“We’ll get a lawyer and fight you. If all else fails, she’ll get a divorce.”
Though uncommon, divorces were sometimes granted to women if they had grounds to file for one. In his mind, Luke pictured Cassandra, large with child. Then images of her and his babe, living in penury, flashed through his head. Luke couldn’t bear to let that happen, not even if it meant adding to his already-considerable transgressions against this family. He would use every bit of leverage at his disposal to hold her father at bay.
Giving both the Zerek men a wide berth—not because he felt intimidated, but because he didn’t want to compound his trespasses even more by pummeling his wife’s father and brother to a bloody pulp—Luke stepped to the wall safe. After withdrawing the contract Cassandra had signed, he returned to the desk and tossed the document onto the blotter.
“Read it,” Luke bit out. “And don’t bother ripping it up. I had Cassandra sign three copies, one of which is in my attorney’s safekeeping. You will note, as you read, that Cassandra will be legally bound to me even in the event of a divorce.”
Milo snatched up the papers. His gaze darted back and forth as he skimmed the words. The flush of rage on his face drained away, leaving him milk-white. “Dear God…” He fixed a condemning gaze on Luke. “The girl couldn’t have understood what she was signing,” he said raggedly. “But you didn’t care, did you?”
“Papa?” Ambrose stepped forward. “What is it?”
“A contract,” Milo said, his voice a throbbing whisper. “A contract your sister signed, committing her to service this…man.” Milo closed his eyes and let his arm drop, the documents rustling against his mud-smeared trousers. “Dear God, Taggart. What kind of scum are you?”
The question cut deeper than Luke let on—so deep he felt as if he were bleeding way down inside. Scum was too bland a word for the kind of man he was. In retrospect, he couldn’t believe he’d taken such merciless advantage of a young girl’s trust. But he had. And in the event of a successfully contested marriage, the contract would stand up in court. Daniel Beauregard had composed it with his usual shrewdness. Luke felt absolutely confident there were no loopholes.
“She isn’t legally of age,” Milo said wearily. “I can fight this and win. To use one of your favorite phrases, her signature isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “Assuming, of course, that you can find a judge anywhere in Colorado who will rule against me.”
The cold hatred in Milo’s gaze chilled Luke’s skin. “Oh, yes. The high-and-mighty Luke Taggart. I nearly forgot you own the whole town and have business interests across the state. You don’t have to abide by the law like the rest of us poor bastards.”
Luke knew he was fighting dirty, and that Milo’s disgust of him was well deserved. Nonetheless, his possibly pregnant wife wasn’t going to endure a harsh Colorado winter without proper shelter and nourishment—not if he could prevent it.
Ambrose snatched the document from his father’s lax hand. After skimming a few lines, he raised a cobalt gaze that was very like Cassandra’s to glare at Luke. “How could you do this, Taggart? You made a whore of my little sister.” He slapped the paper with the back of his hand. “How could you do it?”
Luke knew that any explanations he tried to make would fall on deaf ears. How could he explain that he’d had a change of heart after bringing Cassandra into his home, that once he’d come to know her, he couldn’t carry through with his original plans?
“Cassandra came into the marriage a virgin,” Luke said evenly. “As for an annulment or divorce, if you try to convince her to get either, that contract is still in effect.”
“And you’ll use your wealth and political clout to hold her to it?”
Remembering the newspaper-covered cracks in the walls and the water that had streamed through the ceiling of the Zerek shack, Luke said, “Without a qualm.”
Milo gave a harsh laugh. “Over my cold corpse.”
Luke was tempted to tell the man he needn’t resort to murder, that, in case Milo had forgotten, Luke could still have his ass tossed back in jail. But there lay the path to only more regret.
At just that moment, the study door opened, and Cassandra poked her tousled dark head into the room. Her face went radiant with delight when she saw her father and brother, and with a cry of joy, she launched herself across the room and into Milo’s arms, her nightgown and wrapper drifting around her curvaceous form in folds of white.
“Papa! It was your voice I heard! Oh, Papa! I thought not to see you for almost two more months!” After hugging Milo with all her might, she broke away to embrace her brother. Ambrose caught her close with one sturdy arm, still holding the contract in his other hand. “Ambrose, it’s so good to see you. So good.”
Brother and sister just stood there for a moment, swaying with the intensity of their emotion. Watching them, Luke knew how formidable the obstacles he faced might prove to be. He’d never loved or been loved like this. The blood ties in this family were unbreakable, forged to steel by the kind of loyalty and caring Luke had only just recently begun to understand.
Quite unexpectedly, Cassandra drew away from her brother and turned to throw her arms around Luke’s neck. “You knew they were coming, didn’t you? It was a surprise! Oh, Luke, how did you manage it? How long can they stay?” She leaned back to look up at him with tears in her eyes. “You never cease to amaze me. I tried never to complain of how much I missed them, but you knew, didn’t you?”
Luke wished with all his heart he could say yes, that he could claim responsibility for their arrival. “Actually, sweet, I’m as surprised to see them as you are. Maybe more so.”
“Get away from him, Cassandra,” Milo said in a steely voice.
Cassandra threw her father a startled look. “Papa?”
“I said, get away from him. He’s slime from the sewer, and I won’t have his hands on you.”
Luke felt Cassandra’s body go tense. She flashed a bewildered look up at him, then directed it back at her father. “Papa, don’t talk that way. Luke is my—”
Milo reached out and grabbed his daughter’s arm, nearly jerking her off her feet to separate her from Luke. The horrified expression on Cassandra’s suddenly pale face told Luke it was probably the first time in her life that her father had touched her in anger. Luke’s gaze shot to where the other man’s fingers bit into his wife’s arm.
“Milo, gentle your hold. You’re hurting the girl,” Luke said with a note of warning.
Milo instantly released her. Cassandra rubbed her bruised elbow, her bewildered gaze trailing over the faces of the three men who stood around her. “What is this about, Luke? Haven’t you explained that we’re married?” She splayed a hand over the front plackets of her wrapper. “That’s it, isn’t it?” A shaky little laugh trailed from her as she glanced down at herself. “Papa, it isn’t how it looks. Luke and I are married.”
“No, you’re not!” Milo retorted. “I never gave my consent.”
Cassandra stretched out a hand toward her father. “But, Papa, we’re going to have a formal wedding as well. You can still give me away, just like you used to talk about doing.”
“To another man, maybe. Never to the likes of him.”
Cassandra caught her bottom lip between her teeth and threw an agonized look at Luke. He could see how torn she felt, uncertain whether to go to her father or return to her husband. No more than a second passed, but to Luke it seemed an eternity. Then, visibly trembling, Cassandra turned her back on her father and stepped over to Luke. He caught her close, an anguish he never thought to feel coursing through him. She had chosen him over the father she adored.
Dear God…
Never had he hoped she might come to love him so much that she would forsake her family for him. The fact that she had, and that she’d done so with no encouragement from him, nearly broke his heart. He didn’t deserve this kind of devotion from her, and any minute now, she’d begin to realize it.
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“Cassandra, don’t shame yourself any more than you already have,” Milo said hoarsely. As he spoke, he snatched the contract from Ambrose’s hand and shoved it at her face. “Read it, girl! He set us up. Don’t you see? That fellow, Peter Hirsch? He was hired by Taggart to trick us, so we could be thrown in jail for claim jumping. He wanted you helpless, without the protection of your father and brother! So you’d be without any money, defenseless and at his mercy. It was all a vile trick so he could make you his whore!”
“His what?” she whispered.
“His whore!” Milo repeated harshly. “His boughten woman,” he expounded when she still didn’t seem to understand. “Like Mary Magdalene, lass. Remember in the Scripture? The story of the sinful woman who repented, and Jesus forgave? Until that time, she was a whore, Cassie girl. A woman who fornicated with men.”
With a bewildered look, Cassandra drew back slightly from Luke, her gaze fixed on the contract. Finally she took it from her father and moved away from Luke to reread the cleverly worded lines. Milo hovered at her shoulder.
“You see? His ‘paid companion,’ it says, which is polite wording for ‘whore!’” Milo jabbed at the center of the page. “Read it, child, this time with your eyes open. You agreed that he could take any liberties with your person he wished! And you gave up all legal rights to any issue! That means a baby, love. You gave up your rights as a mother. Good God, Cassandra, where was your head when you signed this?”
In the clouds, Luke thought sadly. That was where her head had been, and he’d taken ruthless advantage of it. Judging by her expression, she was crashing back to earth now. She turned disbelieving eyes on him. “Luke? Tell Papa it isn’t true, that you never meant me to be your—” She broke off, and her huge eyes filled with anguish. “Tell him, please.”
Luke wished with all his heart that he could. But he’d sworn never to lie to this girl again, and that was a promise he would not break.
“Tell him!” she cried.
Luke couldn’t bear to see the pain in her gaze, yet he couldn’t take the easy way out and look away. He’d done this to her. He could place the blame on no one else.
She began to tremble. Luke didn’t think she could possibly grow more pale, but she did, the blood draining from her face until she looked chalky. “It’s true?” she asked softly.
It wasn’t really a question. She pressed a hand over her mouth, then crumpled the contract in rigid, white-knuckled fingers to hold her other hand fisted against her waist. Eyes closed, face contorted, she just stood there, shaking violently. “You arranged to have my papa and brother thrown in jail?”
Ironically, yet so characteristically, she seemed more appalled by the injustices he’d inflicted on her loved ones than by those he’d heaped on her. “How could you do that to my papa and brother?” she asked in a thin voice. “And then pretend you were being generous and fair?”
Luke didn’t know what to say. As crazy as it seemed, even to him, he was a different man now than he’d been then. “Sweetheart, I am so sorry,” Luke whispered. “I’d undo it if I could. I am so sorry.”
The words rang out in the room, pitifully inadequate in compensating for the transgressions and, at the same time, condemning him. A man didn’t apologize for something he hadn’t done. The starch went out of her spine, and before his very eyes, she seemed to diminish in size, as if half the life had been drained from her. For endless seconds, she continued to stand there, eyes closed, face drawn. Luke thought she might burst into tears or fly into a rage. But, oh, no…not his Cassie. She finally hauled in a shaky breath, lifted her chin, and squared her shoulders.
When she opened her eyes and turned her gaze on him again, Luke nearly dropped to his knees. From the first instant he’d seen her, one of the things that had most enchanted him about her was the glowing innocence in her eyes. It was gone now. Shattered.
Stepping to the desk, she smoothed the contract upon its gleaming surface to go over the wording again, as if she had to look at it once more to convince herself of his treachery. Milo, still hovering at her shoulder, bitterly explained some of the legal jargon to her.
“He bought you, lass, as if you were no better than a piece of livestock. A grand price, I’ll admit, but a purchase, all the same.”
“But he married me,” she whispered shakily.
Milo’s mouth twisted. “To some men, marriage doesn’t mean squat and divorce even less. Mark my words, he would have sent you packing the moment you ceased to entertain him.”
“That’s a goddamned lie!” Luke cried.
“And you, sir, are a goddamned liar!” Milo shot back. Then, with a look of chagrin at his daughter, he whispered, “I’m sorry, lass. I didn’t mean to swear.”
Yet another count against him, Luke thought a little frantically—that he cursed like a sailor.
Cassandra stood with her hands planted on Luke’s desk, her shoulders bent, her head hanging, her tousled hair a dark curtain around her face. Milo gave Luke one last scathing look before continuing to point out all the clauses in the contract that were particularly condemning. When Cassandra finally straightened and directed her gaze at Luke again, her lovely blue eyes had gone suspiciously bright.
“Luke?” she whispered tremulously. “Say something. Anything at all. But, please, say something.”
Her heart was in her eyes, Luke thought. And with every second that passed, he could see it breaking a little more. “Sweetheart, I tried to tell you. On our wedding night.”
“You must not have tried very hard!” Milo put in.
Luke flinched, the words slicing at him like a knife. “I tried,” he repeated, his gaze still delving deeply into Cassandra’s. “I realized, even then, how wrong I’d been, and I wanted to set things right between us. Remember? You said—”
“‘Set things right’?” Milo cut in. “While her papa and brother were being held prisoner at your silver mine? And before that, in jail at your behest? ‘Set things right’? Don’t listen to him, lass. He’s lying even now.” Milo slammed his hand down on the desk. “This contract tells the truth—that you thought of her as a plaything you could buy and then toss aside. Deny it, if you will! Go on. Look her in the eye and tell her that was never your plan!”
Luke couldn’t do that. But, God help him, he wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to. Not just to save his own ass, but because the truth was destroying her. He stood there, helpless to stop it from happening, as much a victim of his own deceit as she was.
“You said it didn’t matter,” he whispered. “That we could start afresh. Please, Cassandra, can’t we do that now? I care deeply about you. Surely you realize that. Knowing you, being with you…it’s changed me. I’m not the same man who had that contract drawn up. Please…give me a chance to prove it to you.”
Milo snorted. “Excuse my language, lass, but this is such horseshit, a man with no nose would puke at the stench! He’s fond of bedding you, nothing more.”
Cassandra jerked at the words. Luke clenched his hands, wanting to strangle Milo Zerek so bad he ached with it. “Cassandra, please, come upstairs with me for five minutes so we can talk privately,” Luke entreated. “We can’t get anything settled with your father bellowing at me every time I speak.”
“You’ll be alone with her again over my dead body!”
Luke was beginning to relish the thought. “That can be arranged,” he ground out.
“I’m surprised you haven’t already arranged it!” Milo accused. “It seems you stopped at nothing else! Tossed in jail, we were, for something we never did. You did it all to make us look guilty. Then hauled us off to your silver mine, to work us like slaves.”
“I sent you to the silver mine to improve your circumstances. I felt guilty as hell! Dammit, I’d told so many lies, I couldn’t see any way out. So I tried my best to fix things.” Luke drilled Milo with a glare. “Tell her, damn you! Did you, or did you not, have good accommodations at the silver mine? Nice shelter, fine food, incredibly good wages! Tel
l her!”
Milo sneered. “Oh, yes. The finest of food, great pay. All the while with a shotgun pointed at our backs while we worked and slept. Even when we took a leak! Fine treatment we had!”
“I had to keep you away,” Luke said hopelessly. “I needed more time before you told her what I’d done.”
“Time for what?” Milo shot back. “To dip for a bit more honey?”
“Surely you must know that I regret what I’ve done and that I—” He broke off, the words he yearned to say burning in his throat like acid. “I obviously hold your daughter in very high regard, or I wouldn’t have married her, for God’s sake! Say what you like, but a divorce isn’t all that easy to obtain. What legal grounds would I have for divorce with someone like her?” He shot Cassandra a pleading look. “She’s damned near perfect.”
“Perfect? High regard?” Flags of humiliation dotted Milo’s cheeks. “Your esteemed whore?”
Luke knew how bad this looked. Dear God, in the beginning, he had even thought of her that way, as a plaything he’d purchased and brought home to enjoy. At the time, he hadn’t cared a whit about her reputation or her plans for her future. Or her feelings.
He couldn’t recall exactly when his sentiments had changed because it had happened gradually. He only knew he had changed, that he’d rather rip out his own heart than watch hers being broken this way.
“How you must have laughed at me,” she whispered shakily. “Stripping the wax off your floors when what you wanted all along was my services in your bed. You bought me? Like a prize pig at the fair?”
“Cassandra, no. You can’t believe that, sweetheart. Think about—”