The Redemption of Madeline Munrove
Page 21
Jason tried to quell the annoyance inching up his throat, but years spent trying to console an inconsolable father burst out. “Why the hell didn’t you come back sooner?”
Holt sank into the overstuffed chair next to Jason’s desk and propped one booted leg over the other. He didn’t blame Jason for feeling angry and betrayed. But he couldn’t tell him the entire truth either, so he offered a half-truth. “The sea held an incredible allure, one which I could not ignore.”
“What happened between you and Father?” Jason handed him a whiskey and sat on the edge of his desk.
“Nothing.” Not true.
“Do you take me for a fool? The old man said you’d return in a year. When you didn’t, he contacted our uncle and learned you’d taken to sea with a band of marauders.”
“They were decent, honest men.” The only marauder was our uncle.
“Father spent the rest of his days waiting for you.”
Holt shrugged and downed his whiskey. “His error.”
“Obviously. You aren’t going to tell me what happened between the two of you, are you?”
“No.”
“He was a weak man.”
Holt snorted. “I hope he suffered until he drew his last breath.”
“He did,” Jason said quietly. “With your name still on his lips.”
“I feel no mercy for his soul; may he rot in hell.” He set his empty glass on the edge of the desk and said, “He drove our mother to an early grave.”
“It was an unfortunate and untimely death. Julia and I returned to a black wreath on the door, a manor filled with grieving servants, and a father who refused to discuss anything.”
“Bastard.”
“It appears your sources did not have completely accurate information.”
“Apparently not.”
“He thought her death would bring you home.”
“His death was the only thing that could bring me home.” Determined to change the subject, Holt asked, “How is the shipping business?”
“Rendhaven’s doing his damnedest to destroy us.”
“I thought that messy incident was over.”
“A cuckolded husband never forgets, especially when the man she’s cheating with is his best friend.” Jason downed his drink and said, “As wrong as it was, I believe Father really loved her.”
Holt studied his brother who was fair like their mother and sister, with thick, wheat-colored hair and an easy disposition. Holt was the one who’d been cursed to resemble a younger version of his father, from the black hair on his head to those damnable eyes. “You don’t find it strange that Mother died while you and Julia were away on holiday?”
“Fevers do not follow dictates of a calendar.” Jason’s lips flattened as Holt’s meaning sank in. “For God’s sake, you can’t believe Father murdered her.”
Holt shrugged. “I would not rule it out.”
Jason stared at him as though he’d just committed blasphemy. “He might have been many things, but a murderer was not one of them.”
“He was many things,” Holt said, refusing to refute his brother’s statement.
“At least he’s not here to witness Rendhaven’s lunacy.”
“What’s the man done?”
“Burned three ships and tried to set fire to the warehouse.”
“Rendhaven’s responsible for that?” Revenge proved a powerful weapon, one that apparently still pulsed in the man’s veins.
“Over the years there have been minor skirmishes, mostly childish attempts to blacken our name that always prove more embarrassing for him than us. But he’s never tried anything like this.”
Holt considered his brother’s latest news. If it were his decision, he would destroy the man. “What do you plan to do?”
“Damned if I know, but I’m not about to let the crazy loon ruin our business.”
“Tell me about the family. There was a girl, wasn’t there?”
“Two. Sophie is the oldest, a real beauty, too. She and Julia were best friends until the old man brainwashed her.”
“What a damnable mess.” Perhaps the older girl was the key.
“I used to think his threats were harmless until the fires started. Now, I fear the drink’s pickled his brain and destroyed his reason. He wants us all to pay for his wife’s death.”
* * *
The Seduction of Sophie Seacrest is available at all major retailers. Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Copyright
2012 by Mary Campisi
The Redemption of Madeline Munrove is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and situations are all products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to real persons, locales, or events, are purely coincidental. This e-book is copyright protected. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
ISBN 978-0-9857773-1-9
About the Author
Mary Campisi writes emotion-packed books about second chances. Whether contemporary romances, women’s fiction, or Regency historicals, her books all center on belief in the beauty of that second chance.
Mary should have known she’d become a writer when at age thirteen she began changing the ending to all the books she read. It took several years and a number of jobs, including registered nurse, receptionist in a swanky hair salon, accounts payable clerk, and practice manager in an OB/GYN office, for her to rediscover writing. Enter a mouse-less computer, a floppy disk, and a dream large enough to fill a zip drive. The rest of the story lives on in every book she writes.
When she’s not working on her craft or following the lives of five adult children, Mary’s digging in the dirt with her flowers and herbs, cooking, reading, walking her rescue lab mix, Cooper, or, on the perfect day, riding off into the sunset with her very own hero/husband on his Ultra Limited aka Harley.
Mary has published with Kensington, Carina Press, and The Wild Rose Press.
website: www.marycampisi.com
e-mail: mary@marycampisi.com
blog: http://www.marycampisi.com/blog/
twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/MaryCampisi
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marycampisibooks
Other Books by Mary Campisi:
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE:
Truth in Lies Series
Book One: A Family Affair – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo Audible
Book Two: A Family Affair: Spring – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Book Three: A Family Affair: Summer – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Book Four: A Family Affair: Fall – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Book Five: A Family Affair: Christmas Kindle Pre-Order iTunes Pre-Order
Book Six: A Family Affair: Winter (2015) iTunes Pre-Order
Book Seven: A Family Affair: ... (TBA)
That Second Chance Series
Book One: Pulling Home – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo Audible
Book Two: The Way They Were – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo Audible
Book Three: Simple Riches – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Book Four: Paradise Found – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo Audible
Book Five: Not Your Everyday Housewife – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Book Six: The Butterfly Garden – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
The Betrayed Trilogy
Book One: Pieces of You – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Book Two: Secrets of You – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Book Three: What’s Left of Her: a novella – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
The Betrayed Trilogy Boxed Set – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Begin Again: Short stories from the heart – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
The Sweetest Deal – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
REGENCY HISTORICAL:
An Unlikely Husband Series
Book One - The Seduction of Sophie Seacrest– Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Book Two - A Taste of Seduction – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
&nb
sp; Book Three - A Touch of Seduction, a novella – iTunesPreOrder
Book Four - A Scent of Seduction – iTunesPreOrder
The Model Wife Series
Book One: The Redemption of Madeline Munrove – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
YOUNG ADULT:
Pretending Normal – Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo