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Chapter Thirty-Eight
Masonreviewedthesecurityfootage for the third time. It was there, the woman had slipped something inside Emmaline’s stocking. He couldn’t tell what it was, but was determined to take possession of the item at once.
Three minute later, he stalked into the bridal suite. “Hand it over, or I’ll strip you down and find it myself.”
“I gave it to Cate.”
“What was it?”
“You don’t know?”
“Stop behaving like an insolent child and answer the question.”
“A note wrapped around a pen.”
“What did it say?”
“I didn’t have the chance to read it before you barged back in.”
“Liar! You were in that room for hours before I returned for you.”
He pulled out his cell and punched in a number. “Drug the sister. I want her brought here tonight.”
“No! Leave her alone. I went along with the wedding like you asked.”
“Give me what I want now if you don’t want additional harm to come to Victoria Mae. My men follow my orders within seconds, so it’s likely too late for me to stop the drug from paralyzing her responses making her oh so compliant, but I can keep my men from taking advantage of the situation, and I might even be persuaded to let her finish high school before I bring her into the dormitory. It’s entirely up to you, Emmaline.”
“It was a handgun. I gave it to Cate Garrison.”
Gavinscannedthedarknessfrom his perch high on a hill outside of the perimeter of the Ricketts Estate. The place was a fortress. Over one hundred acres on its own and surrounded by thousands of acres of state park and game lands.
Nothing was happening. Claude Devereaux would want to steal away with his bride. Gavin tried to put himself in Mason’s place and think like him, he likely anticipated the possibility of an ambush and had prepared for it. Maybe he would send a decoy vehicle to distract them until he could get the couple off the property. Or he might have prepared a room or cabin on the estate where the bride and groom could spend their first night as husband and wife. That was the type of thing he’d come to expect from his adversary. The invitation to the wedding had been Mason’s way of showing them he was in control and wasn’t afraid of the Garrisons despite their wealth and connections.
Seeing Emmaline Swisher in that wedding gown had twisted his gut into tight knots and thrown him off his game, but they would find a way to rescue their client’s daughter. She wouldn’t leave the property with her new husband if he had anything to day about it. Now that they knew what the Continental Alliance was really up to, he hoped to have the place crawling with feds by morning, but they needed more to make that happen.
Grayson had sent Jenna and Grace back to the lodge in the Bronco and instructed them to bring their father up to speed and to call Wade and let him know what was going on. In the meantime, they needed to find a way to get Emmaline to safety.
Then they’d tackle what to do about Samantha and Cate, but without solid information to go on, all he had was hunches and speculation concerning their whereabouts.
Leaves rustled nearby. Looking up he saw Grayson approaching. “There’s commotion on the other side of the manor. A white limousine pulled up, and the driver went inside. Could be a decoy. Or it could be the real thing.”
MasonledEmmalineintothe honeymoon suite where her nightclothes were laid out across the bed for her. “Get ready Mrs. Devereaux. We’ll be sharing a cigar in my study, and then the mister will be up to join you.”
The poor thing was shaking like a leaf. “Sit a moment. Have a glass of wine to calm your nerves. I’ll have one brought up.”
She didn’t answer, so he lifted her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. “Silence. I like that. Show your spouse that same respect, and perhaps he’ll come to love you in time.” He turned to leave, but stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “I won’t keep him long, dear. Have no fear, you won’t be spending your wedding night alone.”
When the time came, he instructed Dennis to show Claude Devereaux to the second floor suite and to post a guard at the door. He’d secured the windows and made sure the alarms were functioning properly. The newlyweds wouldn’t want any interruptions on their first night together.
If he had his way, he’d go find Katarina and show her some attention, but since Gavin’s little tramp had armed Emmaline, there was now a gun in dormitory, and he needed to see to it the problem was remedied before he could enjoy any downtime with his wives. He’d brought Vanessa back to the dorm this afternoon, but Brittany remained in solitary. By the end of the night, she should be sufficiently broken. He doubted she’d have the audacity to defy him again. If she did, he’d come up with a more severe form of punishment. It was for her own good. She couldn’t be allowed to sin against God by disobeying her husband, God’s ordained authority over her.
He’d make sure she understood that she was his property and had no rights of her own. In the end, she’d be grateful to have a man who was willing to step up and make the decisions for her. A real man.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Samanthadeflatedwhenthebig man showed up in her room. There wasn’t much chance of her taking him on. David might’ve taken on Goliath with a sling-shot and a stone, but she didn’t even have that much. She couldn’t distract him with conversation since he wasn’t much of a talker.
Maybe if she could convince him to let her leave, that would work, but she had a feeling he was loyal to Mason. But it was worth a try. “You know, there might be a way out of this for you.”
