Beautiful Whispers (Ausmor Plantation Book 1 - Romance/Suspense) (8 page)

I followed Jane. Couldn’t help it. Couldn’t let him alone with her. Had to protect her. Why did she still fall for Byron’s act? I had to keep reminding myself she didn’t know him like I did. Didn’t remember what he did that night. And I couldn’t be the one to tell her. She’d have to remember on her own.

Never knew why people liked Bashwells. 250 acres of cold stone, timid trees and greedy bastards.
Standing in the sculpted bushes, I stared in the twenty foot tall windows - a bitch to clean as I remember. Hated being back. Looked exactly the same.

Covil Bashley never allowed holidays. Byron followed in his father’s footsteps. I hadn’t changed – still l
ooking in like I used to do as a kid. The servants’ children were never allowed in the house during one of the parties. Afraid we’d mess with the delicate gold threaded doilies or piss on the Italian rugs.

I used to wait for Jane outside. She’d slip out whenever she had enough of the bullshit and was free of the prying eyes and whispers and jealousies. Why everyone wanted to either be or be with
Byron I would never understand.

I didn’t have to worry about being seen.
Being the son of a maid and gardener, invisibility was a birthright around the rich. Look at all of them. Hundreds of fake smiles and faker laughs. Shiny dresses and tuxedos. The rich hoping to get richer.

Jane and I used to make fun of them when we were kids. We had to hide from my mother though. Born into this world,
she became a maid out of circumstance but never lost her respect for the upper-class.

“There she is.”
I didn’t pay attention to Jane holding onto Byron. I could see her boredom. Her smile might indicate that she’s completely enthralled with whatever Senator such and such is spewing along with his gum chewing arm candy, but Jane’s slight glances around the room meant she was planning her escape.

Luckily, I knew
all the secret entrances. I made my way into the kitchen around chain smoking maids and bored chauffeurs and waited in the small dining room no one ever used. I pushed the revolving door open a slit until I spotted Jane.

The Bashleys still ha
d their servants dress the part. All white and black and curtseying to Byron and his guests and bullshit. I only did that once when my mother demanded it. After that, I made sure to keep busy doing something else. Bow to that man? Never.

I push
ed the door open wider, waited until Byron looked around hoping to entrap more followers and waved my arm. Jane saw me. Her eyes widened, and then she smiled. She whispered to Byron and slipped away. That bastard didn’t even look to see where she was going. Narcissistic prick.

I
held the door open to Jane as she slipped into the dining room.

“
Thanks for the save. My god the rich are dull.”

I nod
ded.

I hugged Alexander. He was taken back at first but held onto me.

“You saved me from the dullest of the dull.” The
parties were all the same. Damn, Alexander looked good. My hesitation from before vanished. Maybe it was just nerves or the high octane punch. I asked for the meek punch, but I think the waiter was too busy virtually undressing Byron that he handed me the extra juiced one.

“You wanna get out of here?”

I did. More than anything. So much smiling made my jaw ache, but I shouldn’t abandon Byron. But maybe Byron was habit. Maybe he was my past. We weren’t together. I had to take a chance. My blood surged. Part of me told myself to do it. Do it before I lost my nerve. “Let’s go.”

I really wasn’t sure that I actually said the words out loud until Alexander smiled and took my hand.

I didn’t regret it. I didn’t want to take the words back. I should have done it a long time ago. Byron was my past. Alexander’s hand in mine felt right. Meant to be. I followed him through the dining room and kitchen and out the back door.

At the side of Bashwells, Byron stopped us. “Why are you leaving with him?”

Alexander stepped forward.

Byron ignored him. “I’m not addressing you.”

“You’re not addressing me? Are you serious?” Alexander squeezed my hand and started to walk past Byron.

Byron stepped in front of us. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

“Did you ask her?” Alexander looked at me. “Cause she said she wanted to leave.”

Byron stared at me. “You’re not going to do this again. Not with him.
You’re not going to embarrass me with some common slut’s son.”

Alexander let go of my hand and lunged at Byron. Unfortunately, Byron wasn’t alone. He
’d brought his security. As big as refrigerators, they didn’t even allow Alexander to get within three feet of Byron. They pushed Alexander to the ground. He landed in a pile of slush.

“Byron, stop this,” I said, knowing he’d never refuse me.

Byron coldly looked at me. “Take Miss Austen back to the party.”

More minions moved around Byron and grabbed me. “Let go of me.”

Alexander jumped up. “Get your hands off her!”

Two men grabbed Alexander as another punched him in the stomach.

“Byron! Please don’t hurt him.”

Byron
motioned for his goons to take me away like I was a wadded up napkin. They continued to hit Alexander, and Byron smiled at me. “Don’t worry, Jane. You won’t even remember this.”

I woke up slowly and didn’t know where I was for a minute. The alien mobile above my bed swayed. Byron sat on the bed beside me holding Fanny Dingo.

“Byron? What are you doing in…” I looked down. It wasn’t morning. I still
wore the Bashwells party gown. Images focused. “Alexander?” I tried to get up, but Byron stopped me.

“Just relax. Everything’s fine.”

The images sped up. Alexander and I at the party. Byron’s minions. One of them hit Alexander. They took me back to the party. That’s all I could remember. “Where’s Alexander?”

“He’s fine,” Byron said as he pushed my hair back out of my face. “Everything’s fine.
Don’t waste your worry on him.”

“Why do you hate him?”

Byron didn’t say anything. He stared at me with a coldness that made me uneasy.

My first love. The one I trusted with all…most of my secrets. I used to trust him more.
“You said I wouldn’t remember.”

This affected him. He blinked faster. He glanced around as if waiting to find a handy explanation lying about. “Everything’s fine.”

I pushed his hand away from me. “Stop saying that.” I lunged out of bed and reached for the door.

He stepped in front
of me. “It’s okay. Everything’s fine. You need to rest.”

I
turned around and walked to the bathroom door. It was Jack n’ Jill, so I could escape through to Karenda’s room.

But he beat me to that by jumping
over my bed and blocking the escape.

“What are you doing?”

“Jane.” He raised his hands as if to surrender.

I looked at Fanny Dingo who busied herself with yet another new toy.
Drama didn’t impress my cat. I relaxed a bit since she could sense danger better than I could.

“I had to do it.”

“What?”

“I won’t allow you to get involved with that servant.” Byron was nervous which wasn’t like him. “Just trust me on this.”

“And who is it that has me trapped in my room? Who is it that had his goons do god knows what with Alexander? Who dragged me away like I was some misbehaving child?”

“You can’t embarrass
me like that. You have to grow up, Jane. Your actions have consequences for the Austens and Morgans.”

I la
ughed. “That’s rich. My actions? How many girls have you slutted it up with? Did you for once think how that affected me?”

Byron’s face reddened, but I could tell it was from embarrassment rather than anger. He looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.” He threw himself on the sofa. “He swore that’s what would happen.”

I didn’t go to him. That was the usual arrangement. He pissed me off; I threw a hissy. He acted contrite; I forgot everything.

He glanced up at me every now and then
waiting for me to comply. I kept my distance. I could have lunged for the door, but I wanted to see how far he’d go. When we were kids, we could talk. Really talk. We knew each other better than anyone else did. With the end of childhood came the end of truth. I rarely glimpsed his true self anymore.

“Our families always wanted us to get together…” He sighed. “You know that. It is expected. Meant to be.”

I shifted positions. It had always been what I wanted. What I planned. Until recently.

“Everyone except my father…” he could barely spit out the words as the memories stewed. “He hated me. He knew I’d hurt you. He thought you were this precious…” Byron didn’t continue.

“I remember.” Covil Bashley was as warm as a corpse frozen in a thousand year old ice chunk. For some reason, he tolerated me. I never knew why. I suspected it was something to do with my mother - sympathy for what happened to her when I was six. I don’t know. Or maybe Grand Maeve. I shuddered. I couldn’t think of Grand Maeve with Byron’s father. Surely there were a few men missing from her bucket list.

“He knew how I felt about you,” Byron
glanced around as if he wanted to ensure he wouldn’t be held accountable for anything confessed. “But he hated me. Told me that on a daily basis.”

I nodded. He test
ed my resolve. I held my ground and tried to act nonchalant. I pushed my hair back behind my ears and straightened out my dress - just a ruse to stop my blood pumping through my veins at breakneck speed. I needed Byron to tell me. I needed Byron to be who I remembered.

He
concentrated on my alien mobile as if looking through a smudged department store window to purchase just the right words. “He swore I’d hurt you. I’d destroy you if you were with me. On his death bed, he could barely talk. He motioned for me to come to his side. When I leaned over and heard his whispers. I thought…” Byron jumped up and walked to the window. “I hoped he would say something. Anything that would make up for him being the nastiest piece of...” He stopped.

Byron never swore. It was a point of honor with him. He
turned around and faced me. “Do you know what he said?”

I shook my head.

“He said, ‘let Jane go. She’s too good for you. You ruin everything you touch.’ Then he gasped. The doctor rushed over and pronounced him.”

My resolve shrunk
. I wanted to go to him. To tell him it was okay. To run my fingers through his dark hair like I used to.

“I try to stay away from you. I
leave. I—”

“Sleep with half the town?
”

Byron hesitated
then nodded. “Maybe so you’ll move on. Forget about me. If I hurt you now maybe you’ll stop thinking about me.”

I frowned. Byron
timed his words for the appropriate ambush. He wasn’t clinically a narcissist – too clever for that – but even the wiliest politician envied his self-absorption. He sounded too rehearsed.

“Where’d you hear that?”

He shrugged. “A shrink.”

I nodded. “Uh huh.”

“It doesn’t make the words less true. The thought of you with someone else.”

“You mean Alexander.”

Byron curled his lip as if he could taste Bitty’s rubber hosed lasagna. “You can save me. You always save me from myself. That’s one of the reasons people like me. They figure if Miss Jane Eva Austen can love me, then I couldn’t be all bad.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with me, does it?”

He smiled his devilish grin, and confident Byron returned. “Miss Fanny Dingo likes me.”

“
She likes stuffed animal guts.”

“Mrs. Kiness likes me.”

“She’s going for shots tomorrow.”

He grinned. “Name one member of your family
who doesn’t find me irresistible.”

Easy. “Aunt Bitty.”

“That’s not fair. She hates everyone.” He moved closer to me.

I held up my hand. “Tell me about Alexander.”

That stopped him in his tracks. He shifted from seduction to irritation. “What is it about him? He’s the son of a—”

“I don’t care.” I heard the words and was proud of myself for saying them out
loud. And even prouder for thinking and believing them. I didn’t care about some antiquated society rule or town gossip.

“You need to stay away from him. I won’t warn you again.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not some minion you can order around. I know you, Byron. You can’t intimidate me.”

He rolled his eyes. “
Why? It works on everyone else.”

“Cause I know your secrets.”

He paled a bit, and I wondered if that was really true. I got a chill. Did I know Byron? What had he done to Alexander? I turned to leave, but this time Byron didn’t stand in my way.

“You don’t know him like I do,” Byron said. “He’s not what you think he is.”

I stopped with my hand still on the door handle and peered over my shoulder. “Who is?”

I ran down the stairs and through the house.
Darkness peered in through the windows. I wasn’t sure if tourists still lurked. No, the house hours had changed closer to Christmas. We closed at 4 pm. Gave people time to get home or to hotels before the roads froze.

I thought some
staff leapt out of my way, but I ran by them so fast they blurred. No one stopped me or said my name. I continued through the house, in through the dining room and hallway until I stood outside Alexander’s door.

I leaned in close to hear him on the other side. Nothing. I rose my ha
nd to knock, but my stomach churned. I knew. Something was wrong. I quickly grabbed the door handle and turned it, rushed inside and closed the door. He wasn’t in bed. He wasn’t at his desk. Was he even here? I breathed a little easier. Probably still had Mrs. Kiness to do lists. She was famous for them. I walked to his bed and sat down glad my terror hadn’t been realized. Then I saw him.

Clumped on the floor of his bathroom, Alexander lied in a heap. I raced to him and slipped on blood. I found his face or the bloody mess of it and felt for a pulse.
Steady. I jumped up ready to race through the house to find Mrs. Kiness. She’d know what to do. I didn’t do terror or emergencies. No one had me on their call list.

Alexander
grabbed me. I didn’t know he was conscious because both of his eyes swelled shut. He whispered to me, and I knelt down to hear him.

“
Jane, are you alright?”

Those words brought tears to my eyes. “Am I alright?” This man. This beautiful man bleeding and half dead on the bathroom floor
unable to see or move, and he thought of me. “Yes, I’m okay. What can I do? Tell me what to do.”

His swollen lips moved, and I had to
lean to hear him. “Mrs. Kiness.” Was all I could make out.

“I’ll get her.”

He grabbed me again. “Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head. Not physically. Alexander strengthened his grip
, and I realized I hadn’t said anything. He couldn’t see that I’d shaken my head. “No. He didn’t hurt me. I’m fine. I’ll be right back. I’ll get Mrs. Kiness.”

I raced out of Alexander’s room and
almost flattened Evan in the hallway.

“Jane, what is it?” He looked down and saw the blood on my hands. “What happened?”

“Alexander. Byron had these men at the party.”

Evan nodded as if he understood and ra
ced into Alexander’s room.

Evan would take care of everything. He always did. I just had to seal the deal and get Mrs. Kiness. Those two could organize the world’s problems during
a commercial break and still have time to go to the bathroom and make green tea.

When
I returned with Mrs. Kiness, Evan had already gotten Alexander into bed and changed the bloody clothes.

Mrs. Kiness gasped quickly
, recovered and went to work. I stood back as she ordered her own friendly minions to get emergency supplies. I could imagine her as a wartime nurse wearing a huge skirt with plenty of pockets and steadily gripping the hand of a soldier about to be de-legged. I stayed out of the way as Mrs. Kiness and Evan fixed things.

Alexander reached his hand out.

“Jane,” Evan gently said. “He needs you.”

I grabbed
Alexander’s cold hand. “I’m right here. You’re going to be fine.” I looked for confirmation at both Mrs. Kiness and Evan. Evan nodded, but worry hid behind Mrs. Kiness’ eyes. She knew then what I failed to grasp at the time: nothing would be the same. Threats lurked, secrets longed to be told and my choice about who I wished to spend time with would change everything forever.