In Love with a Stranger (19 page)

“
I’m
the local registrar, Sir, and you’re going to jail, because even if I can’t prove that William didn’t sign that paper, I know for damn sure that I
didn’t
. I’m definitely pressing charges against you for forging my signature as registrar on that falsified certificate.  I know exactly where he and his wife were last night. My room is just across the hall.” He shook his head. “I married them yesterday, before dinner, and I wasn’t able to go to sleep until after four o’clock this morning, when Mr. Greyson finally gave his new wife a rest.”

“Alright, William!” Duncan held up his hand for a high five.

Henry’s face started twitching while he scowled.  Just then, Emmaline stepped into the room, and their eyes met. “It’s over, Henry, you’re too late,” she said with a withering glare.

The last I saw of Henry Greyson was the back of him as he ran out of the room.

Chapter 23 - Blow

HANNAH

William made to run out of the room after his father, but the castle manager caught his shoulder. “It’s an island, he isn’t going anywhere. I called the ferry to move away, when Fergus said the document was faked the first time.  I can pull up the grounds’ surveillance cameras, if you’d like to watch him run around the island like a ninny.”

I was shocked William still hadn’t spoken. The way his jaw was flexing made it clear he was ready to yell at the top of his lungs for a good long while. I couldn’t blame him. I couldn’t believe his father would go to such lengths.

“Someone, please take Penelope out of here,” William gritted out. It was suddenly clear why William hadn’t exploded the moment his father had stepped into the room. Lisa quickly coaxed Penelope out into the hallway, letting us know they’d be in her suite.

Camille was the first to speak once the door shut. “So, that’s our dad,” she said in a way that was meant to be humorous.

“He’s an ass,” Ophelia said bluntly.

“That was pretty much a given, since he did pay someone to try and kill Hannah and burn down her shop,” Duncan said, like it was obvious.

“But he had to have gone about it by other means. He never took part in it firsthand. He was over here,” Carter, ever the analyst, waved to the spot that we’d last seen Henry in.

“The dude is completely nuts.” I think we all agreed with Brody’s assessment of Henry.

“He didn’t try to kill Ms. Madison or burn down her shop,” Emmaline said with conviction. She shouldn’t have spoken, because it drew William’s attention to her.

He marched to where she was and loomed over her. His nose was nearly touching hers. “Get out!” It wasn’t shouted, but it was threatening in a way that gave us all chills.

His mother took a couple of steps back from him. “He wanted her to stay in New York. He didn’t touch her shop. He wouldn’t have had anyone hurt her. Americans love money more than anything. He offered her what he had, so you wouldn’t get hurt.”

“I said get out!” It was louder the second time and made Emmaline jump.

“He’d never physically hurt her. He was so sure she was just like Hilary. He didn’t think he’d need to give her anything more than money. We thought he’d succeeded, when the money was taken. The cheques were cashed, William, and she was gone.  We were sure she’d left and gone on a little vacation. He didn’t touch her then, and he didn’t start the fire at her shop. That’s my granddaughter you’re putting at risk by barking up the wrong tree!” She seemed to pull her courage together.

“You told him where we were!” he accused.

“He’d been following Camille and her friends for days. He’d known about the inquires for a flight to Kirkwall. He knew you’d be married a day or two after Camille’s arrival.”

“Who’s Hilary?” Camille asked, interrupting her mother.

“Your father’s first wife, his first love was an American woman who ruined him. She broke his heart and took him for everything he had.  All she’d wanted was money and his title.  She made a laughing stock of him. She was a whore and completely ruined his reputation and his life at the time. He’d lost everything, his heart hardened, but he fought back.

“She’s where his talent for extortion and bribery came from. The only way to get back into society’s good graces was to blackmail a few key players. Of course, it’d be pointless if Hilary was still around. Their divorce was messy, but the men she’d cheated on him with were not shy and loved to rub it in Henry’s face. Proving her infidelity was simple. What money Henry had left that she hadn’t squandered away was split between them.

“Once they were divorced, Henry followed her and had her charged with a crime, so she’d be deported.  Before her plane even touched down in the U.S., he’d presented some of her men with envelopes containing incriminating evidence against them. The blackmailing has never stopped. He loved her, William, and he was so sure she’d truly loved him in return. He was just scared you were making the same mistakes he had, that you were blinded like he’d been by a beautiful American.”

“I thought
you
were dad’s first love?” Camille looked confused.

“No, I was a power move, but I’d known him before he’d met Hilary, and I was sure he’d get better and fall in love with me once he got over her.”

“A power move?” William sounded disgusted.

“It was for my family’s benefit as well. I agreed to it, because we’d grown up together, and I’d always cared for him. I know you don’t see it, but he’s a good man. He was just scared for you,” his mother insisted.

“Who I marry has always been my choice. My mistakes are my own, not his. He had no right to try and interfere.”

“We’ve always meant well. The girls we’ve introduced you to were-”

“Money grubbing socialites looking to up their status, how very thoughtful, Mother.”

“They were women who’d have something to lose if they crossed you, William. Your father secured information on each one, be it on them or family members they’d want to protect, before you were introduced to them.”

“You were going to blackmail them into marrying me?”

“No, your father just wanted to make sure they couldn’t cross you or hurt you. Essentially, they’d be at a disadvantage if they tried to do anything wrong or hurtful that’d jeopardize your marriage or status with the peerage.”

“I’ve told you both hundreds of times that I want nothing to do with the royal peerage!”

“You say that now, but don’t be so hasty to close the door on it. You may not want to be a part of parliament, but the contacts you
can make would be beneficial to your work, not to mention you don’t know the feelings of your daughter or any other future children. You may not want to take part, but your children may have a different view of things. Don’t shut out the opportunities-”

“My daughter and any children I have will be U.S. citizens. They’ll have no right to my title.   I won’t expose them to that mess.”

“You must see reason, William.” I was shocked when she turned and looked at me. “He has a-”

“Don’t speak to her. You’ve done nothing but disrespect my wife! You have no right to even look at her!” William was pressing forward, and I was afraid he might knock his mother over.

“Emmaline, maybe you should go to your room for a bit.” I took a few steps in her direction. Her eyes darted between me and my husband, but she thankfully took my advice. She rushed out of the room. My husband needed some time to cool down.

A few sharp clacks of heels caught everyone’s attention. The woman, Brittney, was trying to make her way to the door quietly, but she’d failed. William stalked toward Brittney, and she started to run for the door. William grabbed her before she could reach it. “Please, William, I wanted no part in this.” Her eyes settled on me. “I’m not his lover. I’ve never been his lover, and I’m not pregnant with his baby. I swear it.”

“Whose baby is it, then?” Brody asked.

“I’m not pregnant at all. He had a doctor’s record written up. I don’t know how, but he did. Please, I wanted no part in this. He has…” she looked up at William’s eyes, “You know how your father works. He has videos…William, please. I didn’t have a choice.”

He let go of her arm. She looked over at me again, the remorse clear in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright-” I started, but was interrupted by Brody.

“Are you insane, Hannah? Nothing about this is alright! His family is completely nuts. No wonder your dad went off the deep end trying to keep him from you.”

William was about to pounce on Brody, but I intervened. “Settle down, William. It’s over already. We’re married, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. This is our honeymoon, and I don’t want you ruining it by holding a grudge. Come on, we need to go take care of our daughter.”

William glared down at me. I think we both agreed that he was perfectly justified in holding a grudge, but I knew it’d taint the rest of our time in Scotland.

“Stay with Penelope. I’m going to go find my father,” he ordered, before he stormed out of the room. I collapsed into a chair, utterly exhausted. I knew there was no point in going after him. I went to find our daughter and was surprised to find Emmaline pacing the hall outside of her room.

“Hannah, please understand-”

“There’s nothing to understand. You don’t think I’m good enough for your son, so you and your husband have done everything in your power to get rid of me.”

“No, that’s not true. I may not be pleased with his choice of a wife, but I never tried to stop him, only protect him. You would’ve done the same for your daughter.  We only want them safe.”

I was stepping around her, when she stopped me. “Henry didn’t start that fire, Hannah. Someone else did that, and I’m worried for the safety of my son and granddaughter. You must make William see reason. He has it in his mind that my husband orchestrated it, but he didn’t. Someone else is involved, and we don’t know the reason. Henry began investigating it as soon as we found out. He’s cleared all your close friends, and your father. There has to be someone left, someone we don’t know about. If you want this case solved and your family protected, it’s in your best interest to work with us.”

“Henry doesn’t have the contacts in the U.S. like he does in England. I doubt he can do anything to help,” I said, trying to dismiss her.

“He can present you with the evidence he has, though,” she countered.

“I don’t believe he wasn’t involved in some way.”

“I can prove it. He planned on stopping your marriage with every intention of sending you home. Now, you don’t have a home to go to, and the only residence available is William’s in England. He doesn’t want you in England, because he’s afraid you’ll hurt William, and it’ll be splashed across the papers. If you cross William, if you make a fool of him, it could ruin his connections with his investors. It could cause him to lose his job.

“There are a lot of people who’d jump at the chance of getting revenge on my husband, and they wouldn’t think twice about using his son to exact it on him. Not only that, it’d bring Henry’s old mistakes to the forefront and risk Camille’s chances of finding a suitable husband. Your presence puts my family in a very vulnerable state.”

“It doesn’t justify his actions,” I stated plainly and opened the door to my daughter’s room. I quickly closed it behind me, blocking Emmaline from coming in and kept her out of sight of Penelope.

Once my daughter saw me, she ran into my arms. “Mommy, what’s going on? Why did that man say daddy was married to someone else? Who was that lady?”

“It was no one, and that man will go to jail for lying. Don’t worry, Penny, daddy is taking care of everything. We’re still a family, everything will be fine.” I led her to the chair in the corner and pulled her into my lap to snuggle.

It was a while later that William came into the room. His posture was stiff. It was clear he was still very upset.

“Daddy?” Penelope whimpered.

The change in William was instant. He went to our daughter’s side, kneeling down on her level. It was obvious he was trying to reign in his anger.

“Poppet, I’m so sorry.”

“Did you fix everything? Is that man gone?”

William looked to me for an explanation.

“She was worried we weren’t really married.”

“He’s gone, Poppet. The police have taken him to jail, so he won’t be bothering us again.”