Romance: Luther's Property (31 page)

After the first letter that Fausto received from a would-be
bride, he took her offer immediately. He had no idea if it was a scam, but no
doubt those same thoughts were in her head as well. Fausto knew it all looked
suspicious, a wealth, influential man like himself unable to find a bride. Out
in the middle of Montana, there weren’t many women that were looking.

There were a few scattered throughout the city that their
racing track was located in, but most of them were already married women. Their
husbands had dragged them along in an attempt to strike it rich with the new
businesses and the new profits that were rising up seemingly out of thin air.

Fausto couldn’t blame them. After all, that was exactly what
his father had done, and he and his brother had inherited that opulence. Any
man who didn’t try to be like them was an idiot, and was doomed to be no more
than a poor farmer for the rest of his life.

Fausto sneered at the thought. He was lucky that his father
had been such a profitable man.

He sat on a bench in the train station, glancing at his
pocket watch every few minutes. He had no idea when the train was set to arrive
that would carry his bride to him, but it needed to be sooner. The sooner that
a woman arrived, the sooner he would be able to take what was rightfully his
from his stupid father.

Nolan was at their father’s bedside as he waited for his
bride, the old man rumored to have no more than a few hours left. Fausto
couldn’t help but roll his eyes. If he had a dollar for every time that had
been said to them by the doctors, he wouldn’t need to be trying so hard to earn
his inheritance. Fausto knew the impression that he was making upon Nolan, and
he knew the impression that Nolan had had of him since their mid-teenage years.

It didn’t matter to him.

Nothing mattered to him anymore.

A train station guard walked by, and Fausto stood to catch
his attention.

“Excuse me, sir,” he said, although there was no need to call
the man sir. There was deference to him simply for being who he was. “When will
the train be arriving?” he asked.

“Within the hour, Mr. Redman,” the man replied. He dipped
his head, and excused himself from the conversation.

With nothing better to do with his time, Fausto sat back
down on the bench. He crossed his arms and stared at where the train would be
coming from in no time, as if his will alone would force it to move faster than
it already was. He hoped that the girl he had bought a very expensive train
ticket for was actually on her way. He hoped that she was pretty. The last
thing he needed was an ugly wife and child.

* * * * *

At half past the hour, a man came from the front of the
train and through the box cars. He tapped on Lucrecia’s window, and when she
allowed him entrance, he merely slid the door open six inches.

“You’re getting off in Montana, correct?” he asked, a
friendly smile on his face.

There was something in Lucrecia that wanted to say no. How
would they know any better if she was getting off in Montana or not? She might
have been better off saying that no, she was going to California to join her
husband who was a gold miner.

Instead, she nodded and smiled back at the man.

“Yes, that’s my stop,” she agreed.

“We will be there within a few moments, miss. If you’ll
please gather up your things, someone will be here when the train stops to help
you disembark and get on your way,” he said.

“Thank you very much,” Lucrecia said, and nodded again.

The man shut her door after that, and continued on his way
down the train, looking for everyone else who was meant to get off on the
Montana train station. Lucrecia felt a sigh go through her as she watched the
world speed by through the window to her right. She had noticed for a while now
that things had been moving slower, and that the train would soon be coming to
a stop.

She had never once been on a train before, but she hadn’t
expected it to be half as painful as it was. After two weeks of being in the
same seat, whether she was stretched out or sitting up, it was an uncomfortable
time. Certainly the room was plush, her would-be husband hadn’t spared a single
penny in expenses, but it wasn’t anything like sleeping in a real bed and
having real food every day.

Only a few minutes later and the train lurched, Lucrecia
reaching out and grabbing one of the gold-plated bars for support. As the train
slid into the station, she looked through the crowd to try and spot this Fausto
Redman. She couldn’t recognize him among the sea of faces, all looking for
loved ones and family members.

“Miss, are you ready to depart?” a man asked, tapping on the
door to her box.

Lucrecia nodded, and stood up. The man entered then, and
took all of her things from the upper compartments of the box.

“Are you happy to be back home?” he asked.

Lucrecia could have laughed. This wasn’t her home, and she
wasn’t sure if it would ever be her home. She had just wanted to leave New
York. Although now, looking out at the train station and the plain town past
that, she wasn’t sure if it had been the best idea that she had ever had. She
didn’t reply to the man, instead following him out of the car and off the
train, where she was to wait with him until her escort arrived to take her
home.

Fausto wasn’t sure what he had been expecting from this
Lucrecia woman, but when she stepped off the train with an escort by her side,
he was pleasantly surprised. He took her in, nearly leering at her from the way
that he looked her up and down. He examined each detail of her, making sure
that she was absolutely perfect. He wouldn’t tolerate any less from his soon to
be wife.

He stood from his bench, and walked over to the two of them.
Lucrecia was dressed in the finest outfit that she had, her head topped with a
stylish and trendy, if ostentatious hat. Fausto smiled at the two of them, and
dipped his head to her escort. He was someone employed by the train station, no
doubt.

“You must be Lucrecia,” he said, offering his hand to her.

Lucrecia looked down at Fausto’s hand, her eyes going wide
as though she had never been offered a hand in her life. Warily, she extended
her hand, and gasped when Fausto took her fingers and lifted them to his lips.

“It’s an honor to meet you,” he lied, laying the lies and
the charm on as thickly as he could. He would need to do whatever it was that
he could to join them as soon as possible.

“Your husband?” the escort asked, looking between Lucrecia
and Fausto.

“Soon to be,” Lucrecia replied with a little smile. Fausto
had dropped her hand by then, and she held it close to her chest. She’d never
once been treated to specially, let alone by a man that she had never met
before.

“Are you alright if I leave you alone?” the man asked.
Lucrecia nodded, and he took his leave back onto the train.

Trapped in the silence, Lucrecia stared up at Fausto, her
eyes wide like a doe’s. He liked the charm of it, and stepped forward to put
his hand against her cheek. She wore no makeup, and in a way it made her even
more beautiful.

“You’re prettier than I ever could have thought,” he said,
although on the inside he felt himself sneer and draw back from the words. “I
never could have imagined a girl like you coming so far to meet someone like
me.”

“I wouldn’t have thought it possible myself,” Lucrecia
replied, her heart pounding. She could hardly believe how absolutely perfect
that Fausto was.

His picture certainly didn’t do him the justice that he
deserved. Up close and personal with him, it was as though Lucrecia were
looking at an entirely new person. Fausto was handsome and gorgeous, and had
all of the mannerisms of a true gentleman. He held himself proudly, with his
shoulders back and his chin held high.

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Lucrecia said.

Fausto smiled at her, a big sweeping grin, and she could
have swooned on the spot. Were it not for Fausto taking her arm and pulling her
close against his body, he might have done just that. Her suitcases were taken
by another man working at the station, and hauled out to the coach that Fausto
had driven to the station.

“I figure that on your first night here, what you would want
to do is familiarize yourself before anything else,” he began. “It’s a lot of
new territory to take in, and I won’t blame you if you find yourself
overwhelmed. It is an easy thing to do when concerning a place like Montana.”

Lucrecia nodded as she listened to Fausto speak. She could
have listened to him speak all day long if it were u to her. His voice was like
pure melted chocolate, drizzling and dripping in a steady flow that permeated
each of her pores and sunk into her body like a drug. It was a voice she
imagined an angel to have, light but with heady undertones that spoke of power
and confidence.

“You’ll have to meet my family as well,” he said, although
he didn’t like the idea at all. If it were up to him, he and Lucrecia would
stay isolated from them at all times if his life depended on it. His situation
was not so drastic, but to ease his father’s parting he ought to introduce the
man to his

“That sounds lovely,” Lucrecia said with a smile.

“And of course, as I said in my letter to you, I will be
leaving for a week or two after we are married. I must return to New York,
coincidentally the city that you just came from, and meet with several
stockholders. There are some that are being demanding, but are not providing
enough in return. But away with those thoughts, I’m sure they would only bore
you,” Fausto said.

Lucrecia nodded, even if she felt the exact opposite. Fausto
opened the coach door for her, and she piled herself and all of her clothing
into it with a bit of difficulty. It was hard for her to even think of telling
Fausto that she was an educated woman. She would have loved to hear about his
stocks and about his company, but she put the thought aside.

As the coach kicked into gear and Fausto began driving
through the streets at a leisurely pace, Lucrecia watched again as the world
flew by her without giving her a second to appreciate all of its glory.

No matter how she might have liked to talk to Fausto, she
knew that she would only bother him. She was there to be his wife, not his
conversation partner. He certainly had many gentlemen friends that could attend
to that need.

Resigned to her post, Lucrecia folded her hands in her lap
and tried not to let her brewing emotions get the better of her. She would be
Fausto’s dutiful and beautiful wife even if it cost her freedom and her
independence. After all, it was what she had signed up to do.

It was the whole reason that she had left everything behind.

Within another hour, Lucrecia and Fausto arrived at the
hospital. It was the only towering building in the city, and it in fact was
farther out than any other building. It was surrounded by rolling plains, and
beautiful crops of land that were cultivated to feed the city. Lucrecia smiled
as she looked out at it, admiring the way that the stalks of wheat and corn
bent in the wind, bowing their heads individually as if to greet her formally
to the land.

Fausto hadn’t spoken a word to her for the entire trip. It
had been long and tiresome, especially after spending so long on a train and
only just getting off of it. Lucrecia, however, refused to make a peep. She
acted the way that Morgan would, polite with all of her gentlemanly company.
She never said a word to them unless that was what they wanted of her. Lucrecia
could do the same.

The hospital grew in size as they approached it, looming
over them and the coach. Fausto pulled into an area designated for coaches, and
then turned to Lucrecia once he had turned the giant machine off.

“My father is a sickly man,” Fausto said, “and my brother
Nolan will be there as well. They may not even speak to you, and I would prefer
if you stayed the way that you have been the entire trip. I like that you know
when to speak,” he said, his smile returning.

Lucrecia allowed herself to smile back at him. “I know how
to mind my manners,” she said. “I promise not to let you down, Fausto,” she
agreed.

Fausto grinned once more at that, and gave Lucrecia a quick
pat to her cheek. It was hardly more than a little tap, but the contact was
welcomed nonetheless. Fausto exited the coach, and opened the door to her side
of it once more. Lucrecia stepped out with his help, and together the two of
them entered the hospital.

“What is your father ailed by?” Lucrecia asked, remaining
one step behind Fausto and to his right.

“A malignant disease that has made him incredibly weak,”
Fausto replied. “He is a tired old man, and he has been sick for years now. The
doctors are amazed that he has managed to hold on for so long.”

Lucrecia examined Fausto as he spoke, and if she weren’t
mistaken, an ugly look passed over his face as he finished his sentence. It
made her heart leap into her throat, witnessing such ugliness spread onto his
features and then vanish as though it had never been there in the first place.
It had been a scowl, the likes of which would scare children awake at night.
Just thinking of how horribly his mouth had twisted downward made Lucrecia
shiver.

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” she said. “But I’m glad that
he has lived long enough for me to meet him.”

“I think he’ll like you,” Fausto said, his tone and voice
having long since gone flat.

The room that they approached was on the first floor, and
towards the end of a long hallway. Wide windows were plastered everywhere,
allowing for fresh air and sunlight throughout the day. If he weren’t in there
for an illness, Lucrecia might have envied Fausto’s father.

Fausto tapped against the door with his knuckles, and a
young man soon opened the door. Lucrecia took a step back upon realizing that
the man was the spitting image of Fausto, only shorter and with cheeks that
were more rounded. He had to have been at least five years younger, but he was
handsome all the same.

“I can’t believe that you came,” Nolan breathed, looking his
brother up and down. Behind Fausto, he could see a young woman. “And you
brought company.”

“My new wife,” Fausto explained, stepping aside to bring
Lucrecia into view. “I wanted to introduce her to both you and father before I
left and she was alone in the house for so long.”

Nolan frowned, but stepped aside and allowed the two access
into his father’s room. Fausto brushed past him, surrounded in an air of
disdain, while Lucrecia took her time to step forward and smile at him.

“My name is Lucrecia,” she said. Fausto sent her a glare
over his shoulder, but she had to introduce herself. It was common courtesy.
“It’s very nice to meet you.”

A little glow of red sprung up on Nolan’s cheeks, making him
look even younger than before. “It’s nice to meet you, too,” he said, and
stepped farther aside for Lucrecia to enter.

She walked into the room, making sure to keep her footsteps
light. On a plush bed in the center of the room, was an old man. His eyes were
closed, but Lucrecia could see the faint rise and fall of his chest. She joined
Fausto at his bedside, although she was forced to stand while Fausto took the
chair next to the bed.

He reached out and grabbed the old man’s shoulder to shake
him awake, but Nolan was there in an instant. He smacked Fausto’s hand away
with a stern glare.

“He’s sleeping,” he said, eyebrows furrowed. “I won’t let
you bother him just because you’re looking to make a quick buck of your
inheritance,” Nolan growled, his voice turning darker and darker with each
syllable.

That ugly sneer that Lucrecia had seen before on her
husband’s face returned, and he stood up in a flurry. Fausto pushed past both
Lucrecia and Nolan, leaving the girl completely dumbfound.

“He’s always like that,” Nolan explained. He gestured to the
seat, and Lucrecia warily lowered down into it. “I’m sorry that you have to be
his wife. No good will ever come of that man. It doesn’t matter how rich he is,
all he ever wants is more, more, and more.”

Lucrecia glanced between Nolan and his father as she allowed
the words to properly sink in.