Riordan (12 page)

to me, but it’s there should I ever want to claim it. How about you, Isabell Applegate? How

much is enough for you? Or do you think there is no limit to the amount you could get your

hands on?”

“Money? You? I doubt that very much. Just look at you. I’m here to see Riordan. I don’t

have any idea what you think you’re trying to prove with me, but it won’t work.” Storm just

smiled and nodded. “You’re just a fling with him. Nothing more than a good lay and something

to keep me in line.”

“It’s a good fuck, honey, not lay, and he is good at that.” Isabell felt her face heat up. “You

really should get that stick out of your ass and maybe someone might show you the difference

sometime. I can tell you about it if you really want to know.”

“I most certainly do not.”

Isabell was ready to call for Riordan when she saw him. She had no idea how long he’d been

standing there, but she thought it rude that he’d not come to her rescue sooner. As he

straightened up from the newel post that he’d been leaning on, she put out her hand for him to

take it. There was no way this woman was real. It had to be a joke that he’d given her up for this

thing. But he moved by her and put his arm around the woman.

“Isabell, I didn’t know you were coming here.” She didn’t know how to respond to him.

There was so much anger in his voice that she thought for sure he was upset with Storm for

speaking to her this way. “I see you’ve met my Stormy. She’s a little on the blunt side. You’ll

have to forgive her.”

“No, I don’t. She’s rude and nasty. You shouldn’t allow her to talk to me this way, Riordan.

It’s not the way I was raised. And I’m thinking it wasn’t the way you were raised either.” She

looked at him then and let the tear she’d not had to manufacture fall down her cheek. “I want you

to tell me this is a joke. I don’t know how long it will take me to forgive you for this, but you

know how I dislike these kinds of situations.”

“He doesn’t allow or disallow me to do anything. I make my own decisions.” Storm looked

ready to pounce on her when she heard something or someone coming from the back of the

house. The noise that came from behind Riordan had her looking that way. And when the man

came into the room more, she thought for sure she was seeing things.

“President Waynewright. I had no idea that you knew the Harrison family.” He just smiled

at her and put out his hand. She shook it, thinking that this alone should make Riordan see what a

real woman acted like.

“I don’t know them. Well, I didn’t know them. I came to talk to my girl, Stormy. She’s been

helping me out with a little problem I was having.”

Isabell thought she’d heard him wrong. But when he pulled the woman to him and kissed

her on the head, Isabell felt like she’d been punked. Then she realized that was what was really

going on.

“I get it now. I see. I’m not one for a good joke. My Riordan can tell you that. But this is a

good one. I nearly fell for it.” Isabell put her hand out to the president again. “I don’t think we’ve

been properly introduced. I’m Riordan’s fiancée, Isabell Applegate. The Applegates of Hyde

Park. Perhaps you know of my family?”

“I can’t say that I do.” President Waynewright looked at Riordan, then at Stormy. “I thought

you said he was going to marry you? Not that I care. I’d been hoping all this time you’d tell me I

was the light of your life.”

The low growl coming from Riordan had her taking a step back. But then everyone laughed

and she tried to join them. Isabell was so confused that she was willing to turn to Stormy for

help.

“You’re not going to marry him, are you? Tell me you’re just kidding me and I’ll

completely understand.” Storm just stared at her, and Isabell wanted to cry. “You’re not his type.

I mean, you don’t even look like you have ten cents in your pocket, and just look how you’re

dressed. Those are not designer pants. They look like…they look military.”

“Because they are.” Storm reached behind her and pulled out a wallet. An actual wallet that

looked like something a man would carry. “These are my credentials. I’m dressed this way

because I am military. Not that I have to answer any of your questions, but no, I’m not marrying

Riordan, but only because he’s never asked. I might live with him. As you’ve pointed out, he is a

good fuck. As for marrying him, I don’t know. But you’ll be the first to know when I come to a

decision.”

Isabell wasn’t going to stand here and take this abuse. If he wanted someone with a temper,

who spoke her mind, she knew that she could do that, too. Her maid was forever telling her she

talked like a man. And if one of them could see her when she was locked up in her room, they’d

run from her.

“I don’t care for the way you’re speaking to me.” She looked at Riordan. “You should take

better care of your…pets, Riordan. And the next time I see you, you’d better be dressed properly.

I won’t stand for this…whatever it is you’re wearing. I expect you to be well groomed and

attentive. You have been remiss in that so far today.”

Someone laughed, and she turned to him. The older man looked like he might be related to

the rest of them, but right now, she was showing herself to be strong. Taking a step to him, she

slapped him across the face.

Isabell felt her arm being jerked behind her, and the hard point of something at her head. She

tried to jerk from it when Storm—she just realized who it was—told her not to fucking move.

That was when she realized it wasn’t her finger at her head but a gun. Isabell tried again to break

free when her arm suddenly popped.

The pain of it was incredible, but no matter how much she screamed to be let go, Storm held

her. Looking at the men in front of her, she thought for sure one of them would help her, Riordan

at the very least, but they were stepping back, as if they were afraid of her, too.

“She’s hurting me.” Mrs. Harrison stepped in front of her, and Isabell smiled as best she

could through the pain. “Could you please tell her to unhand me? She’s hurting me.”

“Yes, and you’re very lucky that it’s her holding you and not me. If you ever draw back and

hit one of my family again, especially my husband and mate, I will tear you apart. And I do mean

literally tear you into tiny little pieces that will never be found. Then I will urinate on your

remains. Do you understand me?” Isabell knew a kind of fear that had never been in her life

before. The gun at her head was nothing compared to the terror that she was feeling from the

woman standing in front of her. “Now then, Stormy is going to let you go, gently. Then you’re

going to get out of my house and never return. If I so much as hear of you talking badly about

my son and his fiancée, I will do as I have said. And in case you’re not understanding me, this is

not a threat, young lady, but a promise I make to you with all sincerity.”

Storm took her to the door. The gun was removed finally, but she held her arm up behind

her like she was going to tear it off. As soon as they were out of the house, her driver opened the

door for her, but never came to her rescue. When she felt Storm near her ear, Isabel whimpered.

“You come back here and what Bri will do to you will be a walk in the park compared to

what I will do to you if I get to you first. Stay away from my family. Do you understand me?”

She nodded. “Good. And when you get home, I would not call the papers and tell them what

happened here today; I wouldn’t tell my buddies…all wimpy, cellulite-assed fucking bitches like

you, I’m sure. If one word of this gets around, if a single word is printed in the papers, you’ll

wish you’d never met me.”

“I already wish that.” She stumbled forward when Storm pushed her away. As she made her

way to the limo, she tried to control her terror. There was something very wrong with these

people, Isabell concluded. And as she got into the car, she looked up at her driver. It was on the

tip of her tongue to tell him to take her to the police station, or at the very least to the hospital,

when he looked at her. His grin had her thinking that he knew just what had happened in the

house.

“You’re fired.” He laughed and shut the door on her. As the car started up and she was

tossed around in the back, she thought she should have waited until they got home to fire him.

The ride was not going to be a pleasant one.

Ordan entered the bakery at ten the next morning. He was there for two reasons, and he was

as excited with one as he was with the other. An assignment, his missus told him, and only he

could do it. He so loved his wife that he thought he’d get her some flowers on the way home.

Then he remembered that it was Wednesday and the maid’s day off, and he thought of getting

her two dozen. Then see if he could persuade her to run in the woods with him. Yes, it was going

to be a good day all around.

Lynn handed him a Danish on his way by her. Sally gave him a cup of coffee and he thought

if he came here very often, he’d have to get out more for exercise. Ordan thought he’d already

put on a few pounds since meeting the young girl who had taken his heart. When he entered the

back room, he was surprised to see his son there, apparently icing cookies. And he appeared to

be doing a crappy job of it, too.

“Son?” Riordan growled at him, and Ordan had to sit down. He was going to end up getting

himself hurt if he laughed right now. “Don’t you have another job? I mean, at the office?”

“Christina ran me off. Said that I was useless to her. I have no idea what she was talking

about, but the next thing I knew I had my briefcase and jacket and was in the elevator. And when

I got here, Storm told me I was going to be useful or go home.” He shoved the cookie he was

mangling away from him and growled again. “This is stupid work.”

“It is not stupid work. But you’re doing a shitty job of it, and that’s why you don’t like it.”

Ordan watched Stormy pull a tray of cookies from the oven and put in another one as she

continued berating Riordan. “If you took the time to listen to me, I would tell you how to ice

them, but you have to be Mr. Know-it-all and learn on your own. Hello, Mr. Harrison. How are

you today?”

“Fine. Call me Ordan, please.” She didn’t answer him, as she’d done the other times he’d

asked her to call him that. “I’ve come here for some questions to be answered. Bri and I were at

the table this morning, having some of those wonderful cheese things that you sent over, and we

had a few come up. Questions I mean, not the Danish. I was wondering if I could maybe get

them cleared up.”

“Sure, but you’re going to have to be prepared for me to answer them honestly. I’m not

going to give you half-truths.” He nodded, and expected some of the questions to have answers

that would embarrass him. “Great. Let me get something to drink and take these up front. I’m

having a productive day despite the interruptions.”

Ordan looked at his son. He wondered if he knew that he was in love with her yet. The boy

was nearly drooling to have her close to him. It was one of the things on his list today. A

wedding date.

“She’s feeling better.” Ordan told Riordan that he could see that, but he wondered if either

of them knew why. “When we get things settled here today, I’m going to go over with her and

see her house. Danny is going to take over the upstairs. The rooms are too small for me and I

can’t really work up there either.”

One more thing to wipe off the list…where they were going to live. “I was talking to

Harold…to think we’ve had the president in our home, and he wants us to call him by his first

name. Anyway, back to that. He said that she had a fine house, not far from where our home is.

Imagine that.”

“She said that it was her parents’ house. I guess they died when she was little. Her

grandmother raised her for a while, but Stormy was too much for her. The aunts took her rather

than having her put in the system where she more than likely would have been hurt or worse,

knowing her the way I do. I guess she was just as much a handful then as she is now.” Ordan

could see that she’d be too much for an elderly woman, and thought her aunts had done a bang-

up job of making her a person of worth.

Stormy came back into the kitchen and looked into the five stacked ovens in the corner.

Setting the timer, she sat down and smiled at him.

“Riordan telling you what a bitch I’ve been? I told him we could talk about marriage when

I’m in the mood. Might not be for generations yet, but I’m not ready just yet. He might find he

likes that Isabell person more.”

Ordan hoped not and said so. “She’s a terror. I never…she actually hit me. I wasn’t even the

one who laughed, Ennis did. And she hit me.” He patted Stormy on the hand and winked at her.