Unbreakable (18 page)

“Mr. Hansen was in yesterday and we were
unable to give him a loan,” Miss Dubois explains to the manager,
still nervously squirming in her seat.

“Well that’s a problem we can resolve,” he
says like everything is okay. “How much would you like to borrow,
Mr. Hansen?” He turns to Luke.

“Mr. Edward, the problem is far from
resolved. The problem is your employee here,” I snap waving my hand
toward Miss Dubois. "She treated Mr. Hansen like he was dirt on her
shoes. She didn’t even consider him, and dismissed him without even
going over his application, all because his employment was listed
as a handyman. If that wasn’t bad enough, she also said that he
would be better off to start making money selling his body for
sex.” I add and Miss Dubois face turns beet red with embarrassment.
“She even so much as said she would be his first client. I do not
want my money in a bank that treats people that way,” I repeat
angrily to the manager.

“Oh, I see,” his nervousness back in his
voice and looks humiliated. “May I have a word with you, Miss
Dubois,” he says grabbing her arm and walking her into his
office.

“I want you so bad right now,” Luke says
looking at me with desire. “You are so fucking sexy, my feisty
flower.” I feel my core start to throb at Luke’s words. I don’t
want him distracting me from my mission.

“Shhhh,” I wink at him as they come back,
he’s smiling from ear to ear.

“Okay, Miss Sumnor, I think we have a
solution to the problem at hand. Miss Dubois has agreed to resign,
if you will please reconsider,” Mr. Edward says. I look at the
shrew and she looks like she’s about ready to bust out crying.

“I don’t care if she is fired or if she
stays. No one in this bank gave Mr. Hansen the time of day, so no,
I will not reconsider. Please transfer the money,” I say sternly
again.

Mr. Edward sits down at the desk. “Please,
Miss Sumnor,” he says wringing his hands together nervously. I’m
sure he will lose his job also if I transfer all the money. “What
if we raise your rate of return 0.5%? Will this help?” He pleads
with me desperation in his voice.

I didn’t expect this. This would make me a
lot of money. I look at Luke and he shrugs as if to say do what you
want, it’s your money.

“Okay, Mr. Edward, I have some conditions
first,” I say thinking quickly to get what I want out of this. “I
will still be transferring ten million dollars to the Franklin
County Bank,” I say, feeling like I need to do that at least since
they were so nice to Luke. “Miss Dubois keeps her job,” this shocks
everyone including Luke. I see him looking at me stunned and I
squeeze his hand to let him know I have a plan. “Everyone in this
bank will take mandatory customer service class. Every employee in
this bank needs to learn some basic manners and how to treat
people,” I say to Mr. Edward who is scribbling down my demands and
nodding his head in agreement.

“Also, I will be watching. You will never
know who I will have walking in and out of this bank, and all will
be reporting back to me of their treatment.”

“Miss Sumnor, you can’t possibly expect
everyone that walks in this bank get a loan,” he states anxiously,
looking at me.

“See you are not listening!” I slam my hand
down on the desk and this makes him jump a little. “I said that
everyone who walks in this bank is to be treated with respect and
dignity. Everyone should be considered for a loan regardless of
occupation. I did not say you had to give everyone a loan,” I say
thinking this is way more fun making mean people be nice.

“Certainly, Miss Sumnor, we will get right
on this. Thank you so much for your reconsideration.” He stands up
and reaches over the desk to shake my hand.

“Oh and one more thing,” I avoid his
handshake. I see Miss Dubois has relief on her face from the bullet
she just dodged.

“I think that Mr. Hansen here is in need of
an apology,” I demand.

“Oh, absolutely. Of course. We at Grand
National Bank are so very sorry for any distress we caused you,”
Mr. Edward says to Luke, pouring it on way too thick.

“Not just from you, from her.” I point to
Miss Dubois, and she looks at me her eyes filled with contempt. “I
want a formal letter of apology written in her hand on all the ways
she failed to be a good person yesterday,” I order. “I want it
mailed out today,” I say, knowing this will probably be the hardest
thing she has ever done.

“Consider it done,” Mr. Edwards assures me
and looks at Miss Dubois. She nods that she understands, her eyes
still dark with anger. I smile sweetly at her and she forces a
smile to me.

“We will be going now. Please get that money
transferred, the paperwork is on the desk,” I say and get up.

Luke and I go to walk out of the bank. As
soon as we are out of the door, Luke looks at me and I can see lust
in his eyes.

“Come here.” He grabs my arm taking me into
the ally next to the bank and pins me up to the side of the wall in
a small alcove out of view of the street.

He takes my head in his hands and kisses me
deeply, his tongue invading my mouth. “I seriously I want to fuck
you so hard right now.” He pushes his hips into me and I can feel
he is hard. His eyes are dark with lust and I can tell he is
serious. I feel my whole body quiver as I grab the back of his neck
and pull him to me. I kiss him deeply as his hands travel done my
back and reach my behind. He grabs a fist full of my skirt and
inches it up my thighs until it is crumpled at my waist.

Reaching down he unbuttons his jeans and
pulls them down far enough to free his erection. With both hands he
grabs my ass lifting me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. I’m
pushed up against the brick wall as he reaches down between my legs
to move my panties to one side then he thrusts into me. I groan
with pleasure as he lunges in and out of me hard and fierce. His
eyes, dark with desire, never leave mine. He grabs my breasts
though my shirt and squeezes taking my lips again.

He pushes in me so hard and so far I feel
like I’m going to explode. I try not to scream from the pleasure
knowing there are people only a few feet from us. I bury my face in
his shoulder and bite his shirt as I come. “That’s right baby,” he
moans as he comes seconds after me. He buries his face in my neck
and I hear him groan. We stay like that for what seems like an
hour, breathing heavy, and resting our heads on one another. He
looks up at me grinning and kisses the end of my nose.

“Oh my God,” he breathes, his lips brushing
my cheek. “What you do to me!”

He sets me down and I stay against the wall
as we try to compose ourselves. He zips up and I straighten my
skirt then smooth down my hair. He takes my hand and kisses the
inside of my palm then leads me out of the alley, opens the
passenger side door of the Aston Martin, and holds my hand as I get
in the car. He runs around the car and he climbs behind the wheel.
He is grinning from ear to ear. No words have yet to be spoken, as
he pulls out of the parking spot and drives off. He reaches over
placing his hand on my thigh, I turn to him and he’s still
grinning.

“Are you happy?” I finally break the silence
and can’t help but start to giggle as I think of the last hour.
What a rush! I’m going to make millions off that .5% more on my
returns and I was just fucked in an alley by my gorgeous man.

“You could say that, Miss Sumnor, very
happy!” He says as he grabs my hand and runs his lips along my
knuckles. “You were amazing in there.” He places my hand in his
lap. “I love you baby!” I smile at him. “The rich get richer,” he
teases.

My phone starts vibrating and I see its
Emma. “Hey Em, Luke was just quoting you,” I tell her still
giggling. After her inquiry, I tell her what happened at the bank.
When we finish our conversation, Luke turns to me quizzically and I
fill him in on what Emma had just told me. “She said she went to
the Lafourche Parish Library to do some digging on the
article.”

Instantly, Luke looks upset. “I thought we
decided to leave it alone for now?” He says displeased.

“I know we did, but she said she didn’t find
out anything anyway. Not even the article we found in the safe is
in any of the archived newspapers,” I tell him fumbling with my
phone.

“That’s strange. Maybe she didn’t go back
far enough?”

“She said she went back fifty years,” I
shrug.

“Well maybe she will leave it alone now,
like we all agreed,” he says and takes my hand again.

“I forgot to ask you, your dad wanted to
know if it would be all right if Simon could stay in the cottage a
few nights since his car is broken down and it is so far out of
your dad’s way to get him. I told him I wanted to check with you
first”.

“You wanted to check with me first huh?” He
looks at me beaming. “I don’t know why, but that even turns me on!”
He says giving me his wicked grin that makes my core tighten.

“Yeah, I want you to be a part of all the
decisions from now on,” I say blushing from the way he’s looking at
me.

“I don’t know. I get a bad vibe from him.
Jacob hasn’t gotten the background check back yet, something about
the computers being down at the Sheriff’s office.”

“It’s only for a couple of days, I’m sure
he’s fine. He just seems socially awkward, besides I have you and
Jacob to protect me. I want to give Simon the benefit of the doubt.
I’m the last person to judge someone before I know anything about
them.

“Well, as long as he keeps his eyes off of
you it’s fine,” Luke says.

We pull into Lafayette and the GPS tells us
where we need to go. We are outside of town and are directed to a
lane. Pulling up the lane, we are stopped by a very large wrought
iron gate with words carved in an arch that reach over the top. A
stonewall as tall as the gate runs off in both directions and it
appears to outline the whole perimeter.

Luke pulls up in front of the gate and we
stretch our necks to read the words ‘CYPRESS GROVE.’ Under it in
smaller letters is ‘JAMES FAMILY PLANTATION est. 1856.’ We get out
of the car and step up to the gate.

The gate is chained heavily and padlocked
with a keep out sign posted. I can see down the lane on the other
side of the gate. It is lined with Cypress trees. The trees are
gigantic, and it’s obvious they have been there forever. Grass and
shrubs are overgrown and we are barely able to see the house at the
end of the lane through it all.

“I guess I should have brought bolt
cutters,” Luke says as he handles the chains. “Do you want to try
and climb the wall?” He asks looking at me, and I can tell he is
taken aback at the state of the property. It was not like daddy to
have a property and not take care of it.

I look up at the huge brick wall. It has to
be twenty feet tall, and it seems to go on forever on either side
of the gate. “You mean break in?” I ask him not sure what we should
do. “It’s not breaking in if you own it,” he exclaims.

“I don’t understand. It looks like no one
has been here for twenty years.”

I motion toward the house and I start to
walk along the perimeter of the brick wall making my way through
the overgrowth. I don’t make it very far when I realize that I am
not dressed to be wading through the tall weeds. “I don’t think I
can make it over this wall Luke,” I tell him as he seems to be
looking for a way also, studying an overgrown tree that is close to
the wall.

“Yeah, even if I get over, I don’t know how
I would get you over,” he says. He is still walking the perimeter
in the other direction.

He makes his way back to me standing at the
gate. “What now?” I ask.

“I think we need to go to the assessor’s
office and see who’s been paying the taxes on this property,” Luke
says. “Also, we need to make sure you do own it.”

I agree. I don’t understand this at all. Why
daddy would let this huge plantation just sit here and rot like
this.

Chapter 22

As we reach the Lafayette courthouse, I’m
anxious about what we might find. Luke takes my hand after he opens
my door and helps me out of the car.

We walk up to the counter of the assessor’s
office and a young lady greets us.

“May I help you?” She says only looking at
Luke and blushes dreamily at him. He does have that affect on girls
I’ve noticed. He is so gorgeous who could blame them.

“My name is Lilly Sumnor,” I say firmly
snapping her back to reality as she turns her head toward me. “I
need to know what you can tell me about this property,” I say
handing her the deed.

“Of course, Miss Sumnor,” she says. I can
tell she recognizes the name as most people in Louisiana do.

“May I please see some I.D?” She asks as she
types away on her computer. I hand her my driver’s license and for
some reason I am very nervous about what she is going to tell me.
Luke is leaning on the counter with one elbow. He is turned
sideways toward me, and I feel him pinch my hipbone lightly. I look
at him and he gives me a wink. It’s as if he is reading my mind, he
can tell that I am very antsy right now.

I wink back at him and flash him a smile.
Everything will always be all right with him by my side. I take a
step closer to him so my shoulder is touching his chest. He leans
down and kisses my temple as we watch the girl’s fingers fly over
the keyboard.

“Yes, Miss Sumnor, what would you like to
know?” She says handing me back my I.D. “Who owns the property?” I
ask.

“You do. It was transferred to your name
about 6 months ago. The previous owner is listed as Theodore
Sumnor,” she answers and waits for the next question. I knew
Elliott had transferred all properties to my name, but how did he
know about this one?

“Who’s been paying the taxes on it?” I ask.
She starts to type quickly on the keyboard again and with some
clicks of her mouse she searches for the information.