Lilac Temptress (54 page)

“
Drake...” Sierra begged.
She would
not hide her feelings. Her dignity was lost. She was ruined.
Everyone knew it. She was too reckless. Tears started flooding her
eyes. “You can’t go through with this wedding!” Sierra ordered,
wanting Drake to be convinced by the sheer shrill of her
voice.

“
Sierra, please don’t make
this any harder than it has to be,” Drake pleaded, her pain was
tearing him apart, but he could not relent on his decision to
marry.

Sierra searched his features, tears
rolled down her cheeks. “Why... why did you do this to me?” Sierra
pushed hard, freeing herself from Drake’s hold, and fled toward the
entrance of the house. Drake started to go after her, but Girard
caught his arm, stopping him.

“
Don’t—” Girard gripped
Drake by the shoulder. “Let me see to her,” he suggested, his words
revealing his concern over Sierra and his eyes unveiling his
displeasure in Drake failings.

Drake hesitantly agreed with a silent
nod, barely able to look at Girard. Drake knew that he must talk
things over with Isadora no matter how desperately he wanted to
chase after Sierra.

Girard quickly made his way into the
house after Sierra.

Drake glanced at Rosaline and Kyle
seeing their revulsion of him—Kyle held daggers in his eyes, and
Drake understood why Kyle might want him dead.

Kyle didn’t waist any words on Drake
before marching into the house, fuming.

A volcano erupted inside Rosaline, and
she knew there was no way to subdue it while glaring at her
brother. She lifted up her nose, giving Drake a disappointed frown
before turning away and hurrying behind Kyle.

“
Drake, how dare you
humiliate me like this! How dare you make a mockery of me!” Isadora
voiced loudly, hostilely and more irksomely than Drake had ever
before heard her.

Daniel still stood silently behind
Isadora with a bowled over look on his face.

“
Isadora, it was a
mistake—a moment of weakness,” Drake said, having no other lines of
defense, but he regretted his lie as soon as he’d said it; nothing
about Sierra had ever been a mistake.

“
Honestly, Drake, I don’t
really give a damn what you’ve done with your whore or any other
whore you might have stashed somewhere in this house!”

“
Isadora, I don’t keep
whores for company. Please do not refer to Sierra as such.” Drake
stated plainly, defending Sierra’s honor. I’m the disreputable
one—remember—I am the villain whom women should flee.

Isadora’s jaw dropped. She
wanted to slap him senseless, but would not dare strike him and
possibly bruise his recently healed face the day before the
wedding, and she was going to
still
going marry him. He
was
going to be the one to give her
everything that she ever wanted—hand her an empire, which was more
important than any momentary blunder he had made before they were
married. “I am willing to overlook your indiscretion. After all, I
know all men must sow their wild oats before marriage. But I want
Sierra immediately out of this house and that worthless brother of
hers, too. That
boy
has a heart after Rosaline, and I don’t think Randal would
approve of him.”

“
I’d prefer you not refer
to Kyle that way,” Drake voiced harshly, “you know nothing about
him or his sister to judge.”

“
I know that they are
commoners. One doesn’t have to look very hard to see it,” Isadora
snapped.

“
You really don’t care, do
you Isadora? Just as long as you get what you want,” Drake
replied.

“
I only want what is best
for the both of us,” Isadora refuted, “what both of us together
decided, and I am willing to put this behind us, if you are. Now if
you will excuse me, I have guests to tend to. If we are lucky, this
disaster might not have caused any disturbances within the house,”
she said stomping off, leaving Drake alone with Daniel.

Drake didn’t say a word to Daniel as
he turned away and began wandering toward the gardens. Feeling
lost, his mind hadn’t caught up to the grim reality of it all; the
situation he had so recklessly created, all of it so damnable—like
something that should have been happening to someone else instead
of him.

He regretted that the sun ever came up
this morning and laughed at himself, finding it ironic how the sun
gleamed beautifully above while a turbulent storm raged inside him.
He was truly haunted and disturbed by the hatred Sierra spewed at
him, which turned him inside out.

“
May I join you for a
moment?” Daniel asked cautiously, walking alongside
Drake.

“
Daniel, I need to be
alone.” Drake tried to discourage him, feeling less than
inviting.

“
I understand, but this
will not take long,” Daniel said, refusing to go away. He continued
to quietly walk beside Drake, taking Drake’s lack of response as an
invitation to join.

After a few minutes of silence, Daniel
supposed that he had given Drake enough time to compose himself,
and began speaking. “Just what are your intentions?” he asked
curiously, breaking Drake out of his daze. The two men exchanged
hard looks.

Drake kept silent. He did not like how
the conversation had started. He would not ask Daniel just what was
it that he wanted to hear. Drake didn’t see how his problems were
any of Daniel’s business.

“
It seems that you don’t
understand how to properly care for a woman’s heart. Somehow you
have managed to offhandedly devastate two women residing under your
very own roof,” Daniel pointed out mercilessly.

“
I do not need your
reproof!” Drake snapped, veering away from Daniel. And quickening
his pace, he continued his stroll through the garden’s maze of
greenery with Daniel at his heels. He wished Daniel would stop
hounding him.

“
I don’t intend to lecture
you. I think you know well enough that I don’t have to. You are in
a most unique position.” Daniel considered Drake’s situation as he
came to walk alongside him.

Drake raised his eyes ominously toward
Daniel. “State your point. I’d rather you’d get it over and done
with,” he demanded testily, his body feeling extremely tense. He
was tired of Daniel pursing him.

“
Do you think you might
ever come to love Isadora?”

Drake stopped dead in his tracks
giving Daniel a once over. “There was a time when I thought might
try,” he mumbled, becoming impatient and irritated.

“
What’s preventing you?”
Daniel asked. He heard the outrage and mocking despair behind
Drake’s voice. “Sierra maybe? Do you think that you will promptly
forget her after you are a married man?”

“
What’s your sudden
interest in my private affairs?” Drake’s raised voice revealed
agitation and hostility. He began pacing, brushing his hands in his
hair anxiously. “Why do you ask me these things?” Drake hated when
Daniel started his reverse psychology tactics, which Daniel never
spared to use on him.

“
Why are you interrogating
me? Do you think yourself so infallible? So I blundered! So, I made
a tremendous mistake! I am human!” Drake lashed out, as if what he
had shouted, was enough to be forgiven his
transgression.

“
Will you make another huge
mistake and marry a woman you don’t love?” Daniel pressed. What are
you to do?” Daniel arched his eyebrows, rhetorically asking. “Marry
Isadora for prestige and power?” Daniel accused, raising his voice
to match Drake’s outrage.

“
No Daniel, you are wrong.
I marry her for my father’s honor and my family legacy.” Drake
intended to win this match.

Daniel calmed himself before speaking
again. “Is this what you are telling yourself these days? Because
the way I see it, you will be the biggest beneficiary of this
union,” he scoffed. “You may be hiding behind your father’s wishes
and your legacy, however there is no disguise that can conceal your
true motives for gaining more wealth and power—and yet the gods
smile down on you anyway. Everything you’ve ever wanted you’ve
easily obtained, but your greed and self-indulgence has always been
obvious to those of us who know you well.”

Drake quickly snatched Daniel up by
his collar, ready to strike, which would only prove to be reckless.
Daniel may not have been the size of Drake, but he was no untrained
man in the art of contending.

“
Did I strike a nerve?”
Daniel remained steady and calm, chin up and glaring hard at him.
“I am only trying to make you see what you refuse to. Have you no
scruples? Open up your eyes Drake,” he bit off.

Drake unhanded his friend,
straightening his ruffled collar. “Forgive me. But what you say is
not all true... I am but a pawn in this game my father plays with
Alexandre Marcos, and yet this is my inheritance and my
responsibility. Competition between them must end. This marriage to
Isadora will do just that—and ensure prosperity for all of those
living in this region.” Drake said his familiar lines,
understanding that he used them now to try to convince Daniel and
himself that marrying Isadora was the wisest thing to
do.

“
Does it make me any less
of a man to marry her for this reason? I am a man trying to do what
is right—create jobs for people, get medicines to the ill, improve
the quality of life for people. Do you really think of me as
wicked?” Drake demanded.

“
What I think is that
you are in love with another woman. Is your
ambition
more important than
her?
” Daniel chose his
next words carefully not wanting to send Drake over the edge. “Our
duty, and being so filthy rich sometimes blinds us. There are other
ways to ensure the prosperity of the people, and what you think of
now as the right way, couldn’t be further from the truth. Cliché as
it might sound, money can’t buy you everything.” Daniel sighed
before turning away, leaving Drake standing there, hoping that
Drake would think about what he’d just said.

* * *

Drake stood alone in his gardens for
several minutes trying to pull himself together after surviving
Daniel’s onslaught. He had wasted too much time with Daniel even if
what Daniel had said held some truth—maybe he was self-indulgent,
perhaps even egotistical as well. But whoever he was, he had to put
things right with Sierra. He would try to make her understand why
things had to be as they were. He’d ask for her forgiveness for all
the suffering that he had caused her. He wouldn’t leave things
ruined between them, and he hoped for some sort of reconciliation
with her that would bring him peace with his decision to marry
Isadora. Feeling a bit more settled by his decided course of
action, he went in search of Sierra.

* * *

Drake’s eyes widened when he found
Girard standing outside of Sierra’s bedroom, guarding it, as if she
were in danger of him. His temper began flaring. First Daniel had
given him a hard time and now he faced Girard. He didn’t think he
could handle another conversation about his misconduct. “How is
she?” Drake simply asked, trying to curb the resentment in his
voice.

“
Vexed and upset—what do
you think?” Girard asked accusingly.

“
I have to speak with her,”
Drake insisted.

“
She’d really rather not
see you right now. In fact she is packing up her things to take her
leave. Kyle will be joining her.”

“
What?” Drake couldn’t mask
his alarm. “Do they plan to return to Jadesville?”

Girard gave Drake a serious look. “Not
quite.”

“
Well surely they won’t
survive in New Orleans for long without—”

Girard interrupted Drake. “They both
will be staying with me.”

Drake silently watched Girard for a
moment. “You know, I once thought that you might have wanted her
for yourself. It was the way you had watched her during our
travels,” Drake accused.

“
It’s not what you think,
Drake. She is in love with you—” Girard sighed angrily. “Why should
I even explain myself to you? By this time tomorrow morning you
will be a married man.”

Drake began laughing with mocking
disbelief. “I should have seen this before. You’ve fallen for her,
haven’t you? I didn’t think you were the type to fall in love at
first sight.” Drake leaned his shoulder against the wall eyeing
Girard curiously. “When did it happen—on the road from Jadesville
to New Iberia? Did she ensnare you with that siren voice of hers?
Or was it the night of my parent’s ball, when you escorted her back
here?”

Drake straightened his
body, and stood closely to Girard. “Or was it the moment you first
saw her legs on each side of
my
lap? How does it feel for you to know that her
heart belongs to me?”

“
That will be enough Drake,
lest you lose a friend in this personal war of yours! I will not
battle with you!” Girard roared, and then quickly tried to calm
himself while holding back his bawled fists with all his might. He
knew that Drake was deeply hurting and half out of his mind. He’d
known Drake’s stubborn ways for a long time, and he had always had
insight into Drake’s behavior, even when Drake didn’t comprehend
his own actions.