Stain

STAIN ALEXX ANDRIA ALEXX ANDRIA STAIN By Alexx Andria © 2022 Alexx Andria. All rights reserved. No part of this original work of fiction may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. All characters are fictitious and any resemblance to an actual person is purely coincidental. Cover design by COVERLY DESIGN The following 73,000 word novel has been retitled and recovered from the original HEARTBREAK RANCH by Alexx Andria CONTENTS A Note From Alexx Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Epilogue Against The Wall Chapter 1 Also by Alexx Andria About the Author BACK COVER COPY Some might say what I did was stupid but I didn’t have a choice. My fool of a daddy lost a bet to the meanest, richest and most corrupt son-of-a-bitch in all of Texas — and it was time to pay up. There was no way I was letting either of my little sisters sacrifice themselves to Ambrose Autrie, which left me paying the debt. I’m not prepared for the twisted role Ambrose wants me to play in his depraved game. And neither is his son, Colter. We’re trapped — each choice leads to certain ruin. Can we get away from Ambrose without losing everything that matters? Or will the Autrie family secrets swallow our lives like everyone else belonging to Heartbreak? A NOTE FROM ALEXX I started this book with the intent to create a serialized narrative but then the market changed and I realized I needed to pull the story and make it a full-length novel. I’m so glad I did! This story is dark and gritty, yet also full of hope and determination. I love strong, kick-ass women who save themselves and no one is more bad-ass than Rosalee Walker. Fair warning, this story may make some readers uncomfortable. Enjoy. My name is Rosalee Walker, and as of Tuesday, June 10, 6:45 p.m. I belong to Heartbreak Ranch. More specifically, Ambrose Autrie. The rotten son-of-a-bitch was a mean cuss, probably a half-brother to Lucifer himself, but be that as it may, Ambrose owned Sutter, Texas, and he made sure everyone in the pea-sized town knew it. No one went against Ambrose. Not if they wanted to keep their lives or their livelihood. Ambrose was generous when it suited him — and ruthless when it didn’t. Such as when he called in my daddy’s gambling debts. Daddy was a weak man and a terrible gambler. He lost more than he won, but you had to give the man a gold star for not being a quitter. Except for this time, what he lost was more than the grocery or the hay money — it was me. Could’ve been worse. Could’ve been either of my younger sisters, Abby or Killy, and I would’ve done anything to keep them from suffering at the hands of that lecherous old man, so here I was — being delivered like a side of beef to the most powerful — and most feared — man in all of Sutter. “I’ll find a way to make this right,” Daddy swore, sweat beading beneath his worn Stetson as the hot Texas sun beat down on our heads. “It’s just temporary, girl. I’ll find a way to make this right, believe you me. This ain’t setting well, and there’s no way in hell I’m gonna stand for it. I’ll go to the sheriff. Maybe give him an earful of what this old bastard is up to. It ain’t right.” But we both knew that the sheriff was a corrupt pig of a man who wouldn’t lift a finger against Ambrose. I didn’t feel like humoring him with a hopeful smile. To be honest, I couldn’t have managed even a fake lick of hope at that point. I knew the situation was pretty much fucked for me. The thing was, Ambrose had us by the short hairs — which was pretty much how he liked to conduct all his business in Sutter — and we were out of options. Trust me, when Daddy had come home, looking pale and drawn like someone had just whispered in his ear the date of his own death, I knew something bad was coming. Let’s just say I’d gotten plenty of practice with Daddy. Sometimes Daddy was just a plain fool, and as my grandpappy used to say time and again, a fool and his money ain’t never stayed together for long, or as in the case of Daddy, a fool and his oldest daughter. It seemed surreal that something so wrong could happen in the modern-day, but Sutter moved at a different pace than the rest of the world. Things were still done the old-fashioned way; handshake deals and going off the strength of a man’s word was something around this cracked dirt patch of land, and that’s just the way it’s always been. Hell, time just moved different in Sutter and that's just the way it was. I tried not to cry. I wanted to be strong. I was saving the family. That’s what Daddy said. I was the only one who could do it. Abby and Killy were too young, and I’d die before I’d let anything happen to them. Daddy had known that, too. As far as they were concerned, I was more than their sister; I was the only real parent they’d ever known. I was the one who made sure they were bathed, fed, and to school on time, not Daddy. I was the one who kissed their hurts and set them straight when they got out of line. I might not have birthed them, but I sure as hell was raising them. And