BOUND BY BLOOD AND IRON

Every eye in the room locked onto Toby.

The leather pouch he held up was stained and weathered, secured with a thick leather cord. Tyler peeked out from behind the glass case, staring in absolute confusion. He had never seen that pouch before in his life.

"What’s that, cripple?" Jesse sneered, pointing the barrel slightly toward Toby.

"Stand down, Jesse!" Marcus’s voice cracked like a whip, his body shifting subtly to block Toby from the shotgun’s line of fire.

Toby didn't flinch. His gaze was steady, calm with the eerie detachment of someone who had already stared death in the face when his mother's sedan folded around a telephone pole six months ago.

"Inside this pouch is the deed to ten acres of timberland out by Blackwood Ridge," Toby said clearly, his voice echoing off the brick walls. "My grandfather left it to my mother. It's unencumbered, clear title, signed over to the estate. It's worth forty thousand at auction. Triple what Tyler owes you."

Wade’s eyes narrowed, genuine greed flickering across his rough features. Land in the timber corridor was scarce and rapidly appreciating due to the new highway expansion. "Why would you give that up for a kid who just locked you out in the freezing rain to die?"

"I’m not giving it to you," Toby replied, his hand remaining steady. "I’m trading it. You take this, you sign a receipt releasing Tyler’s debt in full, and you give my father your word that no Miller ever steps foot on Vance property again."

Tyler stared at Toby from the shadows, an overwhelming sense of shame crashing down upon him. He had humiliated this boy, mocked his disability, and left him to freeze. And now, the stranger he had tortured was offering his mother's only legacy to save Tyler from having his legs shattered.

Wade took a step toward Toby, reaching out a leather-gloved hand. "Let me see the papers."

"Stay where you are, Wade," Marcus growled, stepping directly into his path. "You don't touch him."