“Maria’s a young woman, Kade, not a girl. Not anymore. And so what if Alejandro is ten years older? She loves him. Maybe she shouldn’t have done what she did, but it wasn’t entirely his fault.”

“That it?”

Ellie sighed. Clearly Kade wasn’t backing down on this. “At least give it some thought.”

Kade made no reply. As Ellie left the study, she felt sorry for Alejandro Ramirez.

* * *

The hands were trickling in. Kade stood out by the barn, watching as they arrived, some on horseback, others on ATVs. While the men tended their horses, Billy pitched in. Smoke trotted along beside him as Turtle and Alejandro rode in on four-wheelers.

Kade intercepted Alejandro. “We need to talk,” he said. “Now.”

Hard lines formed around Alejandro’s mouth. He nodded. “Where?”

“Follow me.” Kade led the way around the side of the barn out of sight, stopped and turned.

“You should be real proud of yourself, Ramirez. You stole a young woman’s virtue and walked away like it was nothing. You bragging about it to your friends? Or are you at least man enough to keep your mouth shut?”

Alejandro’s hand balled into a fist. Good, Kade thought, his own hand fisting.

“I don’t deny it,” Alejandro said, his jaw still tight. “I should have walked away.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No.”

Kade fought a wave of fury. Before he could talk himself out of it, he threw a punch that damn near knocked Ramirez off his feet. Alejandro staggered backward, but managed to regain his balance. He wiped the blood off his mouth but made no effort to defend himself.

“You want to hit me,” Ramirez said. “Go ahead. I deserve it.”

“You sure as hell do. You’d get a whole lot more if you hadn’t just taken a bullet.” Kade’s hand throbbed. The man was tough. He’d give him that. “You took that young girl, then discarded her as if she were nothing—just another of your besotted women.”

Alejandro’s spine jackknifed straight. “That’s not true! Maria isn’t like any other woman. She is special. She’s everything a man could want in a woman! I told her that. I tried to stay away from her. I tried to tell her I wasn’t good enough for her, but she wouldn’t listen. Last night, when she offered herself to me, I should have walked away, but I couldn’t. I could no longer pretend I didn’t love her. And I couldn’t send her away.”

At the anguish in Alejandro’s face, Kade’s anger deflated. “Jesus Christ, man. If you love her that much, you’d better marry her. You’re going to be even more miserable than you are now if you don’t.”

Alejandro sighed. “What kind of life can I give her? We wouldn’t even have a place to live.”