“We might not have ever found out the truth if he hadn’t come after Alesandra tonight,” Nathan said. “Neil could have gone to the gallows for two crimes he didn’t commit.”
“What was Morgan’s connection with Lady Roberta? Was he involved with her or was she chosen at random?” Alesandra asked.
No one had a quick answer to her question. Richards decided to speculate. “It was common knowledge the viscount and his wife were having difficulties. Perhaps Morgan pounced on Roberta’s vulnerability. Notes and gifts from a secret admirer were probably flattering to her.”
“We would have caught Morgan eventually,” Caine said. “He would have made more mistakes. He was out of control.”
“Catherine thought he was charming.”
Nathan made that remark with a dark scowl. Caine nodded.
“Yeah,” Colin drawled out. “He was a real lady killer.”
Chapter
16
Three months had passed since Morgan’s death, and Alesandra still thought about the horrible man at least once a day. The mother superior had taught her to pray for the souls of sinners, for they needed prayers far more than saints did, but Alesandra couldn’t quite make herself pray for Morgan yet. She tried to put the horror of that night behind her. She never wanted to forget Victoria, though, and did say a prayer for her soul every night before she went to bed. She prayed for Roberta, too. She wanted to believe that both women had suffered their purgatory while on earth and in Morgan’s cruel hands and that they were now at peace with their Maker in heaven.
Nathan and Sara were preparing for their journey back to their island home. Caine had invited Alesandra and Colin over to their town house for a farewell dinner with the rest of the family. The food was elegant but also quite rich, and Jade turned green by the time the second course was served. She suddenly bolted from the table and ran out of the dining room. Caine didn’t show much sympathy over his wife’s obvious distress. He actually grinned with male arrogance.
It wasn’t like Caine to be so insensitive, and when Alesandra asked him why he wasn’t a bit more concerned about his wife’s health, his grin widened into a full-fledged smile. Jade, he explained, was pregnant again, and while she was thrilled over her condition, she disliked her husband hovering over her while she went through the ritualistic morning and evening sickness.
There was a good deal of pounding done to Caine’s shoulders. Toasts were given as well, and then Nathan and Colin, with their wives at their sides, went into the salon.
Sara was called above the stairs by Sterns to feed her impatient daughter. Alesandra sat next to her husband and listened to the talk of business between the partners. The topic of the large entry into the company’s banking account came up. Nathan wanted to know where in thunder the money had come.from. Colin was surprised by the anger in his friend’s tone of voice. Alesandra understood Nathan’s reaction. She knew he believed Colin had gone back to work for the director.
Colin explained Alesandra’s feelings about her inheritance and how she had felt slighted because they had been willing to use Sara’s money but not hers.
“The entry is the exact amount Sara would have received if our greedy ruler hadn’t decided to keep it for himself,” Colin remarked.
Nathan shook his head. “Alesandra, your gift for Joanna was quite enough,” he argued. He glanced up to look at the beautiful golden replica of his favorite ship, the Emerald, sitting in the center of the mantel.
Colin also looked up at the treasure. He smiled because Nathan had placed the gift there. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“You can quit lusting after it,” Nathan countered with a grin. “We’re taking it home with us.”
“I’m pleased you like it,” Alesandra said. She turned to her husband to offer the suggestion that she ask the craftsman to fashion another ship for him, but Nathan interrupted her thought when he told her neither he nor Colin needed any money from her inheritance now. They were financially sound enough.
“Put the money into the town house Colin purchased for you,” he suggested.
She shook her head. “My husband used the money he received from the insurance contract for a hefty payment, Nathan, and the castle needs very little work. I wish you could see the inside before you leave. It’s only a block away from our rental and it’s so large and roomy.”
Colin turned his attention back from the ship to look at his wife. “It isn’t a castle, sweetheart.”
“Oh, but it is,” she argued. “It’s our home, Colin, and therefore our castle.”
He couldn’t fault that confusing bit of logic. “So I now have two castles,” he said with a laugh. “And a princess.”
He stretched his legs out and put his arm around his wife. Nathan wanted to continue to argue about the money, but it didn’t take him long to realize Alesandra wasn’t going to bend on the issue.
He finally accepted defeat. “Hell,” he muttered.
“What now?” Colin asked.
“If I’d known about the gift from your wife’s inheritance I never would have suggested we sell stock. Have you found out who owns the shares yet? Maybe we could buy them back.”
Colin shook his head. “Dreyson isn’t telling,” he explained. “He says it would be breaking his client’s trust.”
“Let me talk to him,” Nathan suggested. “Just give me five minutes alone with Dreyson and I promise you he’ll tell us.”
Alesandra immediately tried to soothe Nathan’s temper. “Dreyson’s extremely ethical. My father never would have done business with him if he hadn’t believed he was honorable. I’m my father’s daughter, Nathan, and I therefore follow in his footsteps. I also have complete confidence in his integrity. I would wager every coin I have that you would never be able to get him to break a confidence. You might as well give up.”
“Colin and I have a right to know who the owner is,” Nathan argued.
Colin closed his eyes and let out a loud yawn while he listened to the conversation. A comment his wife had just made suddenly gained his full attention.
She was her father’s daughter. Colin opened his eyes and slowly turned to look at the ship again.
He was reminded of the castle perched on his father’s mantel . . . and the bit of trickery Alesandra’s father had played when he tucked the notes inside.
And then he knew. She was her father’s daughter, all right. The stock certificates were hidden inside the ship. Colin was astonished by the revelation. The expression on his face when he turned to his wife showed his surprise.
“Is something the matter, Colin?”
“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you, sweetheart?”
“No, of course not.”
“How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You don’t own the stocks. I asked Dreyson and he told me you weren’t the owner. You also told me you didn’t own them.”
“I don’t. Why in heaven’s name . . .”
She stopped when Colin pointed to the ship. She knew then her husband had finally guessed the truth.
She was well into her sixth month of confinement and getting more awkward every day, but she was still quick when she needed to be. She hastily stood up and started for the doorway. “I believe I’ll see how Sara’s doing. I do so love to hold little Joanna. She has the most delightful smile.”
“Come back here.”
“I’d rather not, Colin.”
“I want to talk to you. Now.”
“Colin, you shouldn’t get your wife upset. She’s pregnant, for God’s sake.”
“Look at her, Nathan. Does she look upset to you? She looks damned guilty to me.”
Alesandra let her husband see her exasperation. Nathan winked at her when she walked back to the settee. She folded her hands together and frowned at her husband. “You better not get angry, Colin. Our baby might become upset.”
“But you’re not upset, are you, sweetheart?”
“No.
He patted the cushion next to him. She sat down and smoothed her gown.
She stared at the floor. He stared at her. “They’re inside the ship, aren’t they?”
“What’s inside the ship?” Nathan asked.
“The stock certificates,” Colin answered. “Alesandra, I asked you a question. Please answer me.”
“Yes, they’re inside the ship.”
Relief fairly overwhelmed him. He was so damned happy the certificates hadn’t been sold to a stranger he wanted to laugh.
A faint blush crept up Alesandra’s face. “How did you do it?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Are they in my name? I never thought to ask Dreyson that question. Do I own them?”
“No.”
“Are they in Nathan’s name then?”
“No.”
He waited a long minute for her to confess. She remained stubbornly silent. Nathan was thoroughly puzzled.
“I just want to talk to the owner, Alesandra, to see if he might wish to sell the stocks back to us. I won’t use intimidation.”
“The owner can’t talk to you, Nathan, and it really isn’t legally possible for you to purchase the stocks—not now anyway.”
She turned to look at her husband. “I will admit I did interfere just a bit, husband, but I would remind you that you were being very mule-headed about my inheritance at the time and I had to resort to a bit of trickery.”
“Like your father,” he countered.
“Yes,” she agreed. “Like my father. He wouldn’t be angry with me. Are you?” she asked again.
Colin couldn’t help but notice that his wife didn’t appear to be overly concerned about that possibility. She smiled, a radiant smile that made his breath catch in the back of his throat. She was definitely going to drive him crazy one of these days, and he couldn’t imagine anything more wonderful.
He leaned down and kissed her. “Go and say good-bye to Sara. Then you and I are going home to our castle. My leg needs some of your pampering.”
“Colin, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you mention your leg,” Nathan interjected.
“He’s not nearly as sensitive anymore. The ache in his leg did save our lives, after all. If the throbbing hadn’t awakened him, he might not have heard Morgan. Mother Superior told me there was a reason for everything. I believe she was right. Perhaps the shark took a bite out of your leg so you would be able to save me and our son.”
“I’m having a son?” Colin asked, smiling over how matter-of-fact Alesandra sounded.
“Oh, yes, I believe so,” she answered.
Colin rolled his eyes heavenward. “Have you named him yet?”
The sparkle came back into her eyes. “We should call him Dolphin or Dragon. Both names are appropriate. He is, after all, his father’s son.”
Alesandra left the room to the sound of her husband’s laughter. She patted her swollen middle and whispered, “When you’re smiling at me and showing your gentle side, I’ll think of you as my dolphin, and when you’re angry because you aren’t getting your way, I’ll know you’ve turned into my dragon. I’ll love you with all my heart.”
“What’s she whispering about?” Nathan asked Colin.
Both men watched Alesandra until she turned and started up the steps. “She’s talking to my son,” Colin confessed. “She seems to think he hears her.”
Nathan laughed. He’d never heard of anything so absurd.
Colin stood up and went to the mantel. He found the latch cleverly concealed by a trapdoor fashioned into the side of the ship and opened it. The stock certificates were rolled into a tube and tied with a pink ribbon.
Nathan watched him pull the papers out, unroll them, and read the name of the owner.
Then Colin burst into laughter. Nathan bounded to his feet. His curiosity was killing him. “Who owns them, Colin? Give me the name and I’ll talk to him.”
“Alesandra said the owner wouldn’t talk to you,” Colin replied. “She was right about that. You’re going to have to wait.”
“How long?” Nathan demanded.
Colin handed his partner the certificates. “Until your daughter learns how to speak, I imagine. They’re all in Joanna’s name, Nathan. Neither one of us can buy the stock back. We’re both named as joint executors.”
Nathan was astonished. “But how did she know? The stock was sold before she even met Sara or Joanna.”
“You gave me your daughter’s name in your letter,” Colin reminded his friend.
Nathan sat down. A slow smile settled on his face. The company was safe from intruders.
“Where are you going, Colin?” he called out when his partner walked out of the room.
“Home to my castle,” Colin said. “With my princess.”
He started up the steps to collect his wife. The sound of her laughter reached him and he paused to let her joy wash over him.
The princess had tamed the dragon.
But the dragon was still the victor. He’d captured a princess’s love.
He was content.
Please enjoy this excerpt from Julie Garwood’s
THE IDEAL MAN,
now on sale in paperback and as an e-book.
DUTTON
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ONE
The first time she slit a man’s throat she felt sick to her stomach. The second time? Not so much.
After cutting five or six more, the blade in her left hand began to feel like an extension of her body, and she started to take it all in stride. The exhilaration subsided, and so did the nausea. There was no longer a rush of anxiety, no longer a racing heartbeat. Blood didn’t faze her. The thrill was gone, and that, in her line of work, was a very good thing.
Dr. Eleanor Kathleen Sullivan, or Ellie, as she was called by her family and friends, was just two days shy of completing a grueling surgical fellowship in one of the b
usiest trauma centers in the Midwest. Since trauma was her specialty, she had certainly seen her share of mangled and brutalized bodies. It was her responsibility to put them back together, and as a senior fellow, she had the added duty of training the first- and second-year residents.
St. Vincent’s emergency room had been full since four a.m. that morning, and Ellie was completing what she hoped was her last surgery of the day, a repair of a splenic rupture. A teenager, barely old enough to have a driver’s license, had decided to test the limits of the speedometer in his parents’ Camry and had lost control, rolling the car over an embankment and landing upside down in an open field. Lucky for him, he had been wearing a seat belt, and luckier still, a man following some distance behind him had seen the whole thing and was able to call for an ambulance immediately. The boy made it to the emergency room just in time.
Ellie was observed by three second-year surgical residents, who hung on her every word. She was a natural teacher and, unlike 90 percent of the surgeons on staff at St. Vincent’s Hospital, didn’t have much of an ego. She was amazingly patient with the medical students and residents. While she worked, she explained—and explained again—until they finally understood what she was doing and why. No question was deemed too insignificant or foolish, which was one of the many reasons they idolized her, and for the male residents, the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous didn’t hurt. Because she was such a talented surgeon and supportive teacher, all these fledgling doctors fought to sign up for her rotation. Ironically, what most of them didn’t know was that she was younger than most of them.
“You’re off duty this weekend, aren’t you, Ellie?”
Ellie glanced over at Dr. Kevin Andrews, the anesthesiologist, who had asked the question. He had joined the staff six months before and, since the day he’d met Ellie, had been hounding her to go out with him. He was an outrageous flirt and yet very sweet. Blond hair, blue eyes, tall, and well built with an adorable smile, he could turn the head of almost every woman in the hospital, but for Ellie there just wasn’t any spark.