investments properly. What better way to do that than to run guns?

Liam rolled his eyes at the thought.

“If you’re right, why would he kill Nate, too? He only needed his own sons and Momma out of the picture. Why pick off Nate?” Dallas asked.

“To make it look like he wasn’t involved?” Brandon blew out a hard breath. “Sleep on that tonight, men. Decide how you want to approach this. He’ll be here tomorrow or the day after. We need to decide if we should try and buy him off or just let him have what he thinks he’s owed.”

“Owed?” Mason widened his gaze. “You gotta be kidding me. Our father was Juan’s and Jahn’s father. Biological or not, it doesn’t matter. Our dad—not this guy—believed he was Juan’s and Jahn’s father and treated them as sons. This dude never came to the house for birthday parties. I don’t know of a card or letter he sent to his ‘sons’ or an invitation to come to Mexico. Do any of you?”

A collective “no” resounded.