Texas Tiger TH3 (37 page)

"And the other businessmen like them, and the thugs that they hire. The circle grows wider with every editorial I publish. If this was Texas, they'd have tried to tear up the press by now. I'm sorry, Georgina, I just thought it would be a little more civilized here."

"What are we going to do?" Georgina didn't want to let go, but she felt the tension in him building. She was learning that when Daniel got tense, unpleasant things happened. She stood back and looked up at him.

He was glaring at the shattered windows with a thoughtful frown. When she pushed away, he turned his gaze to her, and his expression softened. He pushed a fallen curl from her face and smiled. "We're going to take that old pallet back to the pressroom and sleep where there aren't any windows tonight."

That seemed reasonable. Georgina shook out a sheet and gathered up their pillows. The broken glass could wait until morning when she could see what she was doing. It crunched beneath her shoes as she followed Daniel across the hall to the office.

The office hadn't been lit, and the vandals had left the window in here alone. Max came trotting up to lick Georgina's hand, calm now that the danger had ended. Without a lamp, the room was filled with shadows. She stood back and waited as Daniel dragged the pallet to the windowless pressroom. This wasn't exactly the romantic encounter that she had anticipated.

It didn't get any better, either. Once they had the bed made up, Daniel picked up his rifle and kissed her cheek. "Get some sleep. I'll find a safer place for you to stay in the morning." And he walked out.

Georgina stared incredulously at the empty pallet. She'd made her bed, and now she supposed she would have to sleep in it—without her husband. Why did that not surprise her?

She jerked open the door between the two rooms and found Daniel settling into the chair, the rifle across his lap and Max at his feet. "If they're coming back, I don't want to be asleep." She stepped through the doorway, suddenly aware that she wore nothing but her chemise and drawers.

"There isn't anything you can do. One of us ought to get some sleep out of this night. Go on to bed, Georgina. I'll be fine."

He wasn't even looking at her. That annoyed her more than his words. She wanted him to look at her. "I didn't marry Pecos Martin, I married Daniel Mulloney. I wish you would make up your mind who you are."

He looked up then, but she couldn't see his face in the darkness. "I'm still Daniel Mulloney. Pecos would be out chasing the varmints down. Now go to bed, Georgina. I'll catch up on my sleep tomorrow when you're up and about to keep an eye on things."

She went then, knowing there was no other argument she could offer if he didn't want what she tried to show him. She shut the door softly behind her.

Daniel stared at that closed door for a long time afterward, feeling the ache deep down inside him, longing to take those few steps to where she waited.

But she deserved a whole lot more than he had to offer right now, and he wasn't starting any babies until he could keep them and their mother safe, no matter how much the rest of him longed to do so.

Ignoring the ache in his loins, he waited patiently for their attackers to come back and investigate the damage they had done.

He must have dozed sometime after dawn. Daniel woke to the sound of Max's low growl, and his gaze instantly lifted to the door separating him from Georgina. The door was open, and she was standing there, the morning sunlight caressing the tumble of curls down her back. One strap of her chemise was falling off her shoulder, but she held the cloth in place with her arms crossed beneath her breasts. She couldn't disguise the full swell of those lovely curves however, and Daniel swallowed hard at the sight revealed. She was doing this to him deliberately.

"What happened to that slinky piece you wore the night you came here?" he couldn't keep from asking.

"You didn't give me time to put it on last night," she informed him coldly.

He caught what she didn't say easily. "You mean you've been wearing it the other nights?" The nights he hadn't come to her bed.

She nodded, and a golden curl fell over her shoulder. Daniel drew a deep breath and started from the chair. He was only a man, after all. The admission wasn't difficult for him to make while she was standing there, a goddess of the morning emitting a siren call that even he could hear. Vows made under duress weren't valid when exposed to the morning light.

As Daniel rose and started toward Georgina, Max began a furious howl and dashed to the door, scratching and barking for it to be opened. Torn between the temptation in sheer linen on one hand and warning signs of danger on the other, Daniel halted in mid-stride. His lame leg locked and sent a shooting pain through his muscles.

The door slammed open and Peter stood there. His gaze instantly swept from Daniel still in his formal shirt and trousers to Georgina leaning against a dooijamb in her underwear. His eyebrows shot up as he respectfully turned to face Daniel, giving Georgina time to duck back into the other room.

It was more than Daniel could stand. With a bellow of rage he reached for Peter's shirtfront and hauled back his fist, slamming it solidly into his brother's jaw, sending him flying backward into the hall.

From behind the pressroom door came the distinct sound of a ladylike voice sighing, "Oh, damn it to hell." A moment later, Georgina stood in the center of the office, wrapped in a blanket, golden hair flying over bare shoulders like a Valkyrie, glaring at Daniel and the man sprawled outside the door.

Without another word she stepped over Peter and disappeared into the bedroom with a loud slam of the door to shut them out.

From his position on the floor Peter rubbed his jaw and commented thoughtfully, "If that's the way you both get up in the morning, you damned well deserve each other."

Chapter 29

They could hear her crunching across the floor in the other room. A moment later, a trunk lid creaked, followed by more muttered cursing.

"I'll have to go in there and help her," Daniel advised the man still sprawled across the hall. "Her gowns were all designed for a maid, and we don't seem to have acquired one yet."

Peter propped himself on one elbow and rubbed his aching jaw, testing for broken bones and teeth. "What do you carpet your rooms with, glass? I never heard a floor that crunched before."

"Is that supposed to be a declaration of innocence? Because if it is, I'm not buying it. Save yourself some grief and disappear while I'm gone." Daniel stepped over him and entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

A moment later, a hard object crashed against the other side of the door. Sitting up, Peter listened as a few murmured words were exchanged, followed by another distinct crash. He moved out of the line of fire and leaned against the wall just in time for the bedroom door to fly open again. This time when Daniel emerged, he reeked of expensive perfume and the front of his half-open shirt clung to his skin with the smelly liquid. The door slammed behind him.

Shoving his hair back out of his eyes with his hand, Daniel glared at the man sitting on the floor watching with interest. "Are you still here? You like to live dangerously, don't you?"

"What are you going to do, set Georgina loose? At least she only used lemonade on me. You stink like a polecat. Want me to rub you down in tomato juice?"

Grunting, Daniel stepped back into the office and rummaged around for a towel in his scattered belongings.

Feeling momentarily safe from another attack, Peter stood up and followed him in. "I never could figure out what sets her off. One minute she's all smiles and flirty eyelashes, and the next she's flinging things and screaming. Must be a woman thing." He eyed the rifle by the chair with curiosity.

"Are you still here? A glutton for punishment, aren't you?" Daniel toweled off his chest and glared at his younger brother. Peter was dressed casually this morning in tweed jacket and khaki pants instead of his usual formal suit. Daniel's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Just what the hell are you doing here anyway?"

Peter shrugged his broad shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets. "There's no death certificate on file. And I found the midwife. She's a drunk of no use to anyone now, but someone sends her money regularly every month. She wouldn't tell me anything. I doubt that she remembers anything to tell. I'll have to tell our father that he's wasting his money there."

Daniel's hands clenched into fists at the subtle admission of Peter's words. He responded coolly. "Not filing a death certificate was a rather stupid mistake. I'm certain it could have been done easily enough. There's enough dead babies in those slums to provide as many death certificates as anyone could wish."

Peter shrugged again, but the tension in his stance was evident. "He might have been afraid that he wouldn't have any more sons and kept his options open. That's typical of him."

"How good to know. He might have dragged me back, lame leg and all, if none of you had been born. Now I have another reason to resent the hell out of you all. Will you get out of here now? I smell something worse in here than Georgie's perfume."

The bedroom door crashed open again. A highly irate figure in trailing silks stalked past and down the hall. Daniel drifted toward the window overlooking the street.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what's going on here?" Peter asked.

Counting mentally, Daniel didn't answer until Georgina emerged on the count of one. He watched as she stormed across the street and entered the factory office. "She just walked out on me. I have to go get her." He turned and glanced without curiosity at Peter. "Why are you still here?"

Peter's face stiffened. "I talked to Mother this morning. She wants to see you."

"Good for her." Daniel unfastened the rest of his shirt studs as he walked toward the bedroom with its shattered windows.

Peter grabbed his arm. "Don't you understand? I had to tell her the whole sordid story. She's thought you dead for twenty-eight years."

Daniel shrugged him off and continued across the hall. "As far as the whole damned family goes, I am dead. I don't want any part of it. I've got a wife to look after."

He stepped into the bedroom and closed the door.

Struggling with emotions of his own, Peter clenched and unclenched his fists, waited a few minutes, then started down the stairs. In the past few weeks his life had become a nightmare from which he still hoped he would wake. Losing Georgina had only been the first stroke. Now it appeared as if everything he had once taken for granted would be lost. He wanted to fight the horrifying sensations of loss and betrayal, but in a way, they were opening up a whole new world.

Peter didn't want to quite contemplate that yet. He had been taught duty at an early age, and he still had a few duties yet to accomplish.

Daniel listened to him leave without any sign of regret. Last night had finished off any hopes he might have harbored of becoming reconciled with his family. There wasn't any doubt in his mind over who was responsible for almost costing them serious injury, if not their lives. Apparently, his father drew the line at actually killing his unwanted son outright. He just hired thugs to threaten him. But when it came to threatening Georgina, Daniel drew his own line. What had first been an exploratory venture was now full-scale war.

Georgina wasn't surprised when Daniel appeared in the factory office a short while later. She was only surprised that he hadn't come sooner. Ignoring him, she turned back to the foreman she had just been castigating.

"I know you've worked for my father for years. You can work for him again when he returns. But right now, while I'm here, you'd better just get out of my sight. I'll not have that kind of behavior in my factory." For all she knew, her father could return from Chicago or wherever tomorrow, but she derived a great sense of satisfaction from her command.

"You can't fire me. You don't own this place. You're going to cost your daddy a lot of money if you try to get rid of me." Only slightly taller than Georgina and of a wiry build, the foreman pulled himself into a threatening posture.

"Then don't consider yourself fired," Georgina answered sweetly. "Just consider yourself on unpaid leave. But if you show yourself in this building again, I'll call the police."

Daniel leaned against the wall, not saying a word. The furious foreman sent him a look, but if he'd expected any help from that quarter, he got none. With rage he demanded, "I want the wages owed me right now."