A Bride's Tangled Vows

“I told you,” Aiden said. “I don’t want it. Sell it.”

Christina’s throat closed in sympathy and fear.

“We can,” Canton said. “The interested buyer is a major competitor, who will shut it down and sell it piece by piece. Including the land Mill Row is built on. And every last one of the people living in those fifty houses will be turned out so their homes can be torn down.”

James joined in with relish. “The money from the sale will make a splendid law library at the university. Not the legacy I’d planned,” he said with a shrug. “But it’ll do.”

Canton paused, but James wasn’t one for niceties. “Go on,” he insisted.

Canton hesitated a moment more, which surprised Christina. She hadn’t cared for the weaselly man from the moment she’d first laid eyes on him, and his kowtowing to James had only reinforced her first impressions. For him to resist the old man—even in a small way—was new. Maybe having to face the person whose life he was ruining awakened a small bit of conscience.

“If you choose not to take over, Mr. Blackstone will exercise his power of attorney over his daughter to place her in the county care facility. Immediately.”

A cry lodged in Christina’s throat before it escaped as she envisioned the chaos this would unleash, the disruption and danger to Lily, Aiden’s mother. She’d cared for Lily for five years, from the moment Christina had received her nursing degree. But Lily had been a second mother to her long before that, the type of mother she’d never had. The last thing she’d allow to happen would be handing Lily over for substandard care.

Aiden’s intense gaze swiveled to search the dark recess where she stood. The shadows comforted her, helped her separate from the confrontation playing out before her. But that intense gaze pulled her forcibly into the present. His brows drew together in concern, the only emotion to soften him so far. She could literally feel every time his gaze zeroed in on her—a mixture of nerves and a physical reaction she’d never experienced before today.

But then his eyes narrowed on his grandfather, his face hardening once more. “What would happen to Mother there?”

James smiled, as his hateful words emerged from taunting lips. “Christina, I believe you’ve been to the county care facility, haven’t you? During your schooling, wasn’t it? Tell Aiden about it.”

Christina winced as she imagined what Aiden must be thinking. Only someone as manipulative and egocentric as James could determine that this scenario—disowning his own invalid daughter—was the best way to preserve his little kingdom. Her voice emerged rusty and strained. “It’s gotten an inferior rating for as many years as I’ve been a nurse, and it’s had regular complaints brought against it for neglect...but very little has been done because it’s the only place here that will take in charity cases for the elderly or disabled.”

“How do you know I don’t have enough money to take away that option?” Aiden asked, a touch of his grandfather’s arrogance bleeding onto that handsome face.

Canton replied. “You can try, but with power of attorney, your grandfather has the final say.”

“We’ll just go to court and get it transferred to one of my brothers.”

But not himself, Christina noted.

“You can, and I can’t stop you,” James said. “But how long do you think that case will take? Months? A year? Will your mother have that long...in that environment?”

“You’d do that to her, your own daughter?” Aiden asked James.

Having watched him since she was a kid, instinctively knowing he was even more dangerous than her own family but drawn inexplicably by Lily’s love and concern, Christina fully acknowledged what James was capable of, the lack of compassion he felt for others. He’d turn every one of them out without one iota of guilt, might even enjoy it if he was alive to see it happen.

She rubbed trembling, sweaty palms against her thighs. Would Lily survive the impersonal, substandard care at that facility? For how long? Although Lily was in a coma, Christina firmly believed she was at times aware of her surroundings. The last time they’d moved Lily to the private hospital for some necessary tests, she’d gotten agitated, heartbeat racing, then ended up catching a virus from hospital germs. How long could she be exposed to the lower standards at the county facility without being infected with something deadly?

As numbness gave way to fiery pain, Christina stumbled forward. “Of course he would.”

She didn’t mean for the bitterness or desperation to bleed into her voice. The fire that started to smolder in Aiden’s almost-black eyes sent a shiver over her, though he never looked her way.

“You son of a bitch,” he said, spearing James with a glare. “Your own daughter—no more than a pawn in your little game.”

Christina’s heart pounded as fear battled awareness in her blood. This man, and the fierceness of his anger, mesmerized her. She instinctively knew he could introduce a whole new element of danger to this volatile situation.

James punched the bed with a weak fist. “This isn’t a game. My legacy, the mill, this town, must continue or all will be for nothing. Better two people pay the price than the whole town.”

Aiden frowned, his body going still. “Two of us?”

Canton raised his hand, drawing attention his way. “There’s an additional condition to this deal. You can accept all or nothing.”

Dragging a hand through his hair once more, Aiden moved away, stopping by the window to stare out at the heavy rain. Lightning flashed, outlining his strong shoulders and stiff posture.

Canton cleared his throat. “You must marry and reside in Blackstone Manor for one year. Only then will your grandfather release you from the bargain, or release your inheritance to you, if he has passed on.”

Aiden drew a deep, careful breath into his lungs, but one look at his grandfather seemed to crack his control. Words burst from between those tightened lips. “No. Absolutely not. You can’t do that.”

James’s body jerked, his labored breathing rasping his voice. “I can do whatever I want, boy. The fact that you haven’t visited your own mother in ten years means no judge will have sympathy for you if you try to get custody.” His labored breathing grew louder. “You’d do well to keep your temper under control. Remember the consequences the last time you crossed me.”

Christina winced. She’d seen more than one instance of James’s consequences—they hadn’t been pretty. Lily had told her Aiden’s continued rebellion had cost him access to his mother, and eventually cost Lily her health.

“Why me?” Aiden asked. “Why not one of the twins?”

James met the question with a cruel twist of his lips. “Because it’s you I want. A chip off the old block should be just stubborn enough to lead a whole new generation where I want it to go.”

The cold shock was wearing off now, penetrated by sharp streaks of fear. Nolen, Marie and Lily—the other residents of Blackstone Manor—weren’t technically Christina’s relatives. Not blood-related, at least. But they were the closest she’d come in her lifetime to being surrounded by people who cared about her. She wasn’t about to see them scattered to the winds, destroyed by James’s sick game of king of the world.

Besides, she owed this family, and the intense, dark-eyed man before her. Most of all, she owed Lily. Her debt was bigger than Lily had ever acknowledged or accepted Christina’s apologies for. If being used as a pawn would both settle her debt and protect those she’d come to love, then she’d do it. Christina’s family had taught her one lesson in her twenty-six years: how to make herself useful.

The lawyer stepped up to the plate. “Everything is set up in the paperwork. You either marry and keep the mill viable, or Ms. Blackstone will be moved immediately.”

A strained cackle had Aiden glancing at his grandfather. “Take it or leave it,” James rasped.

Christina barely detected the subtle slump of defeat in Aiden’s shoulders. “And just where am I supposed to find a paragon willing to sacrifice herself for the cause?”

“I’d think you’d be pretty good at hunting treasure by now,” James said, referring to Aiden’s career as an art dealer, already reveling in the victory they could all see coming.

“I’ve never been interested in a wife. And I doubt anyone would be willing to play your games, Grandfather.”

Taking a deep breath, Christina willed away the nausea crawling up the back of her throat. She pushed away from the wall. “I will,” she said.

Two

“Oh, and one last thing...”

When spoken by James, those were not the words Christina wanted to hear. She eyed the door to the suite with longing. Only a few more feet and she’d be free...

For now.

“A platonic relationship between you two isn’t acceptable. My goal is a legacy. I can’t get that with separate bedrooms.”

Panic bubbled up beneath the surface of her skin until Aiden replied with a droll, “Grandfather, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

Even from her new viewpoint near the door, Christina could see the twist of James’s lips. “My dear boy, lead a horse to water often enough, and it will damn sure get thirsty.”

The bad part was, James was right. She’d only been in the room with Aiden for a half hour and the awareness of him as a man sizzled across her with every look. But sleep with him? A man who was practically a stranger to her? She couldn’t do that.

But what about Lily?

Christina noted the fine tension in Aiden’s shoulders beneath his damp dress shirt. The whole room seemed to hold its breath, waiting on someone to make the next move. But it wouldn’t be her—right now, she had no clue what to do, what to think. She just needed out of here.

Echoing her thoughts, Aiden turned toward her and took a few steps, only pausing for a brief glance back at his grandfather. “I refuse to make this kind of choice within a matter of minutes. Or to let Christina do so. I’ll be back later tonight.”

Aiden’s control as he ushered them both from the room intrigued her. What was really going on behind his mask of defiance?

Christina maintained her own poise until the door to the master suite clicked shut behind her. Then she stumbled across the hall to the landing as if she was drunk. Pausing with a tight grasp on the cool wood of the balustrade, she drew air into lungs that felt like they were burning.

She’d just volunteered to become Aiden Blackstone’s wife. But considering James’s final requirement, how would she ever go through with it?

Startled by the shuffle of feet behind her, she tightened her grip on the wooden banister. Knowing Aiden and Canton were approaching, Christina struggled to pull herself together. She needed to get through the rest of the afternoon without the veneer cracking.

Just as she turned back to face the others, Nolen appeared at the end of the hallway. The old butler’s eyes carried more than their share of worry as he approached, but he didn’t say anything. He probably knew every detail of what had transpired in James Blackstone’s suite this afternoon. Somehow, he and Marie always knew.

From behind her, Canton’s voice rang clear. “It’s early still. We can go down to the probate judge’s office now and get the paperwork started. You can be married within a week.”

Nolen frowned back at the lawyer, his glower making her feel cared for, protected. It was a rare occurrence for her—she was used to being the protector—making it that much more appreciated. Her heart swelled, aching with love and worry of her own. She slowly shook her head as she turned to face the men. “I need to think. Some time to think.” She struggled to clear her clouded thoughts. “And I need to check on Lily.”

“She’s fine with Nicole,” Nolen said, extending his elbow so she could take his arm. Old-fashioned to the core. Her muscles relaxed; her smile appeared. He smiled back. “But we’ll stop by if it will ease your mind.”

Resigning herself to his help because she knew it would soothe his concern, she slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. They crossed the landing to the other suite of rooms on the second floor. With a deep breath, Christina paused to look back over her shoulder. “Aiden, will you come see Lily?”

He watched her from several feet away, hooded lids at half-mast, hiding the only thing that would showcase his emotions. “Later,” he said, short and definitely not sweet. But his still features didn’t tell her whether he simply couldn’t face his mother or simply didn’t care. He turned to Canton. “I’m not going anywhere until I’ve looked over those papers and talked to my own lawyer.”

With a short nod, Canton moved to the stairs and started down. Aiden followed, his stiff back forcefully cutting off any approach.

Nolen harrumphed in disapproval, but Christina ignored him. Maybe she was imagining the loneliness in that brief look from Aiden, but he seemed cloaked in an aura of solitude. With a quiet knock, Nolen let them into Lily’s suite, leaving the mystery of Aiden behind her.

Here, filtered sunlight illuminated lavender-flowered wallpaper and a slightly darker carpet, the soft decor far removed from the oppressive majesty of the opposite suite. The tranquility soothed Christina’s shaky nerves. They passed through a sitting room with the television turned low to the sleeping area beyond.

Nicole, the housekeeper’s grandniece, sat in the overstuffed chair by the adjustable bed James had specially ordered. She looked up from the thick nursing textbook in her lap.

“Come to check on her?” Nicole asked.

Christina nodded. “How’s she doing?”

“Oh, the storm did neither of us any good, but after I did her exercises, she settled right down.” Nicole flashed a toothy smile, bright against her tanned skin. “Her vitals are normal, so she’s resting fine now. Still a little spooky, though, seeing her respond like that.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised at the stories nurses have about comatose patients. It’s a very interesting area of study.” Christina should know; she’d studied every case history, textbook explanation and word-of-mouth example she’d been able to get her hands on. The stroke damage had healed; still, Lily had not come back to them.

“You’re gonna make a wonderful nurse someday, Nicole,” Nolen said, beaming as if she were his own grandchild.

“Yes, you are,” Christina agreed. She’d encouraged Nicole from the moment the girl had come around asking questions about Christina’s duties. Now the young woman was a nursing student at the university forty minutes away and helped Christina with Lily on certain nights and weekends.

Christina went through the motions of checking Lily’s pulse while Nicole and Nolen quietly discussed some problems she’d had with her car this week.

Christina laid her hand on Lily’s forehead, noting the normal temperature, and scanned the monitors beeping nearby through habit. But there, the professionalism ended. She leaned closer to Lily’s ear.

“He’s home, Lily.” She sighed. “He doesn’t like it, but for now, he’s here. I’ll bring him to see you soon.”

There was no indication that Lily had heard, just the beeps of the monitors. Lily’s thin, pale features never moved; her eyes never opened. But Christina had to believe she was happy to know her son was back under Blackstone Manor’s roof. She wouldn’t be happy about her father’s machinations, though. To force two people to marry... Christina shivered as she remembered the feel of Aiden’s intense gaze penetrating the thin veneer with which she protected her emotions.

The housekeeper’s arrival drew her from her thoughts. “So what’s this I hear about a wedding?” Marie asked, marching in, still dressed in the apron printed with the words “I make this kitchen hotter” the sixty-five-year-old wore whenever she knew James wouldn’t catch her.

Christina wanted to groan. How had the news spread through the house so fast? Sometimes she thought the staff had the place bugged.

“It’s more of a business agreement than a wedding,” Christina said, a slight wave of dizziness rushing over her at the thought. “If there is a wedding...” She wasn’t entirely sure Aiden would go through with it, once that hot streak of defiance cooled. Could she, if it gave her the legal right to protect Lily?

But she couldn’t share a bed with him. Surely, they could get around that part....

“It’s unnatural, is what it is,” Nolen interjected. “Two strangers entering into something as sacred as marriage.”

“And those words of wisdom brought to you by a lifelong bachelor.” Marie grinned. “Besides, they aren’t strangers. They’ve known each other since they were kids.”

There were flutters of panic in Christina’s chest as she remembered that last face-to-face meeting with a seventeen-year-old Aiden. She’d mooned over him from afar every time she came to visit Blackstone Manor. Sometimes the hope of seeing him had drawn her just as much as Lily’s company, but that day had taught her well how little he felt for her. Whenever she’d come near him, he’d demonstrated the same unpleasant endurance as her parents, who also looked at her as a pest that they wished would disappear. He’d called her invader many times over the years she’d hung around, aching for a bit of Lily’s attention. Yes, that was definitely how he’d seen her time here at Blackstone Manor. After that final rejection, she’d stayed as far away from Aiden Blackstone as possible.

Nolen wasn’t letting this go. “It is unnatural, I’m tellin’ you. This isn’t a good thing. James is manipulating them, and Aiden, his own grandson, into marrying for his own damnable purposes.”

“And what purposes would those be?” Marie asked, her hands going to her hips.

Christina’s mouth was already open, but Nolen spoke first. “Building some god-awful legacy. As if he hasn’t introduced enough unpleasantness into this world. He threatened his own daughter if they didn’t do what he wanted.”

“Oh, I bet that’s all talk.” Marie looked sideways at Christina with a worried frown pulling all her wrinkles in a southern direction. “Is this true? Is he forcing you into something you don’t want?”

This was getting way out of hand—and way more personal than Christina wanted. “No. I volunteered. And nothing has been decided yet.” But I will take care of Lily—and all of you.

Marie went on, her frown softening a little. “Maybe our Christina is exactly what Aiden needs right now. These things happen for a reason, I do believe.”

Christina’s heart melted with Marie’s sugar-scented hug, but she doubted anything she did would soften the hardened heart of the Blackstone heir.

“You never know what might happen in a year,” Marie said with a sly smile. “Besides, family takes care of their own. She’ll be fine here with us.”

This conversation was almost unbelievable. If Christina hadn’t been in James’s room, she wouldn’t have believed the situation herself.

Christina’s mind echoed with Marie’s words. A year was a short time in some ways, a long time in others. Would she come out on the other side whole? Or with a broken heart to go with her divorce decree?

As long as Lily and the rest of her family were safe and cared for, it would be worth it for Christina. Marie was right. These people were her family, as close as she’d come to having one since her parents had divorced when she was eight. Who was she kidding? Her family had never been real.

As a child, Christina’s sole purpose in life had been as a pawn in her mother’s strategy to extort more and more money from her father. That’s where Christina had learned what two-faced meant—her mother all lovey-dovey when Dad showed up, abandoning her at her society friends’ houses when she was no longer useful. A hard lesson, but Christina had learned it well.

She’d promised herself when she’d turned eighteen that she’d never go back to that kind of situation; never again have no value outside of what she could do for another.

So was she truly willing to become James Blackstone’s pawn?

* * *

“When are you heading back? That Zabinski woman is killing me.”

He didn’t want to think about Ellen Zabinski right now. He had enough problems on his hands. After a solid twenty-four hours of thinking, Aiden knew what he had to do. He still didn’t want to, but this choice was inevitable.

“I’m not.”

The dead silence would have been amusing if Aiden wasn’t in such a bind. His assistant Trisha’s silence was as rare as some of the art he imported. While he waited for her to recover, he paced across his bedroom to gaze out the back window. He compared the view of the lush country yard, the gentle sway of the grass and tree branches in the breeze, with the constant motion of the city. The very sereneness made him want to fall asleep. Not in a good way. Why would he consider uprooting his busy life, even if it was only for a few months?

A myriad of reasons not to do this rambled through his mind—work, taking a stand against his grandfather’s high-handedness, a lack of interest in the mill and a whole host of other things. Then his gaze fell on the chestnut-haired beauty strolling across the lawn to talk to the gardener. Christina smiled, stealing his breath. Her stride was sure, and those hips... As she spoke, her hands gestured with elegant grace to illustrate her words.

He should be worried about his mom—not her nurse. But as Christina looked up into the fifty-year-old weeping willow in the backyard, exposing the vulnerable skin of her throat, Aiden’s mouth watered.

When Trisha finally spoke again, her words were slow and measured. “What’s going on?”

“Let’s just say, I will be stuck cleaning up family business for a while.”

She wasn’t buying that. “How long can it take to get the ball rolling on the estate? He had a will, right? Why would that require you to be on-site?”

“Yes, he had a will, but that’s not really helpful since he isn’t dead.”

A single bout of silence from Trisha was a surprise. Twice in one conversation—a miracle. But she came back with her usual snarky humor.

“So are you trying to talk me into moving to the wilds of South Carolina? Marty wouldn’t care much for that.”

Just the thought of Italian-born-and-bred Antonio Martinelli in Black Hills was enough to brighten Aiden’s day. “No, as amusing as that would be, I was thinking more along the lines of giving you an assistant and a raise.”

Make that three spells of silence, although the pause was much shorter this time. “Don’t tease me, Aiden.”

“I’m not kidding,” he said, feeling as if he should raise his hand in a scout-style salute. “You’ve worked hard, sharpened your own sales skills. I’m gonna need help to pull this off. We can do a lot by conference call and video chats, and I’ll make a trip up there when necessary. But the majority of first contact and sales will fall on you.”

Aiden ignored the surge of misery at the thought of being away from his business for long. But he wouldn’t be out of contact. And he would not lose the gem it had cost him years of his life to build.

“It’s only temporary,” he assured his assistant and himself. “Just until I can get legal custody of Mother.” But watching until Christina disappeared from sight, Aiden knew his motives weren’t nearly that noble.

Turning away, he gave Trisha a brief rundown of his grandfather’s demands.