by H. M. Irwing
She left him there still snoring in bed and decided to make her way down in search for a cure to the pounding in her head. A quick shower later, which was in fact the slowest she’d ever had, and Lucy was ambling down the grand staircase she did not recall climbing the night before. Her gait was halted and her grip on the banister firm. It was not a fear of heights that held her so rigid but the ache in her head.
Surprisingly enough, Lucy made it down in one piece. Her search for medication did not prove futile with the many helpers on hand to make it happen. A maid pointed her in the right direction and yet another stirred up a concoction she swore would work. Lucy was in no position to question her. Closing her nose, she downed the foul-smelling drink in two mouthfuls, and through sheer stubbornness managed to stop it from shooting right back up.
The cure was miraculous. The day then beckoned invitingly with daylight no longer painful to her eyes. Lucy managed a cautious smile then beamed her appreciation widely when the pounding to her head did not recur and her head failed to roll off her shoulders altogether.
“God, but this is great,” she downed the rest of her glass happily and even slurped at the remains. “You’re a genius,” she smiled at the maid, who merely bobbed her head, smiled her thanks and scuttled away.
Lucy was ready to face the world again. The sounds of hoof beats outside invited her interest, but the need for food was suddenly a priority. Breakfast and then a tour would be the order of the day. Or what remained of the morning, at least. Lucy was pointed in the right direction and moved on towards the sounds of conversation coming from the breakfast room. Several of the guests were all up and about.
A few left the breakfast room as Lucy drew closer; she exchanged the morning greetings with them and moved past to go in only to stop. Her heart pounded at the sight of Richard. Spotting him speaking into his phone while having his morning coffee had her backing away from the door. Breakfast was suddenly no longer a priority. Deciding to grab some fruit and visit the horses first then breakfast later with Jace, Lucy snuck back in to do just that.
“Don’t rush off on my account,” said the ever-vigilant Richard from behind her. She froze on hearing the chair scrape against the polished hardwood surface as Richard pulled back to rise from his seat. She knew he would take the opportunity to approach and he didn’t disappoint.
“I see you couldn’t locate the new pair of jeans I bought you, or any of the tops for that matter. Tell me, Lucy, are you at least wearing the underwear I got you?”
She was. The lingerie had irresistibly caught her eyes. She’d never owned anything like it. It was risqué. She might even have to take on a summer job to pay for it. No way was she returning them but that didn’t mean she would be accepting them for free either. Jace hadn’t been happy at Richard’s blatantly flaunting his money on her, but even he could appreciate sexy apparel as much as the next guy.
“Er… yes, I am. Thank you,” Lucy muttered, feeling decidedly awkward.
“So why aren’t you wearing the jeans I bought you?” he demanded.
“I wanted to see the horses and didn’t want them to get dirty,” she said practically.
“You didn’t…,” Richard broke off to laugh out loud at that. She didn’t get the joke. Lucy stared on with her lips pursed, unable to hide her clear disgruntlement with him. Did he have to laugh at her at every turn?
“Come have your breakfast. I promise I won’t bite,” he said, still amused. Lucy was hungry, so she didn’t demur and instead grabbed a plate to heap up with the delicious offerings on the buffet table. Jam and buttered toast simply won’t do this morning. Lucy required greater sustenance. All the fresh country air must agree with her.
She loaded up her plate with bacon, eggs, baked tomato, sausage and fruit.
Richard refilled his coffee and took his seat beside her. He started, unexpectedly, to regale her with funny tales of living in the country. He’d grown up there in his younger days. Lucy took mincing bites as she settled in to listen. “But the farm,” he said, “never looked like this.”
“I always thought you were from old money, like Jace.”
“My mum was old money; my dad was a bum. Dad and I worked this farm day in day out and then one day my mum left us for the city. She’d had it with farm life. The novelty of it had worn off. She wanted the glitz and glamour of city life and that was something Dad couldn’t afford,” said Richard, almost conversationally.
“I was fourteen when I took off after her. I was tall and built, so I lied about my age. I got to the city and I found her, living her cushy lifestyle with her folks. I decided to stick around for the private schooling she could offer me. Pursuing avenues to make my own fortunes came later and it came naturally. Living amongst society, being put down continually as the son of a farmer made me want to prove myself, that I could do all they did and better. But I missed the farm. It was always one party after another with Mum’s life and I got dragged to the lot of them. It was at one of those when I met Jace, and later, you. You were all of eight when I met you, and more than a handful. I doubt you even remember our meeting.”
She didn’t but she did recall a rather memorable birthday party when she had been all of eight. Not her party but another she’d attended. Lucy knew it was too much of a coincidence to be likely, but she couldn’t help wanting to be sure. “Was that at a birthday party? When all the children were chanting that I was adopted? Was that when you first saw me?”
His gaze never leaving hers, Richard, lifted his cup to his lips and took a sip of his dark brew before answering. “Yes. Even back then you were a spitfire. Any other child would have cowered in the face of such bullying, but you didn’t. I could see it in you. Given the chance, you would have fought with every one of them. If Jace hadn’t intervened like he did, I know you would have.”
Lucy’s hands fisted in memory. “I would have knocked his teeth out,” she said agreeably, almost warningly, her golden eyes settling on his to narrow perceptibly. The corner of his lips twitched and then his smirk widened before his whole face was alight with genuine laughter.
The transformation was astonishing. It was only then that Lucy realised she had never truly seen him laugh. The sardonic and mocking kind had been plenty, but this genuine appreciation was a rare thing. It made him look less austere and oddly human. But then a thought struck her.
“A child being bullied. Was that what you meant when you said, you first saw me?” Lucy didn’t like thinking he saw her as weak. Only the weak were bullied not her, never her. She was not weak.
The laughter faded from his eyes then and he leaned forward to stare at her in earnest. “You were always a beautiful child, Lucy. Different to look at when compared with your parents and your sisters, but beautiful all the same. You were surrounded by love your whole life. You had parents who loved you, and sisters who love you, and you have Jace. These people are not stupid, Lucy, to love you despite yourself; they love you for you. The way you are, differences and all. There was no reason for you to have been bullied that day or any other and you knew that. Knowing that made you not the victim. Knowing that put you a step above the rest.” Richard leaned back against his chair to eye Lucy consideringly, his perceptive gaze seeing far more than she was comfortable with him seeing.
“Bullies are just that Lucy, bullies. People who are underfed with knowledge. People who don’t know any better. If I pitied anyone that day or any other for that matter, I pitied the bullies. But yes, from that point on, I always saw you. In any crowd, at any gathering, you always drew my eyes,” he said, then added almost disturbingly. “But it was really when you turned sixteen Lucy, that I truly began to appreciate you. Yes, even before Jace landed you your first kiss.”
Lucy had to gasp at that. But she had known. She had felt it, when she’d seen him on escaping Jace’s room that night. She’d seen him lounging out there in the dark. But how?
“How had you known?”
“That Jace was up there stealing what should hav
e been my first kiss?”
At Lucy’s fearful nod, the sardonic twist to his lips was back.
“A blind man could have seen it, Lucy. It was absolutely revolting how you had looked at him at the pool. Then you ran and he followed. I did the maths.” His chuckle rang out hollow.
“That’s… that’s…,” Lucy stuttered, unable to form the words over the pounding of her heart.
“Disgusting? Licentious? Paedophilia?” Richard offered Lucy, a string of adjectives that did nothing to still the pounding of her heart. Her heart shook at a crushing beat with each word he uttered, until the sounds resonated about her head.
“How do you think I felt, Lucy? You were all of sixteen, and I? Twenty-five. How sick did you think I felt? Lusting after a kiss that should have been mine and I make no bones about it, Lucy. I had wanted that kiss for my own. Not a peck on your cheek either but my lips pressed to yours.”
Lucy fell silent, unable to answer.
“Don’t get me wrong Lucy. It was never the child you were that interested me but the hint of the woman you would become. Was I wrong to earmark you as someone who could potentially mean more? It was no different to what Jace had done. Only he got involved right from the start and I waited… until now.”
The chair scraped back, and Richard was on his feet, pacing restlessly as his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, in clear agitation. “Do you think I wanted to feel this way, Lucy? About you? About the girl my best friend was interested in? I wanted to pound into Jace. He was the one who kissed you, when he clearly shouldn’t. At sixteen you were too young, Lucy. He was lucky he had the good sense to see the error of his ways. I would have made him see reason if he hadn’t come to his senses on his own.”
“You kept a close eye to know even that?” Lucy, questioned boldly, finding herself no longer able to be shocked over anything he said.
“I did, Lucy.” His smirk was frightful. “I did.”
Lucy was feeling suddenly nauseous again. It was all too much to take in. The sounds of laughter as other guests approached the breakfast room had Lucy rising gingerly to her feet. The pounding from her heart had moved back to her head. She felt positively ill. Perhaps she had eaten too much. Lucy eyed her plate, still half-filled with food. Or perhaps, it was just the company.
“I need some air,” she muttered out on a strangled tone.
“It was only you, Lucy,” said Richard then quietly, as Lucy moved to leave. She paused, turning to face him. “You were the only one who made me feel that way.” He took a pace closer, dropping his head to simply breathe her in. “No one else.”
Chapter 15
Lucy retreated to the outdoors, shell-shocked by all that Richard had said. She moved along the wide balcony, running her hand along the railing as she went, eyeing the bustle of farm living while not really seeing anything at all.
The Reeves’ Ranch was no longer the small sprawling concern it had once been. It was now modern, widespread, and filled with all the amenities expected of the wealthy. The tennis courts were to one side and the sunken pool resembled a tropical paradise. Yet it was the horses that drew her eyes. Those were unexpected. Instead of racing studs and Arabians, they were Palominos. Bred off the local landscape, and sturdy.
She leaned on her forearms against the balustrade, finally allowing the scenery to pull her in. She drew a ragged breath in. It left her lungs on a soft sigh and with it peace rippled out far and wide to land wherever her eyes rested. It settled on the tall grasslands wheat, blond in the heat, which curved over the landscape for acres ahead. It settled on the black and white cows that littered across those fields.
“Hey, Luce?” Jace came out behind her, looking attractively dishevelled. He grinned at her as he came to stand beside her. “You breakfasted yet?”
Lucy’s brow furrowed reluctantly, recalling that breakfast and the conversations that had accompanied it. “Yes.”
She eyed Jace balefully. Jace had not come out in great light from that conversation either. It was not only Richard who had wanted a sixteen-year-old for himself but Jace too. Jace who really should have known better than to kiss that sixteen-year-old when he was already nearly twenty.
What had he been thinking? What had she been thinking? Why did thinking of Richard in the same light seem any more wrong?
Sure, he was older than either of them, but if the world thought it chill for a man a hundred-years older to romance a girl of seventeen, then how could their kiss be wrong? Did it matter that Twilight was fiction? And that the centurion was trapped in the body of a youth? If anything cried out paedophilia it was that relationship, surely? Was it really the age of the body that made the difference or the age of the mind? Why was she even debating Twilight when she had enough of her own issues to resolve? There were certainly no solutions to be found in fiction. But Lucy had been a fool then and she was clearly a fool now. Jace had wisely stirred clear of her mindless obsession with the Twilight saga, rightfully calling it a regular sob story, but Lucy couldn’t have helped herself. It was right up her alley. It had been her time. She was meant to turn fangirl and drool over it.
Jace’s chuckle was amused. “Still not happy I dragged you here, Luce?” His arms came around her as he turned them both to face the vast outdoors. Her sigh came out again, soft and easily appeased. It was hard to resist a scene like that. Hot wind whipped up to lash about them. The sun shone cruelly down, and Lucy felt her eyes water.
“You will need some shades, luv… and a hat, before you can venture out. Come keep me company while I eat,” he invited. Lucy agreeably followed him back in but refused to head back to the breakfast room. Instead, she decided to explore and found herself directed to a library, more in keeping with Cat’s fascination than her own. Her heart panged at the thought of Cat and what she must be going through.
Lucy pushed open the door that was pointed out to her and found herself in the musty confines of a well-stocked library. Her eyes drifted restlessly across the shelves, stocked high with volumes of books, to instead settle on a plush couch. She moved her suddenly tired limbs to plonk herself on it and wrap up with a throw that was artfully splayed across it.
Lucy was seated by the empty hearth, staring into space for what seemed like hours before she felt a penetrating stare burn holes into the back of her head. She jerked back to find herself under the scrutiny of a stranger.
She watched him cross the room towards her. His movements slow and the swagger to his stride spoke of confidence. “Do I know you?” Lucy asked him, confused over his focus on her.
Instead of offering an apology for staring so rudely, he merely said, “You look familiar. Like someone I met very recently.”
Lucy merely stared back uncomprehendingly.
“But your colouring is all wrong,” he added with a seemingly mild shrug. But the intensity of his startling green gaze didn’t relent. It belied his attempt to make his observation seem casual.
The hair to the nape of her neck suddenly stood on end. A sudden inexplicable fear assailed her. Suspicion rose and then anger flooded in, causing her to act. Lucy rose to her feet and narrowed her eyes at him and thought back to all that Cat had said by way of describing the man she slept with that night. He was tall, dark-haired, dusky green eyes, and oddly scruffy looking. At the same time, he had a controlled look about him. As if at any moment he chose he could flip the switch and turn suave and debonair. It was that unique mix which, coupled with the snobbish tilt to his aristocratic nose, clicked all the puzzle pieces into place. But it was really his next words that sealed his fate.
“I may have met her just the once. Only the other night to be exact, but she was not someone easily forgotten. I can’t quite put my finger on it but she’s a dead ringer for you and yet you look nothing like her. What is your name?” He then asked seriously, before letting out a sardonic chuckle. “Not that knowing your name would matter, as I didn’t even get hers.”
That was one too many coincidences for Lucy. He was the on
e. Her hand fisted of its own accord and two steps later she was in his face. Her fist flew in his direction to contact his nose and produce the most satisfying crunch. She had outdone herself. The blood gushing from his broken nose was gory but that didn’t stop her from flinging her back her hand to have another go.
If Richard hadn’t popped out of nowhere, grabbed hold of her arm and restrained her, there was no telling what damage she would have done. No one fooled around with her sister and got away with it.
“What the hell is going on here?” Richard demanded while shaking Lucy like a ragdoll to get her to stop struggling.
“This asshole is the one who… met… with Cat the other night,” Lucy bit out slowly, mindful of the avid audience they had attracted. The quiet library was suddenly crowded.
“Get your hands off her,” this came from Jace, and Lucy was instantly released and shoved in his direction. She turned to spit venomously at Richard’s direction, but he had already narrowed his eyes at the man who deflowered Cat. Lucy could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he hatched some shrewd plan to no doubt concoct more wealth from this information.
Richard was still and always would be the hustler, despite the billions he had in his pockets. He was just wired that way, and the fact that that man was here at Richard’s farm meant money. He had to be dripping in it to have been invited. It was very likely Lucy was the only poor church mouse in the whole place. She stepped out in front of Richard threateningly.
No way was he going to use her sister as a pawn in anything. She wasn’t a bargaining chip that he could use to mint more coin.
Richard quirked a disbelieving brow at Lucy, but she didn’t care. She was not afraid of him. She was not afraid of any of them. So, she glared back unhesitatingly.
“We will take this in the study,” he said finally, no doubt nodding to Jace to have her hauled there physically if needed. But all Jace did was gesture ahead of him and Lucy marched on to the study, not bothered by the three much larger men who followed her. It must have been the adrenaline rush, but she was feeling pretty much invincible after that successful jab to the stranger’s nose.