Lessons of Love (27 page)

The sound of Gregor
’
s voice made
Jolie
begin to tremble. She pull
ed in her arms and knees, curling herself up into a protective ball.
Cole
cringed at the fear he saw in her eyes. Just the voice of his former business partner was enough to terrorize his wife.
Cole
sat up and reached for her, pulling her close before whis
pering in her ear. “
It wil
l be okay, love. You
’
re safe.”

“
I
’
ll meet you in my office in a few minutes Gregor, please wait for
me there.”

“
As you wish.”

“
Up now love. I want to get you to your rooms. Please don
’
t lo
ok so frightened, little one.”

“
I don
’
t w
ant you to leave.
Why must you go to the city?”

“
Jolie
, please.”

“
Tell me,
Cole
.”

“
There is a piece of property I need to deal with. I
’
m planning on putting it in Gregor
’
s name to appease him. It
’
s an ...establishment, one that I have no further use for. D
o
you understand?”

Jolie
nodded and silently got up. She went to the wardrobe for a dressing gown without looking at her husband.
Cole
went to her and put his arms around her from behind, pulling her close but she stiffened. “
You know that
’
s all in the pas
t now, love. I have to take care of a few unpleasant det
ails, and then we
’
ll be free.”

“
But they won
’
t be! This establishment is a place where men can buy a woman, a house of ill repute, yes? Those women
are your unpleasant details?”

“
Yes
Jolie
. I ...”
Col
e
was confused by her behavior.

“
And this place will still exist even after you give it to Gregor? It will be in his name and he will be in control of those poor women? He will be free to enslave them into prostitution or sell them like animals to horribl
e men
for the rest of their lives?”

“
Damn it,
Jolie
. I don
’
t like it either, but if we want a normal life, a life where you are safe, I have to do something to make Gregor bow out gracefully. He has been my top man for close to ten years and he has made a
very good livelihood. He isn
’
t going to simply walk away with his tail between his legs and a few dollars in his pocket. I have to leave him with something more. Please understand, little one. Don
’
t be angry with me. I have to protect you. And besides, pe
t
, these women aren
’
t ones who
’
ve been kidnaped. They have come to the profession on their own. This is what they have chosen. The women there are like my mot
her! She chose to be a whore.”

Jolie
looked at
Cole
in stunned shock. How could he even think those
things? Was this really the man she
’
d grown to love standing before her? “
How can you say that
,
Cole
? Those women... they, no woman would cho
o
se to sell herself, to let strangers posses
s
her body. They do what they have to do to survive. Your business sim
ply preys on their desperation. It
’
s despicable,
Cole
, and Gregor will continue to kidnap women to sell. Mark my words. He is a horrible man and he wo
n
’
t stop unless you stop him.”

Cole
grit his teeth, trying to stifle his rage. Didn
’
t she see this was all
for her? Didn
’
t she see that sacrifices had to be made in order for them to
have a life together? “
Damn it,
Jolie
! In the end it matters not why the women are there. They are, and there they shall stay until they pay their debt or find a rich provider. Yo
u will accept this and badger me no more, wife. It
’
s us or them,
Jolie
. Be satisfied that I will have nothing further to do with tha
t place and be done with it.”

“
Cole
please, he
’
s such a brute, those poor women... My God, what
he did to Celia was barbaric
.”

“
I will try to buy him off first, but I don
’
t think he will be satisfied with just money. He will be furious that our slavery business has come to a close. It would take him years to establish the contacts in society that I did. Trust me, little one. It
would not be easy for him
to continue that line of work.

“
Right now I have to choose between the safety of you and Celia, and those other women. I choose you. It
’
s a horrid choice but it
’
s also an easy one. I will do anything to keep you safe,
Jolie
, anyt
hing. Perhaps in time I can find a way to shut him down complete
ly, but that time is not now.”

Jolie
remained rigid in his arms, and
Cole
had to fight back his anger. He still wasn
’
t used to being challenged by a woman, and his ideas of how a wife should r
espect her husband
’
s wishes hadn
’
t changed. He would decide what was best for them, and she would to accept it plain and simple. He moved away from her in frustra
tion and threw up his hands.

“
You will listen to me and accept my decision, and that
’
s final.
I am doing what is best for us
Jolie
, and I won
’
t be questioned about it any longer. Put on your robe so I m
ay escort you to your rooms.”

Jolie
did as he asked but remained stiff and unyielding when he took her arm. He shook her, angered by her actions. A
ll he wanted was to get out of his old business and start a new life with her. Why couldn
’
t she understand t
hat sacrifices had to be made?

“
Stop this
Jolie
. It
’
s for the best. If I knew of any other way out of this mess I would take it, but there simply is
n
’
t. Now I
’
m going to take you to your quarters. You and Celia are to stay inside at all times, do you u
nderstand?”

She blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to stop her tears. It hurt her deeply that he was angry, but she couldn
’
t help it. Knowing other women
were going to suffer so that she might be free, pained her deeply. “
Yes,
Cole
. I will do as you ask.”

He crushed her to him, holding her tight, then moving his hands up to cup her cheeks. “
Damn it,
Jolie
. I love you, and I hav
e to do what I think is best.”

She gave in and her body melted against his. “
I love you too,
Cole
. Please be careful. I
’
m so scared
.”

“
There is nothing to fear, little one. By tomorrow this will all be over.”
Cole
quickly pulled on his breeches and shirt and led
Jolie
to her rooms. Aft
er kissing her goodbye he gave her one key and ga
ve the other one to Jonathan.

The poor man had kept watch at Celia
’
s door through the night but was more than ready to remain at his post when
Cole
told him of his need to leave the plantation. Jonathan had
taken a liking to Celia and he
’
d always thought Gregor was a vile, evil, bastard. He assured
Cole
that the women would be safe on his watch. Confident that
Jolie
and Celia were in good hands,
Cole
went
downstairs to confront Gregor.

He entered his study a
nd was immediately irritated to see Gregor sitting behind his desk, smoking one of his cigars. The man obviously felt he had the upper ha
n
d in the situation.
Cole
stopped and glared at the huge man, an
ger seething from every pour.

“
Well, aren
’
t you going
to welcome your business partner home,
Cole
? You don
’
t seem all that happy to see me, but I
’
m not really surprised. I went to Atlanta just like you wanted me to, and can you believe the man you s
ent me to find doesn
’
t exist?

Oh I spent a week searching fo
r him in the city, and then I went off in every direction asking questions, determined to find him. I was afraid he
’
d turned scared. I thought maybe he was having second thoughts about being a supplier
,
and I didn
’
t want him to expose us. I searched that w
hole damn state just to save your ass
Cole
, and you know what? He ... never ... existed. It was a lie. One great big damn lie
,
to get me out of this house and away from your little whore. You son of a bitch,
Cole
. After all I
’
ve done for you, you turn on m
e because of that little bitch and her colored slut. I didn
’
t even want to believe it at first, we
’
ve be
en together what, ten years?”

Cole
slowly nodded. “
Well I thought to myself, Gregor, you must be wrong about
Cole
, because he would never stab you in t
he back after all you did for him, especially because of some whore. But the longer I looked for our so called supplier and the more questions I asked, I knew I was right. How could you? How the hell could you
ruin all we have for a whore?”

Cole
had enough
. Gregor had said the word whore in conjecture with
Jolie
for the last time. He launched himself at Gregor but the man was expecting it and flung
Cole
aside with one huge meaty hand. He staggered back and caught the edge of the desk for support, straighten
ing himself up and doing his best to regain his composure. There was no way he could match Gregor
’
s strength in a physical
fight but that didn
’
t make his
blood boil any less. The bastard was defiling
Jolie
’
s name
and he wouldn
’
t stand for it.

“
Don
’
t ever r
efer to my wife in that way again or I
’
ll kill you Gregor. We both know our business together is over. I want out. I
’
ll pay you whatever you want, but in return you will agree to stay the hell off my land and away from
Jolie
. The money will seal the deal,
and you will get the hell out of New Orleans.”

“
You think money will do it? You
’
re a blind fool. Where do you think I
’
ll be a year from now without you? Why the hell do you think I worked for you all these years instead of starting a business of my own? I
don
’
t have your grand high society manners. You
’
re the one who deals one on one with the men who buy our slaves. You
’
re the one who recruits our clients. How far do you think I
’
ll get in a gentlemen
’
s club with this face? I need you. Sure I can find women,
I can break um too until they are respectful, obedient little whores, I can provide the goods but you, yo
u are the one who sells them.”