Her only hope at this point and the only thing she had going for her was that she’d had sex all last night with both Matt and Colton. If only she could be pregnant right now. How long did it take to determine that? A month? A week? Less than that?
“Are you prepared to make a reasonable offer for my daughter’s hand in marriage?”
“Yes,” Colton said without even pausing a beat. Ella wanted to sit down. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest. Whatever happened next would determine her ultimate future. She hadn’t quite convinced herself that Matt and Colton planned to keep her, but regardless, she needed to calm down.
She leaned into Colton. The sudden realization that she might not end up with her recent lovers, where she wished to be, made Ella a little light-headed. She peeked at the alternative husband prospects taking up so much space in the great room and suddenly closed her eyes. She did not want to end up with Otis and Owen today. Not after experiencing such pleasure the night before.
Colton immediately put an arm around her. What if the Stevenson brothers still wanted her? What if she couldn’t leave with Matt and Colton like they’d planned? The light-headed feeling got worse. She wrapped her arms around Colton’s waist, locking her fingers. She never wanted to forget how these two amazing men made her feel. Special. For the first time in a long time. Her mother was the last person on earth to make her feel worthwhile.
Ella’s father put his rheumy eyes on her and frowned. “What did you do to her?”
“I’ll tell you what they did,” she said, snapping with anger even though she wanted to slide to the ground. “They saved me from drowning. I’d be dead right now if they hadn’t come along and let me out of the basement.”
“That ain’t true. There’s a sump pump down there.”
“And it’s older than this cabin!” Ella was incensed. “It didn’t work and probably hasn’t worked since the turn of the last century, given the pile of dust on it. You obviously didn’t check to ensure it operated properly. I repeat. I would be dead right now if they hadn’t saved me.”
“Well…” Her father had the decency to look a little ashamed of himself.
“Well what?” she asked. “If you were any kind of man, you’d fall to your knees and thank them for my life instead of pointing a gun, threatening them, and demanding money. Don’t I matter to you at all?”
Her father made a humph noise. “You matter,” he admitted quietly. But his tone didn’t sound grateful or glad. She only mattered in his eyes because of her bride price. Otherwise, she might as well be a piece of furniture he was selling to the highest bidder.
Matt took his gaze from her and turned to her father. “We’d like to marry Ella.” He gestured to the preacher. “In fact, we’re prepared to do so right now. We spent the night with her and are ready to make a reasonable offer. But she’s right. She’d be dead right now if we hadn’t come along.”
“Meaning what?” her father asked. His eyes squinted with suspicion.
“You left her in a very dangerous situation.”
“You think I’m going to take a reduced price because of that?” He laughed loud and hard.
Colton squeezed her to his side firmly then added, “I think you will take what we offer to give you, and be grateful you’re getting anything at all.”
Owen Stevenson took this occasion to finally speak. With a leering look at Ella, making her feel like she was naked, he said, “Something else that needs to be voiced. We’ve already given the first portion of our generous bride price offer over to Mr. Parker as a down payment guaranteeing her virginity.” His brother Otis nodded vigorously.
He also then took occasion to stare her down and added, “She ain’t a virgin no more, so we shouldn’t have to pay as much for her now either.”
Ella blanched, knowing that neither of the Stevenson brothers seemed thwarted by the fact she’d spent the night with Matt and Colton.
Matt turned to Owen. “Legally, that has no bearing on what happens here today. That’s between you and Mr. Parker.”
Her father spoke up. “Well, I don’t have the ‘down payment’ anymore anyway. And I can’t give you what I don’t have. As far as her bein’ a virgin, that was never explicitly stated in the contract. Just implied.”
The preacher spoke for the first time. “What does Ella want?”
“Don’t matter what she wants,” her father said angrily. “She’ll do whatever I decide. And I say that you can have her if you match the Stevensons’ offer.”
“Of course what she wants matters,” Matt said. “She still has to sign the marriage contract. She gets the final right to choose. If she doesn’t agree to sign the contract with the Stevenson brothers, then you can’t demand it be actionable.”
“Not anymore.” Her father shrugged and smiled like he’d won the state lottery.
Every gaze in the room went straight to her father. He reached inside his coat pocket and produced another rumpled piece of paper.
“This here document is the original marriage agreement between me and the Stevenson boys.”
Ella wasn’t sure why he looked so smug all of a sudden. She glanced at the paper in his hand as very bad feeling swarmed her senses. She stood straighter, but Colton still kept her pinned to his side.
“Ella already signed this marriage document. She’s already agreed to marry Otis and Owen Stevenson.”
“I never signed a marriage contract,” Ella said with a quiver apparent in her voice. But the paper her father waved about looked alarmingly familiar. Where had she seen it before?
She took a step forward. Colton stayed right in step with her, keeping her at his side. Ella reached out a hand for the paper. “I want to see it.”
With the smuggest look she’d ever seen her father portray, he gripped the top edge of the document in one meaty hand and held the slightly yellowed paper in front of her eyes. Her gaze zeroed in at the bottom of the page where her valid signature rested. No. It can’t be.
Her eyes welled up so fast she could no longer see the paper through the blur of excess fluid. She sniffed and blinked the copious tears away. She stared at the top of the page where the words Official Marriage Contract in fancy, bold, black lettering practically jumped off the paper to slap her in the face.
In a lined space an inch or two below that title was listed Owen and Otis Stevenson as the grooms to be and Ella Parker as the bride to be.
From behind her, Matt asked quietly, “Is that your signature?”
“I don’t understand,” she said uselessly by way of explanation and answer. “I didn’t sign a marriage contract.”
“You’re a liar, Ella,” her father proclaimed loudly as if he spoke the gospel truth. “I told you that I’d share some of the money with you and you signed it.”
Ella shook her head vigorously but knew in her heart that she was well and truly fucked. The paper was signed, and although the signature was hers, she’d somehow been tricked into signing it. From across the room she suddenly noticed Owen and Otis grinning sardonically as if the battle was won and she were the spoils. Even now eyeing her body as if they couldn’t wait to ravage her repeatedly.
Her future played out in her head like another even more sinister movie reel. They’d somehow prove she’d signed the hated document. The Stevenson brothers would claim her as their bride. And her life would be over.
But worst of all, she wouldn’t truly get to marry the men she wanted. Why did she ever think she’d get what she wanted? Blood rushed away from her face so fast she was powerless to stop as her limbs went slack and black splotches appeared before her eyes.
Chapter Eight
Colton scowled at her father’s still-smug face. Ella, meanwhile, went slack against him. He caught her before she fell to the ground in a full-blown faint. As deftly as he could, Colton swept her into his arms and whisked her back into the bedroom. He fetched a cool, wet rag and draped it across her forehead.
She came to after a few minutes and immediately, she blan
ched again. “I didn’t sign the marriage certificate.”
“I know.” He smiled as reassuringly as he could. “Just rest here. It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
Her eyes slid shut, but her expression didn’t look very optimistic. He stood and turned away, hearing her sigh as he left the room.
Colton came back into the main room, shutting the bedroom door on his way out. He stood by Matt. “Ella says she didn’t sign any marriage certificate.”
Her father huffed. “Of course she’d say that,” he said with a disgusted tone.
“I believe her.” Matt crossed his arms. Colton wasn’t sure what Matt’s plan was, but he wished they’d get to it.
“What difference does that make?” Otis finally decided to join the awkward conversation. “We’ve already put a down payment on her. We brought the preacher. The contract is signed. Bring her out here and let’s make this wedding official.”
“No,” Matt and Colton said at the same time.
“We have a stake,” Matt added.
“Why, because you fucked her all night?” Owen’s sneering question made Colton’s fists tighten.
Matt smiled magnanimously and ignored his vulgarity. “She might very well carry our heir even now. Given the percentage on her fertility certificate, I’d say it’s as good a guarantee as we ever get in this world.”
The Stevenson brothers exchanged a look between them. Colton didn’t like it one bit.
Matt uncrossed his arms. “Besides, she chose us. We offered to marry her, and she accepted. We don’t believe for one moment that she truly signed that contract knowing what it was.”
“That don’t matter,” Ella’s father said with agitation. “She signed agreeing to marry these other two men. I’ve got a preacher and a keg of booze. Get her back out here and let’s finish this right now.”
“Not going to happen,” Matt said. “She’s disputed signing her name to the marriage document. At the very least an investigation needs to be initiated.” Colton loved when Matt sounded like a lawyer.
Mr. Parker brought his arm up and walked the paper over to Matt. “There’s a witness already verifying her signature. And he’s an upstanding man in the community.”
Matt peered at the paper. Colton didn’t get worried until his mouth tightened. “The doctor who performed her fertility certification is your witness? That’s an unusual choice.”
“So? Like I said, he’s an upstanding witness. No one will question him.”
Colton decided to join in the conversation. “Here is the easy solution. We want to marry her. We’ve already slept with her. She may carry our progeny. Our money is as good as anyone else’s. We’ll simply pay a fair bride price given the circumstances. The preacher marries us, we celebrate, we drink the keg. Then we’ll go, and you three”—he pointed at Parker and the Stevenson boys—“can work out your problems together.”
Matt stiffened beside him. Colton wasn’t certain why.
“So are you offerin’ the same amount as the Stevensons?” Ella’s despicable father asked.
“No.” Colton took an angry step in his direction. “They bartered for a dead bride. If it hadn’t been for us, she’d be floating lifeless bouncing against the ceiling of the basement right now above the sump pump you counted on to save her life.”
“But she ain’t dead.”
“Not because of anything you did.”
“Don’t start that up again. I know my rights.” The vein on her father’s forehead suddenly stood out against his pasty white skin as if threatening to burst.
“What about Ella’s rights?” Matt asked.
“She don’t have any.” He waved the paper. “She signed them away.”
Colton figured they weren’t getting anywhere. But then her father got an odd look on his face. “Tell you what. If you offer me more than the Stevenson brothers did, you can have her with my blessing.”
Matt immediately grabbed Colton’s arm and steered him away from the group and into the kitchen, calling out over his shoulder. “Let us discuss it. We’ll be right back.”
Colton let Matt shove him all the way outside and on to the side porch. There was still moisture in the air, but the storm had subsided and the rain had stopped.
“What gives?” Colton asked him when they were finally alone.
“Do you know how much the Stevensons offered for her?”
“No.”
“Neither do I, but it’s rumored to be a record-breaking amount. The highest bride price I’ve ever heard recorded was 450 thousand credits. I’m guessing we’re talking about a minimum of 500 thousand credits for Ella.”
“Shit. That’s a lot.” Colton rocked back on his heels. “But you’re only guessing.”
“True. Although, I figure if we beg, borrow, and liquidate our assets, we have a little more than 300 thousand credits to bargain with. And that’s nowhere near close enough to 500 thousand.”
“Damn it, I wish I could get a hold of the money in the trust fund. Ten million credits sure would come in handy right now.” Matt nodded, but that wasn’t going to happen either.
Colton glanced at the door where they’d discovered Ella the night before with a bitter regret. Damn bastard, Parker. What if she’d died? He shook off the memory, unwilling to believe they saved her only to put her in a worse predicament. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. I wish we’d been able to get away from here with her before they arrived.”
“Well, that’s not an option now.” Colton laughed mirthlessly. “I think they’ve seen us.”
Matt’s hands fisted at his sides, and he sighed heavily as if trying to temper his anger.
Colton thought of something else. “What about her signature? If it’s a forgery, couldn’t we stall for even more time until it’s proven to not be hers?”
Matt shook his head. “Her father’s too smug. I think he got her to sign it without her knowing what it was. Probably when she went in for her fertility test, given that the doctor is the witness. So it actually is her signature, but she was tricked.”
“Fuck.” He rocked back on his heels again. Tightening his fists, he wanted to go in and put a beat down on all three of them. “Seriously, Matt. What are we going to do?”
“The best we can do is halt the marriage negotiation already on the table until she can be tested for pregnancy. That would buy us maybe a month if we drag our feet. Or more likely two weeks in reality.”
“And if she’s not carrying our child?” Because that would be a miracle. A fast pregnancy was usually a couple years in the making even with a high fertility percentage.
“Then we won’t have any further hold.” Matt stared out into the darkness. Colton glanced at his watch. The sun wouldn’t even crest the horizon for another half an hour. “Our only option is to borrow against the trust fund using the fertility certificate as collateral. Although I’d only planned on doing that as a worst-case scenario if we needed funds as capital for the ranch supplies. Her high fertility percentage will help allow the loan, but her being pregnant will seal the deal. Keep in mind we still have to pay it back eventually.”
“I don’t care. Whatever it takes. I’d do just about anything to ensure she doesn’t end up in the hands of the Stevenson brothers.” Colton rubbed his hands together with hope for the first time since waking up with a shotgun in his face.
“I agree.” Matt turned toward the door. “Then let’s get inside and make a pitch. How much are we willing to offer?”
Colton wanted this resolved. And he knew how much was at stake. “With an eighty-nine percent fertility rate, we can’t hardly lose. Even if she isn’t pregnant this time, she soon will be. And the land I inherited will automatically be ours per the terms of the legacy. Money won’t even be an issue for us once a baby is born, right?”
Matt nodded. “Yes. The trust has enough to set us up perfectly, but I don’t want to use it if we don’t have to. So if we pool our current resources and offer 250 thousand credit
s or half of what I’m guessing that Otis and Owen agreed to and I argue the cut rate on the basis that she’d be dead without us, the amount will leave us nothing for the land. We’ll have to borrow against the trust fund once she’s pregnant to gear up. It will put us behind financially for a long time.”
Colton shrugged. He didn’t care. He glanced at the door to the cabin, wanting to get back inside. The sudden worry about leaving her inside with the others pressed on him.
Matt continued. “I want you to be clear. If we do this, we’re literally putting all our eggs into Ella’s reproductive basket.”
Colton reached for the door handle. “What’s the earliest we can test? Do we really have to wait two weeks to a month?”
Matt shrugged. “To be on the safe side. Although a test can be performed at a week or maybe even ten days, depending.”
“I say we go for it.”
“Of course you do.”
“Are you willing to let Ella marry Otis and Owen today?”
Matt grimaced. “No.”
“Then what other option do we have?”
Matt shook his head. “He’s not going to accept our offer.”
“We don’t know that. Press the ‘she’d be dead if left to you’ part of our offer. Maybe it will finally penetrate his damned thick skull.”
He and Matt returned to the main part of the cabin. The door to the bedroom was still closed. Colton hoped Ella was okay with marrying them. He knew this wasn’t what she had in mind. She wanted to escape, and now she was about to be leg shackled to two other men. Her choice was taken away, but he hoped she meant it when she said she wanted to stay with them.
There was an odd vibe in the room when they returned. Colton couldn’t put his finger on it exactly, but it was something else in a long line of things he truly hated about today. However, the facts were clear. They’d slept with her. Colton knew for a fact that she was a virgin because he’d broken through her hymen himself their first time together. Bottom line, he wanted her. And he knew Matt did, too. Nothing else much mattered.
Shotgun Bride [Tasty Treats 12] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Polyromance) Page 8