Romance: Luther's Property (30 page)

During the next several days, I canceled all of my
appointments to work solely on Charles’ approaching wedding. We didn’t talk
about the incredible sex that we had or the fact that I told him that I loved
him, we just kept it professional. He wore a blank expression as we discussed
the layout of the wedding and I had tried my best to keep a calm demeanor.
However, every day when he left my office, I closed my door and lied my head
down on the table. When Wednesday came we were completely done with the
preparations. I had somehow managed to pull it off but I wasn’t happy about it.
I’d be losing the man that I loved to a woman who he didn’t even know, so how
could I be happy about it?

“Thank you so much for your help Stephanie.” Charles said
and gave me a pleasant smile. I managed a simple smile and a curt nod.

“You’re welcome, after all I do aim to please.” He stood up
and I followed as I extended my hand to his. This’ll probably be the last time
that I saw him so I might as well feel his warmth for one last time. He reached
out and took my hand gently and bent down to kiss it. I blushed and watched his
smooth lips caress the skin of my shaking hand. He looked up at me then and I
saw tenderness in his eyes.

“Goodbye.” He whispered and I nodded my head. I was too
choked up and I knew that I’d sob if I said anything else to him. He turned
around and walked out of my office. I gave Karla the day off so as soon as I
heard his car start up and pulling away, I sat down heavily in my seat and
cried. I didn’t know what to make of him kissing my hand, but I’m pretty sure
that it was his way of telling me goodbye. I knew that it was going to happen
so I didn’t know why it shook me up so bad but it did.

“It’s because I love him.” I whispered to myself and picked
up my belongings. My office was scheduled to close in another two hours, but I
was the boss and I had no other appointments today. One of the perks of being
the boss was that I could leave at any time that I wanted. Right now I didn’t
even want to look at my office because all it would do was remind me of the
wedding that I planned that would ultimately be the end of me.

****

Friday dragged on slowly as I sat at home in my nightgown at
six in the evening with Ollie resting on my legs. I decided to take the day off
because I wasn’t fully where I wanted to be emotionally. I wasn’t crying
anymore because I was starting to annoy myself, but I didn’t feel happy either.
Who would have known that a job that I loved doing so much would cause me to
fall in love with an engaged man?

“I did this to myself.” I said as I stroked Ollie’s fur. If
I would’ve kept my meetings with Charles more professional then I wouldn’t be
hurting right now. “I bet he’s standing at the altar right now.” Charles said
that his bride wanted an evening wedding because it was more romantic. I could
picture her walking down the aisle with a beautiful white dress that hugged her
slim body. The thought of that made me sick and I turned on the TV to drown the
screaming in my head.

I sat there watching TV with Ollie until he eventually got
up and went into my room. Apparently my mood made Ollie uncomfortable since he
wasn’t able to make me feel better.

“Booze will work.” I said and stood up to walk over to my
refrigerator. I still had a half a bottle of Vodka left and it was calling my
name. Before I made it to the refrigerator, my doorbell rung followed by
several knocks. “Who the hell is that?” I whispered to myself and quickly went
into my room and grabbed my robe. I closed the door to my room because I didn’t
want Ollie to come running out towards the door. “Who is it?” I called out and
I received no answer. I wasn’t expecting any visitors so I expected it to be someone
selling something, but when I opened the door I gasped in surprise. “Charles?”
I said as I looked at the man dressed in a dark suit with his hair slicked
back. He looked absolutely gorgeous. Charles took that opportunity to capture
my gapping mouth in his.

“I couldn’t do it.” Charles whispered to me and I wrapped my
arms around him and felt tears falling down my face. “I couldn’t marry Joanna
when I’m in love with you.” Hearing Charles say that to me made my sobs grow
louder. There was so many things that I wanted to ask him. I wanted to ask him
where Joanna was at and if he abandoned her at the altar. I wanted to know why
he didn’t come to me sooner because I’ve been so miserable. “I’m so sorry.”
Charles said and took me into another kiss. The feelings that ran through my
body then was unexplainable. I had the man that I loved in my arms and even
though I felt sorry for the woman who travelled all the way from Germany to
marry him, he wasn’t meant to be with her because he was meant to be with me.

“I love you.” I told Charles and he held me tighter. I
didn’t know how he was going to explain this to the people that he left baffled
at his wedding, but I knew that whatever he said they’d understand. I knew that
he said he wasn’t the type of man to go back on his words because that was a
cowboy’s way, but I was happy that he broke this rule for me. Who would have
thought that I’d fall in love so quickly with the man that I held in my arms?
Who would have thought that in just one week, I’d be walking down the aisle
wearing white in a wedding that I planned for myself and have it be the best
wedding Montana has seen in twenty years?

By: Emily Sharpe

Fausto and the
Nolan Brothers,
A Mail Order Bride Romance

© Emily Sharpe, 2015 – All rights reserved

Published by Steamy Reads4U

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles
or reviews.

This is a work of fiction.
 
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either
the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
 
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, or actual events are purely coincidental.
 
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This book may not be resold or given away to other
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Thank you
for respecting the author’s work.

Warning

This book contains graphic content intended for readers 18+
years old.

If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with
adult content, please close this book now.

Fausto Redman thought his life was supposed to be easy. Get
the girl, get the money, and live the rest of his life in piles of riches. He
would be so wealthy that he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. With a few
kids running around the place, he could hire some help, and he would never have
to see them. He knew that he wasn’t the fatherly type, but he needed kids to
take care of him when he was older and dying.

When his own father lying on his death bed, sickly and ill
for the past three years with a type of cancer that couldn’t be cured, Fausto
jumped to the conclusion that his life would be even easier. He could skip the
girl and go straight for the money. After having a bit of fun with the
mountains of gold left over from a worn-down horse racing business, he could
bother to find himself a wife. It wouldn’t be hard, after he made a name for
himself with his father’s money.

Well, if it had all gone according to plan. Unfortunately
for Fausto, things rarely went according to plan.

Summoned by his father who was not meant to live out the
rest of the week—or so the doctors said—he sat in the hospital with his younger
brother, Nolan. The younger of the two of them was crying. He had always been
closer to their father than Fausto had been. Fausto stood to the side, unsure
and wavering. If he wanted to make a good impression, he would go to his
father’s side. However, he knew that the will was already written. It didn’t
matter what he did so long as his father didn’t get to see his lawyer again.

“My boys,” Reuben croaked. His voice was weak, sounding
rather like a dying instrument than a man who had once been incredibly powerful
and strong. “I wish only to see the two of you succeed.”

His hand reached up for Nolan, and he snatched it right
away, holding it close to his chest.

“We will be as great as you were,” Nolan assured.

Fausto sneered at the sight of his younger brother being so
sentimental. Luckily, his father’s blind eyes couldn’t see the horrible
expression on his handsome face.

“I know you will,” Reuben whispered. “I want for you two to
fix all of the mistakes that I have made in the past. Have children, marry
beautiful women, live your lives,” he instructed. Fausto held back a smirk, it
wouldn’t be hard for him to live that life. After all, he was the one that the
money and racing company were going to be entrusted to. “I have only ever
wanted what was best for the two of you,” he groaned.

Nolan nodded. He squeezed their father’s hand, his other
reaching out to pet through the sweaty, snowy hairs thrown sparsely atop their
father’s head. “We know that,” he said. “We know that you only ever wanted what
was best for the two of us. We know that,” he repeated.

Fausto rolled his eyes at the sick display of emotion. On
the bedside table next to their father, his will lay, wrapped tightly in a red
ribbon with the family seal carved in cooled wax to hold it closed. It was all
he wanted. It was the whole reason he had showed up that day.

As if on cue, their father began to reach for the rolled up
paper. Neither boy moved to help him, watching in a revered silence. Fausto was
at the edge of his seat, waiting with baited breath. Reuben’s shaky, decrepit
fingers finally reached the rolled paper, and snatched it from the table with a
strange air of grace.

Fausto stood then and only then, and walked over to their
father’s bedside. A little smile passed onto Reuben’s lips. He handed the
parchment over, and Fausto took it with gentle fingers.

“Are you sure about this?” Fausto asked.

“I know,” Reuben said with a groan, “that these things are
supposed to wait until I am dead. In a sense, I am dead now. You boys are all I
have left. And the only other things that matter are enclosed in my will.
Please do not hate each other over what I have chosen. I know the both of you
so well, and I know who needed to receive what.”

A conniving grin spread across Fausto’s lips. The parchment
crackled in his hold as he tightened his grip on it. “Of course, Father,” he
said.

Nolan was nodding as well. “You know what is best,” he
agreed. He glanced over his shoulder at Fausto, only able to catch the last,
faint traces of the ugly expression that had been resting there a moment
earlier. “We trust you.”

“Of course we do,” Fausto agreed.

“Go and read it, Fausto,” Reuben replied. “I know that you
want to.” He sighed, and sank back into his bedding. “I know that it is all you
want in this life.”

Fausto held back a smart remark. It was all and more than he
could ever want in one thousand lifetimes. He took a respectful leave, and unrolled
the document. Most of it was a load of nonsense, things meant for Nolan, or
words of how he only tried to do what was right. The only section that caught
his eye was the one that began with
To
Fausto I leave…

Fausto’s eyes ate up the words hungrily at first, but the
last clause made him halt. Anger seared through each and every inch of his
being. He
had
been left all of the
wealth of the Redman family, but on one condition. One condition that made his
blood boil and his thoughts turn into liquid fire. He had never been angrier in
his life, at the old man lying in the bed, or at himself for thinking that it
would all fall into place so easily.

If he were to inherit the family riches, he needed to do but
one thing.

Marry a woman and have a child with her.

Lucrecia sat with her only friend in New York City, a harlot
named Morgan who was trying to con a few more pennies from passersby and
strangers. Lucrecia couldn’t remember for the life of her how she had come
across Morgan and ended up her best friend, but it was the greatest thing to
ever happen to her. They were in a park, seated on an uncomfortable bench that
was nearly soaked with bird droppings. Lucrecia made sure not to lean her back
against it, and sat where it was cleanest, but Morgan had no care. For a
harlot, she wasn’t the cleanest of people.

Lucrecia could see Morgan’s eyes darting between the men and
the women, trying to find a man who was available. The women she only looked at
to stew over how envious she was of their good fortune. Lucrecia didn’t blame
her; she longed to be the person who could wear clothing like that and not
stick out like a sore thumb. Morgan swiped her thumb over her tongue, and
turned a page in the newspaper she was reading. A cackle erupted from her
throat, drawing the attention of a few onlookers.

“You won’t believe this,” Morgan scoffed, though she bore a
large grin. No doubt it was something grim, she was the type of person to take
pleasure in a badly written obituary. “I can’t believe some people would
actually fall for this load of malarkey,” she muttered. With a flick of the
pages to straighten them out, Morgan offered the words for Lucrecia to see.

Lucrecia glanced over at the words, not taking too long to
actually read what was being said. She hated the paper that Morgan read, it was
all lies and slander.

However, the words that Morgan were pointing to with a
painted nail caught her eye in a flash. It was under a section labeled
Matrimonial News
. The usual was there,
the announcement of weddings and of engagement parties. A few hush-hush
divorces that might have not even been true.

“What’s so funny?” Lucrecia asked as the scanned the paper.

“Just look at this!” Morgan insisted. She clarified her
pointing, directed at the pictures of young men. Some were handsome, some were
ugly and crippled. “These poor saps are looking for wives!” she exclaimed.

Lucrecia’s eyes widened just slightly. The pictures were in
no particular order, but she couldn’t help but think that she knew the man in
the first picture. He was in his mid-twenties, and sporting the looks of a man
who could be a politician somewhere.

“This is absolutely incredible!”

Lucrecia rolled her eyes at Morgan. She was at it again,
making fun of other people for her own amusement. Though she tried to hide it,
a spark of interest had flared up deep within her belly. She strained her eyes
to read the words without being too obvious. These men were offering to pay a
woman’s way to where they lived. Some were from the South, others from places
far to the west that Lucrecia had never heard of.

“I can’t believe something like this exists,” Lucrecia
muttered.

“They’re just too desperate,” Morgan said, as though it were
obvious.

“I can’t believe that you would call someone too desperate,
Morgan,” Lucrecia teased. “You do know that you’re willing to sell your body
for a few extra pennies?”

Morgan scoffed. She didn’t like to talk about it all that
often, and it led to Lucrecia winning more than just one argument. It was the
best way to put Morgan’s hypocrisy to an end, even if just for a few seconds.
Lucrecia worried at her lower lip between her teeth, staring at the man who had
caught her attention the first time. What were the chances that the picture
wasn’t true at all? What if an offer like this got her killed?

“I wonder if those are their real pictures,” Lucrecia mused.

“Why do you care about that?” Morgan asked. “You know that
this can’t be true, right? And if it is, they’re horrible men. Why can’t they
get a wife where they live, huh?”

“Morgan, have you ever thought that maybe they don’t like
any of the women from where they live?” Lucrecia asked. “Maybe there aren’t any
women.”

“Lucrecia, you listen to me now,” Morgan demanded, her eyes
going cold. “You cannot afford to do something like this. They could hurt you,
they could
kill
you? Do you want to
get out of New York so badly that you would risk your very life?”

“I don’t think I would be killed,” Lucrecia replied.
“Besides, if they only want me there to look nice and maybe fix a few meals, I
can do that easily.”

“You’re not exactly wife material,” Morgan teased.

Lucrecia smiled, knowing that it was true. She had nothing
to offer a husband, not even a meager dowry for bringing her halfway across the
country in a train.

“I won’t do it,” Lucrecia assured. “There’s no point in
getting worked up over all of this, I was just thinking aloud,” she said. “Why
would I want to leave you for?”

Morgan’s worried expression gradually faded into a smile.
She let out a terse sigh and leaned back against the framework of the bench.
Lucrecia curled her nose, but didn’t say anything about it. Willing to let the
topic drop, Morgan continued to pore through her newspaper. Lucrecia’s
attention, however, was locked somewhere far away. In her mind’s eye, she could
still see the handsome young man. Without making a sound, she tested his name
in place of hers, just to see if it could end up working out.

Lucrecia Fausto.

She found herself smiling. Mrs. Lucrecia Fausto. She liked
the powerful ring that it had to it. She liked the entire prospect, if she were
being honest.