“Stop! You need to leave, Mother!” I ordered, not wanting to hear another word.
“If she’s what you want, I won’t stand in your way, but your father does have a plan.”
“Then tell me what his plan is.”
“He’s falsifying a marriage certificate. You can’t get married if you already are.”
“How can…?”
“He’s blackmailed Brittney Smith into being the wife, and if he succeeds, you’ll legally be married to that woman, William. If you’re not wed yet, you must do it now, before he has a chance to file any papers.”
“Why is he doing this? What the hell is wrong with him? You have to see he’s a sick man, Mum. No one in their right mind would go through so much trouble…”
“He has his reasons.”
“Reasons? There’s no reason for him to be so…”
“William, you don’t know your father as well as I do. I know why he’s doing this. I know why he’s acting this way. It doesn’t excuse it, but I understand it. Now, if you’re to be wed, I’d like to be in attendance,” she said, fluffing her hair a little. The gall of her was amazing, but my soon-to-be wife’s tender heart was even more amazing.
“We’d love to have you there, Emmaline.”
“No reason to lie, dear, but it was kind of you to say so. I only have two children, and I don’t want to miss this important step in William’s life, even if I believe it’s in the wrong direction.”
“That’s it. I’ve had enough of you. Get your own room and catch the next flight out, because you won’t be staying with us,” I hissed at her.
“William,” Hannah admonished. She really was too kind. “She’s being honest about her feelings. She’s trying to be supportive in her own way.”
“Don’t make excuses for her. Why are you even standing up for her? She’s treated you horribly!”
“She’s a mother, and that’s something we both have in common. I may not know why she’s doing what she is, but I understand where she’s coming from.” Hannah opened the door to the car and waved for my mum to get in.
“I swear, if you say one offensive word to Hannah, I’ll pull over and leave you on the side of the road, and that’s not a threat, it’s a promise,” I growled at my mother. She’d better not step out of line, or her being stranded in Scotland would be the least of her problems.
Chapter 22 – Forging Ahead
HANNAH
Emmaline was quiet for the ride into town. When we pulled up to the little dress shop, she didn’t look impressed. She had the good sense to keep her mouth shut, though, because I knew William was on the verge of leaving her on the side of the road.
“I have the dress ready for Camille, and yours is ready for its final fitting, if you want to take it with you when you’re done.”
“That sounds like a great plan,” William cut in.
His mother was wandering around the shop, and it seemed to put William on edge.
“Would you like to find a dress for the wedding as well, Ma’am?” Bonnie asked her.
Emmaline let out a huff. “I suppose so.”
“William, you have to go out, while Hannah tries on her dress.” Camille shooed him out the shop door. I wasn’t thrilled about being left with his mother, but Camille wasn’t far.
“Your dress is lovely,” Emmaline startled me, when she commented on my gown.
“Thank you, it seemed very fitting for where the wedding is to take place.”
“And where is that?” she asked. I wasn’t sure I should answer.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
She turned away, clearly offended, but I wasn’t about to let her leak to her husband where we were. I could understand why she’d want to be there for her son’s wedding, but I still didn’t trust her.
I redressed in my street clothes and carefully tucked my dress into its bag. Bonnie came out with the other three dresses, wearing a big smile. “Camille’s dress fit like a glove. They’re all ready when you are.”
I’d already paid for them online before we’d arrived, so I gave Bonnie a parting hug, ready to leave.
“I’d like to try these on,” Emmaline cut in.
“Oh, well, go right ahead,” Bonnie led her back to the dressing room.
I took the gowns outside and heard William on the phone. “Yes, as soon as possible. Do you think he’ll be ready this evening? Wonderful, thank you.” He turned to me smiling and gave me the thumbs-up. He opened the trunk to our tiny car, and I gently folded all the dresses in. “So they’re ready to go, then?”
“Yes,” I answered back, amused by his excitement.
“Brilliant. I have the castle manager on the phone. He’s calling the registrar in to marry us tonight. I know it’s not what we’d planned…”
“It’s fine, William. I’m sure it’ll still be lovely.”
Camille and Emmaline came out with another dress bag, and we gently added it to the ones already in the trunk. Emmaline looked confused when we boarded the ferry, but she didn’t say anything.
The concierge helped with our things, showing Camille to her room, and then led Emmaline to another. “The wedding will be in an hour, just before dinner,” William announced and ran off to the room Duncan was staying in. That was where the men planned on getting ready.
Ophelia was rushing around me, and Camille was bouncing excitedly, but my little Penny didn’t look happy. “Is everything alright, Penny?”
“Why is she here?” she asked with a glare firmly fixed on Emmaline.
“She’s William’s mommy. She wants to see him get married,” I answered.
Penny crossed her arms, looking very displeased, but she didn’t have time to complain anymore. Ophelia thankfully distracted her by helping her get ready.
There didn’t seem to be a lot of time to get ready, as the women swarmed around me. I’d already showered and put my makeup on, before our trip to the airport. My hair only needed to be pinned up, which Ophelia did in record time.
Brody knocked on the door and peeked in. “Are you ladies ready? The men are getting restless.”
“Yes, I think so,” I answered, looking everyone over. They all seemed put together.
Brody reached out his hand to me. “Do you still want to do this?”
“Yes, Brody.”
“Okay, I just wanted to make sure. Lisa and I could always get you and Penny out of here, if you wanted to run.”
“You’re being silly. You know I love William.”
“I know, I just wanted to be sure, before I handed you over to him.”
The wedding procession went quickly, and before I knew it, I was standing before William, promising to spend the rest of my life with him. The ceremony was followed by a quiet dinner. We still planned to have the little reception the following evening, because it’d already been planned.
Penny went to stay the night in Camille’s room, while William and I started on our honeymoon.
“Don’t tear my dress, please. I really love it.”
William bit my neck in response, not happy with my request. He was finding it a little difficult to remove. “I think your dress is beautiful, but I truly hope you don’t ever buy another one like it. These fasteners are impossible.”
“Should I call Ophelia in?”
“No, I’ll get it, just give me a minute.” He let out a frustrated growl after another minute and just yanked my dress open, popping the clasps completely off. “You can have Bonnie fix it tomorrow,” he said, as he shoved it down my body. He had my breast in his mouth before I could complain. He lifted me up, not detaching from it, and ran me straight to the bed, then he tugged off the little bit of lingerie that was left.
I giggled at his eagerness and fought to get his clothes off, because he refused to let up on what he was doing to my body. When I finally got his pants open, he barely let me shove them down to his knees, before he thrust right into me. His grip was tight, and he grunted out, “Mine.” With a little finagling, I wa
s able to shove his pants down a little further with my feet, giving him more range of motion. He was acting like a man on a mission, and he came faster than usual and collapsed on top of me. I twined my fingers in his hair, wondering what the hell that was all about.
“There, we’ve consummated our marriage, so no one is taking you away from me.”
When he said those words, it all made sense. He was still worried his father would step in and cause trouble.
After a few moments of rest, he moved off of me, undressed all the way and then climbed under the covers. “Now, let’s do this right.”
I laughed and gave him a playful shove. “I should hope so. I expected more on my wedding night.”
“I didn’t want there to be any question on whether or not we’re consummated. The marriage can’t be annulled…”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s how it works anymore.”
“No, I’m pretty sure that if…”
“William,” I reached down, grabbing him firmly, because I was done with the debate. I didn’t have to say anything else. He jumped on me like a man possessed all over again, except this time, his mission was making sure I screamed his name.
The way he worked me over the rest of the night, and well into the wee hours of the morning, I was sure everyone knew we’d consummated our marriage, very thoroughly.
There was a knock on our door, signaling room service. William slapped the side of the bed, looking for a “snooze button,” making me laugh. He peeked an eye open at me, and my distraction caused me to trip into the doorframe.
He jumped up quickly, moving to my side. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine, but I’m hungry.” I pulled my robe tighter and opened the door to pull the cart in.
“Tell them to hold on. I’ve got a tip for them,” William called, tracking down his pants. He rushed back and reached around the door, handing the worker a tip.
“Good morning, and congratulations,” she said with a smirk and a wink. I wondered if the whole castle had heard us.
“So, what do we have planned today?” William asked me.
“Well, we were going to get our dresses, but we have those already. We have a photographer coming to take pictures, and the flowers will be delivered today as well.”
“You also need to have your dress mended,” he reminded me. I gave him a glare, but it was weak. “I present to you my éclair as a peace offering.”
“Well, I declare, you know just how to charm a girl,” I fussed like a southern belle, and William looked completely lost.
“Éclair, not declare.” He held up the pastry for me, and I snatched it out of his hand and straddled his lap.
“There’s something else you have that’s cream-filled I’d like to get my hands on.”
“I believe you’re the one with the cream filling.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I bet if I sucked hard enough, I could get some cream filling out of you.”
He moaned, pulling my mouth to his. Breakfast was over.
The food was cold when we finally got around to finishing it, but it was still good. There was a knock on our door, and William went to answer it. He’d put on more than his boxers this time, and it was a good thing, too. Penelope jumped into his arms. “Hey, Poppet, have you been having fun this morning?”
“It’s alright. I was sneaking around the castle and found a tower,” she hissed, like it was a secret.
“Were there any princesses besides you in it?” he asked.
She let out a sigh, her shoulders going slack and a pout on her face. “No, Mary, the castle lady, said the princess ran away and got married, kind of like you two did, but I didn’t think you ran away. We just walked here, and then we rode a boat, and walked again.”
“Sorry, she keeps losing me,” Camille said, hurrying into our room.
“It’s fine, we were up anyways. Can you tell Ophelia that I need to take my dress back to Bonnie’s shop again?”
“Of course, but why, was there something wrong with it?” she asked worried.
“No…”
“Yes, there was,” William cut in. “The clasps malfunctioned. She needs to sew a new set in, preferable some that I can get off.”
Camille laughed at her brother’s expense. “Have a little trouble getting off last night?”
“Oh no, I got off just fine, as well as my wife,” he said with a huge grin.
“Little ears,” I reminded. He didn’t think Penelope understood yet, but we could never be too careful.
We met everyone down in the dining hall for lunch a little over an hour later. I had my dress zipped up in its bag and set aside discreetly. Ophelia had set up an appointment with Bonnie after lunch. The registrar who’d married us joined us for lunch as well.
“You look tired. Did you not like your room?” Duncan asked him.
“The room was lovely. Unfortunately, its proximity to the bridal suite did have its downfalls.” The old man gave me a cheeky wink.
Everyone had a good laugh at my expense, until they were interrupted by a man dragging a woman in behind him. His eyes settled on William, and he grinned triumphantly. “You can’t get married.” He held up a piece of paper. “You’re already married, to Brittney. Say hello to your husband, Brittney,” the man ordered, shoving her forward.
The girl moved over to where William sat fuming and stood by him, not saying anything.
“I’d like to get a look at that paper,” the registrar who’d married us demanded.
William had yet to say a word, he just held a steady glare on the smug man, and I wondered if he was another person who worked for his father.
“This is a very interesting document, Sir. Can you tell me where you got it?”
“It was purchased from the local registrar. William snuck out of the castle after he and Hannah went their separate ways last night, and he met up with Brittney. She’s his mistress, and she told him she was pregnant, so he married her. He can’t get married to Hannah this evening. It’s off,” the man said a little too proudly.
I was shocked that no one was saying anything to him about us being married the evening before, or how I was pretty sure the whole castle knew exactly where William had been most of the night.
“I didn’t catch your name,” our registrar pressed the stranger for answers.
“My name is Henry Greyson. I’m William’s father.”
“Well, Mr. Greyson, I’m looking at this thing, and I can tell you right now that I don’t think it’s real.”
“Of course it’s real! That paper would hold up in any and all courts. William is married.”
“That’s one thing we can agree on. I don’t believe he signed this paper, though.”
“How would you know? You weren’t there, I was. I was a witness, see.” He pointed to another spot on the falsified marriage certificate.
“I’m not sure what you witnessed, but it wasn’t these two getting married last night.”
“Now see here, William is married and must not even think of entering into another relationship. I have the paper that proves it, and I’ll take this all the way up to the high courts. This is a legal document, and it must be respected as one.”
“Your document is a forgery, Sir. You’re going to jail,” the registrar stated plainly and nodded to Mary, the castle manager, I guess to call the police.
“This isn’t forged!” Henry insisted.
“I’ve witnessed William Greyson’s signature, and that’s not it.”
“He can’t deny it just because it isn’t convenient.”
“I know for a fact that document is forged.”
“It is not!” Henry huffed indignantly. “Who do you think you are? William snuck out of the castle and married Brittney Smith, who is now a Greyson. I know you can’t account for his whereabouts…”
“I’m the local registrar, Sir, and you’re going to jail, because even if I can’t prove that William didn’t sign that paper, I know for damn sure that I didn’t. I�
��m definitely pressing charges against you for forging my signature as registrar on that falsified certificate. I know exactly where he and his wife were last night. My room is just across the hall.” He shook his head. “I married them yesterday, before dinner, and I wasn’t able to go to sleep until after four o’clock this morning, when Mr. Greyson finally gave his new wife a rest.”
“Alright, William!” Duncan held up his hand for a high five.
Henry’s face started twitching while he scowled. Just then, Emmaline stepped into the room, and their eyes met. “It’s over, Henry, you’re too late,” she said with a withering glare.
The last I saw of Henry Greyson was the back of him as he ran out of the room.
Chapter 23 - Blow
HANNAH
William made to run out of the room after his father, but the castle manager caught his shoulder. “It’s an island, he isn’t going anywhere. I called the ferry to move away, when Fergus said the document was faked the first time. I can pull up the grounds’ surveillance cameras, if you’d like to watch him run around the island like a ninny.”
I was shocked William still hadn’t spoken. The way his jaw was flexing made it clear he was ready to yell at the top of his lungs for a good long while. I couldn’t blame him. I couldn’t believe his father would go to such lengths.
“Someone, please take Penelope out of here,” William gritted out. It was suddenly clear why William hadn’t exploded the moment his father had stepped into the room. Lisa quickly coaxed Penelope out into the hallway, letting us know they’d be in her suite.
Camille was the first to speak once the door shut. “So, that’s our dad,” she said in a way that was meant to be humorous.
“He’s an ass,” Ophelia said bluntly.
“That was pretty much a given, since he did pay someone to try and kill Hannah and burn down her shop,” Duncan said, like it was obvious.
“But he had to have gone about it by other means. He never took part in it firsthand. He was over here,” Carter, ever the analyst, waved to the spot that we’d last seen Henry in.
In Love with a Stranger Page 17
