“If you say so.” She stared down at her boots, the red blurring.
“So, all right, I guess we should get out of here then,” he said and leaned down and hefted two pillowcases up.
“Yeah, all right,” she mumbled, still staring at down at her boots.
“You coming?” he asked, walking toward the door.
When she looked up, she immediately wished she hadn’t. He was looking right at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She took a deep breath and said, “Yeah.” She started walking forward.
“Raven?” he called.
She stopped abruptly. “What?”
He inclined his head toward one of the pillowcases. “Aren’t you going to carry one of those?”
She widened her eyes. Was he fucking insane? “Sure, let me just get that.” She reached over and tried to pick on up but it only scooched across the floor. “It’s too heavy.”
He set his bags down and walked over to her.
She froze. Her heart pounded.
He leaned down and hefted up the two bags. “Raven, can you get the door to the armoire.”
“Oh sure,” she muttered. “Let Bessie get that for you,” her voice came out harsher than she meant it to but she couldn’t help herself. She was, after all, completely and unequivocally devastated and mad and …
The armoire doors slammed shut and he brushed past her but then he backed up two steps and grabbed hold of her hand. “Come on wife I am hungry.”
“WH—what?” she stuttered.
“Come on.” He tugged on her hand again.
Completely stupefied, she reluctantly let him pull her over to the door.
Releasing her hand, he bent down to pick up the pillowcases he had left by the door. “After you my lady,” he said, giving her one of his flirty smiles.
Raven felt like she was on an emotional roller coaster. One minute she was on a high wanting to dance a jig and the next she felt like throwing a pity party for herself. “I don’t understand.” She shook her head.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Ah…” her mouth opened and closed like a fish. Before she could change her mind, she ran across the room and grabbed up the string of pearls. She gave him a wan smile. “Now I am ready.”
Shaking his head, he muttered, “I don’t get women.” He tossed the pillowcases over his shoulders and followed her out of the room.
Yo-ho-ho where’s the rum
PRESENT DAYRAVENHURST
“EXCUSE me!” Milford jerked his elbow away from the unsavory man as he was shoved into the library. “You are rumpling my jacket with your filthy fingers.”
Cuthbert lifted up his hands and looked down at them. “My fingers ain’t dirty?” He held his hands up. “Boss man, my fingers look dirty to you?”
“Idiot,” Cecily muttered under her breath.
“Watch your mouth, bitch,” Cuthbert warned, taking a step toward her.
“Mangy shit!” she shot back.
Milford rolled his eyes.
“Cuthbert, it is merely a figure of speech,” Bishop sighed. Lifting his hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Oh.” Cuthbert glowered at Milford. “You were trying to make me look stupid weren’t you?”
“For God’s sake man, would you please stop spitting on me?” Milford snapped, and stepped back, barely avoiding the spray. “It is unseemly.”
“I told you, Cuthbert,” Bishop added with a nod.
Cecily muttered something else under her breath but this time no one commented, not even Cuthbert.
It may have had something to do the fact the he now had a gun pressed to the small of his back.
“Who in the hell are you and what in the hell happened to my front door?” Reed said with calm deliberation.
“Well Sir,” Milford intervened, “it seems your uninvited visitors were impatient and felt the need to kick the door open.” Milford harrumphed loudly and jerked on his jacket indignantly. .
“I see.” Except Reed didn’t see at all. “Why are you here?”
“I work here, Sir.”
“For God’s sake Milford!” exclaimed Reed. “Not you…them?” he said, waving his free hand at the men taking up residence in his library.
“Oh, right,” he ruffled. “My mistake,” he said. “I believe they are acquaintances of your brother’s, Sir.”
“Shit!” He took in the scene before him and looked over at Cecily, just now noticing she was sitting on his sofa. “Ms. Jones, are these the gentlemen my brother spoke of in the note you gave me?”
She nodded her head mutely, for once, at a loss for words as real tears slid down her face.
“Go sit on the sofa.” Reed nudged the man in front of him with the gun.
Cuthbert looked at Bishop, who merely nodded and then continued on to the sofa.
“Don’t you dare sit next to me,” Cecily warned.
Cuthbert made a face at her and then sidled over to the end of the sofa and sat down.
“So, care to explain what you want from my brother.”
Bishop leaned back in the leather chair, placed his elbows on the arms, and clasped his fingers in front of him. “I am looking for Mr. Scott.”
“I am Mr. Scott.”
“Then you should know why I am here,” Bishop said matter of factly.
“No. I don’t know. Care to fill me in.”
“This ain’t the one you’re looking for boss man,” Cuthbert piped in.
Bishop sighed. “I gathered that Cuthbert.”
“I am waiting.” Reed shook the gun.
“It seems, Mr. Scott …”Bishop began.
“Lucian,” Reed supplied.
When Reed said his name, Cecily cried out in misery.
“Oh what’s the matter, backstabber? That guilty conscience of yours eating you alive, ehh?”
“Shut the fuck up!” Cecily railed.
“Both of you shut up,” Bishop warned, and then regarded the man standing in the doorway. “Nice place you got here.” He mused, “Must take a lot of money to maintain a place like this.”
“Yeah, quite a bit,” Reed agreed.
“Hmm, you interested in selling it?”
Reed gaped at him. “No.”
“Well isn’t that a pity. I always wanted to add a castle to my empire.”
“Well there are plenty of other castles falling down I am sure you can buy.”
“Yes, but I fear they wouldn’t come with as much… character as this one, would they?”
“I am not sure what you mean.”
Bishop sighed. “I guess you wouldn’t.”
“Can we cut the small talk and get to the point?”
“I suppose, if you insist.” Bishop stood from the chair, his formidable frame filling the space. “But first please set down the gun Mr. Scott,” he asked, but there was a commanding tone to his voice. “They make me nervous.” He gave him a sly smile that chilled Reed to his core. “And besides mine is bigger than yours.” He lifted his jacket revealing his own gun. “I can assure you I am accurate and fast, as I have had plenty of practice.” Again, he smiled but it did not reach his eyes.
Reed reluctantly set the gun on the side table.
Bishop smiled, seemingly pleased. “See how civilized I can be.” He turned on his heel and walked over to the sideboard. He lifted the sparkling decanter in the air toward Reed. “Do you mind?”
“Oh by all means,” he deadpanned.
Bishop lifted his brow, an amused look settling on his face. “Don’t mind if I do. Thank you.” He turned back around and filled his glass with two fingers of Scotch. “Would you care for a glass?” he asked over his shoulder in an offhand manner.
“No.”
“Suit yourself.” Bishop placed the crystal stopper back in the decanter, lifted his glass, and took a small sip, letting the warmth slip down his throat. “This is good.”
“I know.”
Again, Bishop gave him an assessing look, turned to walk back behin
d the desk once more, and took a seat. “So where were we?”
“I was waiting for you to get to the point.”
“Right,” he agreed. “Now there is a little matter that needs to be addressed.”
When he didn’t say anything more, Reed looked at him pointedly. “And that would be,” he probed.
“This other Mr. Scott is he a relation to you or does he merely share your name?”
“If you are speaking of Lucian, he is my brother.”
“Ah, your brother…” he exhaled. “ I suppose you are aware of your brother’s spending habits?”
“If you mean he likes to gamble, then yes, I am aware.”
“Good. Then I don’t have to explain this to you.” He contemplated his glass for a moment. “Although, I have to say your admission surprises me. I wouldn’t have thought he would confide his …indiscretions to you.” Bishop took another sip of his drink and sat it back on the desk. “I find in instances like these most families are in the dark, so to speak,” he said, spinning the glass with the tips of his fingers, the bottom making a scraping sound on the desk.
“Yes well, he didn’t exactly tell me.”
Bishop glanced at a bill on the desktop, Payment due now stamped on the top. “Oh, so you are the one stuck paying for his sins.” He inclined his head toward the stack of bills.
“That is none of your damn business.”
Bishop smiled. “I will admit that under normal circumstances what you say would be true but it seems your brother left me no other alternative. So you can thank him for my visit.”
“What are you saying?” Reed asked, although he had a good idea what he was talking about.
“To put it simply, your brother owes me a great deal of money and since he is not here…I will have to get it from you.”
“Why would I give you money he owes you? It is not my debt to pay.”
“Isn’t it?” Bishop again referred to the stack of bills by inclining his head. “It seems you are the one paying his debts. And no you don’t have to but I will get my money one way or another.”
“If I do not give you the money and obviously Lucian can’t, how will you get the money?”
“I am sorry I didn’t catch your name.” He smoothed a hand through his thick dark hair.
“That’s because I didn’t give it to you,” he muttered.
“What was that?”
“My name is Reed.”
“Reed is it?”
“Yes.”
He smiled. “So Reed, you will understand that I have a reputation to uphold. I do not need the money per se but if I let your brother welch out on his debt to me…well you see what I am getting at don’t you? My hand will be forced and I will have to collect payment in other ways. I can see by your expression you understand what I am getting at.”
“Yeah, it is kind of hard to miss.”
“So you see your brother’s fate is in your hands.”
“But he is gone.”
“Oh not to worry,” he waved his hand in the air as though his statement was of no consequence, “I have ways of finding who I am looking for… sooner or… later. It’s up to you. The ball is in your court so to speak.”
“How much?” gritted Reed.
“I like you, Reed.” He lifted his glass. “You cut straight to the chase.” He took a long pull of his drink and settled it back on the desk. “Well, I will admit, it wasn’t so much before you understand, but I do have to charge interest. You know it’s good for business practices.”
“How much?” he gritted out again, clenching his jaw tightly.
“I’ll just round it up for you. A quarter of a million,” he said.
“No way!” he railed, clearly in shock. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Oh yes way, Reed,” Bishop assured him. “There are two things I never kid about. One is my ability to obtain things I want and the second is money.
“I don’t have that kind of money available.”
Bishop looked around the room, appraising the value of some of the pieces. “Well luckily for you I am a reasonable man, you can always give it to me in trade.”
Reed narrowed his eyes. “What kind of trade?”
“I did see a nice Shelby Cobra original in the driveway and there appear to be few pieces of art in here that I wouldn’t mind adding to my personal collection. I do so love the finer things in life, you know.”
“She’s my baby though.”
“Yes, well. At some point I am sure you can replace her. Your brother is your flesh and blood…”He lifted his palms up.
“Yeah, I get it.” Reed cut him off. “Write down a list of what you want.”
Bishop reared back in the chair. “Anything?” he asked with a bemused expression.
“Well they are only things, like you said, my brother is irreplaceable.”
“If you say so,” he said, lifting his brow doubtfully.
“Oh, and I will need it in writing that his debt is paid and that he will be off the hook entirely.”
“Of course,” said Bishop. “Although, I cannot write it down, you know, tax purposes and all. You will have to give the items to me, in writing, of course. And I will need you to terminate your marriage, with your baby… so to speak.” He rubbed his hands together. “Since she will belong to me now,” he added with a sly smile.
Raven snuck down the stairs, hiding out near the ugly gargoyle. She heard the last part of the discussion and bit her trembling lip. Reed was bartering her off like a piece of meat. What the hell?
“I can do that.” He took a breath. “I will warn you though, she may be a real looker and a very easy ride, but she can also be a bit temperamental.”
“Oh, I have no doubt,” Bishop agreed. “I find most women of her caliber are.”
Raven’s face bloomed with color, warming to the compliment. Then immediately wanted to kick herself. She was an idiot.
“It will take me a little time to get the papers together. And of course I will have to okay what else you want to go with her.”
Wait… what? That was it. Raven was not going to sit idly by while Reed traded her off to some deviant thug.
Raven stormed into the room. “How dare you!” she yelled, clenching her hands into fists at her sides.
Raven!” exclaimed Reed.
“Don’t you dare say a word… you…you…” She shook her finger at him. “How could you?”
Reed didn’t have any idea why Raven was so upset about him giving away his car and a few of his possessions—hell, he was rich as Croesus, now. He could certainly replace all of them eventually, but this guy didn’t need to know that. “Raven, be quiet!” Reed gritted.
“You…you … can’t tell me what to do?” she railed, on the verge of a full-fledged temper tantrum.
“Raven,” Milford tried to stop her but she had a mind of her own.
“Oh, you too, Milford,” she cut him off with a reproving look. “How could you just…” She stomped her foot.
A gold coin flew out of her pant leg and clattered to the ground.
Milford stepped on top of it, covering it quickly.
“Raven,” warned Reed widening his eyes. “This gentleman here is taking my car, my baby, not you.”
“I know I heard yooouu…” Her eyes rounded, she blinked hard, like a little owl. “Wait what?
“My car,” he explained. “Lucian owes him money and he is taking that as payment as well as a few other things.” He widened his eyes again, in warning.
“Oh.” She tightened her lips.
“Raven,” Cecily called from across the room.
For the first time she saw her friend, or would be friend, sitting on the sofa. “What are you doing here, Cecily?”
“I believe I can shed some light on that,” Bishop interrupted. He inclined his head. “Ms. Jones here was kind enough to let me know where Lucian was, for a small price of course. Isn’t that right, Cecily?” Bishop gave her a winning smile and a wink for good measur
e.
“You did what?” She gaped at her.
“Raven you don’t understand…I needed …”
Raven shook her head in disbelief. “How could you?
“I needed the money…”
“For what…another pair of shoes?” she accused. “Are you kidding me? What kind of person are you?”
“She’s a greedy one, I tell you.” Cuthbert cut in.
“Shut the hell up, mange,” screamed Cecily.
“Make me, bitch.”
Cecily lunged across the couch, wrapping her hands around his head and pulling the sparse amount of hair he had left as hard as she could.
“Arrgh, he crowed. “ Ye fucking little bitch,” he howled. Reaching up with both hands, he grabbed her head and pulled on her hair. They tumbled to the floor.
Milford quickly bent over, picked up the coin, and then scampered out of the way.
Cuthbert straddled her and had his fist lifted in the air.
Cecily kneed him in the groin.
Cuthbert yowled in pain and rolled to his side.
Seeing her chance for escape, Cecily jumped to her feet, skittered around behind Reed and Raven, and pulled the gun off the table.
Bishop slammed his hands on top of the desk. A book clattered to the ground.
Everyone jumped at once.
Cecily pulled the trigger.
The end of the trail
PRESENT DAYRAVENHURST
“WELL, this is goodbye then?” Reed blew out a pent up breath and shoved his hands down into his trouser pockets, feeling an uncomfortable tightening in his chest.
“I wouldn’t say goodbye, Sir, but rather, I’ll see you later.” Milford gave him a halfhearted smile. He pulled out his handkerchief from his pocket and with a flick of his wrist, snapped open the pristine white linen, and blotted his eyes. “I am not good at goodbyes,” he explained, emotion choking his words.
“Yes, I’ll see you later.” Reed blinked rapidly, his eyes stinging suddenly.
“What will happen to Ms. Jones?”
“I guess she will go back to work and buy herself some more shoes with the money she made from ratting out my brother.”
Milford harrumphed, straightened his jacket, and carefully folded back up his handkerchief. “She is a real piece of work, isn’t she, Sir?”
“Yeah, she really is,” Reed, agreed wholeheartedly.
Now and Forever:: A NEW ADULT TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE NOVEL (RAVENHURST SERIES Book 5) Page 22
