Claiming His Bought Bride

by Rachel Bailey

  Thoughts in such turmoil that her fingers felt clumsy, Lily skimmed through the first page. It was short and to the point. And then her turmoil ceased as her body went numb.

  “Everything goes to me,” she whispered.

  Travis nodded.

  She kept reading, barely believing. “You’re leaving me everything?”

  Again, Travis nodded. “For…baby. So he’ll…always have…everything…he needs.”

  She turned the page, frowning, and slowly comprehending. He was leaving her a multimillion-dollar empire of business holdings and personal assets.

  Her mind clicked into gear. No matter what happened, her child would always be secure. And she could look after Gran herself.

  Yet, along with the relief, it felt odd to know this slip of paper afforded her the stability and financial security that had been denied her in earlier life. A heavy weight that felt as if it’d always been sitting on her shoulders fell and smashed into a thousand pieces, bringing glorious relief trickling through her veins.

  But, dear God, what would Damon say?

  “Money in…envelope.”

  Numbness beginning to lift now, Lily picked up the envelope and found a wad of cash inside.

  Why had he done this? He was spiteful enough to have instigated this purely out of hatred for his nephew. And when Damon found out, he’d be outraged. She’d share everything with him, of course, but she couldn’t bear to think of his reaction, or her own until her jumble of thoughts settled down into some kind of logical order.

  Holding the cash in one hand and the copy of the will in the other, she looked to Travis for explanation.

  “Tide…you over. Legalities…take time. Two hundred…thousand.”

  Lily had never held that much money in her hands. A buzz started in her ears. She had to ask. “What about Damon?”

  “You don’t…need him…anymore.” But Travis wasn’t smirking in victory, he looked strangely—earnest. “Raise baby…away. Don’t let him…be…like us.”

  His eyes drifted closed and Lily wondered if he’d fallen asleep before he opened them again—a new, raw emotion now there. “Take…care…of…baby. Tell…him—” he broke off, eyes shining with unshed tears “—about…me.”

  Everything stilled—the room, her heart, even Travis—as she saw the old man show something resembling love for the first time since she’d known him. Even while a part of her wondered how this tyrant could feel this way over the seed of his despised nephew, to another part of her it made sense. Something more lay behind the man she’d thought of as rhino-tough. A small, well-hidden shred of humanity.

  The door creaked open and the red-haired nurse appeared, frowning. “If he’s been talking to you since I’ve been gone, he’ll need to rest. He doesn’t have much stamina.”

  Lily forced a smile, relieved to be set free from this room of emotional land mines, yet not wanting to leave until she had her feelings in a manageable state. Or at least till she knew what she felt. She put the money back in the envelope and picked up the copy of the will.

  Could she accept so much money? Though, it wasn’t for her—he’d done it for the baby. A baby Travis had every right to provide for. In fact, this was the same plan she’d agreed to with Damon, with one small change. Everything was in her name.

  She held all the cards.

  The experience was as unfamiliar as it was overwhelming. No matter what happened from here on, two things were now ensured. Her precious baby would always be safe and secure. And Gran would live out her days in as much luxury as she would accept. She could stop worrying about the future, and just live. Her face relaxed and tears stung the backs of her eyes.

  This was a different financial security to being Damon’s wife. Yes, that would ensure she had money, but it would have been his money. It could be taken again or disappear in an instant the way her father’s money had repeatedly done. But this new will meant the money would be hers and the baby’s, and she’d make sure that not one cent was squandered. She’d give her baby the financial stability she’d been denied.

  But now Travis had done this, would Damon fight it in court?

  She hesitated beside the bed, catching the old man’s eye. The words thank you trembled on her lips but she couldn’t bring herself to say them. Instinctively she knew there was more to this gift than appeared on the surface. Travis knew exactly what he’d done in raising questions in her mind, hoping to drive a wedge into her marriage.

  It was time to leave, to tell Damon what had happened. Yet, she was loath to face him, his questions, the answers she needed to give and the decisions she would need to make.

  And to ask the question she dreaded most of all.

  Damon paced again down the corridor outside his uncle’s room, his gut twisting in knots. His own childhood bedroom was at the end of the hall but he had no desire to revisit it—there were no loving memories stored there. Just the ghost of a boy huddled in the corner, crying for his parents and shaking in fear of his uncle.

  Banishing the vision, he clenched his fists and turned to face the door that hid Lily. The nurse had returned a good five minutes ago. Where was Lily? What was that evil man saying to her? He’d been searching his brain to come up with probabilities, as well as contingency plans to minimize their effects. He already had his second-in-charge, Macy, on standby, ready for damage control with his business holdings.

  He stared at the door, willing it to open. Lily might not realize it but that man in there was an incarnation of the devil. The man who’d taken everything from him twice. He could almost feel the ulcer form as his stomach burned.

  The door creaked open and Lily slipped out, a large envelope and papers in her hand, her face as pale as fine bone china. God, what had he said to her?

  Two strides and he was by her side. “Tell me what he said.”

  Her forest-green eyes searched his face, looking for something. “Not here,” she whispered.

  She was right. The old man probably had spies waiting to eavesdrop. He put a supportive arm around her and led her downstairs and out to the car. “Home?”

  An emotion he couldn’t identify flashed across her face but was gone within moments. “Yes.”

  He ushered her out and into the car, flexing his hands on the steering wheel as he drove out the driveway.

  He’d fully intended waiting until they reached home before asking, but the questions gnawed at his gut. “Tell me.”

  She moistened her lips and took a deep breath. “He talked about our marriage. About you. He said…” She frowned and folded her arms before picking up the sentence again. “He said you didn’t want just BlakeCorp. More than anything else in your life—more than me—you wanted to destroy him.”

  The knot of red-hot hate for his uncle exploded to life, becoming the familiar seething monster. He accelerated fast to overtake a truck. Damn that old bastard! On his deathbed and still trying to stir up trouble. Was his anger at his older brother so strong that he had to torment his nephew even with his last breath?

  “Damon?” Her voice wobbled. “Are you obsessed with destroying him?”

  “Of course I want to see him annihilated more than anything.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he desperately wanted them back, knowing she’d take them the wrong way. His gut clenched. “But there are other things I want, too,” he said, backpedaling. “You, for example. Our baby.”

  He glanced over and saw horror in her every feature.

  “Oh, come on, Lily. Don’t believe the venom of a bitter old man.” He reached for her hand but she drew it back, pushing herself against the door, putting as much space between them as she could.

  “I didn’t believe him. Not completely.” Her voice wavered, then found strength—and anger. “But I do believe you. What I just heard you say. You mentioned wanting me as an example. Your wife and baby. You’re too full of hatred and anger to ever see us as anything more. And I…I really thought we had a chance this time…” She trailed off, as if she could
n’t bear to say any more.

  He slowed for a red light, perspiration breaking out over his forehead. His chance for a future with Lily was disappearing before his eyes. No, no, this could be salvaged. “Lily, it just came out the wrong way. You know how I feel about you—about the baby.”

  “You know what, Damon? I do know how you feel about us. You desire me. You’re interested in the baby, probably more than you thought you would be. But you look at us and you see one thing—access to your uncle’s fortune. Everything comes back to your uncle. It’s never just about us.”

  The traffic light changed and he accelerated, heart thumping, mind racing, trying to find a way out. The only answer he came up with was making her face reality.

  He dragged in a breath. “Lily, we both went into this marriage with our eyes open. This was never a love match. You’re right, I desire you. Even now when we’re fighting. And you’re right that I’m interested in our baby—more than that, I want this baby.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, blood pounding in his head. He needed to get these words perfect. “You’re also right that I want access to his worldly goods. Not for the money, you know that. For my father’s company. It was supposed to be mine.” His father had left it to his younger brother, Travis, along with all of his assets, on the understanding that he’d pass what was left, after the cost of raising his nephew, to Damon when he came of age.

  But his father had been too trusting. Not a mistake Damon would make.

  He swung into his garage, cut the engine and turned to her. “And if I can find other ways to hurt a man who has made it his life’s ambition to humiliate me and deprive me of what’s mine, then I’m not sorry about that.”

  She looked away from him, out the window, and spoke softly. “You don’t feel anything more strongly than your hate. Our marriage—I can never compete. We have nothing.”

  Something in his chest clenched and coiled. How could she think that after everything they’d shared? He reached for her hand and interlaced their fingers. “No, Lily. We have the two of us, living as husband and wife, desiring each other, expecting our first child. That’s enough for me, more than I thought I’d ever get.” He laid their joined hands on her thigh, caressing the tension she was carrying in all of her body. Then she relaxed and he breathed a sigh of relief.

  She turned to him, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. “Travis changed his will.”

  Damon felt his blood pressure skyrocket as the seething monster thrashed against his ribs, threatening to take full control, to demand answers. Yet he kept his voice evenly modulated. “Tell me.”

  She withdrew her hand and fidgeted with the envelope and papers in her lap. “He’s leaving everything to me.”

  His mind sprang into action, subduing the monster, creating scenarios, calculating possibilities. He couldn’t tell Lily that Travis didn’t own the assets in the will to pass them on. Not even Travis or his solicitors knew. Travis’s preference for secret dealings had kept him and his legal team in the dark perfectly about this bombshell.

  As of this morning, Damon owned the lot. Even BlakeCorp. Everything.

  He had to keep that part secret, because if Lily couldn’t understand his need for retribution, she’d never understand this. She’d always abhorred secrets of any kind and this was the mother of them all. Perhaps if he’d told her from the start…

  But now he would cover his tracks and she’d never know there had been any deception.

  “He also gave me a sum of cash to tide me over until his estate is settled.” She raised her chin almost imperceptibly. “I’ll share everything he bequeaths me with you. In fact, I probably have to as your spouse, which is fine with me. But I’m leaving, Damon. What we had might be more than enough for you, but I can’t be in a relationship with someone who’s obsessed with hate and destruction.”

  Before he could process the words, she’d stepped out of the car and marched inside.

  An hour later, Lily heard the front doorbell chime. Melissa didn’t work Sundays, and she wasn’t sure if Damon had come in, so she ducked into her en suite, splashed water on her blotchy face and headed down the stairs to answer it.

  Since leaving Damon in the garage, all she’d achieved was packing a couple of overnight bags. And a whole lot of crying. She’d expected him to follow her, to try and convince her to stay, and the fact he hadn’t made a single move told her he was cooking up a plan to prevent her from leaving. Or he’d been called into work.

  Either way, she was grateful for the time to pull herself together…to create a facade of someone who hadn’t just had their world ripped out from under them.

  She was in love with a man whose heart was black.

  He’d as much as admitted it. And seen nothing wrong with the admission. The devastation went bone-deep. No, deeper—she could feel the ache in every cell of her body.

  Tears formed again but she blinked them back. She had no choice, she had to leave. It’d been wrong to even consider the two-month trial, she could see that now.

  This was never a love match.

  So clinical, so cold. He was truly his uncle’s nephew. And she wouldn’t subject her baby or herself to a future of such emotional desolation.

  The door chimed again as she swiped her hand over her cheeks, reached for the handle and opened. On the other side stood Travis Blakely’s attorney.

  “Crawford.” Damon’s deep voice came from behind her, sending a frisson of pure want through her system. She tensed every muscle in her body to rein in the impulses the want caused. She would not let this man—her husband—have sway over her.

  Ian Crawford, briefcase in one hand, stood uneasily, eyes on Damon but darting frequently to Lily. “I need to speak to Mrs. Blakely for a moment.”

  Damon’s arm snaked around her waist, holding her firm. “Then you’ll speak to both of us.”

  She recognized the gesture for what it was—an act of propriety. The burn of resentment tamped down the desire his touch had caused. But she wouldn’t fight him here and now, there was no need—as soon as this meeting was over, she was out the door.

  Crawford gave a resigned sigh and nodded.

  Damon stood back, bringing her with him, and let Crawford pass.

  Lily watched the two men with their respective missions—Crawford to pass a private message from Travis, and Damon to prevent the secrecy. She had no energy to fight anymore, and looking at the set of Damon’s strong shoulders, it’d be a waste of her time trying to speak to Crawford alone. Besides, Damon knowing wouldn’t affect her actions or response. She might love him, but she was beyond considering his opinion in her decisions. He’d killed that.

  She focused on the visitor, wanting to be polite and offer him a drink, but instead swallowed the question, needing this over with as much haste as she could arrange.

  Crawford pursed his lips, the epitome of grim determination. “I won’t take much of your time. I just need to deliver my message.”

  Damon nodded and led them into his formal living room.

  Lily, reluctantly feeling like a hostess in Damon’s home, swept a hand toward a chair for Crawford and they all sat, she and Crawford on the edges of their chairs, Damon deep in his, seemingly unperturbed by the tension the others felt.

  Lily clasped the silver heart pendant at her throat and asked, “You wanted to say something, Mr. Crawford?”

  His eyes flicked from her to Damon and back again. “After you left, I’m afraid Mr. Blakely’s condition deteriorated alarmingly—”

  Her hand flew to her mouth. “He died?”

  Crawford raised a hand to stop her thought. “No, but I don’t believe that time is far away.” He clasped his hands together on his lap before continuing. “He’s been transferred to St. Rose’s. He should be there by now.”

  Damon leaned forward, resting forearms on his thighs. “Yet you’re here instead of by your master’s side.”

  Crawford nodded, unmoved by the gibe. “He instructed me to come and ask a favor
of your wife.”

  A favor? She saw Damon’s posture tense at the same moment the apprehension descended over her. “What does he want?” she asked through numb lips.

  Crawford pulled his briefcase onto his lap, clicked the lock then withdrew a typed page. “As you may have guessed, he doesn’t expect to return home from this hospitalization.” He paused as if waiting for his first point to sink in. “He has left a large house full of expensive contents vacant. He would like you, Mrs. Blakely, to reside in his home, and to do so without delay.”

  Live in that mausoleum? The thought sent a shiver across her skin. There was not a single aspect of a home about it. Despite having known it would pass to her baby, she hadn’t considered the reality of living there so soon, before she’d had a chance to make it into a place fit for her child.

  Damon scoffed a laugh. “The eyesore will hardly become derelict. He has a staff.”

  Crawford nodded. “Employees who need direction.”

  Lily’s mind flew to the overnight bag, packed on her bed—she’d been thinking more of her empty rental house or her grandmother’s home, not an enormous building of concrete and stone.

  Damon leaned farther forward, toward their guest, in an action that looked almost intimidating. “If he’s worried about the security risk, why ask a pregnant woman to stay there? Why not take safety measures? Hire a security guard.”

  Crawford coughed. “I’m sorry, I can’t answer that. I’m simply acting on instructions from my client. This was not a decision I made.” He held the piece of paper out to Lily. “He asked me to type up the request in case of future legal challenges, then he signed the bottom. His nurse witnessed the signature.”

  Damon arched a cynical brow. “He did all this in the midst of being transferred.”

  Crawford nodded. “He was quite determined.”

  “I bet he was,” Damon muttered.

  Lily skimmed the page and glanced at the signatures, the germ of an idea forming. Damon hated that house. It’d be the one place he wouldn’t follow her—he’d told her more than once when they’d dated that he’d see it razed to the ground before living there again.