Tudor Redemption (Tudor Dynasty Book 4)

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All
characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.

Acknowledgements

My
heartfelt thanks all my readers. Without any of you I’d have no one to share my
overactive imagination with. Thank you for taking a chance on me.

Thanks
to A. Kelleye for holding my hand when I went into meltdown mode with this
project. I’m sure you got sick of reading portions or hearing me whine when I
couldn’t get a scene to go exactly as I planned. For that you rock big time in
my book!

To
R. Waring and T. Bower for their honest emotion and comments on this book.
Tudor Redemption ended up being one of the most emotional books for me to
write, along with being one of my favorites. An author knows they’ve done their
job when both your editor and proofreader tell you it caused them to shed
tears. Thank you both for your honesty. And yes, I can’t read it without it
jerking the same out of me.

Finally
to “the wandering troubadour” - thanks for reading this a gazillion times and
being my sounding board on a variety of issues. You’re such an inspiration.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Chapter
One

Women...I’m
surrounded by them. My daughters, mother, sisters, sisters-in-law. You get the
idea. Most for the good. Some not. The ex-wife from hell and a Stephen King
novel rolled into one, who pops in and out of my life, and that of our daughter’s
when it suits her. But let’s not dwell on that storm cloud...she’ll do what she
usually does anyway.

This
all started with Alana Archambault. I had first met Alana, a beautiful young
French woman, the summer before at a European concert of my not-yet
brother-in-law, Daniel Kennedy. It was in Vienna, one of my most favorite
places on earth. Daniel is a classical violinist, who also has dared to cross
over into the dark side of rock n’ roll. Whatever or however he does it, it
works. Then again, anything Daniel seems to do is well received. Especially by
the hordes of women who follow his career.

Though
I didn’t know Alana was Daniel’s sister the first time we met, it wouldn’t have
mattered. It was an instant attraction. I fell madly in love with her. Hard and
fast.

I
saw this gorgeous, dark haired beauty who looked like a model. Upon being
introduced and spending the evening at Daniel’s concert, I thought the
attraction was mutual. It was...just not entirely the same way. I should have
recognized the way her eyes lit up when she heard who I was, and what my new
business endeavor was as not only a producer, but a manager.

But
I didn’t. At that point, the only thing that mattered was scratching an itch.
Getting this hot thing in bed and burying my cock as far as I could into her.
It’d been a long time. A marriage that ended in a horrid divorce had been
enough to put a halt to sex in any fashion.

Sex.
That was Alana’s favorite way to get her way, to make-up after a tiff. Yeah,
make-up sex with her was scorching hot. The woman was a non-stop sex train. All
she had to do was touch me, and I got hard. Two minutes later, we’d be fucking
each other hard and furious.

Then,
after I asked her to marry me, things slowly began to change...

This
is where it all begins, though not at all how it ends...

****

Stepping
out into an unusually warm, spring, Seattle day, I waved at the black SUV that
came whipping up beside me. The window rolled down, and I peered in at my
youngest daughter Courtney’s smiling face.

“Need
a ride old man?” she asked sticking her tongue out, giggling.

“No
thanks. My sweet, mature daughter is supposed to be meeting me.”

Courtney
rolled out of the vehicle, taking one of my bags. I lifted them both into the
back before settling into the front passenger seat.

She
leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before maneuvering her way back into the
airport traffic.

“Thanks
for picking me up, Court.”

“No
problem, Daddy. I got the boat in the water so we can sail.”

“Thank
you for doing that. Have you taken her out?”

“Uncle
Amadeus came and we took her out together. He said since you’d had a list of
things you wanted fixed or looked at, it would be better if he came along.”

“Good.
I take it everything met with his approval?” My youngest brother Amadeus was
also an expert sailor. The two of us had been sailing these waters since we
were boys with our father. Now, my girls were carrying on the tradition.

“Yes.
We had a great day. Though you know uncle Amadeus—he always thinks he’s got the
faster boat.”

“He
wishes.”

We
both laughed at that thought. Amadeus had always been competitive in everything
he did. Including sailing.

“Has
anyone heard from your grandmother?”

“Grace?
She’s here. Peter too. They got in over the weekend. They’re staying at Uncle Amadeus’s
place in Bellevue.”

“Courtney,
what have I told you about calling your grandmother by her first name. We’ve
been over this a thousand times. It’s not polite.”

“It
beats calling her Grandmother like she insists, but I get what you’re saying.
How about Granny Grace when she’s around?” She giggled.

I
had to chuckle, imagining my mother’s face at being called Granny. “Does she
know when I’m due in?”

“Nope,
Britt and I are playing dumb. We thought you’d like to acclimate Alana before
she met Granny.”

“I’ve
got a twenty that says you don’t have the nerve to call her that to her face.”

“Deal!
You’re so easy, Daddy.”

“Don’t
bet on it.” I looked away as she began to merge onto the freeway. Still hard
for me to get used to them driving.

“Dad.
Daddy? Where are you?”

“Sorry.
Tired, I suppose.”

“Liar.
Alana will be fine. No one’s going to pounce on her like they did Daniel.”

“Where’s
your sister. Working?”

“Of
course. But she put in to get a four-day weekend for the family bash.”

“Good.
I’ve missed you two.”

“Uh,
we’ve been right here. It’s you who keeps jetting off to wherever.”

“That’s
over.”

Court
giggled.

“How
did you get to be so smart?” I asked her.

“Had
a great teacher.” She giggled again, pulling into the condo’s garage. “And I
observe a lot.”

“Now
that I can believe.”

She
parked in the assigned space and shut off the engine. “Here we are.”

We
grabbed my bags and headed toward the elevators. When we reached the condo
door, I took my stuff to deposit in my bedroom.

When
I returned, Court was sitting in a chair texting.

“You’d
better not be texting everyone in the family.”

“I
only told Britt.”

“Good.
I don’t need Granny Grace all in a tizzy and in my business.”

She
snorted, not looking up from her phone. “Yeah, she’d do that.”

“Who
are you texting now, Court? It’s really rude to do that while talking to me,
and besides, I just got home. I’d like a little one-on-one time with my
daughters.”

“Sorry.
It’s just Jake.”

“Jake?
Who’s Jake?” On second thought, please don’t tell me. I don’t need to know.

“He’s
sort of my boyfriend.”

“How
are you a sort of a boyfriend?”

“We
hang out a lot. Talk on the phone, Facetime.”

“Where
did you meet this Jake?”

“School.”

“What
is this Jake studying?” I walked into the kitchen to grab a beer. I so wasn’t
ready for the boyfriend stuff. This was supposed to be about initiating my fiancé
into the family.

“He’s
pre-med.”

“Really?
He’s going to be a doctor?”

“A
vet, Daddy.” She giggled. Courtney had always been a chatterbox and a giggler.
Britt, her sister? Complete opposite. Quiet and serious. That change didn’t come
about until her mother left—no, make that abandoned—her and her sister. Along
with me.

“Nothing
wrong with being a vet, Court. Am I going to meet this Jake?”

“Yes.
He’s coming to the party.”

“Good.
I’ll be sure to sit him down and reinforce the rules for dating my baby girl.”

“Daddy!”

She
sat and answered a text, obviously from this Jake dude while I wandered over to
the bank of windows and stared out at Puget Sound.

“Daddy,
do you mind if I go out with Jake?”

“Sure.
No need for you to hang out here.”

“It’s
just Jake’s schedule isn’t always very flexible.”

“Go.”

“You
sure?”

“Yes,
really.”

The
next thing, I felt her pecking my cheek, squealing, and skipping down the hall
to her room. I continued my vigil over the city, waiting for her to leave.

A
few minutes later, I heard the front door open. “Bye, Daddy. I won’t be too
late.”

“Have
fun.”

As
soon as the door slammed shut, I fished my phone out of my pocket. I scrolled
through for calls or messages.

Swallowing
the last of the brew, I went back into the kitchen in search of another and for
something to eat. Nothing appealing to me, I grabbed a bottle and headed to the
bedroom to unpack and get a shower.

Not
knowing what time my oldest got off work, I sent her a text. Brittney was
majoring in international marketing and had huge ambitions of securing a job in
a major European city, preferably London.

Sorry, Dad. Don’t
get off until store closes.

She
worked at one of the major fashion retailers when she wasn’t in school. Her way
of keeping herself in the latest fashion.

No problem. See
you later.

Unpacking
took no time. I grabbed stuff for the bathroom after putting everything else
away. As I was halfway across the bedroom, my phone rang. I let it, not wanting
to quit what I was doing. Alana could wait. Everyone else could as well, for
that matter.

Angus.
Courtney must have had a weak moment and called him. No telling what she’d said
about Alana not coming with me. I held my breath and waited for him to answer.

“What’s
up, big brother?”

“You
tell me. I’m sure Court spilled the beans.”

“She
just said you’d come in a couple of days early. Alone.”

“Yeah.
Alana had some appointments, so rather than follow her around, I came on.”

“Whatever
you say. You want to go grab something to eat, have a few beers?”

“Naw,
think I’ll just hang around here for the night.”

“I’ll
be there in fifteen minutes. Have your butt ready.”

“Really,
Angus, I’m not in the mood to go out.”

“Okay,
fine. I’ll catch you when you’re not so whipped.”

He
hung up on me. Brat. That was the way it was with him. Have a problem, go out to
eat and have a few brews. Problems disappear.

About
an hour later, I heard someone pounding on the front door. Since you had to be
on an approved list to get into the building, past security, I knew it had to
be family.

I
opened the door, and there stood Angus. Pizza in one hand, beer in the other. “Hi
there, Mr. Damien. My name’s Suzi. I heard you were back. I thought you could
use some company,” he said in his best falsetto.

“Get
your ass in here before one of the neighbors hears you,” I hissed.

“Good
to see you too.”

I
grabbed the pizza from him and headed toward the kitchen. Just what I needed—a
clown. “Thanks for the food. I wasn’t looking forward to cooking.”

“No
problem. Girls working, I take it?”

“Britt
is. Courtney’s off with some guy she’s kinda seeing.”

“Where’s
Alana? Doesn’t your other half need to be here for you to throw her to the
wolves? Or did she get cold feet?”

I
grabbed two paper plates and thrust one at him. “Shut up.”

“Testy.
You two have a fight?”

“No,
Angus, we didn’t have a fight. Alana had a couple of appointments. I didn’t
feel like following her around, so I came on home. She’s due in Thursday.”

“Okay.
Like I said—testy.”

Shaking
my head, I grabbed a beer and a couple of slices. Who was I fooling? “Angus,
leave it alone. It is what it is. I don’t care to follow her around shopping.”

“It’s
going to get worse before the wedding, you know that?”

“And
she has all sorts of females to help her.”

“What’s
really going on, Dame?”

“Nothing.”

“That’s
not what Amadeus heard.”

“Wonderful.
My private life is out there for everyone’s amusement.”

“No,
it’s not. He called to check on Mary, and she said Danny about had a coronary
when he heard the two of you were getting married. Something about—”

“Shut
it. I don’t need to relive it third hand. I was there.”

“So,
it’s true?”

“What?
About Danny having a coronary? Yeah, he was close. Evidently, he thinks his
sister uses people to get what she can then leaves them high and dry.”

“And
of course, that’s not the case with you. You two are madly in love and engaged.
He’ll have to get used to it.”

“Yeah,
he will.” I took a huge bite off my slice and set it down. Damn, he was still
staring at me. “What?”

“Nothing.
I didn’t say a word.”

“You
don’t have to. I can tell you don’t approve either.”

“Who
else doesn’t approve?”

“Where
do I start? The girls are okay with Alana as long as I’m happy. Daniel, you
know about. Mary thinks I need to slow down. And now you.”