Romeo (Payne Brothers Romance Book 6)

by Sosie Frost

  My family had never been close, but it’d only gotten worse after Mom and Dad left for Colorado and Duke took charge of the business and dining room table. Once he learned the truth, our dinners would become a warzone of passive aggressive comments, snide insinuations, and unspoken threats against trust funds.

  I let myself into Grandma’s home, but I still couldn’t face her. Not after the arrest, and certainly not now. Grandma was an astute woman who could practically count the hairs out of place on my head. It’d only take her usual critical glance, a quick sniff, and one very disapproving tap of her cane before she’d send me from her house and…

  Disown me?

  Maybe. This was uncharted territory. Even Contessa had never been in this sort of trouble. Who knew what sort of punishment Grandma could inflict. And that was only if, after realizing what her favorite granddaughter had done, she cared enough for me to even be disappointed.

  Fortunately, Grandma had taken to seclusion after the incident. She’d refused to speak about the event and forced Doctor Mahoney to make a house call. But, as the Widow Barlow’s strict, regimented lifestyle meant she’d outlive all of Butterpond, even the doctor couldn’t find anything wrong.

  It was good for you, Grandma, Duchess had insisted.

  Regent had agreed. Nothing wrong with a bit of dancing.

  At least you didn’t get arrested. Contessa had a great memory for all the scandals everyone else was polite enough to forget.

  Well, at least my little revelation would shock her more than the hangover.

  I knew how to close the front door without it squeaking. Pulled it up halfway, paused, inched it forward until the gap was less than thirty degrees—I’d measured with a protractor in eighth grade—and then twisted the handle to ensure the hundred-year-old latch didn’t click. Maybe it wasn’t a marketable skill, but it had been useful as kids when we needed to sneak past Grandma.

  Even if it rarely worked.

  Duke’s voice rose from the dining room. As usual. My brother’s private conversations generally carried over the house to intimidate the rest of us into staying silent. It’d never worked on Duchess. She responded in kind, though her preferred retort was usually a profanity.

  My siblings regarded each other with a mutual irritation, and the resultant effect was a study in what happened when an immovable object clashed with a nuclear bomb.

  “I’m not asking your permission,” Duke said. “And I’m certainly not seeking your blessing. What’s done is done.”

  I peeked into the room. Though Duke stood, paced, and used his formidable size to coerce the conversation in his favor, Duchess had angled one of Grandma’s antique dining room chairs onto two legs, crossed her feet over the table, and paid more attention to her emery board and nails than sparring with our brother.

  “Right.” She blew the dust off her nails and admired them in the light. “You’ve never listened to any of us before. Why start now, when you’ll need our support the most?”

  “I’m doing what needs to be done.”

  “What? Ruining us? Destroying your reputation in this town and damaging any future business we might have at the market?”

  “This is about all our reputations and protecting every penny we might earn in the future.”

  Her chair scraped against the floor with an ominous thud. Duchess simply shook her head.

  “Guess again, Duke,” she said. “This is about your own damnable ego. How you can’t get over yourself for two fucking seconds so we can live our own lives and let the Paynes lead theirs.”

  Whoa.

  I lingered in the hallway. No sense interrupting the fight when Duchess was exactly right. I’d hadn’t expected to find such an ally, but my eldest sister had always been levelheaded when it came to all things save for her plans for the bakery.

  Maybe Quint and I had gone about this all wrong?

  Maybe all we’d needed to do was sit both families down in private? Maybe the stress of being in public—of constantly maintaining that shell of dignity and pride—had only hurt our chances of finding peace?

  I’d always believed the feud had consumed all members of both families…but maybe we’d all just reacted tribally? Forced to pick a side because others expected it of us?

  Maybe my sister had grown weary of the constant fighting too.

  Well, I certainly couldn’t find a stronger partner than Duchess Barlow. Especially now, when we’d wasted so much time and energy already. I’d ruined so many chances that I couldn’t afford for the family to not make peace. The feud needed to end.

  At least once I betrayed them all, they’d have only me to hate.

  I braced myself to enter the fray, but Duchess spoke first.

  “We need to talk about the pregnancy test,” she said.

  I crashed into the wall.

  Duke spared her no pity. “What about it?”

  “Are you absolutely sure?” My sister lowered her voice. “You can’t make these sorts of accusations.”

  “I know what I saw,” he said. “We don’t have time to argue about this.”

  “And what do you think this will do to her?” Duchess pitched her emery board at the table and stood. “You can’t just confront her about a pregnancy test. That’s not how a civilized society works, Duke. That’s not how this family is supposed to act.”

  “This goes beyond our family now.”

  “It’s a baby.”

  “It’s a mistake.”

  “You’re such a pig,” she said.

  “And what would you have me do?” Duke held out his arms. “I’ve gotta find a way to protect this family.”

  Duchess eyed our brother with a new resentment. “How does this protect us? All it will do is scandalize her.”

  “Then she should have thought about that before she slept with a Payne.”

  I couldn’t breathe. My nails dug into the door frame.

  “How can you be so cruel?” Duchess asked. “You know they have feelings for each other. Why would you turn something so wonderful into revenge?”

  Duke poured himself another glass of wine. Probably smart that he didn’t offer Duchess a drink. She might have pitched the wine in his face.

  “There’s a proper way to do these things.” He sniffed the glass. “But they chose to sneak around and hide the truth.”

  “God help any woman stupid enough to fall in love with you,” she said.

  “I take greater responsibility for my actions.”

  “These things happen, Duke.”

  “I don’t see you making these sorts of careless mistakes.”

  Duchess laughed. “Yeah, because I’m not dumb enough to bring a man home to meet you.”

  “Well, try to get hitched before he knocks you up.”

  “Or what?” She stole the wine from his hand and downed it in a single gulp. “You’ll nail my pregnancy test to the church doors?”

  Duke was an imposing man when he scowled.

  Duchess didn’t flinch.

  “Maybe you can’t make the hard decisions for this family, but I can,” he said.

  My sister emphasized her point with a middle finger. “Yeah, it’s real tough deciding whether to keep an unplanned pregnancy secret or to ruin an innocent woman’s life.”

  “She ruined her own life.”

  “Bullshit. You’re punishing her because she dared to love a Payne.”

  “It’s not a punishment,” he said. “It’s a warning. This is how I ensure our family is safe from any more accidental fires and our business is no longer strangled by whatever boycott they’re leading in his town.”

  “Do you even hear yourself?” Duchess asked.

  “We’re in the red. For the first time since we opened in this town.”

  “And you think this is the way to fix it? For Christ’s sake, Duke—offer them coupons, don’t ruin their lives. You will destroy this family and our businesses because you want to win some twenty-year-old feud.”

  “And you would do nothi
ng while this family destroys itself.”

  Wrong thing to say to Duchess.

  How had he not learned yet?

  “Nothing?” She spoke through gritted teeth. “I have given you money to rebuild. Time while you renovate. Space in my bakery so you could expand your precious meat counter. All the while I sweat my ass off in a cramped little closet making all the sweets that keep your fucking market solvent. I put my dreams on hold for my own shop, and for what? Just so you could scandalize two new parents in front of the entire town?”

  “You work in the market for the betterment of this family, Duchess.”

  “No. I slave away in the market so you can strut around in a fancy suit and pretend that you’re as important as Daddy.” Duchess shrugged. “But he’s the one who built this business, Duke. You’re the one who will bankrupt it.”

  “Maybe it wouldn’t be so dire if I had help.”

  “I’m not helping you. You’re on your own.” She crossed her arms. “And wait until Grandma hears about this.”

  Duke adjusted his cufflinks. “She already knows.”

  My knees buckled. Grandma knew?

  How?

  For the past few years, the Barlows and Paynes had fought over superficial, foolish problems, predicted by pride and exacerbated by their own egos.

  What would news like this do to both families?

  “Grandma will support what I’m doing,” Duke said.

  His confidence was like a dagger through my heart. Fortunately, Duchess wore her own armor.

  “I don’t believe that for a second,” she said. “Grandma would never condone this.”

  “Grandma is appalled.”

  “Grandma gets offended by people chewing gum indoors, women with unnaturally dyed hair, and anytime someone brushes their teeth on a commercial. Of course, a pregnancy is going to shock her. But she’d never allow you to exploit it just to get even with the Paynes.”

  “She expected better behavior from both of them,” he said. “But she knows a corrupting influence when she sees it. Of course, she wishes she had stopped it when she saw them growing closer, but they’re adults. Now, we must do what we can to mitigate the damage.”

  “Damage you’re causing.”

  “Damage they caused each other.” Duke straightened his shoulders. “I’m going to talk with her.”

  Duchess gave up, collapsing once more into the chair. “You’re out of your mind.”

  “She might be in love with the Payne, but I know she can see reason. And she cares enough about her family to do right by them.”

  “Do what you want.” My sister waved him away from her sight. “But realize—if you go through with this, you won’t have a family left to defend. I know four sisters who’ll no longer have a brother.”

  This was all my fault.

  I couldn’t just stand in the shadows and watch my family fall apart before my eyes. They could hate each other. War in the streets. But I wouldn’t let my carelessness lose what little love my family still spared for each other.

  I rushed into the room, tears blinding my eyes. I launched at Duke and took his hand.

  “Stop!”

  My voice broke.

  I didn’t care.

  For so long, we’d been cautious with our emotions. Reserved and cold. Distant. How hard might it have been to hug one and other? Share a smile? Offer a sympathetic shoulder?

  The family had never been close only because we hadn’t dared expose how we really felt.

  Well, I’d change that too. Then and there, with two of the most important people in my life at each other’s throats.

  What good did it do to mend a feud between two families when my own loved ones tore themselves apart?

  “I love this family,” I said. “And I’m sorry. You don’t know how sorry I really am. But you can’t do this, Duke. You will hurt everyone.”

  Duchess greeted me with an arched eyebrow. “Glad you could finally join us, Lady. Wondered where the hell you’ve been hiding all day.”

  I ignored the question. They probably already knew the answer.

  And I’d tried so hard to keep the secret.

  “I never meant for it to happen.” I squeezed Duke’s hand. “Now it has, and nothing can change it. But this feud has ruined both the Barlows and the Paynes. There’s nothing left to win, but we have so much more to lose.”

  Duke shook his head. “Lady, I know you’re upset.”

  “The baby is innocent,” I said. “He has no idea who he is or what his name means in Butterpond. You have to understand that.”

  Duke sighed. “I didn’t know you cared this much.”

  “Don’t you realize what this will do to us?”

  “And you, above anyone else, must realize that I’m only protecting this family.”

  “Then protect us,” I said. “This secret isn’t yours to spread. You’re not thinking clearly, Duke. You would never do anything this terrible. You’re not a monster.”

  His jaw set. “Right. I’m not the monster who got a girl pregnant.”

  “No, you’re not. So be the compassionate man instead. Try to understand.” I ran my fingers through my hair. None of this made any sense. “How did you even find out?”

  “I watched the security footage at the market.”

  What?

  My feelings for Quint confused the hell out of me, but this was a complication that made absolutely no sense. I’d hadn’t even been to the store with Quint since the food fight. Besides, I’d been careful to avoid getting caught on camera together.

  Despite his kinkier requests.

  Duchess spoke, her voice dripping with venom. “Duke has Glory Hawkins on video, purchasing pregnancy tests. A lot of them.”

  I nearly reached for Duke’s wine.

  Instead, I clamored to a chair before I collapsed.

  “Glory Hawkins?” My voice screwed an octave above normal. “What does she have to do with—”

  Duchess took a great joy in exposing our brother for the slime that he was.

  “Duke had this amazing idea,” Duchess said. “First he’ll confront Glory about getting pregnant out of wedlock with Pastor V, and then he’ll blackmail the minister by threatening to reveal the truth to the congregation.”

  My mouth fell open.

  I knew stress was bad for me right now, and I had attempted to avoid the whole kit-and-kaboodle of anxiety, worry, and fear.

  But I never thought I’d have to worry about my damned temper.

  A dozen terrible, blasphemy-laced profanities whipped through my mind. Most would have made Quint blush. The others he’d taught me.

  I’d respected Duke my whole life, but, in that instant, I no longer recognized my brother.

  “You can’t target a minister,” I said. “What is the matter with you?”

  Duchess looked to the Heavens. “A voice of reason. I was starting to fear we had no decent people left in this family. God bless you for that, Lady, cause you’re gonna need all the help you can get.”

  I didn’t need help. Duke would have to get passed me if he wanted to bring war upon the town.

  “If you tell Butterpond that Glory is pregnant, you will close that church,” I said. “This goes beyond childhood rivalry, Duke. You know the only reason the diocese even kept the church open was because of Pastor V.”

  Duchess nodded. “She’s right. If you’re not gonna listen to me, at least hear her out. Lady’s the sensible one. Maybe she can talk you out of this first-class ticket to Hell.”

  Duke frowned. “You assume I haven’t thought this through?”

  “I think you grabbed a melon off the produce truck and decided to use it for a brain,” Duchess said. “You don’t even know if she’s actually pregnant. Hell, did you ever think she bought those tests for another girl in the congregation who was too afraid to shop for them on her own?”

  That made sense.

  The only thing more terrifying than the result on the stick was buying the test in the first place
.

  Duke lowered his voice. “You know she was once a stripper.”

  Duchess nodded. “With that ass, I don’t blame her.”

  “And you’re fine with our minister dating a stripper?”

  “He loves her.”

  “Lusts for her,” Duke said. “It’s sinful.”

  My brother had one hell of a plank in his eye. “And when was the last time you joined me and Grandma at church?”

  “I grew up with Pastor V. Remember him from before he was ordained. He’s exactly like the rest of his brothers. I won’t have my eternal soul in the hands of a Payne.” His words hardened. “You should see them together.”

  Duchess loved to twist the knife. “Beautiful and in love?”

  “Fucking like dogs—pardon my language, Lady.” Duke gently patted my shoulder. “She sneaks out of the parish house every morning, stays late in his office every night. It’s disrespectful to the church. But I expect nothing less from a family like his.”

  My sister crossed herself. “And now I’m done.”

  “Done with what?” Duke asked.

  Duchess stood a little taller, as if she’d finally unburdened most of her troubles and left them in a heap at our brother’s feet.

  “I am done with you,” she said. “I am done slaving every damned day for the good of this family just so you can tear us down from the inside.”

  Duke’s long strides met her at the doorway. He didn’t let her pass. “Don’t you take that tone with me.”

  Duchess had a variety of tones, and she’d use them all to get under his skin.

  “If you want to hearken the wrath of God and destroy our good name by making enemies where there are none, do it by yourself.” She smiled as she cut him off at the knees. “But I refuse to watch grown men do all they can to hurt one and other and ruin the lives of another generation. If you take on the Paynes…you’ll do it alone.”

  “I agree,” I said. “It’s not worth it, Duke. You need to move on with your life.”

  “I expected her to fight me on this.” He only pointed at Duchess. Apparently, she was no longer deserving of a name. “But not you, Lady.”

  “Why?” I didn’t just stand my ground. I dug a trench and dared him to fight in the mud with me. “What makes you think I hate the Paynes? What makes you think that any of us would ever want to hurt them, humiliate them, or force them from this town? It’s not the Paynes who have been making us unhappy, Duke. It’s you.”