"Good. I look forward to it. Now, let's get you settled in, shall we?" John helped her down the hall and into the huge bedroom at the end of the hallway.
"Oh, my. This is incredible. Thank you, John. You are truly a great friend," She mumbled, more to herself than John.
“I will always be your friend, Regina, no matter our circumstances. You can always call on me. That is a promise you can count on.”
Regina was touched by his sincerity. The lump in her throat prevented her from speaking.
John continued with the tour. "I have asked Mary to help you undress and get settled. I'll call her to come up, and if you need anything at all, Regina, please ask. It will be my pleasure to see your needs are met."
John leaned in and kissed her on her cheek. His scent of Scotch and cigars drifted through her muddled senses and pulled her to him. She leaned up on her tiptoes to give him a thank you kiss on the cheek as well, but at the last moment she turned her head and her mouth claimed his.
He knew Regina was just shy of having had too much to drink. She had consumed three glasses of wine, but he never dreamed the alcohol would go to her head, especially with all the food she had eaten. He supposed she was more sheltered than he imagined a sophisticated young woman of her family's means would be.
Now he had a decision to make. He could go along with his inebriated young bride and give in to her desires, a thought that certainly appealed to his baser self.
Or, he could send her to bed alone. And untouched. He didn't ponder the decision long. He didn't have to because his sense of honor would never allow him to compromise Regina before she learned the truth about their marriage. When she did come to him, he wanted it to be her choice.
She was still kissing him when he came to his decision. He reluctantly broke contact with Regina's sweet mouth.
"Regina, you have had a very emotional two days, between your father’s machinations and now our wedding. Here, come sit in this chair and I'll call Mary to come and help you undress. Today has been an awfully long day and I do believe you could use some rest."
He gently pushed her from him and helped her to one of the overstuffed wingback chairs by the window. He lit the lamp on the table next to her and rang the bell to call for Mary's assistance.
"Mary will be here shortly. Why don't you just sit there and relax until she arrives?" He turned to leave.
Regina begged him to stay. "No, please stay and talk to me until she arrives. I feel like I should thank you, or apologize, for getting you into this mess. It's getting late and soon my parents will realize I am missing and will raise the alarm. I can only imagine what will happen then."
John could tell she was agitated. Was she truly afraid of her father? He wondered if the pompous ass had ever struck her. The thought made John's fists clench at his sides.
"I'll stay as long as you like, Regina, but know this. I will never allow anything, or anyone, to hurt you. Ever." He just wished he could also include himself in that statement.
He heard a door close somewhere in the apartment and then footsteps tracked against the wooden floors.
"Hello?" he called out. "Mary, is that you?"
"Yes, Mr. Kingston. Reginald said Mrs. Kingston needed my services."
"Yes, she is ready to retire for the evening. Can you ask the staff to fill the tub? I think Mrs. Kingston would appreciate a hot bath before bed. Wouldn’t you, my dear?"
"Yes, I would like that very much. Thank you. You are as thoughtful and considerate as always. I certainly don't deserve—"
"Of course, you do. You deserve everything good this world has to offer. Now, I will leave you to your bath." John bowed and left the room. He wanted to kiss her again, but he knew where that would lead. He was a man of strong will, but even he had his breaking point.
He returned to the main salon of his suites and stood in the middle of the room. He was at a loss as to what to do now. Perhaps he would go downstairs and join Will in a game of cards. He hoped his friend hadn't already lost all his money.
John pulled his coat on and raked his fingers through his hair to tame the errant curls. He’d need a haircut soon. He wanted to look the part of an upstanding businessman when Ben made the announcement that he was appointing John as his financial overseer here in Durango.
He wanted to tell Regina he was leaving for a bit, but when he approached his bedroom door, he heard splashing and he knew if he walked into that room and saw Regina chin deep in bubbles, he would kick Mary out and do something he would regret.
A pulse of desire hit him hard and he adjusted himself beneath his clothing. Before he could change his mind, he turned on his heels and headed for the front door.
Safely outside in the hallway, he pulled his door closed and locked it, then hurried down three flights of stairs. Just as he cleared the landing between the second and third floors, he heard a huge commotion and he knew there was gonna be trouble.
John slowed his steps to gauge exactly what was happening below before he plowed into it unaware of how best to handle the situation. By the time he reached the top of the stairs overlooking the first floor, he’d ascertained what the trouble was without having to see the commotion playing out below him.
He knew this moment would come and he was prepared for it.
John descended the stairs to the lobby one by one until he reached the bottom and came face-to-face with the sheriff of Durango.
"Is there a problem, Sheriff?" He was careful to keep his voice low and calm.
"Yes, Mr. Kingston. This man says his daughter is missing and someone has reported she was seen entering the hotel some time ago. He is demanding an immediate search."
"I see." John was careful to hide his emotions when what he really wanted to do was shove the truth of the situation into Henry Beckett’s face.
Instead, he turned to Regina’s father and addressed the irate man in his most practiced voice of persuasion.
"Henry, if you will please keep your voice down. You are disturbing my paying customers."
The man's pale face mottled with anger. "How dare you speak to me that impudent manner. You will address me as Mr. Beckett, and I will not keep my voice down. Someone has absconded with my daughter and there will be retribution if they have compromised her in any way."
John watched as the man puffed up with self-importance. Sheriff Wiley looked uncomfortable and the circle of people surrounding the commotion looked eager for a show. Well, he was happy to give them one.
"I can assure you, Henry," he emphasized the man's first name again to goad him, "if Regina is here in this hotel, she came of her own free will and no one would dare to harm her in this establishment, or they would answer to me."
Regina's father looked like he might have an apoplectic fit at any moment. His face was an alarming shade of red. His mouth worked like a beached fish, opening and closing without words. John had to bite back his grin between clenched teeth.
"You low life. How dare you act as if you can protect my daughter. You’re a scoundrel. A…a…When the man couldn’t think of any more condescending adjectives, he began again. “You are not fit to live among proper people." The man spewed his words and his hatred, spittle leaking from his lips.
John's hands fisted at his sides. He wanted nothing more than to punch the man’s pompous nose through to the other side of his head, but he knew how to play the game. He knew how to be patient. He knew how to bluff. And he knew how to read his opponent and work the situation to his advantage.
"Ah, yes. I keep forgetting my place don't I, Henry? And you keep forgetting this isn't the old country where men like you rest their boots on a man's neck to keep him down."
John turned and addressed the growing number of onlookers. "This is the United States, where all men are equal, and opportunity is available for any man who wishes to work hard. I said any man and that includes the poor wretched son of a man who had many faults. In this country, I am not held accountable for my father's sins. Does anyone disagree?"
He heard murmurs echo through the crowd. One man called out, "That's right. He's his own man, Beckett."
The man's words gave voice to other rumblings among the people gathered to witness the spectacle.
John turned to the sheriff. "Would you please escort Henry out of my establishment, Sheriff? He is disturbing my guests with all this talk of kidnapping and someone being held against their will.”
"I will not leave until every room has been searched and my daughter has been found." Henry's words sounded more pitiful than proud.
"Then look no further, Henry, for Regina is neatly tucked away upstairs in my suite where she will remain until she is ready to come down." John knew he would get some satisfaction from besting Henry Beckett. He just had no idea how sweet it would actually be until this very moment.
"How dare you compromise my daughter, you inbred piece of street filth. Sheriff, arrest this man."
The sheriff frowned at John and then back to Regina's father. "On what grounds?" The man was clearly taken back by Henry’s demand.
"For defiling my daughter." Henry could barely contain his anger and John was prepared for the man to strike him at any moment. He hoped like hell he would.
"Is that true, Mr. Kingston? Is the woman upstairs against her will?"
John grinned and touched his heart with the palm of his hand. "I hardly think a new bride would consider her wedding night an act of bondage, Sheriff. Although I have heard of such things—"
"You bastard!" Henry flew at him and John almost felt sorry for the man. Almost. He easily sidestepped the charge and pushed him sideways watching him fall at the feet of the onlookers. Some of the men standing close by picked him up off the floor and held him captive.
"Take a swing at him, John. He tried to sucker punch you. That means you owe him one," someone yelled out from the crowd. It sounded a lot like his friend Will, but he couldn't be certain. This was his moment to turn the tides in his favor and he was smart enough to know it.
"I can't fault the man for trying to save his daughter's reputation, but it is not necessary. Regina Beckett Kingston has a new champion. She no longer needs her father’s…protection.” He cut a knowing look to Regina’s father because they both knew he was anything but her protector. “As her husband, she has me to protect her from harm.” John pointed his words of accusation at her father. He knew by the look on Henry’s face, the man felt his barbs.
“Now, if everyone will excuse me, I have a lovely new bride waiting for me upstairs.”
John turned his back on Regina’s father and the crowd, ascending three stairs so he rose above the crowd and could be seen and heard by all. Then, he turned and addressed the people gathered in the grand lobby of his hotel.
"Regina is my wife. I have the means and the motivation to care for her in the manner, which she has been accustomed. And as my wife, she will take her place by my side. I trust every one of you will accept her as such with open arms.”
He shot a knowing glance to Henry and then looked back to the crowd, which was now cheering his and Regina’s name.
"Thank you, everyone. If you will excuse me, it is my wedding night after all, and I—"
“You bastard!” He turned just in time to see Regina’s father rushing toward him, hatred evident in his flaring nostrils and bared teeth. Two men standing at the bottom of the staircase grabbed Henry and held him none too gently. John retraced his steps until he was face-to-face with the angry man. Six inches taller than him, John looked down at the man’s furious face and answered his insult.
“See, Henry, there you are one hundred percent wrong. Although my father may not have been a pillar of this community, he was, indeed, married to my mother. So, a bastard, I am not. Now, if you will excuse me.”
He turned his back on the man and took the steps slowly, one at a time. He heard Henry’s enraged screams calling him every name he had ever heard and a few he hadn’t. He’d have to look those up sometime.
“Sheriff Wiley, will you please escort Mr. Beckett out of my hotel. He’s disturbing the peace of my guests. And if he refuses to go, I will be happy to file a complaint against him, so you might arrest him.” John continued up the stairs until he could no longer hear Henry’s screeching rants.
It gave John immense satisfaction to know that Henry Beckett was now on the outside looking in. He wondered how the man liked it.
“Not so much, I would think.” What would Henry do when he found out John had taken his job too? He grinned as he rounded the third story landing where his new bride awaited him. He couldn’t wait to tell Regina there was nothing to be afraid of. Not anymore.
Chapter Seven
Regina had thoroughly enjoyed her luxurious bath. The hot bubbles eased her anxiety and she finally relaxed.
It probably hadn't hurt that she had indulged in more than a prudent amount of wine. No matter. She was glad that, for a time at least, she didn’t worry about her father's retribution. She felt safe here in John's world, and out of her father’s reach.
The clock chimed nine o'clock and her anxiety was beginning to return. It was late and she was certain her parents had discovered she was missing by now. How long would it take for her father to track her down? And what would happen then?
She found herself extremely grateful to John's friend, Will, for his due diligence in making certain the marriage certificate looked as real as possible. It absolutely had to fool her father for this to work. Suddenly, she felt her anxiety return. Her scattered thoughts couldn’t seem to settle, and it was making her jumpy. Or maybe it was the wine.
She wondered where John had gone. Mary said he might have gone downstairs to play cards, but she couldn't say for certain. He could be gone well into the night if he were anything like her father. But she dismissed that idea immediately. He wasn't anything like her father. Not in the least.
Perhaps some chamomile tea could help her sleep. Where was that bell to ring for service? She padded on bare feet across the soft carpet to where she had seen John ring for Mary earlier.
There it was. On the wall next to the bedside table. This was such a modern convenience. Even her father hadn't managed something so nice as this. He just bellowed and servants came running.
She pulled the ring attached to the cord and waited. Soon, she heard a door close somewhere and footsteps clipped across the hallway's polished wood floor.
"Ma'am, did you need something?" A woman Regina had not seen before stood at the doorway of her bedroom.
"Yes, if you don't mind. I know it's late, but is it possible to get a cup of hot chamomile tea? It seems I'm having trouble sleeping tonight."
"Of course, ma'am." The woman curtsied and turned to leave.
"Do you know where John is? I mean Mr. Kingston, my husband." She hated to sound as if she were hunting him down, but she wondered if he had heard any news yet.
"Yes, Mrs. Kingston. He's downstairs in the main lobby. It seems there is a rather irate gentleman looking for someone. He even has the sheriff in tow, but don't worry. Mr. Kingston is very good at diffusing drunken louts without violence. It's one of the reasons his employees have such faith in him."
Regina's heart pitched against her chest. "I see." Was all she could manage between her trembling lips. So, her father had found her. And so soon. Had he suspected she would run to John? But how would he know that? As far as he knew, she and John never even spoke to each other. She had always made certain he didn’t know about their weekly meetings. That would have meant the end of her friendship with John.
She couldn't hide here in the security of his home and leave him to weather her father's wrath alone. "What is your name?" she asked the woman at the door.
"Hazel, ma'am. Is there something else I can do for you?" the young woman inquired.
"Yes, Hazel. You can help me dress. I fear I must go and aid John—Mr. Kingston—with the man downstairs."
The woman's face left no doubt she thought the idea ludicrous. "I can assure you, Mrs. K
ingston, your husband is quite capable of handling riffraff such as—"
A sense of urgency rolled through Regina making her words sharper than she intended. "And I can assure you Hazel, if my hunch is correct, this is no riffraff causing trouble downstairs. It is my father and he is ruthless when he believes himself to be slighted. Now, please help me dress."
"Of course, ma'am. I’m sorry. I didn’t know the troublemaker, I mean, your father was the trouble—"
The young woman quit talking when she realized what she had said and rushed into the room and opened the armoire where Regina had hung her dress. Just as she was about to step into the skirt, a door slammed down the hallway.
She cut a look to Hazel. "Who can that be?” She prayed it wasn’t her father because that would mean—
“Regina? What on earth are you doing?” John appeared in the doorway and didn’t look any worse for his altercation.
“I was coming to help you. Am I wrong in guessing the problem you encountered downstairs was my father?”
“You are correct. But don’t worry,” John said. “He won’t bother you. At least not tonight. I’m certain he will try again tomorrow, so we will just have to be ready to show him a united front.”
Regina nodded, then saw Hazel waiting by the door. “I suppose I could still use a cup of hot chamomile tea, Hazel. If you don't mind," she added so it made it feel more like a request than an order.
“Of course, Mrs. Kingston. I’ll have it for you right away. And, if I may, the staff and I want to wish you both much happiness. Mr. Kingston announced your recent nuptials downstairs just a moment ago and everyone here at the hotel couldn’t be happier for the two of you.” The young woman curtsied and left the room.
“So, you were coming to my rescue, were you?” He grinned at her and she knew he was teasing.
Regina's heart accelerated at the sight of John's roguish appearance. There was something about the man's longish hair and beard that made her think of pirates she had read about in books. They were dangerous men and yet she fancied herself in love with the likes of them. So wild. And free. Master of their own destinies. Kind of like John.
The Debutantes of Durango Box Set Books 1-3 Page 7
