“You ladies must be tired after all that driving. How about some dinner before you go?”
Faron was about to scold him, but then he glanced over at Fabienne—and his eyes lit up.
That was my cue.
“Uncle, Grandpa,” I piped up, looking between Tavian and Faron. “Do you guys have wives?”
Both shook their heads.
“Perfect!” I grinned. “Then these ladies can marry you!”
Mabel and Fabienne were so stunned they forgot all about their money.
“You little brat! What the hell are you saying?!”
I shrank behind Gracie, looking small and innocent. “But you said all men need a wife. Uncle and Grandpa don’t have one, so… they should marry you!”
Tavian’s face, which had been grim just moments ago, turned bright red with excitement. He put down his whiskey bottle and rubbed his hands together.
Faron was thinking the same thing.
One had never been able to find a wife, the other had been left by his wife when she realized he couldn’t have kids. They’d been lonely for decades. Now, with two women practically handed to them, how could they not be tempted?
Sensing something was off, Mabel and Fabienne stiffened. They hurriedly reached into their pockets for their phones.
Too late. Tavian and Faron pinned them down before they could react.
“Jethro, what do you think?” Tavian smirked. “We keep ‘em, and you don’t have to pay that 30 grand.”
Jethro’s face lit up at the idea of saving money. “Hell, sounds good to me!”
Mabel and Fabienne turned pale. They tried to scream, but dirty socks were stuffed into their mouths before they could make a sound.
They thrashed and kicked, but against three men who had spent their lives working the land, they didn’t stand a chance.
Melinda brought over duct tape, wrapping it around their mouths, then tied them up with rope and tossed them into the shed out back.
That night, the men took off in the women’s truck and sold it in the city for cash.
By sunrise, Mabel and Fabienne had been dragged back—one by Tavian, the other by Faron.
Watching those two human traffickers meet such a miserable end was the most satisfying thing ever.
Not only did Jethro and Melinda get me—a child groom—without spending a single cent, but they also found wives for Tavian and Faron. They wouldn’t stop praising me, calling me smart and saying I was their family’s lucky charm.