Lancelot's Lady (28 page)

Marvin stared at him, then gave a nod.
"
Woman troubles, huh?
"

"
You have no idea.
"

The next thing Jonathan knew, Marvin had confiscated the sofa, along with a glass of brandy, and was nodding and listening while Jonathan unleashed all of his frustration and resentment about his father.

"
I
'
ve spent so many years distancing myself from him, swearing I
'
d never be like him,
"
he said tiredly.
"
Now I don
'
t know what to do. Do I stay out of this mess and go back to life as I know it? Or do I confront him?
"

"
You say JT
'
s dying?
"
Marvin asked.

"
According to Rhianna, he
'
s got a brain tumor. Cancer of some kind.
"

"
How long?
"

"
She said he could go any time, although he was given six months. I just don
'
t understand why he thought sending her here would be a good idea. He knows how I feel about him.
"

Marvin swirled the amber liquid in his glass.
"
Seems to me that he
'
s reaching out to you. Why else would he send her here?
"

"
To make my life miserable.
"

"
From what I
'
ve seen, you
'
ve been anything but miserable these past few weeks.
"

Jonathan shrugged.
"
So we had some fun while she was here. It
'
s just a summer fling.
"

"
Really. Nothing more than that?
"

"
I don
'
t know,
"
Jonathan replied with a groan.
"
I
'
d like to think it
'
s just a
thing
, but I think it
'
s more.
"
He picked at a paint splotch on the hem of his shirt before looking at Marvin.
"
I want it to be more.
"

Marvin grinned and the wrinkles around his eyes doubled.
"
Finally. The truth is revealed.
"

"
What truth?
"

"
You love her, you idiot. The Missus and I have known that for the past week. It
'
s obvious.
"

Obviously not so obvious to me,
Jonathan surmised.

"
That
'
s what you two have been doing all day?
"
he asked Marvin.
"
Talking about me and Rhianna?
"

Marvin snorted.
"
What else is there to talk about?
"

"
You probably took bets too,
"
Jonathan grumbled.

The older man gave him an innocent look.
"
Now, Tyler, don
'
t be so cynical.
"
He paused, taking a long swig of brandy.
"
You can
'
t deny you have feelings for Rhianna.
"

Jonathan didn
'
t reply.

"
I think she has some pretty strong feelings for you,
"
Marvin said.
"
And they have nothing to do with JT sending her here.
"

"
But how do I know that? How can I know for sure that she didn
'
t come here to spy on me and report back to the old man?
"

"
Did you flat out ask her, then actually wait for an answer?
"

Jonathan stared at him.
"
I, uh…
"

"
Yeah, that
'
s what I thought.
"
Marvin let out a sigh.
"
Listen, Tyler, you
'
re like a son to me. If you want Rhianna, you have to fight for her.
"

"
I tried that with Sirena and I lost.
"

"
That one wasn
'
t worth fighting for. She had her own agenda.
"

Jonathan sighed.
"
Why did everyone see her for what she was except me?
"

"
Love is blind. And deaf and stupid.
"

Jonathan clinked his glass against Marvin
'
s.
"
You said it.
"

There was a long silence before either of them spoke.

Finally, Jonathan said,
"
So, are you going to tell me?
"

Marvin
'
s mouth curved into a smile.
"
I lost the bet. I thought it would take you longer to fall for Rhianna. I owe the Missus two weeks of laundry duty and cooking.
"

"
I didn
'
t
fall
for―
"
Jonathan grinned.
"
Okay, fine. I
'
ve fallen for Rhianna McLeod.
"

Now he just had to figure out how to get back up.

~ * ~

Rhianna stood on the balcony, a shawl draped over her shoulders. The morning air was chilly, an aftereffect of the previous night
'
s storm.

For a moment, her life flashed before her. Her childhood with her aunt and uncle. The foster homes she
'
d lived in. The abuse at the hands of Peter Waverley. The lonely years she
'
d spent in search of a family.

She gripped the railing.
"
All I want is someone to love. Someone who
'
ll love me back in return. Is that too much to ask for?
"

Didn
'
t she deserve to be happy?

Rhianna thought back to the conversation with Jonathan. He was angry at her mother, and rightly so it seemed. She
'
d realized something when they were discussing the possibility of JT
'
s affair with her mother. The first day she
'
d met JT Lance, he had slipped in and out of a fog. He
'
d called her
Anna
. The name hadn
'
t struck a chord with her until today.

When Aunt Madeleine had told her about her parents
'
, the older woman had referred to them as Susanna and Robert, but Aunt Madeleine had also mentioned that Rhianna
'
s father had called his wife by another name―a name he
'
d called her when they were high school sweethearts.
Anna.

"
Anna!
"
JT had said to Rhianna that first day.
"
You came back!
"

Rhianna had forgotten about that. Until today.

She slumped against the railing
.
"
Oh my God. Jonathan is right. My mother knew JT.
"

The question was, how well?

It certainly put everything into perspective. JT
'
s search for her and offer of a job. His confusion over Rhianna
'
s identity. The stunning resemblance she shared with the Lady in the Mist, the painting Jonathan had been inspired to create…

Rhianna gasped.
"
He painted her as a siren, a temptress, because of my mother.
"

The Lady in the Mist
was
her mother.

Everyone had told Rhianna how much she resembled the woman in the painting.

"
Jonathan sees it too,
"
she whispered.

That
'
s why he now viewed her as a temptress, as someone who had deceived him.

She groaned softly.
"
I finally have a chance at love and fate rips it away.
"

There was only one thing she could do now. Leave Angelina
'
s Isle.

But where would she go? She couldn
'
t return to Lance Manor. There was no way she could live there now that she knew the truth about JT and her mother, especially since JT would be a constant reminder of Jonathan.

I don
'
t know if it
'
s the truth though,
she thought.
Maybe there
'
s another explanation, one that isn
'
t so…destructive.

She sighed.
"
No, running away won
'
t solve anything.
"

She had to face JT Lance and find out once and for all what kind of relationship he and her mother had shared. If it was as Jonathan says, she would leave and never look back. But if there was even a remote chance at a plausible explanation, she owed it to JT to listen.

She shivered at the thought of an emotional confrontation, but it was time to put everything on the line.

What did she have to lose?

Everything.

Chapter 28

The speedboat skipped along the water and Winston watched the passing scenery like a hawk. There were few watercrafts in the area. That meant fewer witnesses.

He caught Saunders
'
eye and smiled.
"
Almost there?
"

"
Yeah. Another fifteen minutes. The dock is on the western side.
"

Saunders was steering the boat in the direction of a smaller island with a mildly hilly but lush landscape. The man had been quite accommodating. Winston now knew exactly how to operate the boat. The private airstrip with the waiting plane was a few miles west of Nassau. It would be easy to locate by following the coastline.

"
I take it you want me to bring you and Miss McLeod back to Nassau,
"
Saunders said over his shoulder.

"
That
'
s the plan,
"
Winston lied.
Bet you had no idea this would be a one-way trip for you.

Getting rid of Saunders was the only way he could guarantee his plan
'
s success.

"
Is the house on the beach?
"
he asked.

Saunders shook his head.
"
It
'
s not far in, but you won
'
t be able to see it.
"

Winston smirked.
"
Us showing up will be a surprise then.
"

Saunders gave him a worried look.
"
Gotta warn you. Tyler doesn
'
t like surprises. He
'
s a very private person.
"

"
Good thing I
'
m only here for Rhianna then.
"

Saunders left Winston to his thoughts and focused on steering the boat closer to the shore. As they passed around a spit of land, a wooden dock appeared.

"
Five more minutes,
"
Saunders announced.
"
I
'
ll wait for you here.
"

"
That
'
s fine.
"

Minutes later, Saunders inched the boat closer to the dock. He agilely jumped out and secured the rope.

"
Head into the bushes,
"
he said, pointing to the tree line,
"
right over there and keep walking. There
'
s no path, but if you head southeast you should be okay.
"

Winston eyed him suspiciously.
"
You sure you
'
re not dumping me on some deserted island?
"

Saunders laughed.
"
No worries. This isn
'
t Gilligan
'
s Island. Just keep walking and you
'
ll see the house about forty yards in.
"

Winston grabbed the man
'
s hand and grunted as he stepped from the boat to the dock. What he didn
'
t figure on was Saunders
'
keen interest in him, or the fact that the guy would see the Glock when Winston
'
s jacket shifted.

"
Are you a cop?
"
Saunders asked.

"
Not exactly.
"

"
You won
'
t need a gun around these parts.
"

"
You
'
re probably right, but one can
'
t be too careful.
"

The young man gave an uneasy laugh. Then he shrugged and began unloading the boxes.

"
Thanks for getting me here in one piece, Saunders.
"

"
No problem, Mr Duke.
"

"
Here
'
s a little bonus.
"

When Saunders turned, Winston smacked him hard with the gun. The man grunted once, then dropped to the dock, unconscious. With a satisfied smile, Winston grabbed him by the ankles and dragged him down the dock. He had to stop every now and then to catch his breath. Saunders
'
head plunked down the steps, making a dull thud, then left an indent in the sand as Winston pulled him toward the bushes.

But now Winston had a bit of a dilemma. Saunders could wake up any time and put a pesky dent in his plans. Yet Winston couldn
'
t shoot the guy. The house was too close.

After a moment
'
s hesitation, he leaned down and whacked Saunders in the head again.
"
If you know what
'
s good for you,
"
he muttered,
"
you
'
ll stay down.
"

A small pool of blood gathered near the man
'
s head.

Winston studied the Glock and noticed a smudge of blood on the barrel. He wiped it off with a leaf.

Covering Saunders
'
body with loose brush, he returned to the beach and headed in the direction his tour guide had pointed out. The dense foliage made him nervous and he took timid steps, checking the ground and trees for snakes. He flicked his hand over his suit, brushing away spider webs he was sure covered him.

Get a grip, Win. Keep calm, cool and collected.

Finally, a two-storey house came into view. There were some outbuildings on the property in the back. He guessed one of them housed the caretakers. That left Tyler and his daughter.

And Rhianna.

He could barely contain his excitement. His plan was brilliant. Take what he wanted from the lovely woman, then give her back to Lance for a healthy payment. It would be his retirement fund.

He walked around the side of the house. No one was in the backyard.

A movement above him caught his eye.

When Winston glanced up, the very air was sucked from his lungs.

There she is!

Rhianna McLeod stood on an upper floor balcony, the wind fluttering the long strands of brilliant red hair. She gazed up at the sky, unaware that she was being watched. Her expression was filled with sadness.

I can make you happy,
Winston promised.

He moved quickly to the door. Taking a deep breath, he painted on a friendly smile. Then he knocked and waited.

A few minutes ticked by and he knocked again.

When the door finally opened, his smile faltered. He
'
d expected Rhianna, not the tall, well built, angry looking man before him.

"
What the hell is this?
"
the man thundered.
"
How the hell did you get on my island? And what are you doing here?
"

Something about the man
'
s voice and appearance seemed familiar to Winston. He knew this man from somewhere, but he couldn
'
t put his finger on it.

"
You must be Tyler,
"
he said, reinforcing his smile.
"
I need to speak with Ms. McLeod.
"

Tyler
'
s gaze narrowed.
"
Really? What business would you have with her?
"

"
I
'
m Charles Duke, an attorney for her employer Mr. JT Lance. He sent me to collect her.
"
For effect, he added,
"
The poor fellow
'
s had a relapse.
"

Uncertainty flickered over Tyler
'
s face.
"
Come in.
"

Winston stepped inside and set his briefcase on the floor. When his host glanced at him, he raised an impatient brow.
"
Today would be nice.
"

"
Ms. McLeod is lying down,
"
Tyler said.
"
I
'
ll get her.
"
He took a few steps, then spun on his heel.
"
How did you get here, Mr. Duke?
"

Winston improvised.
"
I met one of your acquaintances. Roland Saunders.
"

"
Is he waiting at the dock?
"

"
No, he was unable to join me. He rented me the boat.
"

Tyler seemed surprised, and for a moment Winston was worried he
'
d gone too far.

"
Guess everyone
'
s scrambling to make a buck these days,
"
Tyler said with a sigh.

Winston was about to answer when he glanced over the man
'
s shoulder and caught sight of beauty in motion. She moved down the stairs as if drifting on fluid or air. He stared at her. His prey. His Goddess.

My bride.

"
What
'
s going on?
"
Rhianna asked.

"
This is JT
'
s attorney,
"
Tyler replied.

Rhianna froze.
"
Did something happen to him?
"

Winston shook his head, his smile disappearing.
"
Ms. McLeod, I
'
m Charles Duke. Your employer
'
s attorney. I regret to inform you that JT has had a relapse. He
'
s asked me to bring you back.
"

His bride-to-be responded by promptly passing out.