She adjusted the prim little spectacles perched on her nose before crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her gaze at him. “And yet you still won’t compromise me, even though you know it’s for my own good? That it’s what I want?”
He shook his head, as much from the need to deny her as the need to deny himself. Something about her—he couldn’t quite put his finger on why he was so drawn to her—made him want to say yes. “I wouldn’t steal from your husband.”
That infuriated her. Anger burned from her eyes as she sat up straighter, gripping the arms of the chair. He had to fight not to smile at how it transformed her beauty from prim and elegant to fiery and almost wild. Dios mio, he wanted to see her wild, to see her lose control of that fire she kept carefully subdued. And he wanted her beneath him when it happened. She was beautiful. She was strength. She was all the things he wanted and admired.
“My virtue doesn’t belong to my husband. It belongs to me. I can do with it what I like.”
He inclined his head in a minor concession. “As you wish. My answer is still the same.”
“Have you considered that it’s possible to compromise me without actually taking my virtue? We could simply arrange to have someone see us in an embrace. It needn’t be very dramatic.”
He hadn’t thought of that at all. Probably because he’d been too busy imagining the act of compromising her. “No, but I wouldn’t insult your honor in any way.”
She wanted to scream at him. He could tell from the way she jerked her head to the side, her jaw clenched tight, and he was tempted to push her until she lost her grip on her restraint. What would she look like raging at him? And, just as quickly, he was back to imagining his tongue on her body, his hands wrapped in that gorgeous hair as she bucked beneath him.
Mierda, he needed to stop. His blood was already starting to rush south, tightening his trousers.
“Fine, then we have nothing more to discuss. Get out.”
Castillo felt the first stirring of panic and his shoulders tensed. He’d been too soft with her, letting her think this was her choice instead of his demand. He kept his voice calm, and didn’t move at all. He’d played enough hands of poker to know not to show his hand. “I could play the role of suitor. Would that help?” He had no right offering to associate his name with hers in any way, but he felt compelled to offer some compromise. It wasn’t right that she wouldn’t be able to continue her education.
Her widened gaze jerked back to his. She was clearly as surprised by the offer as he was. She began to shake her head, but then stopped and a smile spread across her face. It nearly stole his breath away. “Yes! Yes, that’s perfect. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. It’s even better than compromise.”
She rose to her feet to pace the length of her room as if she was working out all the details in her head. She practically glowed with excitement, and Castillo shifted in his chair, uneasy with the direction of her thoughts. He’d meant to only discourage other suitors with his attention while she was at the wedding. It had been a paltry compromise, but the only one he could think up. He was actually worried about what wild scheme she’d come up with.
Finally she turned to face him, her eyes bright with enthusiasm. “I have the most wonderful idea. This is what we’ll do.” The smile on her face was so enchanting that he didn’t bother to interrupt her. “You become my suitor for the week. We’ll convince my father that we’ve fallen madly in love. He may disapprove at first, because you’re not from Boston, but I know he’ll come around. Then, after Hunter and Emmy’s wedding, you’ll propose.”
Castillo shook his head emphatically at that, but she kept on talking.
“I’ll accept and we’ll put on the charade of a gloriously happy couple. You’ll voice your support that I be allowed to go to school. We won’t be able to wed until the autumn in Boston—it’ll take weeks and weeks to plan such an affair. By that point, my parents will have to let me attend classes or I’ll risk losing my place. Then, once the semester is under way, we break off the engagement. We’ll have to come up with a compelling reason for that. Something that doesn’t reflect too unfavorably on either of us.”
She adjusted her glasses and resumed her pacing. “I’m sure by that time I can convince them that I must continue my studies. I may have to concede to searching for a suitable husband while I attend, but that’s preferable to not going at all.”
She’d walked all the way to the corner of the room, but she turned then, beaming at him. “Thank you so much for suggesting this, Mr. Jameson. It’s absolutely the perfect solution.”
She looked so hopeful that he hated to disappoint her, but there was no way he was agreeing to this farce. “That is not what I suggested. I’d be willing to agree for the week, up until the wedding, but after that I’m afraid I have to go.”
Depending on the leads Zane found in Helena, Castillo might even need to leave before the wedding to follow up on Derringer’s location. He’d make sure to be back for the wedding, but the possibility that the man was nearby was something that couldn’t be ignored. He didn’t have time for what she wanted.
She walked back toward him, her hands steepled under her chin in thought. “That’s the perfect reason to put off the wedding until autumn. You have to leave…business we can say?”
He laughed. Hunting down his grandfather’s killer was a business, of sorts. “Yes, business.”
“There. So you see. It’s all coming together.”
He rose to his feet and noted that her eyes widened a bit. She took a step back. At least she didn’t trust him completely. “Except it’s not. I’m willing to bet Derringer’s put in a lot of time, effort and money into making sure I don’t find him. If your name is connected to mine—and it will be if an engagement is announced—then I can’t be certain he won’t come after you. He doesn’t want to be found, and I don’t think he’d hesitate to use you in some way.” Just a few short weeks ago Hunter had almost lost Emmy to a shoot-out in the barn outside with a band of outlaws. Castillo wouldn’t be responsible for something similar happening to Caroline, especially not over a sham of an engagement.
“That seems a bit dramatic,” Caroline said, crossing her arms. “I’ve seen the men outside, riding in the distance. They’re all armed. They’re sentries, aren’t they? They’re keeping an eye out and making sure we’re safe?”
He inclined his head in acknowledgement. “You’re observant, Miss Hartford. I’ll give you that.”
“Then I’ll be safe here on Jameson Ranch. After the wedding, you’ll go off on your search, and I’ll return home to Boston. I don’t think what I’m asking is all that risky. Besides, it’s a small risk I’m willing to take.”
Castillo sighed and raked his hands through his hair. If she only knew the real risk. If she knew about all the things he’d done on his search for Derringer and the fact that Reyes was a wanted man, she wouldn’t be so cavalier. It wasn’t information he could share, however, so he just stared her down. “The answer is still no. I’m sorry. But you’ll still have to keep my secret. I’ve never threatened a woman—” He paused, because that wasn’t precisely true. “I’ll remove you as a threat if it comes to it, Miss Hartford. You don’t know me or what I’m capable of.”
Her eyes widened, but she looked more angry than afraid. He’d half expected her to go pale or tremble, like the men on whom he’d used that tone. But not her. He wasn’t certain if it was because she didn’t believe him or because she was too angry to care. Her eyes blazed and an ember of attraction flickered through him. She was magnificent when she said, “Then I’ll scream now.” And she opened her mouth to do just that.
Castillo lunged at her and covered her mouth, jerking her against him to keep her from struggling. “Fine, damn you, but we’ll keep it quiet. Nothing will be published in the paper. This is strictly between us and your parents.” But th
at wouldn’t stop people from talking and word getting out to Derringer. This could be a mess.
She stilled against him, and he cautiously removed his hand from her mouth, doing his best to ignore how soft and warm she felt in his arms and how her lavender scent enveloped him like an embrace. When she turned to face him, she smiled and he had the sinking feeling that she’d manipulated him into accepting her plan.
He felt compelled to offer one last argument. “Has it occurred to you that your parents may not be happy with your choice?”
Her expression blanked and he realized that not only had that not occurred to her, but that she had no idea what he was talking about. “My skin is darker than yours, mi corazón. They’re bound to notice,” he explained with a wry grin.
She touched his hand, which was resting on her arm, and her gaze did one quick sweep of his face in a way that made him think she liked what she saw. “You’re not flawed from what I can see,” she whispered.
CHAPTER FIVE
Castillo slipped quietly from her room. He was still trying to figure out what in the hell had happened in there. One minute he’d been in charge, and the next she had him agreeing to be her fiancé. His response to having her repeat his own words to him was so visceral that it had taken his breath away. Instead of replying, he’d had to leave.
Walking a few steps away, he turned, half intending to go back in there and tell her the plan wasn’t going to work. He had more important things to do than pretend to court her. But he paused because he didn’t have a suitable alternative. He couldn’t keep her tied up in her room the entire week.
An image of what that’d look like swam through his mind. Damn, keeping her tied to her bed all week did hold a certain kind of appeal. He remembered the way she’d looked at him back on the train when she’d thought about kissing him. He doubted she’d admit it now, but he’d seen the way her eyes had gone soft and lit on his mouth. She’d imagined he’d kiss her right there on the train. If he kept her tied up then he’d have plenty of time to make her look at him like that again. Then she’d be all his.
He shifted, his body already responding to that image in his mind. Damn. Her presence here was ruining his concentration and his plans.
“Cas?” Hunter called his name.
Castillo gave one last quick, befuddled glance toward Caroline’s door and made his way to Hunter.
“What’s going on with Caroline?” Hunter asked when he was close enough to not be overheard.
“She was on the train when Bennett saw us. She heard him call me Reyes.”
Hunter cursed under his breath.
“I talked to her,” Castillo said and put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I explained about my grandfather and she’s offered her cooperation. She’s not a problem.”
Hunter raked his fingers through his hair. “That seems a little too convenient.”
“She doesn’t know everything. Just that Derringer went missing with the funds he stole and that Bennett is his son. She has no reason to say anything.” Castillo believed that as long as the dust settled and Bennett or Derringer didn’t make an appearance, she’d stay quiet about the train incident. Or maybe that was just him hoping for luck to land on his side for once.
But Hunter nodded and started walking back toward the stairs. Castillo walked along with him. “That’s good. I don’t want anything to ruin the wedding for Emmy.”
“It won’t, Hunter. Zane and I will make sure of that.” Once again a pang of jealousy threatened to rear its head. God knew he didn’t begrudge his brother his happiness, but that didn’t mean Castillo wasn’t mourning his own lack of a family.
“We’ll make sure of that,” Hunter said, pausing at the landing and meeting his eyes. “I’m still in the brotherhood.”
“You are, but this week is about you and Emmy.”
Hunter smiled, his eyes going warm as they usually did when he talked about his bride. “Come on, the old man wants to talk to you downstairs.”
Castillo sighed. He’d known this confrontation was coming. Better to get it over with now so that he could sleep in peace tonight, but he was so bone weary he didn’t think sleep would be a problem. He and Zane had spent the past two days looking for Bennett and finding dead ends.
“There’ll be whiskey.” Hunter smiled as if that would sweeten the deal.
Castillo conceded that it did make the talk more palatable. He barely grumbled as they made their way down the curving staircase to the study in the back of the house. The women were either still outside on the porch or had already gone up to bed, because he didn’t see them anywhere as Hunter led him through the semi-darkened house. Wall sconces lit the way, their light gleaming off the polished wood floor where it wasn’t covered in Persian rugs.
The study door was open, and Tanner was seated in one of the tall, wingback chairs before the fireplace. A low fire was burning to chase away the little bit of coolness in the air. He stood when Castillo and Hunter walked in. “Castillo. Thank you for joining us.” His hand came up to offer a tumbler of dark, amber-red whiskey.
Castillo nodded as he accepted it, aware of the door closing behind him and how it made the room feel stuffy. He tried to ignore the way the skin at the back of his neck suddenly felt two sizes too small. Instead, he focused on the man before him.
Tanner had aged well and still had a headful of hair the same tawny color as Hunter’s with just a few strands of silver at the temples. His forehead was grooved and lines spread out from his eyes and bracketed his mouth. But they made him look distinguished instead of merely aged. He must be around fifty—Castillo didn’t actually know how old his father was—but he was the image of vitality.
As a child, Castillo had listened to his mother talk about Tanner Jameson often. Usually when she was putting him to bed at night. She’d smile in that way she’d had that brightened her entire face and tell Castillo how he’d gone to seek his fortune, that he’d come back for them one day. Castillo had never been sure if the blurry images of the man he’d carried in his mind had been memories of his father or pictures she’d painted with her words.
That was, until his mother died and he’d knocked on the front door of Jameson Ranch five years ago and come face-to-face with the man. His face had matched the image in Castillo’s mind, except the grooves had grown deeper. Castillo had been surprised that he’d remembered the man so clearly. He’d also been surprised to not feel anything at seeing his father—not happiness, not sadness. Nothing except a swell of anger that this man had made his mother cry.
Tanner indicated Castillo should take the seat opposite him, and he sank down into the matching chair and brought the whiskey to his lips. The familiar warmth of the liquor going down soothed him. Hunter poured his own drink and sat on the sofa. When Tanner settled down, the leg he’d injured in the war jutted out a bit because the knee didn’t bend properly. Firelight gleamed off the black lacquer of the cane propped next to him.
Tanner cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence that had settled in the room. “Thank you for coming to the wedding. I’m glad you could make the trip.”
“No need to thank me. I didn’t come for your benefit.” Castillo grimaced at how harsh the words sounded. He didn’t particularly like the man for what he’d done to his mother, but he wasn’t bitter.
Instead of taking the bait, Tanner gave a little shrug of his wide shoulders and inclined his head. “Nevertheless, I’m glad you came. I hope everything went well with Miguel. He settled in fine?”
Castillo nodded. “Well enough. He didn’t want to go, but I think he realizes an education is best for his future.” It was a damn sight better than being chased like a criminal until someone eventually gunned him down. That situation with Campbell’s gang had been too close.
“Hunter didn’t want to go, either.” Tanner chuckled and shared an amused glan
ce and some unknown memory with Hunter before looking back at Castillo. “I had to take him myself, much like you had to take your brother. I’d like to meet Miguel someday.”
Castillo stayed silent. In recent years, Tanner had made attempts to get to know more about him and his family—mainly with requests sent through Hunter—but that didn’t even come close to making up for the years his father had been absent or how the man had hurt his mother. Maybe Castillo was a little bitter.
When it became apparent Castillo wouldn’t reply, Tanner asked, “When did you meet Emmy? Back in the dining room…well, it seemed that you knew each other.”
Castillo took another sip of whiskey and glanced to Hunter. Together they’d all three concocted a story about how Hunter and Emmy had met. Due to his venture breeding horses, Hunter had met Emmy’s stepfather through business. When the man had needed to take an extended overseas business trip, he’d implored Hunter to take in Emmy and her younger sisters because they had no other relatives to see them through such a lengthy absence. Naturally, it had been love at first sight for the young couple and here they were getting married just weeks later.
They couldn’t very well go around telling everyone the truth. That her stepfather was Ship Campbell, leader of a ruthless gang of bank robbers who’d kidnapped Miguel in an act of retaliation. Or that Hunter, Castillo and Zane had kidnapped Emmy, and then she’d escaped to a brothel and Hunter had bid on her virginity. Not even Tanner knew about their legally questionable activities. Castillo was still unclear about how he was supposed to fit into that story, so he smiled as Hunter took the lead in answering.
“Castillo and Miguel came up from Texas not long after Emmy arrived. They spent a little time here before taking the train to Boston.”
Marriage Deal With the Outlaw & the Warrior's Damsel in Distress & the Knight's Scarred Maiden : Harlequin Historical August 2017 (9781488021640) Page 6
