Penmort Castle (27 page)

In a low voice,
he ordered, “Suzanne. Enough.”

Suzanne widened
her eyes in mock innocence and asked, “Enough what?”

“Enough of the
third degree,” Cash responded instantly.

“Well, she’s
very pretty, Cash. I can’t imagine you’re the first man in her
life,” Suzanne retorted. She had, Cash surmised, sensed something
and she honed in on her target with lethal ease. Suzanne’s eyes, as
hard as her tone, moved to Abby when she continued. “Cash is
family. We’re just trying to get to know you.”

Abby’s chin
lifted but she smiled politely at Suzanne when she agreed, “Of
course. And you’re right. Cash wasn’t the first man in my
life.”

“Well, of
course not. That’d be ludicrous. You have to be at least thirty,”
Fenella put in and Abby’s head swung to her.

“Thirty-eight,”
she informed Fenella and Fenella’s mouth dropped open.

Suzanne ignored
her sister’s second change of subject and pulled it back to one she
preferred. “So you did leave a man behind.”

“Not exactly –”
Abby started as Cash’s body got tight in order to control his
temper, Nicola leaned forward to intervene but unfortunately
Alistair got there before anyone.

“Well, you’ve
outdone yourself now. You’re with Cash. And he’s a Beaumaris.
Whatever idiot let you leave him behind is no match to Cash,”
Alistair declared with false pride.

“Alistair!”
Nicola snapped but Abby spoke at the same time.

“I was
married,” she stated.

“Oh dear, a
divorcee,” Honor muttered in mock horror and Abby’s head turned to
his cousin but Cash was finished.

“Abby isn’t
divorced. Her husband was killed,” he clipped, his abrupt, angry
tone ending the ridiculously inappropriate conversation.

Nicola’s sharp
intake of breath was audible and Cash watched the blood drain from
her face. Fenella, Honor and even Suzanne had the good grace to
look uncomfortable.

Alistair,
however, looked strangely snide.

But Abby
clearly didn’t read Cash’s tone and continued, her voice low but
strong, her eyes locked on Suzanne. “Seven car pileup on the
highway. Two other people died too but not like Ben. Ben died
instantly. He was the only one to die instantly,” she paused then
went on, the words innocuous, her tone making them heart-wrenching,
“at the scene.”

Cash felt his
chest tighten and, ignoring their onlookers, he used his arm to
curl her into him before murmuring, “Darling, you don’t have to
talk about this.”

Abby moved her
hand from his thigh to his chest, her pale face lifted to his, her
eyes, he saw, held unconcealed pain.

He knew exactly
what it cost her when she whispered her lie, “It’s okay. They’re
your family, they should know.”

He realised
that she was playing her part and playing it beautifully.

He also
realised he hadn’t once regretted his decision to pay two hundred
thousand pounds for her.

Until that
instant.

She pulled
away, her hand leaving his chest, and looked back at Suzanne. “I
loved him. He died four years ago and there hasn’t been anyone
since,” her back straightened before she said, “until Cash.” Cash
watched her head tilt enquiringly, her eyes never leaving Suzanne.
“Do you have any more questions?”

“Not right
now,” Suzanne returned coolly but she shifted on her seat in a way,
Cash thought distractedly, that made her look uncharacteristically
uneasy.

“You’ll let me
know when you do,” Abby replied politely but pointedly.

Suzanne had no
retort.

Abby’s body
stayed tense and only when she felt Cash’s fingers squeeze her
shoulder did she relax against him.

At that moment
Trevor walked in with their drinks.

Cash watched
Nicola lean toward Suzanne before she hissed angrily under her
breath, “We’ll talk later.”

Trevor served
their drinks and as Abby took a sip, Cash used Trevor’s distraction
to catch Abby’s attention.

When her head
tilted back to look at him, he murmured, “Are you all right?”

With
uncustomary openness, she whispered, “No.”

“I’ll explain
things about my family later,” he promised.

She gave him a
look that said clearly she really didn’t want to know. Her look was
so adorable, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Then he dipped
his face, rested his forehead against hers and muttered softly,
“You’re exquisite.”

She blinked as
her lips parted and, Cash thought, that was adorable too

“I hope you two
are hungry,” Alistair boomed, again breaking the moment and Cash
had to bite his lip to halt his angry retort.

But the moment
was gone, Abby pulled away, turned to Alistair and Cash lost her
yet again.

And from there
the night progressed with no more turmoil. No “earthquakes”, no
offensive interrogations and Abby handled herself beautifully.

By the end of
dinner it was clear Nicola liked her. Fenella seemed taken with
her. Honor thawed enough to be slightly charming. Even Alistair
wasn’t a match for Abby’s unique blend of candour and humour and,
to all appearances, began genuinely to enjoy the evening.

They were
walking back to the drawing room for after dinner coffee and
liqueurs when Abby asked the direction of the restroom and Fenella
guided the way.

Upon entry to
the drawing room, Suzanne absented herself immediately, not
partaking in coffee and not waiting to bid Abby farewell.

Fenella joined
them as Suzanne exited the room and was settling herself on the arm
of the sofa with her cup of coffee when they heard Abby’s piercing
scream.

At the hideous
sound, Cash felt his blood run cold but he didn’t hesitate.

Slamming his
brandy on the table, he knifed off the couch and sprinted to the
bathroom, threw open the door and halted at what he saw.

Abby, her right
arm bloodied, was lying unconscious on the floor surrounded by
reflecting shards of mirror.

Spectre

“Call an
ambulance,” Abby heard Cash’s deep, terse voice order from very
close.

“Get some
towels,” Nicola’s voice came from further away.

“Oh my God. The
blood. I think I may be ill,” Honor remarked from even further
away.

Abby felt
herself being carried and knew she was in Cash’s arms before she
opened her eyes to see his rigid jaw up close, her temple resting
on his shoulder.

“Cash,” she
whispered and his head jerked to look at her.

“She’s awake,”
Fenella noted gratuitously.

“You’re all
right, love,” Cash murmured his soft assurance but his troubled
expression belied his words. He turned to face forward again as he
carried her into the drawing room.

“Honor, I said
get some towels,” Nicola was closer, crowding Cash as he laid Abby
on the sofa.

“What
happened?” Alistair asked, looming over the back of the sofa, brows
drawn, his strangely unsettling (and not in a good way) eyes locked
on Abby.

“Give her a
moment,” Nicola demanded as Cash sat next to Abby’s hip, carefully
took her wrist in his hand and slowly pushed back her torn,
bloodied sleeve.

Abby watched
him do this and it was then it came back to her.

She’d been at
the sink, drying her hands, looking in the mirror in the bathroom,
wishing she had her lip gloss handy (because, every girl knew, in
any intense, gruelling, overly-emotional situation, which that
night had been from the start, you needed lip gloss) when through
the mirror she’d seen the vision behind her.

Seen it and
seen
through
it.

A woman, dark
hair, beautiful, pale face, her long hair streaming as if caught in
a fierce wind and her old-fashioned violet dress floating in
tatters around her.

Her expression
was filled with blatant, frightening,
evil
hatred.

Abby had had no
time to react when the vision moved toward her so fast it was
shocking.

Abby screamed
the terror that suddenly gripped her just as she felt a sharp
thrust between her shoulder blades. She just got the chance to lift
her hand to cushion her fall but the push was so strong, her hand
went through the mirror. The mirror shattered around her wrist, the
shards cutting her and the sudden pain mixed with some water on the
floor and being off kilter made Abby slip. She went down, her
forehead, with her weight and momentum behind it, slamming against
the basin.

And then
everything went black until she was in Cash’s arms.

And at that
moment, lying on the sofa, Abby knew she had to get out of
there.

Now.

“Cash,” she
whispered urgently and his eyes went from her arm to her face.

“Quiet,
darling,” he muttered, his gaze lifted to her forehead and
narrowed.

Then his hand
left her arm and came to her face, his palm resting against her
cheekbone as his thumb cautiously tested the bump on her
forehead.

At his
tentative touch, Abby winced at the pain and jerked her head
against the cushion of the sofa. Cash’s hand moved away immediately
and his eyes locked on hers.

“Fucking hell,”
he swore.

Abby didn’t
have time for her possible concussion. There was a haunting afoot
and apparently the ghost in residence did not like her.

At all.

“We need to get
out of here,” Abby demanded, not caring about appearing rude in
front of her audience because she thought it was more important to
exit the premises immediately since the place was fucking
haunted
.

Cash had no
time to respond for Honor arrived, announcing, “I’ve got the
towels.”

Cash’s head
came up. “Get me a bowl of warm water. Gentle soap.” Clearly
whoever he was addressing hesitated because he barked,
“
Now!
”

Abby’s eyes
moved and she saw Honor scurry from the room as Nicola turned to
Fenella.

“Get a flannel,
dear. With some ice,” Nicola requested.

Abby’s hand
came to Cash’s arm and she tried to lift up.

“Cash, really,
we have to go,” she said but Nicola was at the side of the
sofa.

The lady leaned
in, tucking a pillow under Abby’s head as she pressed on Abby’s
shoulder to settle her back.

“Just be still,
Abby. Let Cash have a good look at you,” Nicola cajoled softly.

Abby’s eyes
went from Nicola to Cash who was wrapping her arm in a towel. On
the way there she caught Alistair staring daggers at her from his
place behind the couch.

It was then
Abby realised that she was going to have to be clever.

This was not
good. At the best of times, Abby was far from clever.

However, clever
at that moment included not informing them she’d just seen an
actual ghost, much less been viciously shoved into a mirror by
one.

“I’m sure I’m
all right,” she told Alistair.

“You’re not
going to sue me are you?” Alistair demanded to know and Nicola
gasped.

Then she
snapped, “Alistair! What’s the matter with you?”

His eyes moved
to his wife. “She’s American. They sue.”

“I’m not going
to sue you,” Abby assured him and pushed up on her free elbow. “I’m
really all right. I just slipped on some water and fell.”

Cash’s eyes
pinned her and he commanded, “Lay back.”

“Really, I’m
fine. I just feel a little silly, that’s all,” she told Cash.

“Abby, lay
back,” Cash repeated.

“Cash –” Abby
started.

“Abby, fucking…
lay… back,” Cash clipped, eyes narrowing and since he was using the
f-word in
that
way, Abby felt it prudent to do as he
commanded.

She laid
back.

“Here’s the
water,” Honor arrived with a glass bowl of soapy water and a tea
towel, Trevor at her heels. She laid the bowl on the table by the
sofa and Cash turned to it immediately.

“Do you need me
to call the ambulance, sir?” Trevor asked Alistair.

“No!” Abby
cried. An ambulance might take forever and she needed to get out of
there before the black-haired phantom came back, dragged her up the
nearest steep stairwell only to send her plunging back down to her
grisly death. “I’m fine. Honestly.”

“Call the
ambulance,” Cash ordered Trevor.

“Cash, I said
I’m fine,” Abby butted in as Trevor left the room.

Cash’s eyes
came to her. “You lost consciousness.”

“I know but
–”

“I want them to
look at you,” he went on.

“Well, I
understand that, but I can tell you I’m –”

“Abby, this
isn’t up for discussion,” he finished and the way he spoke those
words said plainly he was
finished
.

“Oh all right,”
she muttered but she didn’t even attempt to do it with good
grace.

At that, Cash’s
face changed, went soft, his black eyes grew warm and he murmured,
“
Now
I’m beginning to think you’re fine.”

Abby jumped at
her chance. “Good, then can we –?”

“No,” he cut
her off shortly.

She gave him a
glare.

He accepted it
calmly then turned back to the water.

“Here’s the
ice!” Fenella, for some reason, shrieked upon entry and rushed
forward.

Nicola took the
ice and sat on the arm of the sofa, holding it lightly to Abby’s
forehead while Cash deftly but cautiously cleansed her arm.

Abby rolled her
eyes up and looked at Nicola. “I’m so sorry I ruined your lovely
evening.”

“Hush, dear.
This didn’t ruin anything. Let’s just get you seen to,” Nicola
replied kindly and Abby went silent and decided to spend her time
not thinking about her imminent death at the hands of a see-through
spectre, but instead, contemplating her evening.

Abby liked
Nicola, she would be hard not to like; Nicola was lovely.