Widow’s Daughter Only Had $1 for Her Date—Millionaire Cowboy’s Son at Next Table Watched Her, Until…

Chapter 12

After the presentation, the students filed out of the assembly hall in a buzz of excited chatter. Kora stood at the edge of the courtyard, her heart still pounding, when a hand closed around her arm.

It was Harrison Montgomery.

His grip was firm but not painful, his face a mask of cold civility. “Miss Boon. A word.”

He led her away from the crowd, to a quiet corner near the fence. Silas saw them and started toward them, but Harrison raised a hand without looking back. “Stay where you are, Silas.”

Silas stopped, his jaw tight, but he did not approach.

Harrison released Kora’s arm and looked down at her. His eyes were like chips of winter ice. “That was a very fine speech, Miss Boon. You have a gift for words. But words are dangerous creatures. They give people ideas.”

“Should people not have ideas, Mr. Montgomery?”

“Not the kind that threaten the order of things.” He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous murmur. “You have made an impression on my son. That is a problem. Silas is my heir. He is the future of the Montgomery empire. He cannot afford distractions.”

“Your son is not a piece of property, sir.”

“He is my blood. And I will not see him throw away his future for a girl with a pretty face and a talent for public speaking.”

Kora’s hands were shaking, but her voice did not waver. “With respect, Mr. Montgomery, you do not know me. You do not know your son. And you do not know what he is capable of.”

Harrison’s eyes narrowed. “I know exactly what he is capable of. I made him.”

“No.” Kora shook her head slowly. “You tried to break him. But he is not broken. He is stronger than you think. Stronger than you will ever be.”

She turned and walked away, her heart pounding, her steps steady. She did not look back.

Silas met her at the gate. “What did he say?”

“Nothing I did not expect.” She looked at him, and she saw the fear in his eyes — not fear of his father, but fear of losing her, of losing something he had only just found. “He is afraid of you, Silas. He is afraid of what you could become if you stopped being afraid of him.”

“Kora—”

“I have to go home.” She pulled away gently. “I need to think.”

She walked home in a daze, the words of the day echoing in her mind. She had stood up to Harrison Montgomery, the most powerful man in the territory. She had spoken her truth in front of the entire town. And she had realized something that terrified her more than any threat Harrison could make.

She was falling in love with Silas Montgomery.