Hannah Howell (22 page)

Royal was not pleased when Antonie was seated between Baird and Tomás. Baird's dark gaze was fixed on her as if she were the meal. Royal had not taken much notice of the man's interest earlier in the day, but now he saw it as a threat.

“That what you bought today?” he asked, thinking that she was showing far too much bosom even though he knew she was revealing no more than any other lady there.

Antonie wondered at the strange note in Royal's voice.
"Sí.
The dress I had was not suitable, eh?"

“It was a lovely dress,” Cole said, “but tonight you look like a princess."

A faint color touched her cheeks but she grinned. “A princess, Tomás. You must kiss my hand in homage."

“Only your hand?” Tomás murmured as he pressed a lingering kiss to her palm. “What do I get to kiss if you become a queen?"

When Antonie released her husky laugh, Royal scowled. If possible, Baird looked even more eager. The man would have to think again if he thought Antonie was his for the picking. Reluctantly, Royal turned to Charlotte when she demanded his attention.

Conversation was idle as they enjoyed the main meal. It was not until the dessert was served that the Dumfrey sisters honed their attack. Antonie had been waiting for it. She had garnered too much attention. Oro had eyes for none but Patricia, but what little attention he had had to spare went to her. Tomás had no interest in the Dumfrey sisters, so he used his special brand of charm to quell the nerves he knew assailed her. Cole seemed interested in Royal's reactions, although Antonie was not sure why. Royal seemed to spend most of his time trying to interrupt her and Baird every time they started to converse. That left very little for the Dumfrey sisters to work with or bask in, for Justin was still too young to matter to them, and Antonie could see that they were angry.

There were undoubtedly other reasons for the coming fray that Antonie sensed was imminent, but she could only guess at them. She assumed that Charlotte, in her bid for Royal, was planning to make her embarrass herself. Firmly resolving not to let her temper flare, Antonie braced for the assault.

“What do your people do in Mexico?” Charlotte asked.

“Nothing that I know of,” Antonie drawled. “They are dead,
señorita,"
she added quietly.

“Oh, dear. So you are an orphan,” Margaret consoled with false sympathy. “Where is your family's land?"

“There is no land.” Antonie saw no reason to dance about the truth.

“How do you live?” Barbara asked.

“Barbara,” Baird hissed reprovingly but was halted by Antonie's light touch on his arm.

“I work,
muchacha."
Antonie sensed that Barbara, merely seventeen, was mostly curious, not vindictive.

“You work for Royal?” Charlotte asked, resting her hand on his arm.

Quelling an urge to break that woman's fingers, Antonie took a sip of wine. She knew what Charlotte insinuated. A woman was usually in a man's employ for one reason only. She could see that Oro and Tomás had heard the insult behind the soft question. Their dark eyes had hardened and their handsome faces had tautened. Even Royal looked annoyed. Strangely, that soothed Antonie's temper.

"Sí.
I keep an eye on Patricia. There was much trouble on the drive."

That change of subject was seized upon by the gentlemen. Antonie knew that the Dumfrey sisters had not finished however. She wondered if it would be best to make a strategic retreat, but then decided against it. Antonie felt that that would be admitting defeat.

Watching Charlotte charm Royal, constantly touching him and monopolizing his attention was putting a severe strain on Antonie's determination not to lose her temper. Baird's flirting was soothing and flattered her sorely bruised vanity. She responded to it naturally. Tomás helped, too, with his usual outrageousness and constant friendly arguing with Cole.

Royal did nothing to protect her from the constant subtle insults of the women and Antonie saw that as confirmation of his desertion, that he saw her as no more than an idle amusement. She had no trouble protecting herself or hiding how their continuous references to all she lacked stung. However, her honor was being scorned and she was hurt. If Royal had any feeling for her at all, he would not be able to stay silent, let alone continue to charm her attacker.

Royal was working himself up into a glorious rage. He knew the Dumfrey sisters assumed Antonie was his mistress, and thought he was angry over her presumptuousness at sitting with them. However, he reluctantly recognized his own jealousy and that spurred his anger. He heartily cursed the fact that the other men did, too. Even Baird was finding it amusing.

He could not stop himself from viewing Antonie's responses to Baird's indisputable charm as blatant flirting. Every time she laughed, he ground his teeth. Whenever she leaned forward he was torn between wanting to drag her to his room and belting Baird for letting his eyes linger so hungrily on her well-exposed breasts. So intent was he on controlling the violence that surged inside him that he was unable to respond to the Dumfrey sisters’ genteel persecution of Antonie. He feared that he would only join the attack in his present mood and with remarks that were far more direct and cutting.

It was a combination of elements that finally snapped the control of the tension at the table. The free-flowing wine made Charlotte utter a remark that was less than subtle about Antonie's morals. Antonie tossed off the last of her wine and slowly rose to her feet, her eyes dark purple with fury.

“I have had enough. I put on my finery and display my best manners, for what? To dine with a
maldita perra. Cui bono?
For what use?
Madre de Dios!
I will go drink with those who do not play these games, ones who, when they insult you, do not expect a sweet smile and soft answer. Good manners are wasted here where there are so few."

“Good manners?” Charlotte demanded. “What does one like you know of good manners?"

“More than you,
señorita.
Where I come from one does not share food with a person then ply him with insults,” her voice lowered slightly, “not if one wishes to stay alive.” She smiled a little when Charlotte paled slightly.

“Where the hell are you going?” Royal snapped when Antonie began to walk away.

“First to change my clothes. After that?” She shrugged. “It is not really your business, is it,
Señor
Bancroft?"

Tomás hurried after her. Before Royal could blink, Cole and Justin hastily excused themselves and left as well. At a glance, he could tell that Baird was seriously contemplating deserting his sisters to follow the blond siren. It did nothing to improve Royal's deteriorating mood.

Antonie stormed into her room, her three escorts trailing behind her. She grabbed up her clothes and stepped behind a dressing screen. The three gentlemen sat on her bed and she heard them help themselves to the wine left from before dinner. Antonie kept up a steady tirade as she changed her clothes.

“Bah! So much for finery.” She tossed her new dress over the screen. “I do not know why I kept my temper for so long. And I did well keeping my temper, did I not, Tomás?” She peered around the screen. “Was I not the model of patience?"

"Sí,
Antonie. I did not recognize you, you were so patient.” He saluted her with his glass of wine.

She nodded and went back to changing her clothes. “Well, I will not do that again. There is no satisfaction in swallowing insults."

“Charlotte was plain jealous, Toni,” Justin said. “She wants Royal."

Stepping out, dressed in her pants and shirt, Antonie began to search for her boots. “She had him. When he looked at me it was only to scowl. Well, if he is to scowl at me even when I am behaving then I will not behave, eh? I do not like this lady business."

“You were ten times the lady any of those Dumfrey gals were,” Cole said as Antonie tugged on her boots. “Your tongue can have a razor's edge, honey, but you didn't stoop to their game. That's the mark of a lady. Not her clothes or what fork she uses."

Putting on her gun belt, Antonie mulled that over for a moment. “They were like Marilyn and she is a lady,
sí?"

Standing up, Cole handed her her hat and draped an arm around her shoulders as they headed out the door. “Darlin', I've known a fair number of ladies. Even so, I've never really listened to them talk, one lady to another. Tonight I was listening and, damn, it was nasty. Now, I'll admit I wasn't all that partial to you when I first met you. Because of the way you dressed and acted, I set you apart from other ladies. Even before tonight I knew that was a damned ignorant thing to do."

"Gracias, señor."
She grinned at him when he gently flicked her cheek with one long finger.

“Tonight I saw why I had no trouble thinking of you as a lady even as well armed as you are now."

“What did you see?” she asked when he did not continue.

“For a start, sweets, you're honest. I've met few so-called ladies who are. They play games, darlin'. You don't. Hell, I'd take that over a pretty dress, fluttering eyelashes, and a flicking fan any day of the week. There is one thing though,” Cole added as they stepped outside of the hotel.

She eyed him a little suspiciously as they paused.
"Sí?
What is this one thing?"

“We-ell, you ain't exactly fair, Toni.” He turned to face her, still keeping an arm around her shoulders.

“What is this?” Although she could see the teasing glint in his eyes, she could not guess what the jest would be.

“I've been left out and I'm feeling sorely deprived. You've kissed Tomás, Oro, Justin, and, of course, Royal, but not me."

Laughing along with Justin and Tomás, she slipped her arms around his neck. “I cannot let such an injustice continue."

“Damn right,” he murmured and thoroughly indulged himself in a brief taste of what he knew he could never possess.

“A little public, isn't it?” gritted an all too familiar voice.

Once the others had left, Royal could tolerate very little of the Dumfrey sisters. He politely but firmly hastened their departure from the hotel. With Charlotte clinging to his arm in a way that made him grit his teeth, he stepped outside and came to an abrupt halt at the sight that confronted him. When Cole and Antonie ended their embrace at his curt statement, he saw their surprise as guilt.

It hurt and he was loath to examine why. He told himself it was because Cole was taking unfair advantage of the misunderstanding that had thus far kept Antonie out of his bed. A man had a right to a sense of possession.

"Sí,
you are right,
Señor
Bancroft,” Antonie said as she stepped out of Cole's hold. She moved to where Royal stood, eased Charlotte's clutching grip and placed the woman's hand more demurely upon Royal's arm. “Much better. Save the groping for later,
señorita."

Bidding a hasty good evening, Antonie and Tomás joined Royal's brothers in making a hasty and less than dignified retreat. Royal indulged himself with a fierce glare at their rapidly disappearing backs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Oro and Patricia hastily disappear up the hotel stairs and knew his anger was very obvious but found that he did not really care. He rather curtly ushered the Dumfrey sisters into their carriage and climbed in.

The fact that Baird and his own brothers found amusement in his anger only soured Royal's mood more. He was sure that the fact that he had never had any trouble with a female before only added to their enjoyment of his current difficulties. He intended to make sure that their amusement was very short-lived.

He decided it was all Antonie's fault that he now found himself in the uncomfortable position of playing the jealous lover and having provided the night's entertainment. She might have a good reason for being distant from him, but that did not mean she had the right to turn to another man. Even though a small inner voice suggested that he was being somewhat unreasonable, Royal did not care enough to alter his opinion. He did not really wish to look too closely at the reasons for the way he was feeling either. It was much safer to think that she had purposely set out to annoy him and that he was only acting accordingly.

Yet again he cursed the luck that had brought the Dumfreys into his path. If he had not dined with them, he could have spent the evening wooing Antonie, soothing her ruffled feathers. Instead he had had to watch her in all her new-found elegance being wooed by Baird, then sit and watch her walk away with Cole. What should have been a pleasant evening was turning into a total disaster. Instead of he and Antonie exhausting themselves in his bed or hers, she was out carousing with Tomás and his own brothers and he had to endure Charlotte.

Royal saw that he could easily lose his chance with Antonie if he did not quickly mend things with her. It had been too long since he had reaffirmed his possession. The predators were beginning to sniff around. He was going to have to rectify that and brand Antonie as his again as soon as possible.

“I thought that woman was supposed to be watching your sister?” Charlotte remarked, breaking into his thoughts.

Even as he wondered if the buggy could move a little faster, Royal answered, “Oro's watching her now."

“Perhaps,” Charlotte said with a cloying gentleness, “she should be protected from him."

“Why?” He eyed the woman coldly. “He's Pattie's fiancé."

Charlotte and her sisters gasped. “He's a Mexican."

“Certainly is. He's also a damn fine young man."

“But, if this man Oro protects your sister, why did you hire Antonie?” Barbara asked.

“Antonie protected Patricia's life on the drive. We were harassed the whole way. That little lady was the best damn guard money could buy. I never had a moment's concern about Patricia, and things got nasty several times."

“I'm sure that she does her job well, and that justifies your putting your sister in the company of such a woman,” Charlotte said with a less than subtle sneer.

In a clear attempt to avoid an acrimonious confrontation, Baird said smoothly, “Pull in your claws, sister dear. Your attempts to belittle Miss Ramirez this evening only showed that
she
is very much the lady."