It Goes On - Book l

The Old Simon Riley

Author's Note: Update on my personal life for ones curious! New job is going well and I've caught on fairly quickly! Only on my third day and I'm already taking customer orders, purchase order processing, pulling orders, and answering phones! My trainer has been shadowing me all day to be there just in case I needed him! I already feel like I've been there for years!

*

"Why would you have to own the land?" Phil scoffed, refusing his next sip of bourbon after Tokala had proceeded with his proposal, beyond eager to make a deal.

"Because tribal casinos can only be built on reservation trust land."

"But that would mean I would have to sell you my leverage."

"You will own the hotel and we will lease it from you and be able to manage. I can assure you that your leverage will be safe. Just understand that if the tribe owns the land, there will be no discussion of zoning issues nor permits. We can build whatever we want, Phil. If you agree and we announce this project, the property values in this valley will skyrocket and nearly double the same day."

"Go on..."

Tokala smirked, "And that means the land tax on Kiera's ranch will double, too."

"By how much?"

"My assistant figured it to be around 8 million a year."

Phil scoffed, "She can't afford that, not even with her and her husband's salary combined."

"No, but we can after everything is finished. Sell me the land and I'll give you the Jackson Valley Ranch."

"Let's get our attorneys together to work it out—"

"No attorneys, Phil." Tokala shook his head.

"Well, that requires a lot of trust on my part," Phil sighed. "How can I be sure to trust you? I mean, this deal seems too good to be true."

"That's your choice whether or not you trust me. Have I given you a reason to not trust me?"

"No."

"With my experience, you can't trust anyone these days," Tokala arched his brow, taking another sip from his glass of bourbon. "But you can trust me on this. I want you to build an amazing foundation for me."

"I'll build a mansion for everyone partnered in this deal with enough room to build the casino and hotel," Phil chuckled. "Right where that big lodge of hers is. I'll tear it to the ground."

"I will say it's quite a nice lodge," Tokala shrugged. "By what I've seen of it, anyway. We might as well turn it into the ski lodge."

"I like your way of thinking, sir."

"Let's arrange a lunch for Monday. I'd like to discuss build plans once I receive the blueprints by this weekend."

"Great. I look forward to it."

*

"Holy hell, Kiera! How come you can't rope like that when we're roping for money?" Dirk poked from the cattle chutes, chuckling at how smooth Kiera's team roping was after months off, teaming up with Frankie on the heading side while she attempted to rope the steer's heels.

"Because I'm thinking about the money and not the fun!" Kiera shouted back, winning a laugh from the old man as well as a smirk from the rest of the men who were attending the friendly competition of team roping, giving themselves a break from the constant work they had been putting themselves through for the past few weeks.

"Sounds about right." Dirk snorted, preparing his loop on his own rope as he was ready to take a shot at roping next.

"Alright, Baler and Johnny, you're up!" Simon directed, resting his forearm on the saddle horn while his gaze never faltered from Kiera, sincerely happy to see her doing what she loved.