“Will your sister sell me the dress?” She could barely talk. Excitement filled her. An idea had entered her head. An idea she knew would be perfect.
“Very expensive, Missy. One dollar.” Ching Li’s expression said Sorry-I-can’t-do-anything-about-this.
Siobhan smiled. “Can your sister sew clothing in the western style, the kinds of clothing I normally wear? And would she be interested in becoming part of my new business venture?”
“Business? What business?”
“Ching Li, if Mai is interested, I’m going to start a dressmaker’s shop.”
Ching Li’s eyes widened. “Missy,” she breathed. Then she quickly translated for Mai, who covered her mouth with her hands and stepped back.
“She very interested. Very happy you like her work. She also say this dress need some adjustments to the hem and bring in tighter in the waist.”
“Please tell her I’ll pay her two dollars for the dress if she will add some embroidery to it. Whatever she thinks suits. And tell her that I will have her set up in a shop within a week.” Impulsively, she hugged first Ching Li and then Mai. “Oh, ladies, we’re going to be rich!”
* * * *
Three weeks after their arrival, Micah pored over a bid for a contract which Drew had initiated before Micah’s arrival. A mining company with Sacramento offices needed ten wagons, but they had particular demands in addition to the equipment itself.
“I think the amount is too low,” Micah said. “They want service and warranties we’ve never offered before.”
“I don’t know. This is our first big bid. I don’t want to lose it because we were too high.”
“If we lose it, then we do. I’d like to establish ourselves as exclusive and worth whatever we ask, rather than undervalue our product.”
Drew sighed. “I’m not trying to underestimate our product. We build the best damn wagons in the country. I’m just saying that we need the business right now. We’re the newcomers. A Boston reputation means nothing to these people out here. Let’s establish ourselves with some good contracts and then put in the bids you want.”
Rising with a huff of frustration, Micah threw the papers down on the desk. He strode to the window and looked out over the Bay. “It’s too late then. We need to start strong.”
“And if we lose the contract, what then?”
“We find another. If Lucky Seven Mines doesn’t want us, their competitor will. If they don’t want us, some other, smarter company will. Hell, this is the fucking golden land of opportunity, isn’t it? Let’s make it work for us.”
“You’re the boss,” Drew said. The tinge of bitterness in his voice wasn’t lost on Micah.
“Yes, I am.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “According to Father. Not in reality, and we both know it.” He turned. “You’re the brains in this office. And I’m not trying to tell you how to handle business, Drew, I’m really not. Hell, you’ve taught me more about our family business in the last few weeks than I learned at home in the last six years. But I have a hunch about this bid. This country, this city isn’t like Boston. There’s little finesse out here. They respect the man with the biggest gun.”
“And the guts to use it.”
“Exactly. I think we should show we have the conviction to stand behind what we think our wagons are worth. Let’s go in tough, hang in tough, and finish with a deal that will prove to every other son-of-a-bitch mining company, or draying outfit, or whatever, that regardless of the price they must pay, Berwick wagons are worth it.”
Drew shook his head, his mouth forming a thin line and eyes full of sapphire anger. Then he took a breath and his face relaxed into a rueful smile. “We’ll do it your way. And you’re right. If these people are too fucking stupid to see what we’re worth, someone else will. I’ve heard of borax mines in the south of the state that require quality equipment due to their locations and extreme temperatures. We’ll make a place for ourselves out here one way or the other.”
Micah grinned. “And prove to the old man that we can kick his ass when it comes to business.”
Laughing, Drew said, “There is that benefit. I’ll draw up the paperwork using your figures and have the proposal delivered in Sacramento tomorrow.” He carefully stored the papers in a folder and put them in the top drawer of his side of the partners desk. Then he moved to the window beside his brother.
“I’m sorry I fought with you, Drew. We never used to argue like that.”
“That’s because the stakes are so much higher now. Father purposely pitted us against each other.”
“True, the bastard.”
“Plus…”
Micah glanced at his twin. “What?”
Drew huffed out a breath. “God, I need to get laid. It’s been too long.”
Micah laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “Hell, is that all? Head on over to Kate’s. I’ve heard tell she has the finest girls in the city.”
“Yes, I could. I should.” Drew stared pensively at the water. Longshoremen at the docks on the other side of the Bay unloaded a three-masted cargo ship.
“I understand your need,” Micah said in an effort to draw Drew out. “Since we’ve arrived, you’ve kept me so busy I’ve been with Siobhan only a very few times.” He pulled a face. “I’m surprised she hasn’t filed for divorce.”
“I’m sure she misses you. Now that we’ve settled on this bid, you’ll be able to spend more time with her.”
“If I can separate her from shopping and establishing herself with the high and mighty of San Francisco. I have to admit, the clothes she’s buying are top notch. They fit perfectly and they’re so, I don’t know. Different. But stunning.”
“Anything would be stunning on Siobhan.”
Micah sighed, missing his wife. “And have you seen her new maid? She never leaves Siobhan’s side.”
“She’s ravishing.”
“She’s the only Chinese lady’s maid in all San Francisco society. Or so Siobhan tells me.”
Drew chuckled. “Leave it to our Siobhan to strike out in such an open way.”
Micah cocked his head. “Our Siobhan?” The quick flush to Drew’s cheeks told him everything. “You haven’t taken yourself off to Kate’s because the morsel you want to stick your cock into is right at home, isn’t she?” He said it quietly, without anger but with plenty of heat. He remembered the image he’d had weeks ago of Drew fucking Siobhan while he watched. A raging surge of lust rushed through him.
“Micah…I never said that. In fact, I think it’s time I do as I’d originally intended and find my own place to live. Newlyweds need time to themselves.” He turned and went back to the desk where he pulled out a new sheaf of papers. “I’ll begin the search this week.”
Micah studied his twin’s downcast eyes, set jaw, and the finger tapping the desk, a sure sign since childhood that Drew was disturbed by something.
“That’s why you left, isn’t it? Siobhan’s the reason you left Boston without a fare-thee-well, you coward. You wanted her.”
“Don’t be an idiot. She’s your wife.”
“And you’re my twin. Why wouldn’t we be attracted to the same woman? Shit, we’re like two halves of a whole.”
“That doesn’t make it right. She’s your wife.”
Micah took his seat and stared across the few feet into Drew’s face. Hell, into his own face, his own eyes. “Siobhan asked if we’d ever shared a woman.”
Drew jerked back. “What?”
“I told her about when Father took us to the whorehouse on our eighteenth birthday. Do you remember?”
Drew snorted. “Hard to forget something like that.”
“The thing is, I had the feeling the thought didn’t disturb Siobhan. Not at all.”
His gaze wary, Drew leaned forward. His finger had stopped tapping.
“I wouldn’t mention this to anyone else in the world, Drew, but I think you already know most of what I think and feel anyway. She’s a most adventurous woman, our Siobh
an.” He took a moment to study his twin’s face. Had he caught the emphasis? “She loves sex, in any form, in any way. At least every way we’ve done it so far. She’s a sexual creature, made to create havoc in a man and then cure it.”
“I held her in my arms while we danced at your reception and suddenly I didn’t want to let her go. I felt like the lowest form of life. She had just married you and all I could think of was fucking her.”
Micah nodded. “Then you know what I mean.”
Drew fell back in his seat and sighed. “Yes, I know.” He looked up. “Do you love her?”
“With all my heart and soul.”
“Does she love you?”
Micah looked into the space over Drew’s shoulder. “That’s not as easy to answer. I believe she cares for me. But if I weren’t a Berwick of Boston? I don’t know. She loves what our money can provide, and for now that’s enough for me.”
“Mercenary of her.”
“Mercenary of who, my dear brother-in-law?”
Micah jumped to his feet, and Drew spun around to see Siobhan standing in the doorway.
Chapter Seven
The twins consulted each other silently before facing her. Siobhan had been in the outer office long enough to know they discussed her, and why. Micah knew she didn’t love him, though he speculated that she cared for him, which she truly did. What had begun the extraordinary revelation interested her more than anything else.
“Just a woman we know.” Micah found his voice first.
“Anyone I know?” She moved into the room, removing her gloves. Giving Andrew a peck on the cheek, she then kissed Micah lightly on the lips.
“Whatever are you doing here, my dear?” he countered.
Adroitly done. “Besides nearly feeling that I needed an appointment in order to see my husband?” She raised her brows in a meaningful gesture.
“That’s my fault, Siobhan,” Andrew offered. “But things should improve somewhat now. We just put the final figures into a large contract bid—our first in California—and Micah should be home more at night now.”
“Well, that’s good news. Is the bid a good one?”
“I think so,” Micah said.
“And you agree, Andrew?”
“Yes. Micah has shown an admirable grasp of negotiation. If we don’t get the job, it won’t be because we don’t know our business.” He looked pointedly at his twin. “Both of us. Father didn’t realize the good business mind he kept hidden in his Boston factory.”
Micah blushed. “If I know anything, it’s because of you.”
“I have faith in both of you,” Siobhan said. “And that’s really why I’m here today.”
Micah pulled out his chair for Siobhan. She sat, carefully arranging her violet-colored organza visiting suit. Mai had created it, using organza for the first time, and to spectacular effect. Mrs. Norman Aberwaite, with whom she had spent the morning, had nearly begged Siobhan to tell her where she had purchased it. Yet another new client for Wild Orchid. Business was blossoming.
“I joined Mrs. Aberwaite today on her calls.”
“Oh?” Micah watched her, but she could tell he didn’t pay attention. His eyes held a strange gleam. Not of desire, exactly, but something close. Her bloomers moistened.
Micah had been to her room only a few times since their arrival in San Francisco. Once, she ventured to his room, but had found him asleep in a wingback chair with business papers in his lap. She hadn’t had the heart to wake him, but did rouse his man to get him to bed.
Since then, while she’d waited for Micah to find time for her again, she’d occupied herself with cultivating some of San Francisco’s finest, those who would generate business for their fledgling office, and her dress shop.
“Micah, are you listening to me?”
“Yes, dear, of course I am.” He widened his eyes, finally appearing to focus on her with the attention she desired. She smiled to herself. When he first quit her bedroom for several days, she had feared he had lost interest—not something she could fathom. But the look in his eyes now proved that he was still besotted. She melted a bit inside. He was such a sweetheart.
“I was trying to explain that Mrs. Aberwaite’s carriage is a disaster. She told me that it’s new but the ride is enough to jar one’s teeth loose. It’s in no way comparable to ours.”
“That’s because our carriages have been fitted with special suspensions. The ride is improved dramatically.” Andrew placed his elbow on the desk and braced his chin on his fist.
“Why doesn’t Mrs. Aberwaite’s carriage have the same remarkable suspension?”
Micah smiled. “Because your brilliant brother-in-law and his equally brilliant twin developed the technique.”
Siobhan looked from one to the other, speechless. “You two made this–this thing, whatever it is? But that’s wonderful! Why aren’t we richer?”
Micah burst into laughter, and Andrew smiled and shook his head. “Because we developed the suspension while working for Berwick Transport, and so the company owns the idea and the value the suspension generates. We have all benefitted from the invention.”
She made a pouting face. “That hardly seems fair. After all, it was your intelligence that created it. Have you made other inventions?”
Andrew shrugged. “A few. They are all used in Berwick wagons, and that’s why ours are the best in the country.”
“You two are geniuses, pure geniuses. Why do you make only wagons? Why not carriages, too?”
The men shot each other startled looks. “By God, Micah, we’re not the only geniuses. You wife has quite a head for business.”
She patted her nape, where a complex twist of hair rested. “I’m not just another pretty face,” she said, making the men laugh again.
“Well.” She stood. “Now that I have my answer, Ching Li has a new seamstress she insists I come to know.”
Micah immediately frowned. “You aren’t letting her take you too far off the public streets, are you? Chinatown has a dark underside, I’ve heard.”
“Don’t worry,” she said, patting his cheek. She pulled on one glove. “Will you two be home for dinner tonight?”
“Yes,” Micah said. He glanced at Andrew. “But tomorrow I have to leave, quite early. I’ve decided to take this bid to the client personally.”
“Why?” Andrew demanded.
“It’s our first client here. They know you and I’d like them to know me, too. We’re a team. I’d like to feel I’m doing my part to help us succeed.”
“How long will you be gone?” Siobhan asked quietly.
“I’m not sure. A few days. But Drew will be here. I’m certain he will shower you with attention and satisfy every need and desire.”
She couldn’t read his expression, a most unusual situation because Micah was normally so open with her. When she glanced at Andrew, she found his gaze focused on his desk. What was going on between these two?
“If you are leaving tomorrow,” she said softly, “may I take it that you mean say good-bye tonight?”
He stepped closer. “A most private good-bye,” he said.
Satisfied that he would visit her later, Siobhan took her leave. Curiosity about what her two men planned could wait. At the moment, she had a new dressmaker to meet. If things went well, she would add a second seamstress to her shop.
* * * *
At last, dinner was over, meaningless conversation ended, and business concluded. Siobhan had retired half an hour before, and Micah was about to go to her through the connecting door of their bedrooms. He was primed and ready.
“Micah,” Drew said from behind him, “are you sure you want to go to Sacramento? I can take the papers.”
“I want to go,” he replied. “It’s important for me to feel part of things.”
“All right.” Drew shuffled his feet, looking at the floor.
It was unlike Drew to hem and haw. “What’s worrying you?”
“You aren’t leaving Siobhan and me alone think
ing that…well, you know.”
Micah smiled, touched that Drew would be shy over this one topic. “I’m going to feel her out, Drew. If she isn’t interested you can bet she will let me know.”
Drew’s gaze when he met Micah’s eyes showed confusion. “Why would you even ask? She’s your wife, she chose you. Why would you even think about sharing her with me? Why would she want to?”
Drew’s insecurity was totally out of character. Time to nip this in the bud. “If anyone but you even thought about touching her, I’d want to kill him. But you aren’t anyone, Drew, you’re part of me. Minutes separated us at birth and nothing has come between us since. What’s belonged to one of us has always belonged to both. What’s important to one has always been vital to the other. We’re part of each other’s very being. If Siobhan wants you, it feels right that it happen.” He closed his eyes. “I can already see us inside her, together fucking her, together leaving our seed deep inside, becoming part of her. I feel it. Do you?”
Drew remained silent. When Micah opened his eyes Drew stared into the fireplace.
“Don’t press her on it, okay? Don’t try to convince her.” Drew turned and left the room.
Micah removed his clothes and slipped into his dressing gown, black brocade to his ankles, and black wool slippers. Knocking softly, he opened the door before waiting for Siobhan’s permission to enter.
She rose from her dressing table, a vision in white. The filmy, see-through fabric flowed around her body as she came to him. His cock hardened and lengthened so quickly his breath caught.
She focused her gaze only on him. Her hair fell in thick waves across one breast and over her other shoulder. Nipples stiff and firm crowned the dark circles of areolae. He could practically taste their sweetness. His gaze skimmed her waist, which he could span with his hands. Her hips swayed seductively, drawing his eyes to the dark bush between her thighs. And there lay the treasure he sought, protected by her thick, wiry pubic hair. He licked his lips in anticipation.
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