by Maggie Way
“I thought you were into Rowan,” Cassie said, turning to look in the long mirror. She leaned forward to check to see if there was any lipstick on her teeth.
“Oh, I am,” Gwen answered. “But I think we might be too much alike to be compatible.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Alice said. “He likes chasing skirts, and you like wearing them. I think you could be a match.”
“Ladies,” Mrs. Smythe said from the doorway. “It’s time. Whenever you’re ready to start, your mother is waiting downstairs.”
Gwen lifted the long train, and they all hurried out of the room and to the floor below, where they were scheduled to make their entrance. Gwen fluffed the train, spread it out and got in line.
“Where is your bouquet?” Ms. Townsend asked.
“Crap.” Alice huffed. “Give me two seconds and let me grab it.”
She passed the guys as they were coming down the stairs. Duncan grabbed her and placed a kiss on her lips. “You look beautiful.”
“I forgot my bouquet. I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry.” He wiggled his brows.
“I would have already been back by now if you hadn’t stopped me.”
“You can blame it on me. It’s one of the perks of being my girlfriend.”
“Am I?” she teased and chuckled as she continued upstairs. She lifted the hem of her skirt and jogged down the hall and into her room. She spotted her bouquet on the bed and grabbed it just as pain radiated in her head. She dropped the bouquet as she crumpled to the floor and her world turned black.
Alice woke to find she was in the tombs. Kent had a gun pointed at her head as Stanley and Mrs. Smythe watched on.
“Mrs. Smythe?”
“Shut up,” she growled, holding a candlestick in her hands.
“You ruined everything,” Kent spat.
“I know about the account number Regina hid in the locket, and so do the cops. You’re caught. You might as well turn yourself in. Everyone in the castle is going to be looking for me. Don’t you think they’ll check everywhere that passageway leads? Not smart, guys.”
“Elizabeth was just like you, seeing spirits, doing unladylike things and sticking your nose where it disnae belong. Even though my family has saved the McGregors from having their name ruined for centuries, I had other reasons for wanting Elizabeth gone. She was smart; I knew that it was only a matter of time before she figured out what we were doing.”
“You killed her?” Alice asked, pushing herself to stand up.
“I didn’t have to. She caught me in the room near the tower as I was giving Kent and Stanley some of the family heirlooms. They did the deed.”
Alice took off her pointy shoes and held them in her hand. She might not stand a chance against a bullet, but no way was she going down without a fight. She was getting their DNA beneath her nails if it was the last thing she did.
“We were on our way to being rich, but you’re just like Elizabeth, sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. You will suffer her same fate,” Kent growled.
“Is that where the money in the account came from? Mrs. Smythe feeding you the stuff to smuggle out of the castle and sell?”
“When Regina found that stupid locket in the forest, she thought it would be the perfect place to hide the account numbers. She never took the damn thing off. We were going to be rich. It was pure luck when we spotted Mrs. Smythe in a pawn shop in the next town over. She’d been trying to sell one of the McGregors silver pocket watches. We wanted part of the action so we blackmailed her into letting us in and we threatened if she dinnae that we’d go to the Constable. The McGregors don’t even know the heirlooms under their roof.”
“Do you think I enjoy serving those ungrateful men? And now your friend,” Smythe growled. “This ends now, with you. Maybe then she’ll realize it’s not safe to live within these walls.”
“Elizabeth was an accident. I didn’t mean to kill her,” Stanley blurted out.
“I’m not buying it. She wasn’t tall enough to accidently fall over that concrete railing. I tried, and it’s not possible. Which one of you assholes threw her off?”
“That was Kent’s idea.” Mrs. Smythe answered.
“The McGregors didn’t even use that stuff in the room, but to us, it was our ticket out of here. We’d been doing it for years, but she showed up at the wrong place and the wrong time,” Stanley said.
“So you killed her?”
“She tried to grab the things I took, and I couldn’t let her have them, so I shoved her. The rest is history. It was an accident,” Stanley said.
“Shut up,” Kent growled. “You don’t owe her an explanation.”
“Who killed Regina?” she asked, her gaze going back and forth between them as she slowly inched backwards toward the end of the concrete coffin. “We know it wasn’t you, Kent. There were prints on the coffin where her body was hidden that didn’t match you, but they found your fibers on her clothes.”
“I did,” Stanley said and pulled out a gun of his own and pointed it at his brother. “You two thought you were so smart, screwing behind my back, but I knew, and when I confronted her, she said she was going to go to the Constable to turn me in for Elizabeth’s death if I didn’t let her be with you.”
Kent hesitated before he turned the gun on Stanley. “You killed her? How could you?”
“She was mine. She went to her grave being mine. Not yours.”
Kent pulled the trigger and shot Stanley square in the chest, making Alice squeal as she ducked behind the concrete, out of the line of fire. Her fingers felt the metal pipe that she’d found the last time she’d been locked in this Godforsaken place. She grabbed it tightly with both hands.
“You two can kill each other later. We need to deal with Alice.” Mrs. Smythe turned to argue.
Alice took her opening, jumped from her hiding place and swung like a baseball player aiming for a home run.
The woman crumbled to the ground. One down, two to go.
Both brothers glanced in her direction. Kent turned his gun on her to stop her attacks, even as he verbally continued to argue with his brother. He motioned to her hand, and Alice set the pipe down and picked up her shoes, showing they weren’t a threat. She spotted the gun that Stanley had dropped, and Kent’s gaze followed hers.
“She was mine in every way that mattered,” Kent said, squatting down next to his brother and picking up the extra gun.
Regina’s ghost appeared in the room. I was pregnant. We were going to run away.
“You got her pregnant. You two were going to run away,” Alice asked, moving a shoe to each hand with the pointed five-inch heels sticking out.
“Who told you?” he spat.
“She did. She’s standing right behind you.”
Alice’s breath hitched when she saw movement from the secret passageway. Kent was about to turn around when she stopped him. “I have the account numbers. I took a picture with my phone. If you let me go, I’ll give them to you.”
Duncan pounced.
Everything after that happened in a blur. Kent spun, and Alice jumped on his back and slammed the heel of her shoe directly into his eye.
Kent screamed and dropped to his knees while Alice rolled off of him and grabbed the gun he’d dropped to the ground. She pressed it against Kent’s skull. “Stay down, or I will put a bullet through your small brain.”
She grabbed the other gun from Kent’s waistband and held it out to Duncan as he approached, but he bypassed it and punched Kent in the temple. Only then did Alice feel like she might make it out of this alive.
Duncan cupped her cheek. “Are you okay?”
“I am now.” She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Call the Constable down here and tell them we’ve caught his killers.”
“They’re all killers?”
She nodded. “Well, Mrs. Smythe is a thief, but she wanted Elizabeth dead when she busted all of them for stealing things from the castle. Stanley pushed Elizabeth when she botched his
robbery. She hit her head, and it killed her instantly. Kent tossed her body over the balcony, but Stanley here killed Regina. She was having an affair with Kent and pregnant with his child. Stanley didn’t want to let her go.”
Duncan slipped the gun from her shaking hands. “I’ll watch them while you let everyone know where we are.”
She nodded and had turned to run when he stopped her. He pressed a hot kiss to her lips. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I love you,” she said before running off.
“Now you tell me,” he hollered after her as she went back through the secret passageway.
Chapter Eighteen
The wedding had been postponed by an hour, long enough for Alice and Duncan to rejoin the others after giving their statements to the police, and for Mrs. Smythe and the brothers to be taken to the hospital.
Duncan had his hand on Alice’s back as she walked barefoot into the library, where the rest of the wedding party was waiting.
Alice met Riley’s gaze. “Elizabeth walked in on the robbery. She tried to take back what they were stealing, and Stanley pushed her. She hit her head and died instantly.”
“Who tossed her out of the tower?”
“Kent, to cover their tracks. I’m so sorry, Riley.” A tear slid down his face, causing one to fall from Alice’s.
“I can never repay you for finding her killer,” Riley said, walking to Alice. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
“I can. As lord of this castle, I declare that she is now and forevermore a part of the McGregor clan,” Daniel said, rising from Cassie’s side.
“Until she’s officially a McNally, that is,” Duncan said, pulling her from Riley and wrapping his arms around her waist.
“We have a wedding and lots to celebrate and toast,” Rowan said, rising to his feet. “Let’s get these two married.”
Alice glanced down at her bare feet. “My shoe is still in his eye.”
“Ew,” Rowan said.
Cassie smiled and slid off her shoes. “Then I’ll be the first ever barefoot McGregor bride.”
Everyone else, including the men, took off their shoes and tossed them into a corner. Daniel held out his arm for Cassie, and Duncan held out his for Alice.
“This is practice for when I talk you into it.” He kissed her and winked.
“You already have,” she said as they made their way down the hallway and to the entrance point. “But I’m still making you wait a year.”
The doors opened, and one by one, they all filed out to the waiting minister. Everyone clamored to retake their seats, but the only thing that mattered was that Cassie was finally getting her happily ever after.
The ceremony went quickly, as if Cassie and Daniel were anxious to say I do before any other mishaps could occur. The reception followed well into the night.
“I’m going to get a drink,” Alice said as Duncan was talking to Riley.
He nodded and kissed her before she headed to one of the bars.
She had her drink in hand when she turned to find Cassie’s mom, Celeste, and Duncan’s mother gathered behind her watching the crowd.
“You two are brilliant. It worked like a charm. He owned up to how he feels and took a stand,” Duncan’s mother said. “She even turned down Andrew at the bachelorette party. Not many women would.”
“He sure was pretty,” Celeste said. “But I had faith in her. She really does love him.”
Duncan’s mother patted her hand. “I know, dear. It almost had me in tears realizing that he has finally grown into the man I knew he would.”
“They’ll be good together,” Cassie’s mother said. “I’ve seen them together. Alice has a beautiful soul. They’re perfect.”
Alice cleared her throat, and the women turned to find her behind them. “You three are something else.”
“We know true love.” Duncan’s mom wrapped her arm around Alice’s shoulders. “Welcome to the family, dear. I hope you let me help plan your wedding.”
Alice smiled. “It will have to wait until after the baby is born.”
There was a collective gasp, and Alice walked to Duncan, leaving all three women shocked and dismayed. That was the least she could do.
“Why do you look like you’re up to no good?” Duncan asked as she returned.
“They planned the whole thing this morning with your mother. She was one of the instigators. Your mom, Celeste, and the Barracuda were all in on your mother showing up this morning to test how you feel about me.”
“Nooo.”
“Oh yes, so I might have implied I was pregnant and the wedding planning would have to wait as a little payback.”
“You do realize you’ve only been here a week. There is no way to know even if you were.” Duncan tossed his head back and laughed. “You’re going to keep me on my toes.”
“You bet.” She kissed his lips.
“And just so you know…I dinnae lose to you in darts. I let you win just so you could collect your prize. So, you may very well be pregnant. I dinnae wear a condom this morning, and I never miss my target.”
She was going to keep him on his toes, but he was going to forever more be her Scotland, and she loved Scotland.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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About the Author
Kate has lived in Florida for most of her entire life. She enjoys a quiet life with her husband, Michael and two kids.
Kate has pulled all-nighters finishing her favorite books and also writing them. She says she'll sleep when she's dead or when her muse stops singing off key.
She loves creating worlds full of suspense, secrets, hunky men, kick ass heroines, steamy sex and oh yeah the love of a lifetime. Not to mention an occasional ghost and other supernatural talents thrown into the mix.
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Love in Bloom
by Michelle Jo Quinn
Chapter One
Saturday…
According to my watch, I had no time to breathe, much less to run to the bathroom and relieve myself. But my bladder wasn’t the same as it was in my early twenties. That was nearly two decades ago. At a certain age, there were things that did not function quite as well. So I rushed, my already aching feet flying down the hallway, trying my best not to be seen, particularly by my ever-so-grumpy employer.
I disliked the word boss. He would never be my boss. Boss meant he had some power over me. I didn’t need another man thinking he had the right to control me…I’d done my due diligence by being married to a man who’d treated me like trash.
Ah…but this wasn’t the time to think about my horrible marriage. It was the time to rush off to the bathroom.
As soon as I twisted the doorknob, I knew something wasn’t right. Using a bit more strength, I pushed the paneled door with my shoulder, my hand gripping the antique knob, until it gave way.
“Oh, I beg your pardon!” Blush crept up my neck and my face, adding to the flush of the dots of sweat on my forehead and upper lip had supplied, after witnessing a couple in a passionate embrace. I shut the door quickly and caught my breath.
Whatever was going on in there could give the romantic heroes and heroines in the romance novels I read a run for their money. I didn’t think a woman could bend that way with all that poof…
Hold on a minute… What was the bride doing in this bathroom when she was supposed to be making her way down the aisle?
Looking over my shoulder, I hesitated on what I should do next. “It really is none of my business…” I reminded myself, “I’m just here to do deliver the flowe
rs…”
My ex-husband had never tired of telling me how stubborn I was. Too stubborn for my own good. Even when I should have left him, I stood my ground, hearing my mother’s disapproving tone in my mind about how no De Luca woman had ever given up on her marriage. Except my mother didn’t marry a cheating bastard.
“Stubborn my ass,” I murmured under my breath, wiping my forehead and upper lip with the hem of my floral work apron before turning the knob, slowly this time.
I knocked twice. “Hello in there…” And waited for a response but only heard whispers and shuffling. “I’m going in,” I announced and waited a couple of beats before I did just that.
“Oh my God!” The bride tugged the neckline of her ballgown up, pulling it over surgery-enhanced breasts. “Don’t come in here!”
“What the f—” The man—clearly not her husband if his attire and the wedding band on his finger were anything to go by—jumped back, almost falling on his naked behind as he hiked up his trousers. “Lady, are you crazy?”
“No.” I looked away from him and focused on the bride. Stepping away from the closed door, I spread my hands in front of me, ready to put my nose where it didn’t belong. “What do you think you’re doing?” Her eyes widened. Her hands hovered over her white dress. I ran names in my mind, trying to recall hers. “Shaylene, you’re getting married in about twenty minutes.”
She parted her pink lips but before she could say a word, the man interrupted. “Who are you? Get out of here.”
I turned to him and straightened to my full height—which wasn’t much compared to his six-foot frame—pointing a steady finger at him. “I’m the one who’s trying to make things right here…not you, clearly.” I looked him up and down with a squint and grimace. “What are you doing ruining this young woman’s life? Why don’t you go back to your wife?” Before turning my back at him, I added, “And you might want to zip your pants up, your Tweety bird is peeking out of your briefs.”