“What are you doing?” Leilani screams, stumbling backward. Her back hits the oak tree’s thick trunk. Escape is impossible.
“I’m sorry. I’m not a very good rider,” Michelle says. She grinned wickedly as the horse bellows. “This horse isn’t used to my riding style. I can’t control it.”
Leilani keeps her back pressed against the tree. It’s probably lucky this tree is here, she thinks. It’d be more dangerous if the horse could chase me across open space. As it is, Michelle might be reckless enough to try to trample me here.
Leilani scans the lawn, searching desperately for Andrew. When she sees him, she wants to cry out in despair. He’s far out of earshot, and he won’t hear her screams for help.
“What? Do you think Andrew can help you?” Michelle laughs. “If it’s Waylen’s child, Andrew will owe me a thank you for knocking it out of you.”
“Don’t do anything in a rush,” Leilani says as calmly as she can. “I’m warning you; you’ll regret this.”
“I can’t help it,” Michelle says. “How about you talk to the horse yourself?”
The gray horse whinnies fiercely and paws the ground. He’s large and muscled, and a froth of sweat covers his coat. He’s clearly angered by Michelle’s tight grip on the reins, and he seems ready to take his anger out on Leilani. Leilani snaps a twig from the tree and waves it in front of the horse.
“Don’t you dare,” Michelle hisses.
If Leilani manages to poke the horse, Michelle may lose control. The beast is already angry, and he could easily throw Michelle off his back. Worse, he could trample and kill her after she falls. Michelle yanks on the reins and tries to make the animal turn around. Slowly, the horse responds. As it turns around, Leilani took a running leap and vaults onto the saddle in front of Michelle.
“Be on your best behavior if you don’t want both of us to die,” Leilani says, grabbing the reins. The horse shudders and bucks under the additional weight, but Leilani quickly calms it. Michelle clings tightly to Leilani’s waist.
“Aren’t you afraid for your baby?” Michelle asks.
“I thought you wanted me to lose the baby,” Leilani says.
Leilani digs her heels into the horse’s sides and clicks her tongue. The horse immediately breaks into a gallop. The breeze wh.i.p.s her hair, and the trees seem to blur into dark shadows.
“Wow, you really know how to ride,” Michelle says, somewhat grudgingly.
“Whoever said I didn’t?” Leilani asks. She grips the reins tightly and turns the animal toward the woods, spurring it faster. “I could make it go mad if I want to—we’ll see who manages to stay on the longest.”
“You mad woman!” Michelle shouts, tightening her grip on Leilani, “You’re going to crash into a tree!
“What do you think will happen if I stick this into the horse’s side?” Leilani asks, brandishing the sharp oak twig.
“I don’t care what will happen to me,” Michelle shouts. “But if you die, the baby dies too!”
“Wanna bet?” Leilani asks, urging the horse even faster.
“What do you want from me?” Michelle shouts.
Leilani suddenly jerks on the reins, and the horse reels back onto its hind legs. “I want to make a deal with you,” she says. The horse lands with a jolt, and Michelle’s weight slams into Leilani’s back, forcing her to double over on the horse’s neck. Leilani quickly straightens up.
“What kind of deal?” Michelle asks, panting in fright.
The horse breathes just as heavily, and it paces nervously on the dirt path. Leilani takes a look around. Thick woods surround them on all sides. Satisfied that they’re far enough from everyone, she turns to look at Michelle.
“You know Andrew’s bodyguards quite well,” Leilani says. “I want you to arrange for one of them to escort me off the property and out of the forest.”
“Why should I?” Michelle asks.
“You saw how Andrew taught Alice how to ride back there,” Leilani says. “I’m capable of giving you an opportunity to approach Andrew. If I can get him to spend time with a mere servant, just think about what I can do for you.”
Michelle chews her lip, and Leilani realizes it’s going to take a lot more to overcome the years of tension between them. “You can say no, of course,” Leilani says, shrugging casually. “I know you don’t really like me, and I can just as easily ask the other women.”
Michelle thinks for a moment, “When do you want to go?”
“The sooner, the better,” Leilani says. She turns the horse around, and they gallop back along the dirt path.
Waylen coughs roughly. The strong spirit burns his throat, but he grabs the bottle and poured more into his glass. He gulps the liquor down and tries to pour some more, but nothing comes out of the bottle. He throws the empty bottle across the darkroom, and it shatters against a bookshelf.
Robert rushes in without knocking, waving a paper in the air. “Sir, it’s the fax from the clinic,” he says, looking around the darkened room.
The study smells like stale alcohol, and Robert frowns and fans the air in front of his face. Waylen lifts his eyes and looks at Robert. The judgment and concern on his butler’s face said it all. Waylen watches Robert stumble to the desk and click the lamp on. He dimly notices the butler place some sort of box next to the lamp.
“Sir, I have the results from the clinic and news about Mrs. Bamford’s gift,” Robert repeats.
Waylen stares blearily at Robert. The low light from the lamp burns his eyes, and there seem to be two or three separate Roberts standing side by side.
“Sir, do you hear me?” Robert asks. “The baby is yours.”
“It’s mine,” Waylen repeats. The words take a moment to register, but when they do, Waylen feels a burning in his chest that has nothing to do with the scotch he’s been drinking. He quickly reminds himself that it doesn’t matter. So what if it’s mine? He thinks. Leilani was willing to get shot for Andrew. She’s done nothing for me.
“Alcohol!” Waylen roars. He craves the feeling of the burning liquid sliding down his throat, the dark stillness, the way it erases hours at a time.
“Sir, it’s too early for that,” Robert said, “Just think what Mrs. Bamford would say if she knew you were drinking so early.”
“She doesn’t give a damn,” Waylen slurs, “She’d probably be thrilled to know I’m ruining myself. I bet she’d send a personalized thank you letter to Glenfiddich. Now bring me my damn alcohol!”
He swings his arm through the air, and the back of his hand smacks into the box next to the lamp. The box tips over and Leilani’s diorama crashes to the floor. The fall jostles the speakers, and Leilani’s voice begins to play.
“Waylen, you fool, why don’t you believe me?” her voice says. “I’ve only ever had one man: you. It was only you in the past, only you now, and it’ll only be you in the future. Do you remember you asked me to hit you four times when the snake bit you? I didn’t do it then, but I want to do it now. I want you to love me more than ever because I love you.”
The sound of her voice seems to sober him. He looks at the fallen box with disbelief. The repaired speaker crackles, and the recording continues.
“I met Andrew for the first time in Pleasure City,” her voice says, “He hid in the toilet stall to avoid some men who were looking for him. I happened to go into the same bathroom, and he forced me to cooperate and confuse the men searching for him. I have nothing else to do with him, believe it or not.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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