by Amie Nichols
“Consider it done,” Mr. Edwards assures me and looks at Miss Dubois. She nods that she understands, her eyes still dark with anger. I smile sweetly at her and she forces a smile to me.
“We will be going now. Please get that money transferred, the paperwork is on the desk,” I say and get up.
Luke and I go to walk out of the bank. As soon as we are out of the door, Luke looks at me and I can see lust in his eyes.
“Come here.” He grabs my arm taking me into the ally next to the bank and pins me up to the side of the wall in a small alcove out of view of the street.
He takes my head in his hands and kisses me deeply, his tongue invading my mouth. “I seriously I want to fuck you so hard right now.” He pushes his hips into me and I can feel he is hard. His eyes are dark with lust and I can tell he is serious. I feel my whole body quiver as I grab the back of his neck and pull him to me. I kiss him deeply as his hands travel done my back and reach my behind. He grabs a fist full of my skirt and inches it up my thighs until it is crumpled at my waist.
Reaching down he unbuttons his jeans and pulls them down far enough to free his erection. With both hands he grabs my ass lifting me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. I’m pushed up against the brick wall as he reaches down between my legs to move my panties to one side then he thrusts into me. I groan with pleasure as he lunges in and out of me hard and fierce. His eyes, dark with desire, never leave mine. He grabs my breasts though my shirt and squeezes taking my lips again.
He pushes in me so hard and so far I feel like I’m going to explode. I try not to scream from the pleasure knowing there are people only a few feet from us. I bury my face in his shoulder and bite his shirt as I come. “That’s right baby,” he moans as he comes seconds after me. He buries his face in my neck and I hear him groan. We stay like that for what seems like an hour, breathing heavy, and resting our heads on one another. He looks up at me grinning and kisses the end of my nose.
“Oh my God,” he breathes, his lips brushing my cheek. “What you do to me!”
He sets me down and I stay against the wall as we try to compose ourselves. He zips up and I straighten my skirt then smooth down my hair. He takes my hand and kisses the inside of my palm then leads me out of the alley, opens the passenger side door of the Aston Martin, and holds my hand as I get in the car. He runs around the car and he climbs behind the wheel. He is grinning from ear to ear. No words have yet to be spoken, as he pulls out of the parking spot and drives off. He reaches over placing his hand on my thigh, I turn to him and he’s still grinning.
“Are you happy?” I finally break the silence and can’t help but start to giggle as I think of the last hour. What a rush! I’m going to make millions off that .5% more on my returns and I was just fucked in an alley by my gorgeous man.
“You could say that, Miss Sumnor, very happy!” He says as he grabs my hand and runs his lips along my knuckles. “You were amazing in there.” He places my hand in his lap. “I love you baby!” I smile at him. “The rich get richer,” he teases.
My phone starts vibrating and I see its Emma. “Hey Em, Luke was just quoting you,” I tell her still giggling. After her inquiry, I tell her what happened at the bank. When we finish our conversation, Luke turns to me quizzically and I fill him in on what Emma had just told me. “She said she went to the Lafourche Parish Library to do some digging on the article.”
Instantly, Luke looks upset. “I thought we decided to leave it alone for now?” He says displeased.
“I know we did, but she said she didn’t find out anything anyway. Not even the article we found in the safe is in any of the archived newspapers,” I tell him fumbling with my phone.
“That’s strange. Maybe she didn’t go back far enough?”
“She said she went back fifty years,” I shrug.
“Well maybe she will leave it alone now, like we all agreed,” he says and takes my hand again.
“I forgot to ask you, your dad wanted to know if it would be all right if Simon could stay in the cottage a few nights since his car is broken down and it is so far out of your dad’s way to get him. I told him I wanted to check with you first”.
“You wanted to check with me first huh?” He looks at me beaming. “I don’t know why, but that even turns me on!” He says giving me his wicked grin that makes my core tighten.
“Yeah, I want you to be a part of all the decisions from now on,” I say blushing from the way he’s looking at me.
“I don’t know. I get a bad vibe from him. Jacob hasn’t gotten the background check back yet, something about the computers being down at the Sheriff’s office.”
“It’s only for a couple of days, I’m sure he’s fine. He just seems socially awkward, besides I have you and Jacob to protect me. I want to give Simon the benefit of the doubt. I’m the last person to judge someone before I know anything about them.
“Well, as long as he keeps his eyes off of you it’s fine,” Luke says.
We pull into Lafayette and the GPS tells us where we need to go. We are outside of town and are directed to a lane. Pulling up the lane, we are stopped by a very large wrought iron gate with words carved in an arch that reach over the top. A stonewall as tall as the gate runs off in both directions and it appears to outline the whole perimeter.
Luke pulls up in front of the gate and we stretch our necks to read the words ‘CYPRESS GROVE.’ Under it in smaller letters is ‘JAMES FAMILY PLANTATION est. 1856.’ We get out of the car and step up to the gate.
The gate is chained heavily and padlocked with a keep out sign posted. I can see down the lane on the other side of the gate. It is lined with Cypress trees. The trees are gigantic, and it’s obvious they have been there forever. Grass and shrubs are overgrown and we are barely able to see the house at the end of the lane through it all.
“I guess I should have brought bolt cutters,” Luke says as he handles the chains. “Do you want to try and climb the wall?” He asks looking at me, and I can tell he is taken aback at the state of the property. It was not like daddy to have a property and not take care of it.
I look up at the huge brick wall. It has to be twenty feet tall, and it seems to go on forever on either side of the gate. “You mean break in?” I ask him not sure what we should do. “It’s not breaking in if you own it,” he exclaims.
“I don’t understand. It looks like no one has been here for twenty years.”
I motion toward the house and I start to walk along the perimeter of the brick wall making my way through the overgrowth. I don’t make it very far when I realize that I am not dressed to be wading through the tall weeds. “I don’t think I can make it over this wall Luke,” I tell him as he seems to be looking for a way also, studying an overgrown tree that is close to the wall.
“Yeah, even if I get over, I don’t know how I would get you over,” he says. He is still walking the perimeter in the other direction.
He makes his way back to me standing at the gate. “What now?” I ask.
“I think we need to go to the assessor’s office and see who’s been paying the taxes on this property,” Luke says. “Also, we need to make sure you do own it.”
I agree. I don’t understand this at all. Why daddy would let this huge plantation just sit here and rot like this.
Chapter 22
As we reach the Lafayette courthouse, I’m anxious about what we might find. Luke takes my hand after he opens my door and helps me out of the car.
We walk up to the counter of the assessor’s office and a young lady greets us.
“May I help you?” She says only looking at Luke and blushes dreamily at him. He does have that affect on girls I’ve noticed. He is so gorgeous who could blame them.
“My name is Lilly Sumnor,” I say firmly snapping her back to reality as she turns her head toward me. “I need to know what you can tell me about this property,” I say handing her the deed.
“Of course, Miss Sumnor,” she says. I can tell she recognizes the name as mo
st people in Louisiana do.
“May I please see some I.D?” She asks as she types away on her computer. I hand her my driver’s license and for some reason I am very nervous about what she is going to tell me. Luke is leaning on the counter with one elbow. He is turned sideways toward me, and I feel him pinch my hipbone lightly. I look at him and he gives me a wink. It’s as if he is reading my mind, he can tell that I am very antsy right now.
I wink back at him and flash him a smile. Everything will always be all right with him by my side. I take a step closer to him so my shoulder is touching his chest. He leans down and kisses my temple as we watch the girl’s fingers fly over the keyboard.
“Yes, Miss Sumnor, what would you like to know?” She says handing me back my I.D. “Who owns the property?” I ask.
“You do. It was transferred to your name about 6 months ago. The previous owner is listed as Theodore Sumnor,” she answers and waits for the next question. I knew Elliott had transferred all properties to my name, but how did he know about this one?
“Who’s been paying the taxes on it?” I ask. She starts to type quickly on the keyboard again and with some clicks of her mouse she searches for the information.
“It looks like there is an escrow account set up for the taxes,” she answers.
“Does it say who set up the account? Can you see where the payments are coming from?” I question as I feel Luke’s hand touch the small of my back.
“No, I am sorry ma’am. I don’t have access to that information. You can fill out this form to access that,” she says handing me a lengthy form.
“Can you see who the owner was before my father, I mean Theodore?” I ask and she starts clicking away at the mouse searching.
“Previous owner is listed as a Joseph K. James, and it looks like your father purchased it in 1987 after Mr. James’s death,” she answers looking at the computer. “We have no record of anything before that.”
“Thank you for your time,” I say and Luke and I walk away from the counter and to the car in silence.
“Well nothing answered and more questions!” I exclaim as Luke opens the car door for me.
“That’s not true, we now know you do own it for sure,” he reassures as he starts the car. “And tomorrow we’ll come back and I will be prepared,” he smiles. I can almost imagine what he is going to bring to break through all the chains.
“Yeah, but how did Elliott know to transfer that property to my name? The deed was in the safe.” I ask baffled. “I think Elliott and I need to have a little talk,” I say as I pick up my cell and call him. I get his voicemail. “Elliott this is Lilly, please call me back as soon as you can,” I hang up.
“We’ll get some answers baby. I promise,” Luke soothes taking my hand and kissing the knuckles.
When we reach home I see Emma’s VW Bug in the driveway. Luke rolls his eyes and sighs knowing that she is going to bring up the article and the voodoo stuff.
“Its fine, Luke, she’s just trying to get some answers,” I tell him as we pull into the driveway. I don’t want him upset with Emma.
“I don’t want you getting hurt. There’s something very dark there and maybe it’s better that you don’t know all the answers,” he says placing his hand on the small of my back as we walk into the house. I throw my purse down on the chair by the door.
When we walk in the family room, Jacob and Emma are sitting on opposite couches watching television.
“What’d you find out in Lafayette?” Emma asks excitedly before even saying hello.
“Hello, Emma,” I greet her and sit on the couch next to her making her move her leg quickly before I sit on it. Luke sits in the oversized chair between the two couches rolling his eyes at Emma, and she clicks at him with her tongue.
“I am really curious too,” Jacob says sitting up and placing his elbows on his knees, now sitting on the edge of the couch in anticipation.
“The property is all chained up, it’s very overgrown, and it looks like no one has been there in years,” I answer their waiting eyes.
“We did find out she does own it and there is an escrow account that has been paying the taxes,” Luke adds and they only look more baffled.
“I am waiting for your father to call me back so I can find out how he knew about the property. It was transferred to my name at the same time all the other properties were.” I look at Emma puzzled and getting annoyed that he hasn’t called me back yet.
“I asked Daddy yesterday if he knew anything about the property or the article,” Emma starts to explain. “He was really short with me and told me to leave. He was about to go to a meeting, so I left his office thinking he was busy and I would ask him today,” she continues. “But this morning, he was gone. Momma said that he was on an emergency business trip out of state and she had no idea when he would be back,” Emma says, looking down at her shoes. “I asked mom if she remembered anything about it. She too avoided the question, telling me she never gets into my father’s business.”
“He knows something and he better return my call. I pay him a hell of a lot of money to be available to me when I need him. In fact, I thought I was his only client.” I’m pissed, but not at Emma.
“You are, Lilly. I honestly don’t know what’s going on, but he is avoiding us that much is for sure,” she says with a sorry look on her face.
We are interrupted by a large bang outside and we hear Jeffery yelling. One by one, we head out onto the back patio to investigate the commotion.
It appears that Simon had backed the tractor into one of the large stone planters that sits off the patio.
“Weren’t you looking? You have to look where you’re going! How in the hell did you not see that, it’s huge?” Jeffrey yells at Simon who is now trying to pick up a large piece of stone looking apologetic. “This is coming out of your paycheck!” Jeffrey shouts and notices us standing on the patio then walks our way.
“Sorry, Lilly, he’s going to pay for it,” Jeffrey says shaking his head in frustration. Simon is frantically cleaning up the mess.
“Jeez Jeffrey, you don’t need to be so hard on him. I’m sure it was an accident, and it’s not coming out of his paycheck.”
“Lilly, he’s clumsy and it’s the only way to get him to be more careful. He’s made a lot of mistakes,” Jeffrey defends his reaction to me. I hear Luke whisper to Jacob if he’s heard anything on the background check and I see Jacob shaking his head no. They go to help him lift the heavy stone fragments.
“That guy gives me the creeps Lil,” Emma confesses as we watch the guys help.
“He’s a little different, I know that, but I think he’s harmless,” I tell her as I try to keep an open mind and not judge him like Jane would.
“It’s just the way he was staring at me earlier when I got here and I was talking with Jeffrey,” she shivers with a look of disgust on her face. The guys join us on the patio after it’s all cleaned up. Simon walks over behind them and thanks them for their help.
“Thanks, Miss Sumnor, for letting me stay here a few days,” he says and nods at me very politely.
“Don’t mention it, Simon, glad we could help,” I reply and nod back. Jacob and Emma look at me shocked. Jacob glances toward Luke giving him a did-you-know-about-this look. Luke shrugs and puts his hands up as if to say it wasn’t my idea. “Does anyone want a beer?” I ask and all hands rise.
Jacob’s jaw twitches and he tenses at the new information. He sits next to Luke and says, “You’ve got to be kidding me man.”
Emma walks into the kitchen with me as the guys sit out on the patio. “You’re a very lucky man, Luke. What I wouldn’t give to have a girl like that,” Simon says to Luke. I hover long enough to hear Luke’s reply.
“You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know, Simon, and I’ve seen the way you look at her. If you ever touch her, I will kill you, understand?” There’s intensity in his voice that I have never heard before.
“When he’s done, I’ll kill you again
,” Jacob adds. I turn to see Luke and Jacob staring him down.
“Of course, I would never, I’m sorry,” Simon stutters awkwardly.
“And if you don’t stop looking at her like you’ve been looking at her, you are out of here,” Luke grates, his warning firm.
“Apparently I’m not the only one who got the creep vibe!” Emma exclaims hearing the whole conversation and pushing me in the kitchen. We grab the beers and head back out to the patio. We hand out the drinks and I sit on Luke’s lap wrapping my arms around him.
“Thanks for the beer. I’ve got some things I need to do,” Simon says standing up. Making no eye contact with anyone, he walks around the house.
“Why did you agree for him to stay here if you felt that way?” I ask Luke. I can feel Jacob’s eyes on me and I know he’s pissed that I didn’t okay it with him also.
“Benefit of the doubt I guess,” he shrugs. “I can’t blame him for looking at you, you’re very sexy, but he is not going to ogle you.”
“I’m glad you said something, Luke,” Emma nods in agreement and sits next to Jacob.
We decide that all of us are going to the Lafayette property tomorrow and we need to leave early since it will take Luke and Jacob an hour to get through all the chains.
After eating the supper Miss Finnegan made for us, Emma leaves for home and Jacob goes to his room. Luke and I relax on the couch listening to music.
“You ready for bed baby,” Luke says. I have dozed off with my head resting on his chest.
“I’m ready to be in bed with you,” I purr slowly sitting up and giving him a smile.
“Mmmmm, I’m ready for that too,” Luke says quietly.
Chapter 23
I awake suddenly. I sit up and see Luke sound asleep next to me. The alarm clock illuminates Two a.m. We both fell fast asleep after we made passionate love for an hour. We explored each other’s bodies till exhaustion. I’m parched with thirst so I slide out of bed not wanting to wake Luke. I grab Luke’s polo that he was wearing today and slip it on. I smell his scent as I do and it makes me smile. I look at him so peaceful and gorgeous. His arm is splayed out where I was just lying. His tanned muscular physique makes me quiver. “Mine,” I whisper to myself before I quietly exit the room.
