“What…?”
Curt rose, Eric immediately behind him as they flung open the door to see who was arriving. Brianna had been told that there were no near neighbors. In fact, the town of Frontier was where the nearest person lived. She had realized during her time with the Hollis brothers—which was three weeks already, she noted—that it was incredibly unusual for anyone to come by.
There had been a travelling trader selling various knickknacks.
Curt had reckoned he was selling them for twice the price he had probably paid for them originally, but Brianna was delighted when Eric had bought her a pretty hairpiece that he noticed had caught her eye. And there was a trapper coming down from the hills who had been even surlier than Adam. In fact, she was pretty sure he hadn’t said a word directly to her and she was glad when he had departed the next day.
Brianna was just behind them and only got as far as the doorstep when she froze.
Eight men on horseback were crowding into the yard, and she recognized several of them. One was her uncle, another was Quinn, and a third was the law enforcer, Garrett, who had signed off on the marriage contract. Her heart thudded with anxiety, but then her head tried to tell her everything would be all right as she had that marriage contract that she and Adam had signed in front of that very law enforcer. Her uncle couldn’t take her back. And he certainly couldn’t give her to Quinn as she was a married woman now. But that still didn’t stop her feeling faint with fear.
“How can I help you, gentlemen?” Curt asked. She could hear the wariness in his voice.
Marcus pointed to her from his horse, his face full of eagerness.
“There she is. That’s my niece—the ungrateful brat who ran away.” Wife for Three
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Cringing at his words, she saw Curt reach up to entangle his hand in the reins of her uncle’s horse as if to take control of the situation.
Curt’s voice, when he spoke, was hard and very authoritative, as if he had been taking lessons from his elder brother. “That is my— our—
wife.”
“Oh, no, she isn’t. The little slut.”
She gasped at the slur from her uncle. All her life he had put her down with insults, but he had never been that rude before. This prompted her to finally find her tongue. “We’re married. It’s all proper. Ask him.” She gestured to the law enforcer, begging him with her eyes to confirm her words.
Garrett appeared more composed than her uncle, and Brianna started to calm down. His deep voice answered her, but it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “I’m afraid, miss, that the contract you took out isn’t valid.”
“I don’t understand,” queried Eric.
Neither do I. What is going on? How could my contract not be valid? Surely I don’t have to leave. Her stomach was a mass of butterflies, and she felt sick.
“You have to come back to town with us.” The words of the enforcer struck at her worst fears, and her legs felt very wobbly.
“Oh, no, she’s not. She’s coming with me,” declared Marcus very firmly as he jumped down from his horse, and deftly skirting Curt, he charged up the steps to the house and grabbed hold of her arm.
“No!” Brianna cried fearfully, struggling to shrug him off. It was one thing to accompany the enforcer, but she didn’t want to go anywhere with her uncle ever again. She looked over at her guys. Curt was still holding the horse, looking stunned by the turn of events. Eric had taken a step in her direction but stopped, clearly unsure what to do.
“Look, miss. Your uncle has a signed contract for your marriage to this man here, Quinn Ford.”
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Brianna had to clasp the doorway to stop herself fainting at that point. Curt and Eric both looked in her direction, shock on their faces.
Her voice was weak when she answered, her eyes imploring them to believe her, “It’s not true. I’ve never taken out a contract with him.”
“Lying again. Don’t worry, everyone. We’ll take her off your hands, and you can all get back to normal,” said Marcus almost gleefully as he gripped her arms to drag her off the porch.
She fell to the ground, her knees hitting the wooden floorboards heavily, moaning in despair.
Garrett’s voice stopped him. “Sorry, Mr. Thorpe, but we’ll have to go back to town to sort this out. It doesn’t seem that simple. Miss, are you denying the contract that your uncle showed me?” Struggling to her feet, Brianna ignored her uncle’s tight clasp on her as her heart pounded, recognizing someone who might be able to help her. She cried out, “Yes. The only contract I have ever signed is the one with Adam and his brothers.” She turned to her men. “Please believe me. I have never signed any contract other than ours.” Eric was the one to step forward, looking back at his brother with an unusually hard look on his face. “I, for one, believe her.” Holding back the instant relief she felt, she looked at Curt, waiting for him to say something. He seemed to be struggling to make up his mind, and she swallowed with fear. When he came forward too, she nearly cried out loud in relief. He blocked her from the remaining men on horseback and sighed. “So do I.”
“Look, guys, I’ll still have to take her in,” stated the law enforcer regretfully.
“Can’t you take them away, Garrett, and sort it out?” asked Eric, who had moved onto the porch to take hold of one of her uncle’s arms as if to pull him off her, violently if necessary. His voice was angry.
“We know we are in the right.”
Garrett just chuckled and shook his head. “No go, lad. The judge will need to see her to deal with this issue.” Wife for Three
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Marcus didn’t seem entirely happy with this turn of events, but he let go of Brianna with some reluctance as one of Garrett’s men came over to take hold of her instead. Before the man could take her, she flung herself trembling into Eric’s arms. But it was only for a moment as the man pulled them apart.
Curt swore. Moving swiftly to the porch, he pulled Eric to one side, but Brianna could still hear them talking urgently in quiet voices.
“I’ll go find Adam. You go with them, but for Heaven’s sake, don’t let them out of your sight. In fact, stay plastered to Brianna. I don’t trust her uncle and that man, Ford. I have a feeling they would capture her and run off given half the chance.”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
“Make sure you do. We’re not losing her. Not now.” Eric vocalized their fears, “But what about Adam?” It was Brianna’s fear, too. If he didn’t want her, would the other two still have her? She had come to care for them, deeply. Forget that.
She plainly and simply loved them and would love Adam, too, if he gave her a chance. She sighed. But will I get the chance?
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Chapter Fourteen
Curt cursed as he reached the top of the rise and dropped his bag wearily to the ground. There was no sign of his brother.
“Fuck it.” Where is Adam? This was the third place he had tried, where he knew Adam liked to hunt for the burrowing creatures called babbits. Of course, his brother could have changed his mind about hunting the tasty, but elusive, creatures and gone after some jumpalopes, and that would mean he’d gone off to a totally different area.
Shaking his head decisively, Curt told himself that he’d been the one to see Adam depart, and the jumpalopes were west of the Farm.
Adam had departed to the east, so that meant he had to be hunting babbits. So where the hell is he? Dammit, he really wanted to be going in the other direction and following Brianna into town. He couldn’t believe that he had hesitated for a moment when they came to take her away. His stomach was still sick remembering it. How could he have had the slightest doubt about the woman he loved?
Just as he flung his rucksack onto his back to leave for the next possible location, Curt heard a sound and whirled around to see Adam coming down the cliff, carrying a brace of dead babbits and rope over his shoulder, his longblade slung to his
back. Hunting on this world was an art involving rope, a knife, and a lot of patience.
Adam stopped short when he saw Curt, the babbits swinging in the wind. “What the hell you doing here?” His brother clearly didn’t want to be disturbed. Well, tough, thought Curt. There are more important things now than my brother’s peace of mind.
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“Thank God I’ve finally found you.”
“Why? Have the two of you had enough of the girl now?” He turned and continued down the path Curt had just walked up, not waiting for the answer to his comment.
Curt gritted his teeth and angrily yelled after his brother, “The girl has a name. And Brianna has been taken away.”
“What do mean ‘taken away’?” Now he had Adam’s full attention as his brother stopped in the middle of the path to glare over his shoulder.
“Her uncle arrived with several other men, including Garrett, the law enforcer from Frontier.”
Adam answered impatiently, “Yes, I know who Garrett is. The question is, why?”
Curt shuffled his feet looking down at the ground, unsure how to tell his brother the truth now he had finally gotten him to listen. “Um, well, the uncle claimed that her contract with you—with us—was null and void.”
“Why would he do that? I married her myself.” That clearly got Adam’s ire up. Curt grinned inwardly. He knew from experience that his brother was a stickler for doing things correctly, and there was no way that his contract was anything but proper, unless Marcus and Quinn could prove theirs was the real one, and that was what was worrying Curt.
“Garrett explained, or rather accused Bree of having already taken out a contract with another man called Quinn Ford. He was with them at the farm, and I didn’t like the way he looked at our woman.” Looking momentarily stunned, a shuttered look then came over Adam’s face. It bothered Curt. It meant that Adam had given up already. “She isn’t ‘our’ woman if she is already married to someone else. It’s for the best. Leave it, Curt. Let’s go home.” He turned away.
Annoyed by his brother’s defeatist attitude, Curt cried after him,
“Bree says it’s not true. She hadn’t married that guy!” 104
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Stopped in his tracks again, Adam was silent for a moment, gazing into the distance as he took in what Curt had said, before he finally answered, “You know, we really don’t know anything about Brianna. How do you know she was telling the truth? It is quite possible she could have run away from this guy.”
“I can’t believe you! She’s been with us for weeks, and two of us,” he said pointedly, “have spent time getting to know her. I would swear blind that Bree is not lying. And anyway, if she has run away from this bloke, that means she needs our help.”
“The law says if a woman takes out a contract, she has to stay with the guy,” Adam quietly reminded his brother.
“What, even if he murders her?”
Realizing how stupid that sounded, he wasn’t surprised when Adam chuckled derisively. “You know as well as I do she could go to the law enforcer if she is being abused, and there are recourses for getting the contract annulled in that instance, but the simple fact is, she can’t live with us if she is married to someone else. That is adultery, and it is illegal.”
“Okay, I understand that, but what if she is telling the truth—as I know she is,” he added firmly when Adam gave him a look of resignation. “I’m worried they won’t believe her and they’ll take her away. I know it’s only been a few weeks, but I care for her, and so does Eric. In fact, we both love her.”
“What do you want me to do, Curt? We can’t steal her away from the authorities.”
“Let’s at least go there and provide a united front. Eric’s already there. They might back down.”
His hands on his hips, Adam stared at his brother. The look on his face wasn’t promising. Curt knew he would depart alone if Adam didn’t want to go. His mind already started thinking of future scenarios. If Adam didn’t want Brianna back, then Curt would take her someplace else and start a new life, maybe with Eric. He was totally refusing to accept the fact that he might not get her back at all.
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Just as Curt was about to step away and start back down the hill, Adam stopped Curt’s forward movement when he stated, “Don’t you think this is for the best? It hasn’t really worked out, you know.” That really annoyed Curt, and he charged at his brother grabbing him by the edges of his jacket and pushing him, stumbling back against a tree. Adam was taken unawares, and Curt was able to move him easily for once in his life. Besides which, he was very angry, and anger gave a man strength. “It might not have worked out for you, you emotionless, uncaring, hard bastard, but Eric and I love her, and we will do anything to keep her.”
He jerked his hands back before his brother could get his bearings.
Adam was the one who usually won any fight between them, being the taller and stronger. Curt growled and strode briskly away, not caring if his brother came or not.
Adam did follow him, but Curt refused to slow down to let him catch up. It had been several hours since Brianna had been arrested, and he was worried that Garrett would just let her uncle take her away—her uncle and that man. Curt had scowled every time he thought back to the leering way Quinn had stared at her. No wonder Brianna had run away from home.
Tightening his lips, he wondered what the hell her uncle was playing at, arranging a contract with a man like Quinn who would not appreciate someone like Brianna. Then he suddenly realized he knew why her uncle had done it. Brianna had said once that she had overheard them agreeing on a sum of money a few days before she had absconded.
Curt shook his head. He had forgotten this when they had been confronted by Garrett and the rest of them earlier. His initial thoughts had been chaotic—that his marriage to Brianna was invalid, that she had fooled them all, that Adam would be pleased. It was this last thought that had hammered at him until her cry for him to believe her had penetrated. He hated himself for that moment’s mistrust and hated 106
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Adam for everything he had—or rather, hadn’t—done during Brianna’s few short weeks with them.
If they got her back, Curt swore to himself it would be different, very different.
* * * *
Back at the farm, they quickly saddled up some horses. Curt rode off quickly in his eagerness to get back to Brianna and, in part, to get away from his brother, but Adam soon caught up.
Neither of them said a word, but anger simmered between them palpably. Curt knew why he was angry with Adam, but why was his brother so annoyed with him? He had exactly what he wanted, Brianna out of their lives and everything back to normal.
To begin with, they rode away briskly, but common sense made Curt slow after a few miles. It was a very long journey into town, even on horseback, and as much as he would have liked to gallop all the way, the horses really didn’t have that kind of stamina.
They made it into Frontier very early the next morning, having had to stop on the way to catch some sleep. The horses also needed rest and nourishment.
Naturally, Curt hadn’t wanted to halt and had turned on his brother. “I know exactly why you want to stop.” He had to grip the reins tightly to stop the horse bolting as it responded to his anger, turning around and around in panic. “You think that, by the time we get there, she’ll have gone off with her uncle or be given to Quinn or something, and that will be the end to it, and you can get back to your nice, well-ordered life. Well, fuck you. Even if she has been taken away, I will go after her and get her back.” Adam had looked at him, a weary, strained expression on his face.
“I was only going to point out how tired the horses are getting and that we’ll go quicker tomorrow if we rest them now.” Wife for Three
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With that Adam had gotten down from his horse, ignoring Curt who was still glaring at him, and had s
et up camp.
Curt’s anger still fuming, he had debated urgently for a few moments whether to leave his brother and continue on to town as his heart was urging him to do, but he had calmed down and acceded to Adam’s sensible suggestion, even if it did irritate him.
They had spent the night in the open, a barrier of resentment filling the air between them. Curt had been aware that neither he nor Adam slept at all that night, their twisting and turning attesting to that.
His initial urge was to get to town and see Brianna again, to make sure she was still there. His secondary need was then to persuade the judge that she was their wife and get her back.
He had pushed back any niggling thought of what would happen at that point.
Both had risen very early, not waiting to cook breakfast before setting off. Curt had been very anxious at that stage and had ridden harder than he should have. The horses were extremely weary when they finally arrived.
Their original port of call was the enforcer’s office, which was closed as was every other building. When Curt found someone, he was told that everyone in town—literally everyone, apparently—had packed into the assembly room which served as schoolroom, council room, and courthouse. School had been suspended for the day for this unusual event.
Not surprisingly, Curt was the first into the building while Adam stayed back, seeming to hesitate about entering. Curt didn’t care by this time what his brother got up to or what he was thinking.
Inside the building, it was indeed packed. In fact, Curt had to struggle through those unable to get inside, who were crowding in the corridor, anxious to hear this scandalous tale. They protested, but Curt declared firmly that he was related to the woman. When he said this, they gave him peculiar looks but let him through.
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His heart thudded in his chest as he looked around the room.
Denys, Jennifer - Wife for Three [Duoterra] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 10