“I was going to live with you in your home. You have so many people living there now that no one will let me in.” She told Josh it was because he wasn’t going to be welcome there. “But why not? We had a deal.”
“The deal is done, Josh. I don’t believe you ever asked me to marry you anyway. You sort of ordered me to do it, so you’d not be stuck with finding a date for business functions. Have you been working at a job at all that would require you to go to some function? I don’t think you have.” He said he was going to work for her. “Doing what? I don’t think you’re qualified to do anything I need done. There will be jobs coming to town soon. Maybe you can get on at one of them.”
“I don’t want to work at a job, Lizzy. I wanted to just work for you in a husband sort of way. You know, just say that I’m running something that you own but not really doing much? That would suit me better, don’t you think?” She rolled her eyes at him. “Come on. You could use a good man in your corner, couldn’t you?”
“I could, and I have one. Remy is going to help me with all the things we both are working on.” She asked him why he thought she would keep him with money. “I mean, I did tell you that you’d not be getting into my money when you set this hair-brained idea up.”
“I don’t understand you. You can’t just leave me hanging like this. Do you have a sister or something I can attach myself to? Someone that has money. That will have to be something I have.” She asked him why he’d need money. “I told you. I don’t want to have to work at a real job. I mean, just looking for you all this time has been exhausting. I know. Maybe you can just give me a pretend job—one like I was talking about. I just show up, and you pay me for doing a job. I’d want benefits as well.”
“No.” Remy laughed when Josh pouted. “I would suggest you find yourself a job before you find yourself homeless, Josh. I did have you researched. Are you aware that you’re currently behind in your rent by six months? Not to mention, while you’ve been using all your job hunting time looking for me, your power has been turned off. Not that it matters, I guess, since you’ve been kicked to the curb. You know you’re going to have to pay the back rent as well as the power bills, don’t you?”
“I was hoping you’d get me caught up.” She again told him no. Josh looked at Remy. “She say that to you all the time too? I mean, does she ever agree with you on anything you might suggest to her?”
“All the time.” Josh asked him what his secret was. “I keep her sexually satisfied all the time, and I don’t need her money. I have a great deal of it all on my own.” Kelly laughed and said she’d see them later; she had to get some things from the store. When she walked away, Josh stared at her ass. “I’d keep my eyes off that one if I were you, Josh. Her husband will tear your throat out if he finds out you’ve been eyeing his wife.”
“What? A man can’t look anymore?”
Josh looked at Lizzy in the same way. Before Remy could tell him he had better not look at his wife like that, Lizzy picked Josh up with one hand wrapped around his neck. As he struggled, Lizzy spoke to him.
“I believe this world would be better off without this sort of shit around all the time, don’t you think?” Remy pointed out that Josh couldn’t breathe. “Well, it’s not like I’m going to starve his brain of oxygen. His ass is free to get as much as it can while I hold him here. But I guess you’re right.”
Josh landed on his ass and sat there, gasping for air as he glared at Lizzy. Remy put out his hand to help him up, and Josh stared at it like he was looking for the knife he might stick him with. Remy told him he was only going to help him up. After he was standing on his own two feet, Remy squeezed his hand hard enough to hear bones break.
“Stay the hell away from my family. That would include my wife and my friends. Do you understand me?” Josh nodded and told him he was hurting him. “I am, but you’re still alive. Look at me.”
When he did, Remy could read his mind. He didn’t do it gently either. After getting all the information he could from the man, he let him go. Josh was nursing, not just his hand, but his bloodied nose as well.
“His plan is still in place to marry you. Then he’s going to murder you. Well, have someone murder you anyway. After that, he’s going to move into your home and sell off everything he doesn’t like. I’m not sure how that is going to work, as he hasn’t any idea what you have in the house.” Lizzy kissed him and then walked away. “Don’t you want to know what else he was planning?”
“No. He’s no longer a threat to me or you.” Remy looked at the man as Lizzy continued. “Let him go, Remy. I’m sure that in no time at all, he’s going to have all his terrible deeds catch up with him. Then he’ll have to face his own maker. Come on. Let’s look around at the buildings Bancroft is donating to the town and figure out a plan.”
Remy walked away, something he didn’t think he’d have been able to do only a few weeks ago. Josh didn’t matter to him. He was nothing. Any actions he tried to take against Remy or his family would end his life, something Remy could live with. As they entered the first building, he realized how good it felt to walk away from conflict.
“Thank you.” He asked Lizzy what he’d done to be thanked for. “You kept me from tearing his throat out. Kept me calm too. I didn’t realize how much I was forever flying off the handle until I met you. It’s a good feeling.”
“You did the same for me. I was just thinking about how I was able to keep from killing him myself. Not that I don’t think it might yet happen, but for now, I’m not concerned with him.” She kissed him again. “You keep doing that, and I’m going to think you want me to take you right where you’re standing.”
“That would be wonderful, but not practical. I have to get this building thing figured out today so Bancroft can get the paperwork started. His grandma is going to run the food pantry now. She said she won’t be tempted to take anything home for her own pantry. That woman is a hoot.” He asked her if she’d gotten back already. “Yes. Just this morning. Gwyneth joined me when I was watching the sun come up. She told me she’d enjoy visiting me every morning if I’d allow her. Like I think I could stop her.”
“She’s been a wonderful grandma to me as well. Gwyneth and Bancroft have been there for me so much I call her Grandma as well.” Lizzy told him she’d asked her to do the same. “I thought she would. All right, my dear. What are you thinking of this building?”
They went through all three of them in just under an hour. Lizzy made notes on what she saw that needed to be repaired in each of them, as well as the things each building had that would be helpful. The second one they looked at had the most features, but it also needed the most repair.
“I’d hate to think we’d do all these repairs and then the entire idea flop.” Remy hadn’t heard her doubting anything since he’d met her and asked her about it. “I don’t know why I’m thinking that, to be honest. It’s a scary thought to have usage of that much money and how we’re going to be using it. Don’t you think?”
“I think that now the ball is rolling, you can count on not only this working but the other two projects going on as well. If it makes you feel any better, I can tell Bancroft we’ll pay for the repairs on it. He’ll object just so you know, but I can offer.” Lizzy said that would make her feel better. “Then I’ll talk to him when we get back and show him what we’ve been able to figure out. Also, you might want to know that Kelly is organizing a few things too. She’s been doing some charity work on her own when not working for the Feds.”
“She told me. I really like her.” He said he did as well. “Good. All right, my dear husband, two things. We should make this marriage official, and figure out what we’re going to do with the rest of our life. I love you. Also, I’d like a child or two.”
Remy was still standing there when she walked away from him, his mouth hanging open, his heart pounding. She loved him. She said it. And she wanted to have his baby. Remy hea
rd her laughter and decided she was perfect for him. Yes, he thought, he’d been picked to have the most wonderful, perfect wife ever found.
~*~
Bancroft looked over the money from the estate of Richardson. It was up to him to distribute the money now that he was in charge of the league and all that went on surrounding it. There was a great deal more money and other items than he’d been told. That wasn’t even counting the homes that Richardson owned, nor the two safes that had yet to be opened.
“I’ve been able to locate the other women’s families. What is left of them anyway.” He asked Kelly what she meant. “When the bodies were released from the morgue, two of them weren’t picked up. After doing a little research on them, I found out that their husbands had sold their wives to Richardson. If I had my way with them, I’d make sure they were as dead as their wives.”
“I’ll take care of them.” She smiled at him. “Or have you done that already? You are a very sneaky person, have I told you that before?”
“No. But it’s good to know I can be one step ahead of you. They’re being charged with manslaughter—both of them. Because they profited from the death of their wives, they’re as guilty as the man who killed them. There aren’t any children, thankfully, so all I had to do was call in a favor.” He asked her about the others. “Just after one of them was claimed, her father committed suicide. It’s not clear why he did, but it doesn’t appear to have anything to do with Richardson. He was all that was left in her family. The other two women are going to be buried within the next few days. Their families could certainly use the money too. These two women have young children, so it might go a long way in helping them get along for the rest of their lives.”
“There is a great deal of money here for all of them.” She asked him if he had a problem with giving it to the last families. “No, I don’t. I just wonder how I’m going to be giving them millions of dollars without some sort of explanation. They don’t know a vampire killed them, do they?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t notify them when their bodies were found. Should we research that?” He said he wasn’t sure either. “What about a victim’s fund? I mean, telling them that since they were killed like they were, there is a fund they can draw on that will help them out. Maybe set up a scholarship in the women’s name for them to use for other members of their family?”
“That’s a wonderful idea.” He made notes on it. “I don’t think Lizzy is going to be too thrilled about her cut, either. I might have to have you tell her about it. She’s going to get the bulk of the money. Richardson’s maker is telling me she should get most of it. Also, because Richardson threatened Remy with the board, he wants him to have restitution for that. I hope never to have to deal with anything like this in the future again, love. It’s very sad, yet complicated as well.”
“Just dealing with the bodies is more than I’ve had to work with before. Knowing that they were killed by a vampire and not being able to put anything into the records to indicate that had me second-guessing myself at every turn. With Lizzy, however, I bet she turns it into a charity thing too.” Kelly came over and sat on his lap. “I really like her, Bancroft. Do you suppose she and Remy will hang out with us some? I mean, I know your friends are coming. Which reminds me, there was a call from someone named Ramon while you were out. Jamison said he’d call you later. Anyway, I’d like to get to know all the people in your life, but having a female friend is something I’ve not had a great deal of practice with.”
“I don’t believe she has either. I found out from Remy that the women that were going to be her bridesmaids were people that worked for her. Not friends, not really, just employees.” Kelly told him that was sad. “It is. Her life was a good one. She worked hard and made herself something despite not having any family or anyone that even cared for her to fall back on.”
“This makes me so happy that I found you. I was so ready to quit a job that I loved, move to a different area, and start over. I know I would not have been anywhere near as happy as I am right now.”
Bancroft kissed her and then held her to him so he could assure himself that she was his. There were times in his life when he had wondered if life was worth it. He’d been around for so long that nothing surprised him anymore. Even trying new ventures was boring and nothing to get excited about. Bancroft had gone through life in a series of hops. He’d don one hat, then trade it out for another when that job became mundane. He could admit it to himself now, but he was looking for a job that would, by being the most dangerous he could find, end his life of boredom.
Then he’d met Kelly. To say that she was his world would be grossly understated. She was the reason he opened his eyes in the morning, his reason for facing each day with a smile. The idea of the sort of adventures the two of them could get into or create was exciting to him. Yet, it wasn’t only that. It was also the ability to sit close to her. To watch her sleep at night. Hearing her excited laughter, even at his expense. When she pulled away, he stared into her eyes.
“Are you all right?” He nodded, emotionally spent in where his thoughts had taken him. “I love you, Bancroft. So very much.” Kelly laid her forehead to his.
“And I love you, Kelly. Every day is a day I think I’ll be to the limit of my love for you. Because as surely as I sit here, I swear to you I couldn’t love you any more than I do at this moment. But then I see you, and it grows even stronger.” She kissed him. “I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
After she left him, he sat there for several minutes, getting his thoughts in order. Loving someone, he’d come to discover, was very wonderful. But it was easily a distraction as well. Putting the cash that was all over his desk into the envelopes he’d marked for where it went, Bancroft wondered where he’d start.
“Bancroft? Are you there?” He looked up at Remy and smiled. “I’ve been here for five minutes, and you were talking to yourself. What are you doing with all this cash? Did you rob a bank?”
“It’s the money from Richardson. I was just figuring out how to get it to the families that were harmed by him. Kelly suggested putting a scholarship fund together for the families to use. I think it would go a long way in helping. Did I miss an appointment with you?” Remy told him he was supposed to be taking him to the empty warehouse. “Yes. I forgot. Christ, it’s been a very short morning for getting things done. I’ve found myself several times not even sure what I’d been thinking about.”
They were both out the door in less than ten minutes. Talking about nothing much, he was glad his buddy had come here. Bancroft told Remy about getting a call from Ramon, and that he was going to call him this evening.
Entering the warehouse, both of them stopped when the smell hit them.
“That’s not a smell I’d associate with being in a warehouse. What do you think it is?”
Bancroft shook his head but looked deeply into the large open room. He could see nothing but shadows. Pulling them around him to enter the room deeper without being caught, he was at the other end when he still hadn’t figured out the smell.
“Bancroft, I think it’s out back.”
He went to his friend and asked him to wait until he went out first. Bancroft told him that if anything were to happen to Remy, he was terrified of Lizzy. They were both laughing when the doors were pulled open. It took Bancroft a few seconds to see what was before him.
“Happy birthday, Bancroft.” Kelly tugged on his arm when he just stood there. “I can tell by your face you’re surprised. Your grandma told me it was today, and I thought you’d enjoy having a party.”
“I don’t remember the last time I had a party for my birthday.” He kissed her. “I’m assuming everyone was in on it, and that is why you set up me coming here?”
“Of course everyone was in on it. Now come on and mingle.” Ramon was there, as well as his friend Donald. All the townspeople were also there, and he was happy to see there was
food for everyone. Gifts, he noticed, were for the guests. Each child, it looked like to him, got a toy, and adults were given an envelope. That was the tradition he’d had when he was younger—gifts not for the birthday person, but for those that had been willing to come and spend the day with him in celebration.
The party went on through the night. People would come and go. Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. He was glad no one had asked him how old he was. If pressed, he didn’t know how close he’d come to the year he was born. His grandma would know, of course, but she’d give him a hard time about it. Today was for celebration, not for having his head popped by his wonderful family.
“I was sure you’d be pissy about this.” He asked Lizzy if she would have been. “If I was as old as you seem to be? Yes, I’d be really pissed that someone was pointing out that I was a degenerate.”
“I think you mean nonagenarian.” Smiling, Lizzy told him she thought she had it right. “Are you ever nice to someone?”
“I thought I was being nice. I mean, I could have called you a pervert. How many years are there between you and Kelly?” She rolled her eyes at him. “Sheesh, Bancroft, talk about robbing the cradle.”
Bancroft laughed. Christ, it felt wonderful. He had friends, family, and everything else a man would need, right there where he could see them whenever he wanted. Bancroft vowed not to think of what sort of person he was before, but to focus on who he was now. He knew for a fact that he’d feel so much better if he did. No more feeling sorry for himself, either. Life, even at his age, was too short to squander away.
Chapter 6
Remy watched Lizzy sleep. He knew he had to wake her up, but he dreaded it. The money Bancroft had slipped him last night was between him and his Lizzy. Giving it to her was going to cause some trouble. Not for him, he hoped, but when she hunted down Bancroft. That thought made him smile.
Stanley: Dalton’s Kiss Book 2 (Dalton's Kiss) Page 7
