“Don’t give me reasonable! I should be the one with ownership of the company, not a small part of the sell off price,” Mark hissed. “If anyone should get nothing, it’s you, you poor excuse for a son! I’m the one that Dad had to turn to when you vanished. I’m the one who had to deal with the pressures of maintaining the family name while you spent your youth traipsing all over God’s creation doing God knows what! You have no right to dictate my inheritance, you bastard. I’m the one who should be dolling out pennies to you! If you weren’t the oldest son, that’s exactly what I’d be doing!”
Matthew nodded. “You’re perfectly right, Mark. I wanted nothing to do with the company or Father’s life, and I abhor the fact that certain duties befall me as the eldest, whether I want them or not . . . ,”
“Then give me what should rightfully belong to me!” Mark pleaded. “I’ll even sign a paper saying that I’ll control my spending – if that will appease the board.”
“The deal has been concluded, as you are well aware, Mark,” Matthew sighed, rubbing his temples with the pad of his fingers. He’d dealt with this unpleasant business and now he wanted Mark to leave him alone, but Mark wasn’t budging. He was still somehow under the delusion that there was a slim possibility of him walking out of this house as head of Daragh Steel.
“But Daragh Steel is rightfully mine!” He tried again, obviously unaware of the strain his whining was putting on his brother’s patience, or he was deliberately provoking Matthew’s patience with his incessant whining. Matthew rubbed his temples more firmly.
“What should rightfully belong to you is a jail cell, Mark,” Matthew stated, trying to keep his temper under control. “You have spent your entire youth wasting your inheritance, destroying women’s lives, but mostly you’ve gotten away with murder, time after time.” Mark blanched and Matthew smiled grimly. “Yes, I know all about how Father bailed you out of more situations than I care to enumerate. So all I have to say to you is you should remain fortunate that I don’t turn you in myself for attempted rape on my future wife, and attempted murder on at least two occasions upon my own person.”
“You . . . ,”
“Yes, I know, I’m a son-of-a-bitch,” Matthew finished. “But since our business is concluded, and nothing you can do or say is going to alter the conclusion of that business, I’d appreciate it if you would show yourself out.”
When Mark remained seated, staring at him incredulously, Matthew let out a frustrated sigh. “Did you hear what I said, Mark?” Matthew said again, stacking the papers on his desk into a neat pile, and replacing them in his bag. “You may leave now. Daragh Steel is no longer either of our concerns. What’s done, is done. So take your leave, and I pray we never have to endure each other’s company ever again.”
“You can’t really expect me to sit here and accept this,” Mark whispered hoarsely. He was having a hard time fathoming all that had happened over the last couple of days – first his forced marriage and now this near poverty-level inheritance being shoved down his throat. “Mother will never allow you to do this to me,” Mark stated confidently. He stood brusquely and moved toward the door. “Let’s just see what she has to say about how you’re treating her youngest child.”
“Mother already knows, Mark,” Matthew said wearily. “I went over the details with her yesterday before going to the attorney’s office this morning.”
“I don’t believe you!” Mark hissed. “Mother would never knowingly allow you to treat me like this. Never!”
“In her defense, she wasn’t pleased, no,” Matthew allowed. The last thing he needed was to have Mark’s wrath turned on their mother, “but since everything has been finalized and there isn’t anything more to be said or done, simply accept what’s been settled and be happy for it.”
“You have no idea who you’re messing with, big brother.”
“So you’ve said,” Matthew sighed, “but who you are isn’t going to change anything, so take your wife and go home, or I’ll be forced to show you who you’re messing with.”
Mark growled and turned on his heel, stalking angrily from the room. Matthew heard him yell for Elizabeth, and then the front door slammed a moment later.
Matthew settled back in his chair and sighed deeply. Closing his eyes, he forced his mind to focus on something pleasant – Marcelle.
He’d go tomorrow to buy her an engagement gift. Maybe his mother would like to accompany him and help him choose something appropriate. He’d ask her in the morning.
Lifting the rifle from his lap, he released the hammer, and then stood and stretched his long limbs, yawning deeply. He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since his brother’s intrusion into his life. He returned the rifle to the closet, then doused the candle and made his way to his room. He needed sleep badly, but wondered whether dreams of Marcelle’s warm body wrapped in his arms would hinder that sleep, and then realized he didn’t care. He’d lose a few hours sleep lost in those pleasant thoughts.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“It’s good to get to spend some time with you again,” Lilith said. She and Matthew spent the next morning walking the streets of New York, window-shopping and not window-shopping, if the overloaded buggy trailing in their wake was any indication. Matthew glanced over his shoulder and smiled. He hoped it didn’t get any more loaded down, or the horses may not have the strength to haul it back to Daragh Manor. As it was, he and Mother walked the better part of the day because she filled the carriage to the hilt with purchases. Not that he minded. It was a beautiful day.
“However are you going to get all those things back to Wisconsin with you, is what I’m wondering?” Lilith laughed, pointing at the carriage, as if reading his mind.
“Not all of that junk belongs to me, mother dearest,” Matthew chided gently.
“Yes, I know,” Lilith smiled, “but a majority of it will be traveling to Wisconsin with me, so we still need to figure out a way to get it all there.”
“Well, since I’m going to have to rent a private boxcar anyway to haul your luggage . . . Hey! Why did you smack me?”
“For being a wise mouth, that’s why – a private boxcar, my eye!” Lilith snapped playfully. “I do not have that much luggage and you know it.”
Matthew laughed and continued walking. “Whatever are you buying, anyway? I thought we were supposed to be on a shopping expedition for an engagement gift for Marcelle.”
Lilith blushed and pulled her son closer to her side, “I have a marvelous idea for that, by the way, but I couldn’t very well go to Wisconsin empty-handed, now could I? There were gifts to buy, and material for the gowns to see to, and decoration material and, oh, so much to do.”
“Are you sure you are not getting ahead of yourself, Mother?” Matthew said, as gently as possible. “I mean, I asked you to help with the wedding, not take over preparations on your own. Besides, Marcelle still has to say yes.”
“She’ll say yes,” Lilith grinned, “and I promise not to go barreling in there with all my ideas and purchases without paving the way first. You know, Son, I’d always hoped that one day you or your brother would settle down, so that I could plan a wedding with your future wives.”
“Too bad Mark went about his the wrong way, or you’d have been able to help Elizabeth . . . ,”
“Elizabeth wouldn’t have wanted my help,” Lilith said. “That child has no heart – or haven’t you noticed.”
“I noticed,” Matthew sighed, “but let’s not discuss Mark and Elizabeth today, shall we?”
“You’re right, of course,” Lilith sighed. “We need a reprieve from all that ugliness, don’t we?”
“Exactly. Now,” Matthew said, patting his mother’s hand, “why don’t you guide me to this shop where I can find the perfect engagement gift for Marcelle?”
“But darling,” Lilith teased, “I haven’t finished my shopping yet.”
“Mother, there is only so many hours of sunlight in a day, and you are quickly dwindling them all . . . Hey! Wat
ch the ears!”
“I told you to watch your tongue, now didn’t I?”
“Mother, I’m not two years of age any longer, so boxing my ears in public is a little on the embarrassing side.”
“Then watch your tongue and I’ll spare your ears,” Lilith chided, a spark of laughter in her eyes. “Now, do come on. We haven’t all day to buy your woman an engagement gift, you know.”
Matthew rolled his eyes. It had been so long since he’d seen his mother this relaxed and happy. It had been too long since he’d been able to enjoy his mother’s company as well, even if his ears objected to the regular clobbering.
“I wouldn’t tolerate having my ears boxed like that.” Pablo, a man with slicked-back black hair said to his companion as they followed Matthew and his mother down the street.
“Yeah, well, my mother used to do that a lot to me,” his companion, Deke, a red-haired, freckled-faced, teenaged-looking man replied.
“Yeah, and look at the way you turned out,” Pablo laughed. “Guess all that boxing didn’t do you a bit of good.”
“It’s because of all that boxing, that I am the way I am,” Deke responded without humor.
“Do tell.”
“My mom didn’t box my ears playfully,” Deke said softly, his eyes narrowing on Lilith’s back. “She smacked me so hard that I finally lost my hearing in one ear. Got so tired of it, that when I grew up, I cornered her one day and started boxing her ears in return. Guess I should have stopped though when blood started seeping out, but I couldn’t see past my own rage. Wasn’t until my dad came home and dragged me off her, that I realized that I’d killed her. Ran away after that and never looked back.”
“Geez,” Pablo said, eyeing the man beside him with a new wariness. When he first hired on to take care of this business, he hadn’t thought much about the other man hired with him. Of course, he hadn’t realized how crazy-mean he was deep down, either. Until now. “So, how we going to handle this?” He asked, wanting to change the subject.
“The boss says we take the man, but leave the woman alone.”
“Can’t seem to do neither one with as many people as there is.”
“Yeah, well, we ain’t trying to take ‘em now,” Deke said softly, “we just gotta keep an eye on ‘em until they leave town. Then we’ll ambush ‘em on the way home.”
“Boss man said we ain’t supposed to kill the guy. Least not ‘til he has the chance to talk to him, right?”
“That’s about sums it up.”
“Have you seen how big that hombre is?” Pablo asked. He’d never done this kind of thing before, and if it weren’t for the fact that he needed money and owed his cousin a favor, he wouldn’t be wrapped up in this mess at all.
“Yeah, so what?” Deke said.
“Yeah, well, you take a good look at my size?”
“Can’t look at you and him at the same time? What’s your point?” Deke said, casting a quick sidelong glance in Pablo’s direction. He was short and skinny, that much was evident. What was the boss man doing hiring on someone that didn’t look as if he could handle himself in a fight?
“My point is, that hombre can knock me out with one punch,” Pablo said, getting more nervous the later the hour got.
“I’ll take the man, and you hold on to the woman,” Deke offered. “Think you can handle a woman?”
Pablo had seen how she’d boxed the big hombre’s ears and had doubts about even that, but he wasn’t about to admit it. At least he wouldn’t be tangling with the big man.
“Yeah, I can handle her,” he said far more confidently than he felt.
“Good,” Deke said, stopping in mid-stride. He moved to the side of the walkway and leaned against the side of a building, his eyes pinned to the doorway of the jewelry store. “Now we wait again. Damn, I hope they finish shopping soon. I’m getting sick and tired of waiting on ‘em, and damn hungry too.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“That was right nice of ‘em,” Deke smiled, as the carriage drove out of sight.
“What was?” Pablo asked, munching on a piece of jerky.
“Looks like they’re gonna let the carriage go on ahead of ‘em.”
“What’s so great about that?” Pablo asked, watching as the man saddled the horse for the woman, then stepped back to help her mount.
“It just means that there will be one less person to tangle with and one less witness to shoot, if it comes down to it.”
“Killing is killing, hombre,” Pablo said, signing the cross. “The law can’t kill you more times than once, no matter how many people you take down.”
“That’s always a good thing to know, Pablo,” Deke said sarcastically, watching Matthew with a narrowed gaze, “especially since I done killed my fair share. Still, I don’t reckon I’ll be giving the law a chance to catch and kill me until I’ve taken out a few more.”
The hair on the back of Matthew’s hair stood up again, and he fingered the butt of his handgun. If he’d had any doubt earlier that someone was following he and his mother, his continued state of unease put that doubt to rest. As casually as he could, he turned and scanned the horizon around the stables. There! Finally! He was certain he’d seen those two leaning a little too casually against the wall outside the restaurant where he and his mother had taken an early dinner. Now they were standing across the street inspecting – him, he was certain. The tilt of their head was the giveaway. If they were indeed window-shopping, they would be tilting their heads downward. No! They were watching him in the reflection of the store window. At least he knew there was an adversary. Now he’d be prepared.
“What’s wrong, son?” Lilith asked from atop her mount.
“I don’t want to concern you, Mother,” Matthew said, leading the rented horses from the stable.
“Is it those two men that have you worried, dear?” Lilith asked, then laughed softly at her son’s incredulous expression. “I took notice of them a while back. What do you think they want?”
“Me.” Matthew said simply, his irritation on the rise. “How did you know?”
“I lived with a constant threat against your brother or father for many, many years, so I learned to watch for danger, which seemed to lurk around every corner. Why do you think Jeremy became so proficient with firearms?”
Matthew laughed shortly, “I was wondering how a butler learned that, yes. I just hope he never had cause to use it.”
“No,” Lilith said softly. “Mark, or your father, usually had the threat eliminated the moment it came to their notice.”
“I see.”
“So, you think Mark might be the one behind this?” Lilith asked, but knew the answer. Daragh Steel had been his life’s blood and in one day, Matthew had taken his entire existence away. It would have surprised her if Mark had walked away without attempted retaliation. It didn’t matter that Matthew was blood kin, Mark would do what he could to make him suffer. She only hoped that Mark’s reputation for brutality was overstated, or Matthew would be seriously injured or killed. She shuddered.
“Without a doubt, but don’t fret, Mother,” Matthew said, mounting his horse. “All will be well.”
“I hope so, dearest,” Lilith said softly, then prodded her horse into a canter, following her son out of town.
They’d been on the trail for several hours without incident when Lilith broke the long silence that had fallen. “When do you think they will make their move? It will be nightfall soon, and we’ll surely be stopping at an inn when we reach the next town.”
“It’ll be soon,” Matthew said simply. He could feel it. He wasn’t a gunslinger, but he’d honed his instincts from years of living out west, where outlaws abounded, “but I don’t think I’m going to wait.” He pulled his horse to a halt and looked over his shoulder. “I love you mother, and I know that Mark is your son, but if I don’t put a stop to his attempts now, he’ll hound me and my loved ones forever. I can’t allow that.”
“What is it you intend to do?”
“I’m going to turn back and have the sheriff issue a warrant for Mark’s arrest. If he isn’t put behind bars, then one of us is going to end up dead, and unfortunately for Mark, I won’t allow that someone to be me.”
Lilith felt her heart tighten. She wanted to argue against such drastic measures, but Matthew was right. Someone had to stop Mark. He’d hurt too many people and gotten away with it too many times. Now, he was after her eldest son and that was something she couldn’t abide. She loved Mark, in her own way and as much as he would allow her to, but he was a bad seed, even though it hurt her to think of him that way. She felt a twinge of guilt knowing that if she’d had more say in his raising him then he might have turned out better, but she didn’t and he hadn’t. Now it was too late to do anything but take him out of the picture and prevent harm coming to anyone else.
“Mother?”
“I understand, Matthew,” she said softly. “You do what you must.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Matthew patted her hand and smiled softly. He knew this was hard for her, but it was the only logical alternative. Fortunately, he wouldn’t need to do it without her consent. “I want you to ride on ahead and stay at the hotel. If I’m not back before nightfall tomorrow, you are to head back to Daragh Manor and wait for me there.”
“You don’t really think there’s a chance that Mark will. . . .”
“No! I think his intentions right now are to force me to renegotiate his inheritance.”
Lilith sighed in relief.
“Now, ride. I’ll see you soon,” Matthew said, then leaned over and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. He turned his mount and spurred his horse into a gallop. He’d have to ride hard and fast to make it back to the safety of the city. He only hoped he was right about his brother not wanting him dead, otherwise riding hard and fast wouldn’t prevent one of Mark’s hired thugs from putting a bullet in his back.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
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