“I happen to believe he does care for you.”
“I don’t care what you think, Tuff.”
“All right. That’s understandable.”
“And a blasted shame,” Creed said reentering with a bottle of whiskey swinging from his hip. He set the bottle on her dressing table and said, “You’re throwing away five men who happen to care about you and if you do that, then that’s your choice but answer this question—would you rather be here in your room with five men you know on an intimate level or downstairs working a greedy crowd?”
“What difference does it make? I’m still a whore. I’d rather be a prostitute to strangers than used by men I’d slowly begun to think of as my friends.”
“We are your friends,” Tuff assured her.
“And we’re human,” Creed said. “Do I think we were upfront with you like we should’ve been? No. Did we make a bad judgment call? Absolutely. But do I want you? Hell yes I do. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted a woman and if you pass on me—or any of us—then you’re the one who’ll be sorry.”
“This is about the marshal who employed you. This isn’t about us. There is no us.”
“Like hell there isn’t!” Creed yelled. “This is about me and you. This is about you and these men right here, the fellas you can reach out and touch, love…”
Buck saw her catch her breath.
Creed went to her. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him. Planting a kiss on her lips, he said, “It’s about giving us what you’ve never given to another. In turn, you’ll receive more than you ever thought you could claim.”
“What are you saying?”
“It’s not what I’m saying, it’s what I’m willing to do. I’m loving you, Mary Margaret. Whether you like it or not, whether you allow it or not, I’m loving you and I plan on doing it for the rest of my life.”
“That makes two of us,” Tuff said.
“Three,” David added.
“Four,” Buck said, though he wasn’t sure if she’d believe him or not. He’d stayed out of the picture, determined to be the silent man on the outs until she opened up her arms and welcomed him in. Maybe now she would. He’d long since been infatuated with the idea of her and now here they were at a crossroads. They couldn’t lose her now.
“I guess that leaves me,” Jared said. “And I’m number five. I may be last but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. I’ve been working day and night to keep you safe.”
“He has,” Tuff vouched for him. “He and Buck were taking turns watching the streets of Cripple Creek in hopes of putting some distance between you and Jesse’s men.”
“There were too many of them,” Buck explained, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt. “But now we know who and what we’re facing. They won’t come near you again.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because we’ll guard you with our lives,” David spoke up.
“And what do you want from me in return?” she asked.
“We want you to be happy,” Creed said. “And like I told you earlier, I’ll do everything I can to make sure that happens.”
Chapter Fourteen
Mary Margaret left the saloon about an hour later. She was accompanied by David and Tuff. They didn’t think she could tread across the street due to the accumulating snow. Turns out, they were right. David carried her.
Once she arrived at the hotel, she became more confident. The wisdom gained over the years would carry her through and considering what she’d just discovered, she was sure she could stand up to Marshal Doyle when they met face-to-face.
David, Tuff, Buck, Creed, and Jared loved her. What woman wouldn’t find internal strength after discovering how many men were standing by and quite prepared to cherish her?
She walked into the hotel and requested Marshal Doyle’s room number. “Are you his daughter?” the clerk asked.
“I’m Mary Margaret.”
The woman smiled. “Yes, I know. I’ve seen you around town. And recently, too.”
Mary Margaret gulped. She was probably bad for the hotel’s business. She made a mental note to take her exploits out of town the next time she decided she needed an audience.
“He’s in room four. He’s at the top of the steps. First door on the right.”
Mary Margaret started up the front steps but due to the commotion behind her, she quickly turned around. The clerk hurriedly placed a ‘closed’ sign on the door and darted behind the desk again. This time she ducked out of sight.
Mary Margaret stretched her neck, trying to see David or Tuff, hoping they were pacing in front of the hotel. Surely they were there, she reasoned. Then she continued her march toward the marshal.
He wanted to see her. He wanted to meet his daughter. She’d shake his hand and thank him for trying to stop the thugs who wanted to kill her and then disappear from his life forever.
She knocked on his door. No one answered. She knocked again.
“Come in!”
She entered the room cautiously, immediately on guard when the only light in the room was a small candle. The marshal directed her to a chair across from him. “Won’t you have a seat, whore?”
Mary Margaret jerked. “I think I have the wrong room.”
A bear of a man stood at once. He was heavily scarred and his face was among the ugliest she’d ever seen. “Are you Mary Margaret or not?”
“Yes,” she replied, wishing she could take it back as soon as she confirmed her name.
“Come here,” he said, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her around to the other side of the bed. “Is that your Pa?”
A man with gunshots to his temple lay in a pool of blood. Immediately, she was filled with sorrow and regret. She turned away, refusing to let a man flaunt his kill right under her nose.
“Is he your Pa or not!”
“My father is buried in a cemetery right outside of town.” Oh God. She’d said too much.
“What is his name?”
“It’s none of your business,” she snapped, refusing to provide more. “What if this guy knew the entire situation? What if he understood she was the illegitimate daughter of a woman and the marshal? What if she confirmed too much and lost her life because of something she said? Was that why the marshal was dead? Had he said too much or too little? Had he fought or tried to get away?
Mary Margaret trembled under the strong outlaw’s hands. She was terrified but knew from past experiences there was only one way to survive. She had to remain calm.
The man yanked her forward and dragged her toward a chair located in the center of the room. He took a seat on a burgundy settee and splayed his legs. At the same time, he spread his arms over the back of the sofa. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No,” she replied, wondering about the sudden shift in demeanor. “Who are you?”
“I don’t talk to whores,” he told her.
“Then why don’t you let me go?” she suggested. Maybe if she would have walked over from the saloon right after she’d discovered the marshal was her father, perhaps then she would’ve been able to sit with him instead of this man. Then, she could’ve heard what he wanted to tell her about his life while sharing with him something about her life as well. It was then when she realized, she also wanted to learn all she could about the marshal’s relationship with her mother, too.
Her heart was burdened and a waft of sadness swept over her. What opportunities had she missed because the marshal died before she was able to make his acquaintance?
If the man was willing to give up his life to help protect her, and apparently he was, then he couldn’t have been the monster she’d first imagined him to be. Could he?
Regret spun in her veins.
What if he knew things about her mother no one else knew? There were unanswered questions now, questions she hadn’t asked because she hadn’t known there was someone she should talk to, someone who held the keys to a past she wasn’t even able to remembe
r correctly!
“He’ll be here soon,” the bully announced.
She swallowed hard and wondered who they were expecting. She should’ve been frantic only there was too little time to waste. For all she knew, she was awaiting the executioner, someone who was coming there to kill her next.
“Someone is looking out for me,” she blurted out.
“Is that so?” the man asked, grunting. “Then where are your guards, whore? Let me guess, poor Bob lets someone keep shop so he can accommodate his money makers when they go out late at night to earn a little gold on the side?”
She considered the question. “Bob is a good man.”
“And you’re a good whore,” Bob said, entering the room.
Mary Margaret jerked when she heard his familiar voice. She stilled when the slamming of a door sent shivers up and down her spine. When he approached her, she didn’t speak. Instead, she wondered why Bob was there.
“That father of yours was pure trouble. I had to get rid of him. I didn’t think you’d mind. You and I had an agreement that’s been working for us since you were in your twenties. If your father had had his way, he was going to pull you out of the business. I couldn’t afford to lose you. Not now. Not yet.”
“Bob,” she began, reminding herself to keep her voice steady, her inflection even. “You know I’m leaving soon anyway. Why would you kill a man you don’t know?” A beat later she said, “He may have been my father by birth but I didn’t know him. You killed an innocent man!”
“He was here to take you away!” he bellowed.
So were five strong and capable men. Why hadn’t Bob tried to kill them? Why hadn’t he tried to run them off? Did he honestly think they were just another bunch of paying customers?
Mary Margaret glanced outside. Where were they? Surely Tuff and David would begin to have suspicions.
Bob walked over to Marshal Doyle and nudged him with his foot. “He’s worthless. That’s what he was. Worthless!”
“I don’t know, Bob,” she said. “I didn’t know him.”
He waved his forefinger in front of her face. “Yes, but you would have. If you hadn’t been so tied up with those five men you’ve been entertaining, you would’ve taken the time to meet him. I know you, Mary Margaret. You would’ve listened to him. You were so hungry for family you would’ve done anything to please him, anything to have a family embrace you. Now you have nothing! No one to care about you but me.” An evil laugh filled the room. “Now I’ve taken it all away again.”
Mary Margaret jerked. “Again?”
He snarled. This faraway look existed in his eyes as he approached her. “Surely you didn’t think your mother and your father died from a lethal dose of morphine. Did you?”
She gasped. “Oh. My. God.” She wasn’t even thinking about her parents then. She was thinking about a more recent death. “You killed Annabelle. She turned you down for sex and you killed her.”
He snarled. “Bitch got what she had coming. Don’t you think so?”
“No, Bob,” Mary Margaret replied, thinking she needed to find a way out of there. For whatever reason, her men weren’t coming for her. They apparently believed she was having a nice visit with her father and that she’d be tied up for a while.
She was frantic now. On second thought, why weren’t they coming for her?
Bob looked like a lunatic. He paced the small area right in front of her chair and she noticed the shape of a gun in his front pocket. She silently prayed. Bob’s inability to hit a target could work to her advantage or summons a final death call.
She wanted someone there to protect her. She needed someone there with her. She was not alone. She wouldn’t believe her men had abandoned her for even a second!
And she was right.
The floor squeaked behind her. Chills ran up and down her spine. Her gut rumbled as she quickly predicted the turn of coming events.
The door slammed against the wall. Bob darted across the room as his sidekick dashed to the side and crawled toward the bed.
Mary Margaret wheeled around to face them. Guns were blazing when they entered. Bob was killed and his accomplice died right next to him.
Mary Margaret stared at the fallen forms but she felt nothing. Bob had killed her parents. He’d taken three people away from her, because he feared he wouldn’t be able to control her if she had someone who loved her ready to support her.
Jared held the butt of his gun as he searched the connecting room. “Get her out of here, David,” he said, using his pistol to move the curtains aside as he studied whatever he could see in the streets below.
“I thought—”
“Shh,” Jared said, holding up his hand and only glancing at her. “We can talk later.”
“Are you sure it’s safe to leave?” Mary Margaret asked, peering over the bed at the marshal.
“It’s safer over at the saloon than it is here,” David assured her.
“May I ask you something?”
“Anything,” David replied.
“Was the marshal my father? Were you one hundred percent certain?”
“Tuff was certain,” David said. “You’ll have to talk to him.”
She shook her head. “Not now. Maybe someday we’ll sit down and discuss it but right now, I don’t think I can.”
He touched her cheek. “Let’s get you out of here.”
They were just about to leave when she thought of something else. Stopping in her tracks, she stared at the corpse of a man who once shared her blood. “David, what was he like?”
“You’ll have to ask someone who liked him. I avoided him like the plague.”
“Makes two of us,” Jared said, still holding the gun as if he expected to fire it at any given moment. He peered outside and returned again. “You two really need to get out of here. We’re expecting the rest of Jesse’s gang shortly.”
“So he really was a nasty fellow?” she asked.
“Who? Jesse Strain or Marshall Doyle?”
“Doyle,” she clarified.
“He wasn’t a nice person,” Jared replied. “That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have been good to you, Mary Margaret. He must’ve loved you very much. He went out of his way to hire the protection he believed you’d need.”
David winked. “Tuff said he paid out a lot of money to hire the very best.”
Her hand immediately flew to her mouth. “Oh my God! I didn’t even think about that. How will I ever be able to repay you for guarding me? I know you guys must be expensive.”
David waggled his brows. “I think we can work out something. Besides, we rarely do freelance jobs in the first place. We prefer hunting for bounties. It’s not a typical job for us to offer bodyguard services.”
“Why’d you do it then?”
“The marshal was convincing,” David said.
“He blackmailed you,” she remarked boldly.
“Nothing like that,” David promised. “But I’ll tell you this. The perks were worth it. We had a feeling we’d find plenty of job benefits and you didn’t let us down.”
She frowned. “I doubt Jared sees it that way.”
Jared grinned. “Don’t worry. We’ll catch up when the time is right.”
“You don’t understand. I can’t pay for the typical luxuries afforded by crooked marshals and outlaws.”
“Don’t worry,” Jared said. “We’ve got time. We’ll work it off you.”
“How long will that take?” she asked.
“I don’t know. What do you think, David?”
“A while,” David said. “What do you think? Maybe twenty or thirty years?”
“Probably longer than that,” Jared said. “I hope you’re not too busy in the next few decades.”
“I’ll have to check my calendar.”
Jared pointed at Bob. “With him out of the way, you won’t have to worry about another hand in your kitty. The bright side is, he won’t be managing your money.”
“No one manages my money, Jared,” s
he told him. She shook her hips and added, “And for your information, I like it when some fingers are in my kitty.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Jared said, rubbernecking enough to steal a good look at her butt. “I like what I see, too.”
“Good. I hope you feel the same way for many years to come.”
“I will. Just don’t change who you are. Stay true to yourself, Mary Margaret. Part of what we love about you is your independence. Don’t ever lose that.”
“Are you kidding me? You should know me better than that. I’m too bossy.”
David slapped her ass and she bent over.
“But if I get out of line, promise you’ll spank me from time to time.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Jared promised. “Not a’tall.”
Chapter Fifteen
One Year Later
Mary Margaret pushed open the door to her private quarters and found quite the celebration. “There you are,” she said, eyeing the men sprawled across the handsome sheets she’d just purchased from The General Store.
“It’s about time you made it upstairs,” Creed said, rising to meet her.
She tilted her head to the side and whispered, “I’m worth the wait, remember?”
“You’ll have to remind me,” he said, his lips locking over hers. They enjoyed a heated kiss and Mary Margaret was taken back in time.
The grand opening of Mary’s Place had been a huge success but the road they’d all traveled to reach there had been rocky. Now, the first night of business was behind them and they were ready to party in their own way.
Tuff stood and greeted her. Leading her to the bed, he squeezed her fingertips. “Are you sure you think you can handle motherhood?”
She glanced at Jared. “You promised to step into the role of madam.”
“I said I’d manage things. I didn’t say I’d assume the title.”
“As long as you have the reins, we’re okay,” she said, taking a little jab.
David was determined to leave the bounty hunting business and had decided to spend more and more time at the brothel and saloon. Unfortunately, when David was around, she didn’t have time for work. She had a better time if she dragged David away to one of the themed rooms. They often loved away the afternoon.
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