Leslie LaFoy Read Online Free PDF

just because there were a few wrinkles in Billy's life I didn't know about. Sorry, ma'am.”
    Lindsay gripped the Will and resisted the temptation to use it to slap the soft smile off Jackson Stennett's handsome face. “How much money do you need?” she demanded tightly.
    “A considerable sum.”
    “In dollars and cents, Mr. Stennett,” she snapped, maddened by the ease of his drawl and the nonchalance of his posture. “Exactly how much do you want from me?”
    “It's not yours to give, ma'am.”
    The words struck hard, all the more painful for the truth of it. She was penniless. Made absolutely destitute byher own father's decision. God, what was she going to do? Refusing to fall apart in front of Stennett, she fell back on what had always saved her. “I'm willing to negotiate.”
    “With what?” he countered, cocking an ebony brow. “I own everything, Miss MacPhaull. From the business holdings to the pots and pans in your kitchen.”
    Common sense said she couldn't afford to let him know how frightened she really was. Praying that he couldn't hear the thundering of her heart, she managed to ask coolly, “Is it your intention to throw us into the streets with only the clothes on our backs?”
    He gave her a quirked smile and a dismissive shrug. “Legally, I own your clothing, too.”
    Her composure crumbling, Lindsay bit her tongue and swallowed back hot tears of rage. And to think that she'd been so grateful for his presence when Richard had collapsed. What a silly little fool she'd been. He sat there looking at her, the light of satisfaction unmistakable in his eyes, and she wished him—with all her heart—to the fiery depths of hell.
    “Cat finally got your tongue?” he asked dryly.
    The carriage slowed and rolled to a stop and rather than risk the indignity of screeching and launching herself at him, Lindsay leaned forward, wrenched open the door, and all but leapt from the carriage. Whirling back, she met his gaze and declared hotly, “I'll bring the full weight of the law down on you, Stennett.”
    “The Will's ironclad; it can't be broken,” he countered calmly as he came off the seat and out the door. “If you don't believe me, you can ask Vanderhagen what he thinks.”
    She had no recourse but to retreat in the face of his advance. Wounded pride kept her from going any farther than absolutely necessary. It proved to be a shortsighted decision. Either she had to crane her head back to look up into his hat-shadowed face or stare at the wide expanse of his chest. Neither choice being acceptable, Lindsay opted for a calculated retreat. Turning on her heel, she said, “I'm sure you'll understand if I don't invite you in.”
    She had gotten only a single step away when he caught her arm and brought her back around to face him. Lindsay staredup at him, more stunned by the power in his gentle grasp than she was by his presumption to physically detain her.
    “If you hope to come out of this with anything,” he said slowly, “you'd best be looking for a way into my good graces.”
    Good graces? Just precisely what was he suggesting? That she prostitute herself? Never! She wrenched her arm from his grasp. “Do you know the meaning of the word ‘odious’?”
    His eyes glinted hard and bright. “Yes, I do. And it's the perfect word to describe this mess Billy left us. If he weren't already dead, I'd be thinking about killing him.” With a bare nod of his head, he indicated the house. “You see to the door and I'll see to getting Mr. Patterson through it.”
    Lindsay did as she was told, furiously trying to see a way out of the ugly maze that had so suddenly sprung up around her.
    H ER PACING IN THE UPSTAIRS HALLWAY was no less furious than her entrance into the house had been. And it produced no more answers than she'd had when she'd swept past Mrs. Beechum to lead Dr. Bernard and Jackson Stennett up to the guest room.
    The door opened and she froze as Stennett stepped out, his hat back in his hand