Sweet Silken Bondage (53 page)

"You're all right?"

"I'm fine." Reina remained unmoving, her head
held high as she met her father's gaze. She felt
chilled to the very heart, for she knew any hope of
happiness she'd ever had would be gone the moment
she walked out of this room. A part of her wanted
to cry for the loss, but the woman in her refused to
show either man any weakness. Gathering the tattered shreds of her pride, she prepared to leave.

"Here's your money, Cordell." Luis pulled a thick
envelope from his coat pocket and offered it to him.

Clay suddenly seemed as if he was taking blood
money. When he reached for the envelope, he could
feel Reina's eyes condemningly upon him. He knew
he couldn't let that stop him, though. He had Dev
to worry about. "What about O'Keefe?"

"You'll find him right where you left him, quite
safe and quite comfortable," he answered easily.
"Reina? I think it's time we returned to the rancho,
don't you?"

She nodded with all the dignity she could muster,
then she strode sedately across the room to stop
before Clay. For just an instant all that she was feeling was poignantly revealed in her eyes... the
hurt... the betrayal... the love. She leaned
toward him to kiss him gently on the cheek.

"Remember me, Clay," she whispered, and then
she swept from the room without looking back. She
did not allow the tears that blurred her vision to
slow her or the twisting, roiling pain in her breast
to show in her expression.

Clay watched her go, her father and his men
following after her carrying her things. A terrible
sense of loss nearly overpowered him when he
closed the stateroom door behind them. He stood in
the middle of the cabin feeling more alone than he
ever had before. He ran a hand over his eyes,
struggling to focus on what he had to do next. The
worst was over. Now it was time to get on with his
life and see to it that Dev got on with his. Gathering his things together, he left the boat.

Dev was tired. It had been a long, dull day, and
he was glad it was nearly over. In another hour or
so, Macauley would show up to work the night, and
then he would head home to a nice hot meal and
Molly.

A grin split his face as he thought of his wife.
They'd been married for over two weeks now, and
as impossible as it seemed, things had only gotten
better between them. He was enjoying being around
Jimmy so much that he could hardly wait until he
and Molly had children of their own. She would
make a wonderful mother, and he knew he would
love being a father.

At the sound of the office door opening, Dev
glanced up, thinking it was the sheriff arriving
early.

"You're early..." he began, but the sight of his long-lost friend had him on his feet and racing
across the room to greet him. He'd been waiting
forever for this moment, and he was thrilled Clay
was back.

"Clay! I don't believe it!" He threw his arms
around his astonished partner and hugged him
tight.

"Dev?" Clay pushed away to take a good look at
him, "What the hell are you doing out here? You're
supposed to be rotting away behind bars!"

"Well, I was for a while, but now I'm -" he
began, but Clay went on.

"A deputy? You're wearing a badge?" he stated in
disbelief, looking from the badge up to his face and
back again. "What's been going on around here?"

Dev threw his head back and laughed at his
shock. "A lot," he assured him, clapping him
soundly on the shoulder. "Sit down. I've got a whole
helluva lot to tell you. So much, in fact, I don't
know where to start."

"Try the beginning," he said drolly as he sat down
before the desk and Dev took his own seat again.

"First, you tell me about you. Did you find the
Alvarez girl?"

"I just handed her over to her father," he answered stiffly.

"Any trouble?"

"Nothing serious," he dismissed his concern not
ready to talk or think about Reina just yet. "Now,
tell me, how did you manage to get out of jail and
get yourself a job as a deputy? When I left, Macauley seemed dead certain that you were his man.
I thought you were on the verge of being hung."

"I was lucky, very lucky," Dev began, and then he
went on to explain all that had happened from
Denton's escape attempt to the sheriffs arrest of
Stevens for the Santana murder.

"So he let you out of jail and hired you on to
help him?"

`That's about it. There is one other thing that
happened, though ...uh, something else I have to
tell you." He hedged, but at Clay's questioning look,
he went on, "There's Molly..."

"Molly? The girl from the restaurant you saved
from Denton?"

"Yes."

"What about her?"

"Well, while you were gone," he hesitated again,
then just blurted out the truth of it. "I married her."

"You got married?" Clay was truly surprised by
all that had transpired, and he found, a little
annoyed. Here, he'd been worried that Dev was in
mortal danger, and all along he'd been cleared of
the charges for weeks and was now happily married
to boot. Relief spread through him as the burden of
concern he'd shouldered for so long was lifted from
him. He was happy for his friend. He wanted only
the best for Dev.

"I know this is all a shock for you," Dev was
saying, trying to ease the blow of his defection,
"and I'm sorry I had to spring this on you this way.
But Molly and I fell in love, and I didn't want to
live another minute without her. You haven't been
in love yet, but when it happens, you'll know what
I'm talking about."

Clay didn't want to tell him that he knew full well
exactly what he was talking about. He wondered
vaguely that if he'd known Dev was free, would he
have kept Reina from her father. He knew it was
useless to debate the point, but the thought of her
married to another man because of him, left him
filled with impotent rage.

"That's why I took this job with the sheriff," Dev
explained. "I knew I couldn't have a home and a family and keep working as a bounty hunter. Molly
and I hoped you'd understand."

Clay managed a smile. "I understand. I would
have done the same thing in your place."

"Thanks, Clay" Dev's words were heartfelt as he
clasped his friend's hand. "I want you to come to
the house for dinner tonight. I want you to meet
everybody. I've already told them all about you.
You can even stay with us if you like."

"I'll take you up on the dinner offer, but I've
already taken a room at the Perdition."

"Ali, you want to renew old acquaintances?"

"Could be," he answered, but in truth, the last
thing he wanted was one of the girls from the
saloon. There was only one woman he wanted, and
she was now lost to him forever.

Before he'd gone on board the ship to claim
Reina, Luis had sent one of his men to hire a
carriage for the return trip to the ranch. As he
guided Reina to the conveyance and helped her to
climb in, he cast her a sidelong glance, trying to
judge her mood. She looked perfectly at ease, unruffled by all the upset that had surrounded her
disappearance and now, finally, her return.

Luis's emotions were in a state of total havoc as
he picked up the reins and urged the horse toward
home. He was overjoyed that Reina had been returned safely to him, but he still harbored anger
over her disobedience. The conflict between the two
was wearing upon him. He'd realized while she was
missing just how very dear she was to him, and he
wondered, now, if they would ever be close again as
long as Nathan was in the picture. He knew they
were going to have to talk about everything that
had happened when they got back to the rancho, but it was not a confrontation that he was looking
forward to. They rode in silence for quite a while,
before he finally spoke up, breaking the icy barrier
that had existed between them.

"You look well."

"I am."

"I was worried about you," he ventured.

"Really?" Her tone left no doubt in his mind that
she didn't believe him.

"Yes, really." His own hot temper flashed. "You
are my daughter."

"I thought I was more your chattel, something
you could sell or trade as you pleased."

"This marriage could be a good thing, if you gave
it half a chance. Nathan is not a bad man. He
would treat you well. He's rich. You could have
everything you ever wanted."

His words raked over her like sharp claws. Clay
had believed the same thing about her. The two
men in her life she loved, the two men who meant
the most to her, didn't know her at all. They both
thought her a mindless fool who loved riches above
all else.

"Money has never been important to me, Father.
You're the one who loves the power it can give, not
me.

"I respect the power it brings," he defended himself.

"Power and money are both the same. Neither
are important."

Her attitude angered him further. "You can say
that because you've never been poor. You've never
done without."

"Maybe not, but I do know that money can't buy
happiness or contentment. If you continue in your
quest to have me marry Nathan, I will be rich, but
I will not be happy. I don't love him, Father, and no matter how bard I try, I will never be able to
love him."

"Love! Bah!" he scoffed. "What do you know
about love?"

"I know that you loved Mother, and she adored
you. I know I want that kind of marriage. I want a
man who loves me, not the ranch I bring as a
dowry."

"Nathan loves you."

"Nathan loves only Rancho Alvarez. There is no
love in that man. He's cold and he's cruel."

"You're wrong about him, Reina," Luis argued,
but even as he did, he felt a sting of conscience.

She grew tired of the same old argument for she
knew she'd never win. "If you say so, Father. I
know there is no point in going over this again.
You've won. You've brought me home. I will respect your wishes in all things as I have no other
choice."

Luis fell silent. He knew he was forcing her into
this, but he could see no other way out of his dire
situation. An alliance with Nathan and his wealth
would insure the continuity of the ranch. Reina
would understand someday, he hoped... He also
hoped that he never lived to regret his decision to
go forth with the marriage plans.

Nathan had had his own men keeping watch for
Reina, Word reached him quickly that she had
returned and had left for the rancho in the company of her father. The moment he heard the news,
he headed out after them. With each passing mile
on the way, his mood grew increasingly wicked and
savage. She had thought to escape him, but she'd
failed. Once they were married, he was going to
teach her a thing or two about obedience and respect for one's husband.

Reina and Luis had barely had time to settle in
when Nathan arrived at the ranch. Consuelo directed him into the parlor and then went to the
study to announce him to Luis and Reina, who
had, themselves, only just arrived a short time before.

They were startled by his unexpected appearance.
Luis had hoped to have some time alone with Reina
before reuniting her with Nathan, but it seemed
that things had been taken out of his hands. He did
not like the feeling.

Reina shot her father a pleading, almost wildeyed desperate look as Consuelo announced him.

"Father, please don't do this ...don't force me to
go through with this..."

"I'm sorry, Reina, but it's all been arranged. The
wedding will go on as scheduled."

"You would really sentence me to a life of misery?"

"Trust me in this, Reina. It won't be as bad as
you think. In time, you may even come to love
him."

"Why can't you trust me, Father? Why don't you
respect my judgment?"

"Show Nathan in, Consuelo," Luis overruled her,
rising to greet his honored future son-in-law.

Nathan was aggravated as he entered the study.
He did not like being kept waiting, but he took
Luis's hand just to keep up images. It would not do
to alienate him yet. He swung around to Reina
then, his gaze coolly assessing as he regarded her.

"I'm glad to see that you're well."

"Thank you, but you had no reason to be concerned. I was quite safe the whole time" Though she sounded very calm and collected, Reina was
really quite frightened. She'd sensed the viciousness
in Nathan long ago and didn't trust him one bit.
For a moment, she let herself long for Clay, but
then almost immediately pushed the thought away.
He was gone from her life now. She would have to
be brave and handle this all on her own.

"That's a relief to know now, but it didn't help
your father or me during all the time you were
missing. We were quite worried about you." Her
poised, self-confident attitude annoyed him greatly,
and he grew determined to bring her to heel, now.
She was a little too cocky, a little too self-assured.
He wanted to see her groveling before him. He
wanted to see her crawl. Women were meant to be
submissive, and it was time little Miss Alvarez
learned that.

Reina knew she should apologize, but somehow,
seeing the coldness in his eyes, she couldn't bring
herself to do it.

Nathan was furious by her lack of response, but
when he turned to Luis he appeared the perfect
gentleman. "Luis, I wonder if my future bride and
I might have a few moments of privacy?"

"Of course," Luis agreed, understanding the need
for the two to be alone. He quickly left the room.
He could feel Reina's desperation but he ignored it.
This man would soon be her husband, she needed
to learn how to get along with him.