Outcast (The Friessen Legacy Series, Book 2), A Western Romance

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  “Todd, I sure can’t say it’s nice to see you again, because it certainly isn’t a pleasure. As I said to Andy, I’m representing Bonnie Hayes, the woman you’ve bedded, played and toyed with and now want to toss from town. Oh, and Andy, if you show up tonight before we’ve arranged a settlement to throw her out of her house, I’ll be waiting with a news crew and cameras, and we’ll be sure the video goes viral across the internet and is broadcasted to every station in the state, showing the big, powerful thugs tossing a woman out into the street with all your dirty little secrets. And then I’ll track down every woman you’ve ever burned out and sent packing and have their stories aired on the news. I’ll tell the story of how you perfected the act of the wealthy English landowner—you use women for your sexual needs and then toss them and their children out into the dirt in the dead of night because you’re done with them. I’ll give them Louisa’s picture, too, and talk to them about how there was an open question of whether you were her father. This tiny four-year-old little girl couldn’t speak a word and was severely disabled, and she died two days after you had the local sheriff and your son toss her out without her medication.…”

  Todd shouted, “That is a damn lie! I was not that retard’s father. Faye tried pulling that stunt, saying she was pregnant again and I was the father. But that ain’t so. I took care of it, and I can prove that sister of yours wasn’t mine.” He stepped ruthlessly toward Diana.

  Jed stepped between them. “Uncle Todd, back off.” He said it dangerously low, a warning.

  Diana leaned around Jed and shouted, “No one will care whether you are or not! All we have to do is allude to the fact. You should know all too well that’s all the gossips need to destroy someone’s good name.”

  “Diana, you watch your mouth. And don’t make threats and start something you’ll regret,” Jed said, watching Diana with dark, dangerous eyes. She knew she needed to be careful. He moved closer until he almost touched her with his body, and she gently laid her hand on his arm.

  “Jed, I need to help Bonnie. She’s been bullied, and apparently Andy here is planning on tossing her out tonight. I know better than anyone that this isn’t okay. He wants her gone, and he needs to do this right. He needs to give her time to find a decent place, and he needs to be fair about her store. What these two are doing is ripping away her basic foundation, her income and housing. And Andy cleaning up after his dad isn’t right. Who’s the next victim going to be?” Diana pleaded.

  Jed jerked his head and glanced at Andy, his hands resting on his slim hips. “Is this true? You planning on playing the thug for your dad again?”

  Andy glared at Diana, and something softened when he said, “You made your point, Diana. What is it you want?”

  “No, you are not going to negotiate, not with her!” Todd’s eyes darkened in rage.

  Diana couldn’t understand how her mother could have been involved with the likes of Todd, but then she didn’t understand anything about her mother, since Faye didn’t know how to be one. Her thoughts wandered for a second to Faye and where she was, whether she did have another brother or sister out there somewhere, living the horrors that she had as a child.

  Andy didn’t answer his father but raised his eyebrows sharply, glaring at Diana and demanding an answer.

  Diana swallowed. “Bonnie is prepared to leave, but she needs a month to find another place to live and arrange for movers to move her things. She needs a fair settlement for the loss of her shop and income and for how your father used her.”

  Andy chuckled, but it was in no way pleasant as he glanced away. “Just give me a number.”

  “Forty thousand and she’s gone for good.”

  Andy shook his head, his lips forming a thin white line. “Twenty, and she signs a non-disclosure, and she’s gone by nightfall.”

  “Thirty, and she agrees to your confidentiality agreement, and she leaves in a week.” Diana was shaking inside but hoping she appeared cool and confident.

  “Done. Let’s go inside, and we’ll finalize this deal.”

  Jed followed Diana into the mansion to the library off the large entryway, which had a huge circular staircase leading up to the second level, with deep red carpets and oil paintings on the walls. Diana was positive that the house cost more than she’d see in this lifetime. Andy strode around an oak desk with a stack of mail in the corner and yanked open a drawer, pulling out his checkbook. Todd lingered, then strode to the bar and uncapped a decanter with an amber liquid and poured three fingers in a glass, tossing in a cube of ice. He didn’t turn around when he said, “You heard from your mama?”

  Diana was startled by the question. “No. I haven’t seen her since she walked out of our motel room fifteen years ago and didn’t come back.”

  Todd grunted, then slowly turned around. He set his glass down and began to leave, his steps heavy. “Andy,” he said, “make sure this is wrapped up today. And have our lawyers make sure Miss Claremont here sticks to what’s agreed.”

  “That’s Miss Fulton,” Diana stated with irritation.

  Todd stopped and really looked at her for a few seconds, a look that Diana couldn’t, for the life of her, make out. Then he left without saying another word.

  Diana was very aware of Jed’s presence behind her. Apparently, so was Andy. “You know, cousin, I ain’t going to hurt her. So you can ease up on the overprotective role you got going there and point those daggers you’re glaring at me somewhere else.”

  “You’re an asshole, Andy. I’m done with you harassing Diana and doing everything you can to send her packing.”

  Diana sighed. “Jed, he can’t make me leave.”

  Andy chuckled again, and Diana tossed down a legal pad on the edge of his desk a little harder than she needed to. “And it just rubs you the wrong way to realize you can’t make me leave. I am not that same pathetic thirteen-year-old without means and resources, and you cannot make me do what you want.” Diana sat in the straight-backed chair and dragged it closer to the desk.

  “Oh, baby, don’t bet your sweet ass on that. If I wanted you gone, Jed wouldn’t be able to stand in my way. You’d be gone. The only reason you’re still here is because I decided to back off.”

  Diana gasped and slapped her pen on his desk. “Bullshit. Why would you ever do something like that for me?” she said with disbelief.

  Andy leaned against the corner of the desk beside her, glancing briefly at Jed before resting his gaze comfortably on Diana. “Well, for one, you didn’t deserve what happened to you as a kid. And Louisa… Whether you believe it or not, Diana, I am not a monster. I had no idea she had epilepsy and how important her medicine was. I am so sorry because she didn’t deserve that fate. And that’s the God-honest truth. I’m not interested in treating you that way again, and you know very well what the other reason is.” He boldly swept his gaze over her breasts and lingered on her thighs, clearly letting her know his intention.

  Diana grabbed her pen and rested her pad across her lap. “Let’s finish this agreement.” She could hear Jed swearing softly under his breath behind her, but she needed to finish this and did her damnedest to ignore both of them.

  An hour later, Jed followed Diana out of the large estate. She needed to stop at Bonnie’s to get her signature of the drafted agreement she’d put together with Andy and his lawyer, who had been on speakerphone. They had argued over minor points, both conceding one or two, during the conference call. The fact that Todd wouldn’t sign was a minor splitting of hairs. Andy, however, did, but he refused to hand over the check until Bonnie signed the agreement.

  Jed paced and finally sat in an easy chair behind Diana, waiting as if he’d sworn his protection to her. He refused to leave even when Andy assured him nothing inappropriate would happen. After all, his mother was just upstairs.

  Jed parked behind Diana at Bonnie’s, and he stood behind her again as Bonnie wept and cried, changing her mind and saying that she wanted to stay and couldn’t leave, and maybe if she could talk to T
odd he’d let her stay.

  It was Jed who spoke up quite crudely: “He ain’t interested in you. And by next week, he won’t remember your name. Sign it and take the money, and get as far from him as you can, and thank your lucky stars that Diana here is willing to go to bat for you. Because that’s what she did, and you’re not playing these games with her. Sign it.”

  Diana handed her a pen, and Bonnie stared at Jed, wide eyed. Then she pursed her lush, rosy lips and took the pen, scribbling her name where Diana indicated.

  “This is for the best, Bonnie. I’ll take this to Andy and be back with your check.” Diana stepped onto the porch with Jed.

  Bonnie shook her head. “Maybe for you. But Todd’s the only man I’ve ever loved,” she said, and she shut the door.

  Jed walked Diana to her SUV, his beat-up rusty brown pickup parked behind her.

  “Jed, you don’t have to babysit me. I appreciate you coming along, but I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

  “Can you really, Diana? Because when I saw your note and where you were going, I wanted to wring your neck for going back there. What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t shown up when I did? There is one thing about Andy I do know: He follows through on everything he says and wants. And he wants you.” He slammed his fist against her door.

  “Well, he can’t have me. I’m not a toy, Jed.” She let out a heavy sigh. “Did you find the horses?”

  He didn’t look at her when he shook his head. “I’ve already cancelled the group I’ve got coming in. I can’t get replacements and get them ready that quick.”

  Diana’s heart ached, and she felt hollow. He hid his hurt so well. She knew how he loved those horses, and she also knew he was so like her and paid his own way. He may have come from a wealthy family, but it was their money, and she’d seen firsthand how he earned his own way, taking nothing from anyone. She couldn’t help but admire that part of him.

  “Jed, I’m so sorry. I can’t help thinking this is my fault.”

  He did look at her then. His gaze took on a hardness that had her pulling away. “It isn’t your fault. So don’t go and take that on, too. You’ve got a lot of courage, Diana, but you’re also naïve. Have you figured out yet what you’re getting out of this with Andy? Have you, Diana?” He was shouting. “Because you told me once that you’d loved Andy for half your life. I can’t help feeling like I’m getting caught up in something I shouldn’t be. There is something you haven’t figured out yet, and I don’t like being made a fool of. I won’t be played.”

  “Go home, Jed,” Diana said. She stared at Bonnie, who was peeking through her front window at them. “I don’t know what this is with you, with you and me, with Andy. But what I know is I’ve never taken advantage of anyone. Ever.”

  Diana slid behind the wheel, and slammed her door, and drove away. When she glanced in her mirror, Jed had climbed in his truck and was headed the other way.

  Chapter 23

  “She signed it, Andy. Honor your end of the agreement.” Diana took in the large library Andy had escorted her to. It was the same one they had been in earlier, but she’d spent that time doing her damnedest to focus on hammering out an agreement. She now realized it was a comfortable room with wainscoting on the trim, a rock fireplace behind the desk, leather chairs positioned just so, and wall-to-wall books that appeared perfectly aligned. The room was warm with greens and gold, a sharp contrast to the deep red carpet.

  “Would you like a drink, Diana, a glass of wine?” Andy poured himself a drink from one of the crystal decanters at the stocked bar as they entered the room. She figured it was the same amber liquid Todd had poured. But then, they all looked alike to her.

  “No, thank you. I don’t drink.”

  He stared at her for a minute with an odd look. “Liquor at all, or just not with me?”

  “I don’t drink alcohol, period. Look, Andy, if you just hand over the check, I’ll be on my way.”

  Andy dangled his glass, then swallowed. He set it down on the smoothly polished desk with a clatter. “Diana, you know I want you, and you can’t hide the fact that you want me. You can try to deny it, but I felt every part of you when I touched you.…”

  “Andy, stop it right now. I’m not doing this with you.” She gritted her teeth, and although she kept her voice down, there was a bite in her tone.

  “Diana, I’ll buy you a place to live of your very own. We can see each other all the time.” He moved another step closer, and she could smell the bourbon on him. He was bold, not drunk. She did know that much.

  “No, Andy, what you want is to have your cake and eat it, too. Hide me away as if I were something to be ashamed of and use me for your pleasure until you’re done with me. Then you would toss me away as if I were nothing. Isn’t that why I’m here today, because your dad just did that very same thing to yet another of his playthings?”

  “It’s not the same thing, Diana.” He shoved an agitated hand through his short, dark hair. “I want you, and I am being greedy. I know I could make you if I pushed it, and you know it.”

  She wouldn’t look at him, because she did know when he kissed her and touched her the way he did, she needed all her wits about her to push him away.

  “You’re strong, and you know how to survive. I love my family, but they’ll never accept you.” He wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Diana, it has to be this way.”

  She wouldn’t pull away, because she realized too how much he liked the struggle. “Andy, let go of me, please. You already have my answer. Now you need to respect that decision and let me be.” She met his darkened eyes with an angry fire in her own.

  “Stubborn woman. You were born stubborn.” He stalked around the desk, jerked open the top drawer and pulled out a check, handing it to Diana. “It’s Jed, isn’t it? You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?”

  She snatched the check from him and tucked it in her purse. “No, I am not sleeping with Jed,” she said coolly.

  He stepped around the desk, stalking her like a predator. “He can’t make you happy. You know that. We belong together. Give it a chance, Diana. God knows I haven’t wanted a woman as much as I want you. He can’t offer you anything. I can give you everything.”

  “Really?” she said with sarcasm. “Can you give me your heart, all of you, and be damned of what anyone says? Can you give me respect and a commitment?”

  “Diana…” he said with exasperation.

  “No, Andy, don’t. I don’t want to hear it. Goodbye.”

  She left, closing the door behind her. This time, he didn’t follow.

  Chapter 24

  Diana was absolutely exhausted by the time she pulled in at Jed’s. It was dark as she slipped out of her SUV. The lights blazed inside Jed’s house. She knew he was home, but she was still angry and confused. One Friessen wanted to bed her, the other wanted to protect her. She had taken the energy of her pain and hurt, this vicious cycle she’d carried for so long, and gotten it out of her, letting it go as she had let Andy go. Things had changed for her now, after tonight, and, hearing Andy talk of Louisa, she believed his regrets. After all, how could he have known about Louisa’s medicine? What he’d done was still wrong, but she didn’t know now what she was looking for. She wasn’t vindictive. It just wasn’t a part of her. She needed to decide what was going to give her peace.

  She glanced over at the darkened corral that she knew was still empty, and her heart ached for Scarlett and Dusty. She didn’t go into the house, or knock, or let Jed know she was back. She knew he was mad at her and realized she wasn’t being entirely honest.

  She started walking toward her cabin when a warm hand grabbed her bare arm and swung her around.

  “So did you sleep with him?”

  “No” was all she said before he brought his mouth down hard on hers, backing her against her SUV. His breathing was fast as he pushed himself with urgency against her softness, the sweet friction almost painfully arousing. He thrust his fingers through
her hair, pulling it loose from where she’d tied it back. He was fully aroused, and she could feel him straining against her belly.

  Diana whimpered into his mouth and squirmed against him with all the hunger she’d suppressed for so long. She didn’t need moonlight or candlelight. She wanted Jed with a blind, ferocious need that had her clinging to him willingly.

  He carried her inside his house, and Diana could do little more than cling to his shoulders as he kicked the door closed behind him and stalked down the narrow hall to a darkened room. He didn’t release her but rested her across the bed, pinning her down.

  Diana could taste him on her, and she tugged on the back of his neck to bring him down to her. He didn’t hesitate. His lips were warm and demanding, and she squirmed underneath him, feeling so empty and needing to have him there. He must have known, as he spread her legs wide, pressing his thick ridge into her. She moaned into his mouth as his hands covered her and then her breasts, kneading them. He tore his mouth away as he shoved open her jacket and lifted her shirt and bra together, baring her naked breasts to his demanding mouth. He slid one arm under her bottom and lifted her leg up, anchoring it over his hip. He sucked hard on one nipple, causing a sharp sensation that had her arching into him.

  “Oh, Jed.”

  He responded by holding tighter as he ground his erection into her, which set loose a fire in her response, and she felt herself slipping down this fiery tunnel, tossing her head side to side, and he pulled away long enough to strip her bare and shed his own clothes before he was on her again, pushing her legs wide.

  “Diana, open for me.” His voice was rough as he hovered above her, resting his forehead on her, kissing her again and then watching her as he pressed into her. She froze from the gigantic pressure between her legs, and all desire left her from the size as he thrust deeper into her and froze above. He swore softly and then whispered, “Look at me.”

  She couldn’t have torn her gaze away even if she tried. Even in the darkness, with the light drifting in, she didn’t miss the tenderness in his gaze, the concern, and something else she’d not seen before from another man.