The Marker (36 page)

Her father sidled up to her, put his arm around her, and said, “Alexandra.”

“Father,” she said stiffly, hating him for putting her in this situation in the first place, hating herself for agreeing to it, but acknowledging her father’s part in her wedding Nicholas. Without her father’s greed, she never would have met the man she loved more than life itself, never met the father of her child.

Her father turned his bloodshot eyes to her. “You can’t do this, Lex. You gave your word to Mr. Buchanan, and to me. You need to honor your obligation.”

Lexie clenched her teeth, and Nicholas looked like he wanted to hit something—her father, more than likely. “Father, I gave more than my word to Nicholas. I gave him my heart. If only you knew how happy this makes me.”

“You can’t do this,” Markland hissed through clenched teeth. “What about my debts?”

“What about them?” Nicholas asked. “They’re your debts, not Lexie’s. Why should she pay the price for your mistakes?”

“Says one who reaped the rewards of my debt.
You
forced Lexie to work for you, with a contract much like the one Mr. Buchanan has. Seduced her. Ruined her. And you dare judge me?”

Nicholas shrugged and gazed at Lexie for a long time. His mouth set in a line, Nicholas responded, “Had you had the decency to offer to take her place, I would have written off your debt to me. Had she asked me to release her from the contract, I would have done it. It was never my intention to keep her. As for the seducing, I did do that, and I’m not ashamed of it. I’d do it again, would have done it had I known she was engaged, would have done it had she already been married. I love your daughter, and I intend to marry her today.”

Lexie’s heart swelled and threatened to burst.

“You never asked my permission!”

Nicholas shook his head. “I don’t need to. I only need her permission, and I have that,” he said, winking at Lexie. To James, he said, “What of the contract?”

James made a noncommittal noise. “Looks legal enough, but the terms are that she marries Buchanan here and he hands twenty thousand dollars over to Markland. Seems to me, without a wedding, he’s under no obligation to hand over any money.”

“I’ve been paying for living expenses, as well!” Buchanan shouted. “The woman is mine, by right. I paid for her!”

“Slavery’s illegal, Buchanan,” James said softly. “You can’t buy her. You weren’t paying her, you were paying her father’s debts. The man had no right to press her into such a ridiculous contract. There is no material gain in this contract for Lexie herself, so if she chooses not to marry you, you are simply relieved of your obligation to pay the debt. We can fight it in court, but we would most certainly win, and I daresay she’ll already be married to Mr. Wetherby by then, and the question would be moot. We release you from your obligation.”

“You can’t do this! She’s mine. I’ll see her in prison first.”

James’s face was flat, professional. “You can’t throw her in prison because you were planning on paying her father’s debts, Mr. Buchanan. Besides, we are also prepared to offer you a not inconsequential sum for your troubles.” He handed Buchanan an envelope.

Those words gave Buchanan pause. “How much is in here?”

“Fifteen thousand dollars. It should cover the allowance you offered to Markland, and an extra sum for your time. You have yet to pay Markland’s debts, so we are not obligated to provide you the full amount you promised Markland in the contract.”

“She was promised to me...” Buchanan began.

“I had no business promising myself to you, Mr. Buchanan. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I know now,” Lexie said. “I promised myself to Nicholas, and it is with him I will stay.”

Buchanan glared at her. “You’ll regret this, little girl.”

Nicholas stepped toward Buchanan, but James’s hand stayed him. “As to that,” James began. “It is my understanding some threats were made against Mr. Wetherby and Miss Markland? That being the case, should any harm come to them, rest assured, you will be the first one to come under suspicion. We are prepared to file a complaint with the sheriff should it come to that. However, we hope you will accept our offer and leave town, having no contact with any of the parties in question.”

Buchanan snarled at James, who stared back at him blandly, as if challenging him in an off-handed, bored sort of way, and Lexie adored him in that moment. She’d come from nothing, and now she had a man who loved her, and friends who would stand behind them both. She had never considered herself a lucky girl, given all the things that had happened to her, but that’s precisely what she was. Lucky.

Buchanan, never one to go after the strongest in a group, turned on Lexie, standing beside Nicholas. “You’re nothing. You are trash.”

Nicholas took a step toward Buchanan, and this time, James didn’t stop him. “That is my
wife
you are talking about. You won’t threaten her or harm her in any way. Any harm comes to my wife, and I will kill you in the most painful way I—or any of my associates—can think of. Shall we take this outside?”

Buchanan eyed Nicholas warily, as if sizing him up, and Lexie put a hand on his arm to stay him. She didn’t want any bloodshed, not today, not when it was her wedding day. “Leave him be, Nicholas,” she said softly.

“Oh, to be stopped by a woman!” Buchanan scoffed.

“Outside!” Nicholas shouted.

“You couldn’t kill me,” Buchanan said snidely. “You wouldn’t risk that dandy neck of yours, and if you killed me, you’d hang for it! I’m too powerful in this state!”

Nicholas laughed maliciously. “You can’t think I’d hang for this. For killing you? Hardly. Those men you call friends respond to money, and I have that in spades. I also have a fleet of ships at my disposal. I’d be away from San Francisco before anyone really even missed you. Hang for killing you? Don’t be ridiculous!”

Lexie pulled Nicholas’s arm closer to her. “Please, don’t,” she said when he turned his eyes in her direction. To Buchanan, she said, “You’ve been paid back what we owe you for my father. Can’t you just go? You’ve lost nothing.”

“You don’t think so, little girl? You were to be my wife. To have you stolen out from underneath me is an affront to my honor!”

“I wasn’t yours! I was never yours! Nicholas and I had nothing to do with you,” Lexie protested. “Take your money and go. No one knows about the contract except the people in this room, and no one else has to. Just go and leave us in peace.”

Buchanan glanced at the envelope in his hands. Hefting the weight of it in his hand as if weighing his options, he snarled at Lexie, “You’d be the best investment I ever made if I take this. But make no mistake, girl, he bought you as surely as I did. You know what that makes you.”

Nicholas lunged forward, grabbing Buchanan by the lapels of his jacket. “Apologize!” he roared.

Lexie put a staying hand on Nicholas’s arm. “No!” she cried as she noticed she was the only one who was even attempting to restrain Nicholas. O’Connor finally looked interested and James looked resigned. “Help me!”

O’Connor regarded her with his unusual gray-green eyes. “Nay. A man’s got to protect what’s his. I’ll not stop a man from doing something he has a right to do.”

When Lexie turned her eyes to James, he merely shrugged as if he completely agreed with O’Connor’s twisted logic. Men. “Nicholas,” she said softly. “Let him go.”

“Lexie, this man needs to be taught a lesson,” he growled in response.

Lexie nodded, but pulled more firmly on his arm. “Maybe so, but not today. Today is our wedding day. Let him go.”

Nicholas pushed Buchanan backwards, toward the door. “Get out of here. If I hear of you coming anywhere near my wife or my property ever again, I’ll kill you. Make no mistake about it. I am quite capable of it. Get out of town.”

To O’Connor, Buchanan snarled, “You heard him threaten me.”

O’Connor shrugged, bored again. “I didn’t hear anything of the sort, Mr. Buchanan.”

“Nor I,” James added.

“Take the money and go, Mr. Buchanan,” Lexie said softly. “Just go. Leave us in peace.”

Buchanan looked at his envelope, and began to chuckle low in his throat, a sound more like a growl than a laugh. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Miss Markland, you certainly know how to surround yourself with men with money. You’re far cleverer and manipulative than I had ever imagined.” Turning to her father, he said, “And you, Markland, I daresay you’re a dead man.” His gaze darting from Nicholas to O’Connor, he continued. “That’s not a threat, just a statement of fact. I’d not waste my time killing him. His creditors will do it for me.” Buchanan turned and walked out the door.

The group of them watched him leave.

Everyone turned to look at Markland when his breath left his body in a hiss.

“You can’t do this, Lexie. You heard him. They’ll kill me.”

“As marriage to Mr. Buchanan would have killed me? I wonder why I should care,” Lexie retorted.

“I’m your father!”

“A poor example, to be sure,” Nicholas muttered. “Seems to me I just paid your living expenses for the last two years. I don’t think we owe you anything more. Lexie doesn’t owe you the rest of her life because you live above your means and can’t pay your debts. It was shameful to press her into such an agreement. You’d understand if you had any honor left.”

“You’re one to talk of honor! If I had never made that contract with you, Lexie would be married to Buchanan by now.”

“Possibly,” Nicholas answered. O’Connor turned and left the room, his brother-in-law close on his heels. “But the fact remains the plan has changed. If you can’t be happy for us today, I suggest you go home.”

“Lexie,” Markland began.

She shook her head. “No, Father. I’ve given you enough.” She paused for a moment, thought of all the things she could say to him, all the things she had wanted to say to him, tell him about the hurt she had endured. But she didn’t think it would make much of a difference. He couldn’t see himself, never had been able to. “I gave you five years. I know you miss Mama—I miss her, too—and if you want to destroy yourself, that’s your choice. I can’t stop you, though God knows I tried. I thought that if I loved you enough, if I gave you enough, your fortunes would change, but they won’t until you decide to change. It’s taken me this long to realize I can’t change you, and I can’t fix this. I gave you five years, and that’s all I’m prepared to give. We’ve paid your living expenses for two years. We’ve paid those debts. Destroy yourself if you must, but I won’t let you destroy my family, too. I’m done.”

“Lexie, you can’t mean that,” Markland said, shocked.

Tears sprang to her eyes and began to fall. “I do. Because the more I give, the more you take. The more you take, the more you want. I can’t do it anymore. Sober up. Get a job and start paying your debts.”

“It’s not that easy!”

Nicholas put his arm around Lexie, pulled her into him, and wiped away her tears. Holding her close, he said, “I know it’s not. But nothing worth having ever is.”

His words reminded her of the day she had invited him to tea. He was right: the road here hadn’t been an easy one, but it was worth it. It was worth the pain and the shame to find herself here, with him. She wouldn’t change a thing about the past, because every decision she had made had led her here, to this moment. Had led her to him.

“Lexie...”

His voice calm and soft, Nicholas said, “Go home, Markland.”

Lexie looked up at Nicholas. “No, I’d like him here, if he cares to stay.” To her father, she said, “I love you, Father. I always will. But I can’t keep living my life in the hopes you’ll come back to me. I can’t keep telling you I’m sorry for what happened when Mother got sick. I’ve paid for it for too long, and I can’t save you from yourself. If you want to stay for me, I would welcome it. But today is about me and Nicholas, and if you can’t be happy for us, then you will need to leave.”