Jack Marston is at a low point in his life. His family is dead, Beecher's Hope is in ruins, and he has nothing left to live for. Most days he spends so drunk he can barely remember anything, he kills and robs people at will, and there isn't an ounce...
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Eva decided she liked Archer Fordham. He was a bit of a mess, it was true, but his words had saved her life. Of that she was certain. She'd never seen anyone speak with such authority to Mario, not even Jack. And Mario had been afraid; she had seen it on his face. He was so used to the Mexican law turning a blind eye to his crimes that he'd made the mistake of thinking the American law would be the same way.
His face when he realized he'd made a mistake was priceless. As afraid as she'd been, and as many tears as she'd cried, she had still nearly laughed at the look of embarrassment Mario had worn while Mr. Fordham was belittling him.
"What are you so chipper about?" Jack asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
They had just woken up the morning after the incident in the saloon, and as Eva sat up in her bed and grinned, she hadn't noticed Jack watching her from his own bed. They'd slept in the same room in different beds just as they had in Las Hermanas.
"Marshal Fordham," she replied quietly. "I like him."
Jack rolled his eyes, a halfway grin on his face. "That old soak? He's an absolute mess, not to mention what he did to my family. I'm glad he's so miserable. He deserves alcoholism and sadness after all that."
"Edgar Ross's family might say the same thing about you," she reminded him.
"What family?" Jack scoffed, shaking his head as he placed his hat on his head. "I killed them, too. His wife and brother both."
An icy tongue of fear struck Eva's heart. "His... his wife?"
In all her wildest dreams, Eva had never imagined Jack as a woman killer. Maybe if the woman had done something wrong, and even then it still left a bad taste in her mouth. Was she next? What if Jack decided to kill her too? Her small grin died like a piece of ice that had been thrown in a fire.
"Yeah," Jack said slowly. "I killed his wife. The bitch deserved it for staying married to a bastard like that. She knew what he did to my family, and she supported him fully. If she'd truly been a good person, she'd have left him. My father had a wife too, you see, and Ross killed her as well, in the end. He murdered my mother with grief. She was never the same after my father died. It's a miracle she lasted as long as she did."
Eva could not believe what she was hearing. "Will you kill me someday too?" she asked coldly, turning away from him.
"Oh, Eva," he said quietly, the tone in his voice instantly changing into one of regret. Good. Killing women in cold blood was a truly horrid thing, in her eyes. "Eva, I could never. You're a good person, and I don't kill good people."
"You say his wife chose to be with him," she argued, her eyes flashing angrily. "How do you know it was a choice? What if she was forced to be with him, as I was forced to be with Mario?"
"I-I don't... I never..." His voice died away as he realized he didn't have a good argument. "I never thought of that," he said slowly. "Shit. I guess you're right."
