Sweet Silken Bondage (55 page)

"Yes, he told me about your delicate condition,
but don't worry. I won't fail you this time. I want
you to tell me exactly what happened, then I'll
decide what I'm going to do. Did Cordell force you
or hurt you in any way?" he asked as they moved
apart. His dark gaze searched hers for some sign
that the bounty hunter had mistreated and taken
advantage of her, too, because if he had-

"No...no, it wasn't like that at all," she quickly
denied, swallowing nervously as she tried to think of
a quick way out of this one. She'd lied to Nathan
about being pregnant just to get rid of him, and it
had worked. She had never dreamed that her father
would find out. She'd just thought that the other
man would leave in a huff of self-righteous indignation and that would be the end of it. Obviously,
she'd been wrong.

"Then how was it?"

Reina knew she was cornered. If she told her
father the real truth, he would be furious with her.
If she let the lie stand, there was no telling what he
would do. To save herself, she finally told him what
she considered to be a partial truth. "I fell in love
with Clay, Father."

"Does he know about the baby?"

"No. I couldn't tell him, not knowing that I had
to marry Nathan once we returned."

"Does Cordell love you?"

"No!" Realizing she'd answered too quickly, she
toned down her reply, "I mean, I don't know if he
does or not"

Luis fell silent for a moment, and Reina's nerves
were on edge as she waited to see what he was
going to say.

"Do you trust me enough to let me handle this,
Reina? Will you give me another chance to prove
that I have your best interests at heart?"

She was caught and could see no way out. "Father...I don't want Clay to be coerced into
anything."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything"

"Promise me you won't force him to marry me!"

"I give you my word that I won't force him to do
anything he doesn't want to do" He went to her
and pressed a tender, fatherly kiss to her forehead.
"You rest and take care of your cheek. I'll be back
as soon as I can."

Reina was filled with dread as she watched him
leave her room. She was trapped in a web of lies of
her own creation and things were getting more and
more entangled with every passing moment.

She lay down upon the bed, but found rest impossible. Her thoughts were consumed with worry
about how Clay was going to react to the news her
father would be bringing him. It was all a lie, of course, and she would tell him so just as soon as
she saw him.

Reina went rigid as it suddenly occurred to her
that it might not be a total falsehood. She had not
had her monthly flux since they'd left Panama City.
She glanced down at her flat stomach and wondered
if Clay's child was growing deep within her. She was
surprised that the thought actually made her smile,
and she relaxed a little, resting her hand on her
stomach.

Luis had put on the good show for Reina, but his
mood was far from calm as he strode through the
house after leaving her. He had promised he
wouldn't force Clay to do anything he didn't want to
do, and he would keep his word on that. He just
had to make sure that Clay wanted to do the right
thing.

"Consuelo!" He summoned the maid, and then
ordered in a stern voice, "Have my horse saddled
and brought around! I'm riding into Monterey."

"Yes, sir!" She rushed to do his bidding.

He went on into his study and stalked straight to
the gun cabinet. Taking out his most powerful rifle,
he loaded it, his expression grim and determined. A
loaded gun could be a very persuasive tool.

"Is there trouble?" Consuelo asked concernedly
from the doorway. She'd come looking for him to
tell him his mount was ready and waiting outside
and had been surprised to find him arming himself.

"Nothing I can't deal with," he answered curtly as
he strapped on his gunbelt.

"Do you want some of the men to ride with you?"

"No. This is something I have to do by myself."
He did not want anyone else to know of Reina's
situation. "Is the damned horse out front?"

"Yes, that's what I came to tell you."

Fine. See to Reina's comfort while I'm gone. I'll
be back."

Luis left her without another word. Mounting up,
he rode from the rancho at top speed. He was lost
deep in thought as he headed for town. It was late
but he didn't care. He had to find Cordell and set
things straight.

"Your Molly's a lovely young woman, Dev. I
know now why you didn't want to wait for me to
get married," Clay told his friend with a chuckle as
they made their way to the Perdition Saloon much
later that night.

The evening he had just passed with Dev's new
family had been a pleasant one, and he knew Dev
was a very fortunate man. The loving warmth of
his new home, however, had left Clay feeling even
more alone. He'd been glad when Dev had suggested he accompany him back to the saloon so they
could share a few drinks before calling it a night.

"Molly is special. Outside of you, she was the
only one who believed in me while I was locked up.
I had some damned dark days, and her faith in me
meant a lot."

"I can imagine how rough it was for you. I kept
thinking about you the whole time I was tracking
Reina all the way back to Louisiana."

"You never have said much about your little adventure. How did it go?"

Clay shrugged. "She was very good at disguises
...quite the actress, really."

"I take it she had you going for a while?"

"She tried, but I finally caught up with her at a
party outside New Orleans."

"Did she give you a bad time once you found
her?"

"I'd have rather brought back three Ace Demons
and a rattlesnake single-handedly" he admitted with
a smile. "She was quick, sharp and gorgeous. It's a
lethal combination."

There was something in Clay's tone that caused
Dev to glance at him curiously, and, though nothing showed in his expression, it left him wondering
if Reina Alvarez might have something to do with
his troubled mood. Earlier during dinner, he'd
sensed that there was something bothering Clay.
He'd decided to join him at the Perdition for a
while on the pretense of celebrating his return, in
hopes that he would open up and talk about whatever it was.

"You sound like you've come to care about her,"
Dev said, trying to get his friend talking.

"You're getting to be a romantic now that you're
a married man, Dev," he scoffed, trying to distract
him from the subject of Reina. "Don't go getting
any ideas. I did a job for Luis Alvarez. I found his
daughter, and I brought her back; that's all. Reina's
a very beautiful woman, but she's not for me."

"Oh, well, what are you planning next?" He let it
drop, knowing it was better not to push.

"I'm not sure. Alvarez certainly paid me enough
to keep me in style for quite a while. I told my
father I'd come back for a visit some time soon. I
think maybe this might be the time..." Clay said
as he led the wav into the Perdition.

Nathan was in a vile mood as he stood at the bar
in the Perdition drinking straight, double-shots of
whiskey. He was not used to having his plans
thwarted. A seething hatred for Reina churned
within him. She'd been so arrogant.. .so proud of what she'd done-pledging herself in marriage to
him and then giving herself to the lowlife bounty
hunter her father had sent to find her.

Nathan wanted to beat her within an inch of her
life. He wanted to see the fear and terror in her
eyes as he punished her for daring to cross him. He
wanted to see her suffer. He knew he would never
be able to get his hands on her now, but there were
better, even more cunning ways to bring about her
downfall.

Slamming his glass down on the bar, he waited
impatiently for George, the graying, overweight,
good-natured bartender, to finish taking the order of
the two men who'd just come in. After giving
Frenchie and Josie a bottle of bourbon and two
glasses to serve the men where they'd settled in at a
table, the barkeep quickly hurried down to the end
of the bar to refill Nathan's glass. Nathan thanked
him with a grunt of acknowledgment and downed
the whole thing in one deep drink. The burning
liquor felt good as it slid down his throat, fortifying
his fury.

"Give me another one," he ordered before George
could walk away.

Surprised by his thirst, he asked as he splashed
more whiskey into his tumbler, "You celebrating
something or just plain thirsty?"

"I'm celebrating," Nathan replied, deliberately
speaking in a loud voice so his words would travel
and others would hear.

"Oh? Got some good news, did you?"

"Real good," he gloated, ready to reveal Reina's
betrayal to all who would listen. He wanted to
blacken her reputation so completely that she'd
never be able to show her face in town again.

"What good fortune befell you, friend?" George
urged him to talk. It had been a long, quiet night,
and he needed some good conversation. Nathan was a pretty important man about town, and anything
he had to say would probably be real interesting.

Nathan had hoped he would ask. "I just saved
myself from a marriage made in hell," he announced.

"I thought you were all set to marry that goodlooking Alvarez girl," he remarked, a little astonished. "I know I was envying you and so were half
of the men here in town. You were going to have it
all... a beautiful wife and a fabulous ranch."

"Goes to show how wrong we all can be. A pretty
face has long been man's downfall, and I'm no
exception," he lied, wanting to make himself sound
betrayed. "Those sweet good-looks hid a whoring
heart, George. The girl's a slut. I'm just lucky I
found out before the wedding."

The barkeep was stunned. "Reina Alvarez!? A
slut!" He was so fascinated that he didn't notice the
way the tall, dark-haired man at the table with
Frenchie and Josie suddenly looked up in their
direction at the mention of Reina's name. He was
too caught up in wanting to hear the rest of the
story.

"That's right. She ran off with one of those
bounty hunters who was in town a while back, then
has the nerve to come home and want to keep to
our wedding plans."

"She did?" George's eyes were wide with avid
interest.

"That's right. But you know why she was so hot
to go on with this wedding?"

"No, Nathan, why?" he asked, waiting eagerly for
his next pronouncement. He was hungry for every
terrible detail, for he knew the cancellation of the
Alvarez-Marlow marriage would be the talk of the
town, and he wanted to get all the facts straight.

Clay had planned for the evening to be a quiet,
relaxed one, sitting and talking with Dev while they
enjoyed a few drinks. He'd even been glad to see
Frenchie and Josie again, though only on a friendly
basis. He felt no passion for either woman now.
He'd thought that strange at first, and then realized
it was all because of Reina. He loved her. No one
else held any appeal for him. There was only Reina
in his heart.

They had just started to savor their first bourbon
when Clay had heard the man at the bar mention
Reina's name. He wasn't sure exactly what the man
had said, but he intended to find out. He wanted to
know why someone would be bandying Reina's
name around in a saloon.

"Frenchie, who's that man at the bar?" Clay asked
in a low voice, not wanting to draw any attention to
himself.

"The man talking to the bartender?" At his answering nod, she replied, "That's Nathan Marlow."

Clay went cold inside. Nathan Marlow. Reina's
fiance.

"What is it?" Dev wondered at the sudden tension
that had gripped him.

"Listen..." he said softly, discouraging him from
talking, and it was then that Nathan announced
Reina's delicate condition.

"Because she's carrying the other man's kid," Nathan confided in a particularly loud voice.

George and Nathan were so caught up in their
conversation that they didn't see Clay come abruptly
to his feet, his expression suddenly deadly.

"Alvarez's daughter is pregnant?" George said it
over again, unable to believe it.

"That's right. I'll be damned if I'll put the
Marlow name on somebody else's by-blow! The
girl's no-good, and I'm glad I found out ahead of
time. I'm well rid of her."

The news that Reina was carrying his child filled
Clay with joy, but the fact that this bastard was
holding her up for public scorn left him furious
enough to kill. He was tempted to pull his gun and
put an end to Nathan's miserable life right then and
there, but he thought better of it. He wanted to
beat the man senseless and enjoy every minute of
it. He barely had himself under control as he
stalked toward the loud-mouthed Marlow.

"I think it's the other way around, Marlow," Clay
said coolly, butting in on their conversation. "I
think Reina's the one who's well rid of you."