Their Stolen Bride (Bridgewater Menage Series Book 7) (11 page)

I was his only chance.

I knew how to end this once and for all. It wasn’t through Sully. It wasn’t even with hired thugs. There was one person who needed to learn the truth and stop the business deal. My father.

I had to get to Butte. I had to go see my father, tell him about Mr. Benson’s mine. Then I could live my life with my men without fear or danger looming over us. And one of my men was in danger. While they’d said it was their job to protect me, it was my job to save them. I knew how to save Sully and I couldn’t just sit with Laurel and the other women with that information and do nothing.

Butte was only a few hours away. An easy ride for a horse with a light rider. No one was after me.
I
wasn’t the one in danger. I just had to figure out how to get away. Mason, Quinn, Porter and the other men were very protective.
Overly
protective. I rolled onto my side, tugging the blanket about me, thinking. When the sun began to rise, the sky changing to gray, then a perfect pink, I had my plan.

SULLY

“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?”

I was sweaty and tired and dirty and all I wanted to do was see my wife and sink into her. But no. No, my wife had left a note saying she was going to Butte.

Butte!

I’d left Parker in the stable with the horses as I went to Mason’s house to retrieve Mary. We stood on his front porch and I glanced to the south as if I could see her and that God-forsaken town. Once I got her back, we were never going to that town again. Shit.

Mason scratched his head, looked a mixture of furious and befuddled. “She came to breakfast, ate with us like everything was fine. She told me you’d tasked her with training her ass and needed some privacy.”

I wasn’t shocked that Mason knew about Mary’s task while we were gone. I was shocked that she’d told Mason about it. While she was completely uninhibited with Parker and me, she was very shy when it came to sharing what we did with anyone else. Just knowing that Kane had overheard her come while I fucked her the other morning had been mortifying for her.

Everyone at the ranch knew we fucked. Everyone at the ranch knew we fucked with abandon. We all did. We spanked and sucked, licked and fucked our wives. We even trained their asses because not only did we like a good ass fucking, so did our brides. We all especially liked fucking our own bride at the same time.

This was something we had yet to do with Mary, but I’d hoped to accomplish that today. Not now.

Now I had to go to Butte to get my wife.

“We took care of Benson’s men, sent one back to him alive with a message.”

The heavy gallop of a horse came toward us.

Parker jumped from his horse before it even stopped, searching the covered porch. “Mary’s in Butte?”

“Shit, yes,” I muttered. The other men who stayed behind all knew she’d gone and one of them must have told Parker.

“Fuck. Butte?” Parker shouted.

“Mason was telling us she told him she was going to go train her ass and needed privacy. Next time he checked on her, she was gone.”

Parker stilled, eyes wide. “That woman, when we find her, is going to find out all the ways we can train that ass.”

He put his hat back on his head and walked over to his horse, grabbing the reins.

“Quinn went after her. Once we knew she was gone, he followed. But it’s a big town and I can’t say if he’ll find her easily.”

“Oh, we know where to find her,” I muttered. I took the steps two at a time and practically ran to the stable.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MARY

“Are you sure you should be doing this?” Miss Rose asked.

I was once again in the kitchen of The Briar Rose sitting across from the woman who was more mother than madame. This time I wasn’t an innocent virgin, eager for some titillation. A week with Sully and Parker had stripped all innocence from me and I was glad for it. I loved everything I did with them, that they did to me, that they commanded I do to myself. I even liked the dratted ass plugs.

“It’s my fault that Sully is in danger. He doesn’t want to be another target, whether it’s gossip or rumors or bullets. He just wants… quiet.”

“It’s not your fault,” she countered as she stood to fill her mug from the coffeepot on the back of the stove. When she held the pot toward me, I shook my head. I was jittery enough as it was. Voices drifted from the floor above. It was early afternoon and while everyone was awake, no one moved too quickly. Nora had come down for a cup of coffee, said hello, then left. The butcher had delivered a box of stew meat for the evening meal, but otherwise, we had the kitchen to ourselves.

“Benson would have gone after whatever man you married.”

I frowned. “That doesn’t make it any better. Whomever I married—if it had been Parker instead—would have been Benson’s nemesis.”

“You don’t think Sully can defend himself?”

“I do.” Both my men could defend themselves, and me. “But while they went out there to protect me from those… goons Mr. Benson sent, it doesn’t solve the problem. He’ll just keep sending more until one of them gets lucky and kills Sully.”

I felt sick just saying those words.

Miss Rose reached across the table and took my hand. “You really love them, don’t you?”

I laughed, but sadly. “I’ve known them a week. They kept me naked almost that entire time!”

Miss Rose didn’t look horrified, only humored. “What’s wrong with that? It sounds romantic to me.”

“Romantic? Do you have any idea what they did to me?”

She smiled, shook her head. “Oh, I have some idea. I’m sure you can give Chloe some lessons now.”

I tugged my hand away and folded both of them in my lap. “Yes, I suppose I could. But love? I’m not sure what I feel is that. I don’t want anything to happen to them. I don’t want anyone else to have them. I want to… please them.”

Miss Rose laughed and lifted her coffee cup in the air as if to toast me. “Mary Sullivan, that’s love.”

I looked up at her hopefully. It was love? This… need to take care of them, to give them what they wanted? They’d said it was their privilege to protect me and I understood that now. It was my job as their wife to protect them when I could. Knowing what I did about Mr. Benson could protect Sully. I wanted him. Needed him.
Both
of them. But love? “Really?”

“Your mother, God rest her soul, would have told you just that. Your father, well, he’s a man and an idiot.”

Very wise words.

“And I have to face him. What time is it?”

“Half past two.”

I stood and carried my mug over to the sink. “He will be home at four, as usual, I’m sure. For once, I’m glad he’s so fastidious.”

“Until then, you’ll sit here and tell me about your men. I want to hear all the salacious details.”

PARKER

“Oh, you two have got your hands full with that bride of yours.”

Miss Rose stood at the back door of the brothel, not even allowing us to enter.

“Let us in and we’ll take her off
your hands
,” I told her.

We’d ridden hard from Bridgewater and went straight to the brothel. Oddly, it was her shelter in this crazy town and I knew she’d be safe there. Elsewhere, I had my doubts. But Benson didn’t want her. Well, he wanted her, but only if she was marriageable. That wasn’t happening any time soon.

“She’s not here. That’s why I’m not letting you in. I’m saving you time.”

“Shit,” Sully swore, walked in a circle. “She’s gone to Benson.”

I was ready to go over to his house, his mine or wherever the fuck his was and rip his head off with my bare hands. If he touched or even breathed near Mary….

“Benson? No.”

I frowned, confused. “Then where the fuck is she?”

Miss Rose raised one delicate eyebrow.

“Pardon the language, but we need to find her so we can spank her ass.”

She smiled then, looked between the two of us.

“We’ll make her safe,
then
we’ll spank her ass,” Sully clarified.

“She went to see her father,” Miss Rose said. “She knows something, gentlemen. She refused to tell me what it was, but it was something that will ensure Benson leaves you alone.”

I was so frustrated I wanted to throttle her for the answer, but this woman, hell, I saw Mary in her. Or her in Mary. Stubborn, headstrong, smart. Fucking logical.

“Then why go to her father? The man couldn’t care less about her.”

She put a hand to her chest. The layers of white ruffles were almost blinding in the sunshine.

“She wouldn’t tell me. But Millard’s house is easy to find. Just go to Granite Street. His is the biggest.”

MARY

“Hello, Father.”

My father looked up from his newspaper and his eyes widened in surprise. He wore his usual black suit, crisp and sharp at any time of day. His gray hair was neatly combed, his jowls still covered his shirt collar. Sitting as he was in his usual wingback chair, his rotund physique was even more noticeable. Perhaps it was my perception of him that changed, being with Sully and Parker, two well-muscled giants. “Mary.”

His tone was neither angry nor happy. He was neutral, as usual. I brought about no inspiration in the man, no happiness. In fact, the only time I’d seen him show true emotion toward me was anger when he’d discovered I’d married without his consent.

“Where is your husband? Don’t tell me he abandoned you.”

Oh. There was the Gregory Millard I knew. I stood before him just as I had all my life. First with a nanny, standing in my nightgown and robe bidding him goodnight. Then older, with my tutor reciting what I learned that day. I always stood feet together, back perfectly straight, chin up, hands clasped together in front of me.

It wasn’t comfortable. It was practically subservient, but it was familiar. If I was confronting him, I wanted to be at ease, at least as much as possible. That was why I chose this time of day. He always read the newspaper before dinner was served at five in the dining room. He did not have a meeting, did not entertain. This was his time to read the news. Nothing else. Except today, when I would confront him for the first time.

“You didn’t think he would have lingered longer than a week? I am a copper heiress, after all. If I remember correctly, you told me I was the richest woman in the entire Territory.”

“You would still be if I hadn’t struck you from my will.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. Perhaps it was more by his haste as stripping me from his life than his ruthlessness. I’d always had hope that maybe he’d change his ways, turn into a kind and attentive father. Loving. That would never happen and I had to let go of that. I had Sully and Parker and they were enough. They gave me everything I needed and it was nothing money could buy. It was love.

“Then it’s a good thing that I’m not here for money.”

He folded his paper precisely and placed it in his lap. “Why are you here? You’ve made your bed.”

Yes, yes, I had. I thought of our bed at Bridgewater, Sully and Parker asleep on either side of me. I was naked and both of them had a hand on me, even in sleep. I was sheltered and protected, cherished… and yes, loved. I just hadn’t known what love was before I met them, before Miss Rose helped me see what it really was. With a father like the man before me, I’d never known.

“I’m here about Mr. Benson.”

“Oh?”

“You are aware of his reasons for marrying me?”

“Of course.” He sighed. “Mary, I do run the largest copper mine in the world. Your assumptions belittle your intelligence, not mine.”

His insults were not very subtle, but I pushed through, for this was important to me. To Sully. To all three of us.

“Are you aware that the Beauty Belle mine is dry?”

He laughed and shook his head, admonishing me and shaming me at the same time. “Dry? Impossible.”

I would not be cowed. “Then why did Mr. Benson want to marry me?”

“We are merging the two mines’ businesses to reduce employees and to improve efficiencies. We do not need two medical stations or food depots if we are one organization.”

That was a sound business idea and I could offer no argument.

“Whose medical station would close?”

“His, for it is smaller.”

I nodded slowly, relaxed my hands. I was right. My father was smart, but Mr. Benson was more cunning. “And whose food depot will close?”

“His, for it is further from the train depot. It will cost less to deliver the goods to mine.”

“And what would Mr. Benson gain from this arrangement?”

“Besides you?” He looked at me directly, his gray eyes piercing.

“Besides me, what does Mr. Benson gain from your business arrangement?”

“We each gain twenty percent share in the other’s mine interests.”

I nodded my head as if thinking about his words. It was as clear as crystal, at least for me. “And when you die, who would inherit?”

“If you had wed Mr. Benson, you would have.”

“Meaning, he would have inherited it all since a wife can hold no property. A wife’s worldly possessions belong to her husband. I’d say the arrangement is quite in Mr. Benson’s favor.”

“Explain your insinuations again?”

“They are not insinuations, they are fact.” It was hearsay, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “The Beauty Belle is dry, meaning you would a gain twenty percent share in nothing. As for Mr. Benson, he would gain a twenty percent share in your mine, which is thriving. You don’t need any shares of his company, for you do not face bankruptcy and are quite solvent, but in this arrangement, all you would lose is that interest in
your
company.”

“How would you know something like this? Who told you? You can’t know of business dealings like this!”

My father tossed the paper on the floor, pushed to his feet and stepped closer. His gait was slow, for he was grossly obese and his gout was surely inflamed again.

“You forget, Father. You are the one who had me educated so well.”

“I don’t believe a word you say.” His face turned mottle red and he used the back of his hand to wipe spittle from his chin.