Restoration: Wolves of Gypsum Creek (A Paranormal Romance Story)

by Serena Meadows

  Natalie drew in a sharp breath, “Well, umm…” she couldn’t think of anything to say and was beginning to get angry at Dillion for not speaking up.

  “We’re just friends, father,” he finally said, and Natalie was sure she could hear her heart breaking.

  ***Dillion***

  Dillion hated the look of pain that spread across Natalie’s face and hated even more the way his father seemed to move just a bit closer to her when he said them. But he had no choice; it was the only way he could protect her. The closer she was to his father, the less likely he’d be to use her against him.

  It was bad enough that he had to worry about his sister; adding Natalie to that would tip the scales. He’d let things get beyond his control, and all he could do now was hold on and hope he could find a way out for all of them.

  Natalie seemed to have calmed down some, but every time she looked over at him, he knew that she was giving him dirty looks. His father was watching the two of them carefully, looking for some sign that there was more going on that they were letting on.

  By the time they got to the mansion he’d grown up in, his father had found out about Natalie being drugged and pretended to be shocked. “I’ll fire George right away; this isn’t how I like things done,” he said.

  Natalie bought his act, and it made him want to throw up, but at least his father wasn’t threatening her, he reminded himself. When they got inside, he could see that Natalie was shocked at first, and then angry, the look on her face, making it perfectly clear that he was quickly losing her.

  He desperately wanted to pull her aside and explain but knew that would look suspicious to his father. So, he stood mutely by as his father charmed her. “I just feel terrible about the way you’ve been treated. Let me make it up to you,” he said. “I’ve got my own spa here at the house. I’ll just call Monique and let her know you need some pampering.”

  Dillion felt the need to puke again when he saw the look on Natalie’s face. “Oh, that would be wonderful,” she said, clearly impressed. “I’ve never been to a spa, but I’ve always dreamed of going to one.”

  His father laughed. “Well, let’s hope it lives up to your dreams,” he said, taking her arm, “I’ll walk you over there, just to make sure you don’t get lost.”

  Dillion wanted to explode when his father put his hand on the small of Natalie’s back, then let it briefly hover over her butt. She didn’t seem to notice as her eyes roamed over the over-decorated entryway. “This is a beautiful place you have here,” Natalie said, as his father led her away.

  He was just about to stomp off to his room when he heard his father say, “I’ll see you in my office in ten minutes, Dillion.”

  After pacing for the first five minutes, he slouched down in a chair, feeling like an eighteen-year-old kid again. When his father finally showed up, it was more like half an hour later, and he’d begun to wonder what was going on.

  “Your friend Natalie and I had a nice little talk; she’s a sweet little thing, so innocent,” he said, sitting down behind his desk.

  He put his fingers together and rested his chin in them and studied Dillion. Finally, he said, “I have to say, it surprises me that you chose her; she doesn’t seem quite your type.”

  Dillion didn’t fall for the bait. “I told you there’s nothing between us; we had a little fun, and that was all,” he said, fighting not to let his father know he was lying.

  “Well, I couldn’t get her to say one way or the other, which tells me that there might be something there,” his father said. “But enough about your love life; you’d probably like to know why I invited you back home.”

  “That was hardly an invitation; you ruined my business and then kidnapped me,” Dillion said, through clenched teeth.

  “Oh, details, details,” his father said, waving his hand in the air. “I wanted you home because we’re going to announce your sister’s engagement at a big party this weekend, and I need you there.”

  Dillion could only stare at him in shock. “Who is she going to marry?” he finally asked.

  “Oh, you’ll get to meet him this weekend. I think I’ll let it be a surprise,” his father said.

  “Does Bethany know?” Dillion asked.

  His father grinned. “I thought I’d let it be a surprise for everyone; she’ been so down lately, and this is just what she needs to lift her spirits.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  ***Natalie***

  Natalie had been in the tub so long that the water had gotten cold, but since she’d gotten here, it had become a morning ritual. She hated to admit it, but she was having the time of her life, only her broken heart marring what would have been the most exciting week of her life.

  She’d seen very little of Dillion all week, had spent most of her time with his father, who was charming and more than happy to share his good fortune with her. If she felt a little bit guilty, all she had to do was remember that Dillion had lied to her; well, not exactly lied, but he’d covered up a lot.

  When he was with them, the animosity in the room couldn’t be missed, and she wondered why. His father seemed like a generous and kind man; he’d opened his home to her, a perfect stranger. He’d explained about George and his less than stellar past, but that he was trying to help the man reform, and she’d understood.

  Dressing in the riding clothes that Gordon had been kind enough to provide, she headed for the breakfast room, looking forward to a morning of riding and then an afternoon of pampering. Tonight was the big party Gordon had been planning for weeks; he’d told her that he was going to make a big announcement but wouldn’t say anything else.

  He’d insisted on providing her with not only clothes while she was here but with a stunning dress for the party. She hadn’t seen it yet, but she was sure that it would be just as perfect as everything else was around here.

  When she walked into the sun porch where they had breakfast every morning, she was surprised to see Dillion slouched in a chair at the table, but not surprised to see the scowl on his face. She felt a wave of the old desire surface, but quickly pushed it away and sat down.

  Gordon was sitting in his usual spot at the head of the table, reading the newspaper. But when she came in, he set it down. “Good morning. I hope you slept well; it’s going to be a busy day.”

  “Good morning,” she said, poured herself a cup of coffee and filled her plate from the plentiful buffet. “I slept great.”

  “Good, I thought we’d ride this morning, and then after lunch, you can nap for a while before you get ready for the dance. I’ll have your dress sent up to your room later this afternoon,” Gordon said.

  Dillion made a strangled sound in his throat, and they both turned to look at him. “Sorry, I swallowed wrong,” he said.

  His father gave him a dirty look. “I’ve got a few phone calls to make. I’ll meet you in the stables in about an hour,” he said, getting up from the table.

  There was a long, uncomfortable silence after he left the room. Natalie felt the electricity between them but ignored it and ate her breakfast. She wanted to escape from the room but wasn’t going to give Dillion the satisfaction; he was the one at fault, and he should have left or at least apologized.

  But that wasn’t what he did. Instead he said, “Looks like you’re enjoying your stay.”

  Natalie narrowed her eyes at him. “It wasn’t my choice to come here.”

  “No, and you seem to have forgotten that it was my father who kidnapped us and brought us here. I guess a few nice clothes and a fancy house made you forget,” Dillion said, and Natalie realized that he was disappointed in her.

  It bothered her for a second before she got angry again. “Your father explained that it was a mistake. George took things too far.”

  “And you believed him?” Dillion snorted. “Let me tell you about the real man, Natalie; he’s ruthless, a man who only cares about what he wants, and even after he gets what he wants, he wants more.”

  Natalie studied him for a
moment, seeing anger and frustration on Dillion’s face, but she wasn’t ready to listen to him, he’d lost that opportunity long ago. “That doesn’t sound like the man I’ve gotten to know over the last week; I think you’re just jealous.”

  Dillion narrowed his eyes at her. “Is there something I should be jealous about?”

  She jumped up from her chair. “Of course not, he’s your father.”

  “Funny, it doesn’t look that way to me; you’ve been spending all your time with him, letting him buy you things, and he’s taking you to the party tonight, so you tell me what it might look like,” Dillion said.

  It took her a second to answer. “There’s nothing like that going on,” she said, but deep down she knew that he was right. “Besides, I’m going home after the party; your father said so himself.”

  “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” he said, getting to his feet. “I just hope you survive the party tonight.”

  Natalie watched him walk out of the room, her emotions in turmoil. She couldn’t stop the feelings that rushed through her body when Dillion was near, couldn’t stop herself from wanting to be in his arms. But he’d made it perfectly clear that what they’d shared hadn’t meant as much to him as it had to her, so she had to move on.

  But moving on was going to be much harder than she’d anticipated when she’d decided to let her desire rule her. Now, she’d discovered something she’d probably never find again, the kind of passion that only comes around once in a lifetime, and she wished more than anything that Dillion was the man he’d pretended to be.

  Discovering the truth about him and his family had left her wondering who he really was and if she even liked that person. The way he’d been behaving made it difficult to like him; here he had turned back into that sullen, nasty person he’d been when they first met, and she couldn’t understand why.

  Letting out a heavy sigh, she headed for the stables and her ride with Gordon. After tonight, none of this would matter; she was going home, even if she had to walk the entire way. She just couldn’t take the new Dillion, couldn’t stand to watch as what they’d begun died.

  ***Dillion***

  When Dillion came out of the sunroom, he headed straight for his sister’s suite of rooms at the back of the mansion. He’d been shocked when he’d seen her for the first time after he got back; she was no longer the little girl he remembered, and her resemblance to their mother was uncanny.

  He knocked before he opened the door, but she was waiting for him, and as soon as the door closed, she threw herself into his arms and hugged him. “I’m so excited,” she said, dancing around the room. “Father just told me that I get to attend the party tonight. I think he’s finally going to treat me like an adult,” she said.

  Dillion was tempted to tell her about the engagement but didn’t want to spoil her excitement. “Maybe,” he said, sitting down in a chair in her little sitting room.

  “He said I could sit at the head table with him, and he even bought me a new dress,” she said, disappearing into her room. “It came with shoes, heels,” she added, holding out a long dress made of the palest pink silk he’d ever seen.

  “You’re going to look beautiful,” he said, meaning it.

  Like their mother, Bethany had pale skin, very blonde hair and the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. She was petite like their mother, her head barely reaching the middle of his chest, and people often thought she was much younger than she was.

  “Do you think so?” she asked, holding the dress up against her and looking in the mirror.

  Dillion walked up behind her and scooped her hair up and piled it on top of her head, “Definitely,” he said, grinning at her. “Maybe you’ll meet a prince charming and fall madly in love.”

  Bethany laughed, “I doubt that,” she said, “I’d be happy to just have a few partners to dance with.”

  “The first dance is mine,” he said, kissing her on top of the head.

  She giggled, and said, “That’s a deal.”

  He felt better when he left Bethany already getting ready for the party, but he knew that the night might not be as much fun as she hoped. If they were lucky, his father had chosen wisely for his sister, would think just a little about her happiness, but he doubted that would happen.

  His father rarely thought about what other people wanted, and he knew that the choice would be based on what his father could gain from the situation. Deep down, he knew that it was probably going to be a disaster, that the man he’d chosen would be horrible in some way and Bethany would be stuck in a horrible marriage.

  But he wasn’t going to let that happen, he’d find a way to take Bethany away from their father, and since he no longer had to worry about Natalie, it would be much easier. He’d have to come up with a good plan though; it wasn’t going to be easy to get her out of the mansion.

  The house was heavily guarded, each entryway had at least one guard, some two, and there were surveillance cameras everywhere. It was going to be difficult to get her out and away from the mansion without being caught, but he was convinced that he’d have to at some point.

  He hoped that the night would turn out better than he expected, but if it didn’t, he had to be prepared, so he headed for the library and the blueprints for the mansion. After days of pouring through them, he thought that he saw a weakness in his father’s security, but he wanted one more look before he made his plans.

  It was a bit of a relief that he wouldn’t have to worry about Natalie; by tomorrow afternoon, she’d be headed home. Then it occurred to him that his father might have been lying to her, that he might not be planning to let her go, and his blood froze. He’d never even considered that possibility until then.

  Pushing the fear aside that could cripple him if he let it, he found the blueprints, even more determined to find a way out of his father’s house. He had no idea where they’d go when they were free, but once he had his sister, his father had nothing to use against him, that is as long as he didn’t still have Natalie.

  He worked all afternoon planning their escape and knew that it was possible if things went perfectly, something that rarely happened. But he wasn’t about to stand back and let his father marry his sister off to a man she didn’t want, and he sure as hell wasn’t letting Natalie stay here.

  Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to drag Natalie away kicking and screaming, but he had this terrible feeling that tonight was going to change her feelings about his father. He wasn’t sure where the feeling came from, but he knew that his father was up to something, something that was probably going to hurt Natalie.

  He’d been too nice to her, tried too hard to make her like him; it was a ploy he liked to use to put his victim at ease. He’d seen his father use it before, and the result was never pleasant.

  He had to be prepared to swoop in and save Natalie if it came to that; it was his fault she was here, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. It had been a mistake starting anything with her, and he’d known it, but he’d been unable to stop himself: the pull she had over him was too strong.

  Again, he wished he was just a regular person, living a dull and boring life. Then he could have Natalie, could live a quiet life with her like a normal person. But that was never going to happen; even if they got away from here, he’d have to give her up, think of her before himself and walk away.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ***Natalie***

  Natalie paced across her room again and looked out the window at the guests arriving in their big fancy cars and felt another wave of nervousness wash over her. It had been a wonderful day right up to the point when she realized that her dress wasn’t in her room, had, in fact, not been delivered like Gordon had promised.

  Gordon was supposed to be there to escort her downstairs in only a few minutes, and she had nothing to wear. Cursing, she went over to the closet for the tenth time and sorted through everything, coming up empty handed once again.

  A knock on the door made her heart plunge
. Gordon was here, and she was still dressed in her robe. Going to the door and opening it a crack, she peeked out, relieved to see that it was a man holding a garment bag. “Oh, thank goodness, thank you,” she said, opening the door just enough to grab the dress.

  She was about to shut the door when the man cleared his throat. “Umm, I have a message from Mr. Mathews for you too,” he said, clearly nervous. “He can’t come up and get you; there was a little emergency, so he’ll meet you in the ballroom.”

  Natalie’s heart sank; the idea of walking in alone didn’t appeal at all to her, but she really had no choice; it would look ungrateful to do anything else. Pushing aside her disappointment, she took the garment bag over to the bed and laid it carefully down and unzipped it.

  Her heart, already racing with anticipation, beat a little faster when she caught a glimpse of shimmery, silky, deep scarlet fabric. But when she pulled the dress all of the way out of the bag, it wasn’t what she expected at all; in fact, the dress was nothing more than a scrap of material.

  Holding it up against her, she blushed just thinking about wearing it. Laying it down on the bed, she opened the garment bag again hoping that there was more, another skirt, a wrap, anything that would cover a little more skin. But all she found was a ridiculous pair of heels that had to be four inches tall and were covered by glitter and rhinestones.

  Anticipation quickly turned to despair when she realized that she only had two choices: wear the dress and heels or stay in her room. For a second, she wondered if Gordon had done this on purpose, if he was trying to embarrass her.

  But she pushed that thought away and decided that he’d just made a mistake, a terrible mistake. He must have thought that she’d like the dress and shoes, it was the only logical explanation, but Dillion’s words earlier that day kept popping into her mind.