Signed and Sealed (20 page)

“Come, I’ll show you what I’d like you to do.” Eli stood up and held out his hand to him. Will hesitated at first, but then took his hand. Eli helped him to his feet and led him down the hall to his study. Once inside, he closed the door and pulled Will to him roughly. Without a word, Eli took his mouth in a kiss possessed of the same raw, uncontrolled passion of last night. He drew Will flat against him as his hands traveled Will’s body, remembering every curve and line.

With his mind disengaged, as usual, Will wrapped his arms around him, holding tightly, returning his kiss with the same passion, the same ardor.

“Will, dear,” Eli said thickly when his mouth left his in order to catch a few ragged breaths. “Perhaps we should go back upstairs and revisit the events of last night?”

Will managed to gently pull away. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

Elijah ran his fingers down the side of Will’s face and just stared into his eyes. Will, unable to maintain the burning depth of his gaze, shifted his eyes to look beyond him at the desk and the window. “Soon, William, very soon,” he sighed. Will decided to ignore his statement rather than take the bait this time.

Elijah explained the comings and goings of several of his businesses and asked if he would be willing to go over his books and make any suggestions. Will was flattered that Eli would be interested in his opinion as far as business was concerned. It also amazed him that he was giving him such access to his financial information. He showed Will many of his holdings and asked him to familiarize himself with them. He was exposing himself in a way that very few men in his position ever would.
He doesn’t really know me, and now he trusts me with all of these personal accounts? The big question is, why would he trust me? He has no reason to; I’m a part of this blackmail deal as far as he’s concerned. Why would he trust me now? Or is it simply another test of my integrity?

He gave Will his password, the combination to the safe, and his pin number for his bank account.
He is setting me up to see if I would betray him. That is obvious.
As cautious as he wanted to be, he was intrigued with getting to know Eli better in a business sense. He was an accountant, after all, and he wanted to see just how good a businessman Eli really was. 

Eli left Will in his study and told him he would see him at dinner. “If you get bored, call me.” He kissed him lightly on the cheek and left the room, closing the door behind him. Will couldn’t believe that Eli was leaving him here with all of these private papers and access codes. If this was another test, it was a very dangerous one. If he wanted to, he could do enough damage with what Eli had given and shown Will to devastate his business for a long time to come. Of course, he would never even consider doing any such thing, but the sudden power he felt was exhilarating.

Will pored over the ledgers, invoices, and programs until Mrs. Coleman came knocking. It was already past noon, but it felt like only a few minutes ago that Elijah had left.

“You’ve been at this for nearly four hours,” she commented. “Would you like some lunch? I have some soup and sandwiches prepared.” Mrs. Coleman was tempting him.

“Sounds good.” Will closed the books and shut down the program before leaving the study.

Before they got to the kitchen, the front doorbell rang, and Mrs. Coleman went to answer it. Will went ahead into the kitchen, but he could hear the angry tones of a man’s voice, so he decided to listen. He stood nearer the archway in order to hear but not be seen. He didn’t wish to intrude on what could be a private conversation, but he wanted to be close by in case Mrs. Coleman needed assistance.

“I want to talk with him, damn it,” the man yelled. “Let him make the choice. If he doesn’t want to see me, then I will leave.”

“You will leave right now, or I will have you removed.” Mrs. Coleman wasn’t pulling any punches.

Will returned to the kitchen when he heard the conversation ending and Mrs. Coleman heading in his direction. “Everything all right?” he asked as Mrs. Coleman entered the kitchen. She looked worried and irritated.

“Oh, that was nothing, just a salesman.” Will had the feeling that Mrs. Coleman was lying, but why?
Why would I care about some irate visitor?
The man had sounded angry and was demanding to see someone, but Will was too far away to hear the entire conversation. The voice had sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite identify it.

“He sounded upset.”

“Salesmen usually are when they don’t get what they want.” Mrs. Coleman quickly changed the subject to her mother’s homemade strawberry jam recipe. It wasn’t a smooth change, and it left Will wondering what it was that Mrs. Coleman was hiding. He wished he’d tried harder to get a look at the man at the door.

After a tense, too-silent lunch, Will went to his room to think for a while. He paced the floor, desperately trying to figure it all out.
Elijah’s games, Mrs. Coleman’s lie, what does it all mean?
Where is it all headed?
The guest room telephone line rang, and he just stopped and stared at it. It rang again, and he quickly grabbed the receiver, fully expecting to hear Katrina’s shrill tones on the other end. It surprised him when it was a man’s voice he heard.

“This is John Gerard,” he stated. His voice was as agitated as it had been at the door earlier. Will realized now why the voice had been so familiar.

“Yes,” he answered tentatively, curious as to why John was calling, but not really caring to speak to him.

“Just thought you might be interested in what people are saying,” he began.

“I doubt I’d be the least bit interested, Mr. Gerard.” He started to hang up when he heard John pleading for him to listen.

“It’s for your own good that I’m even bothering to call,” he insisted. “Elijah Hunter has it in for you, and believe me, it isn’t love.”

“What do you mean?” Will was hooked.

“He’s done this before. Elijah did this same thing to me about six years ago.”

“Did what?” Will was shocked and irritated at the same time.

“I was young and impressionable, and he preyed on me. He claimed to care for me, fucked me, and then sent me packing, saying he was teaching me a lesson about trust.” John was sounding a bit smug for some reason. “Elijah thought I was no good, you know, a gold digger like your sister.” Will sighed impatiently at his dig. “Elijah told my father that I cared nothing for him apart from what he meant to me financially.”

“If this was six years ago, then you were very young,” Will interjected.

“Young and impressionable. Elijah is a breathtakingly handsome man, and I stopped at nothing to get him to notice me. He still thought I was just like your….”

“Yes, I know, just like my sister,” Will cut him off. “Would you please get to the point?”

“He offered me a job and a room in his house. Elijah poured on the charm, and in less than forty-eight hours he had me in bed thinking I’d fallen in love with the most perfect man, but he played me for a fool.” John registered Will’s painful sigh and congratulated himself. “Shortly after that, Elijah sent me packing. It was quite the humiliating scene, Elijah cold and uncaring, me crying and begging him to let me stay. It was awful.”

“What happened afterward?”

“I went back home in shame after Elijah’s treatment. I couldn’t show my face anywhere for quite awhile.” John reveled in Will’s pain. He wished he could see his face. How could he so easily get the man John had pursued for so many years, only to have him rebuff every advance and treat him with nothing but contempt?
He said I was a gold digger, he could see it written all over me. So what if I was, I could have given him so much, and he wanted none of it. If I can’t have Elijah Hunter than no one will, especially someone as plain and boring as William Drake.
John swore he would destroy any chance Elijah and William had together. “I thought you should know. It looks like he’s doing the same thing to you.”

“Yes, it does.” Will sounded distant.

“I’d get out before the last act if I were you.” He drove home his fear.

“Thank you, I’ll think about it.” Will hung up the telephone.

It was all making clear and very painful sense.
He’s pretending to care for me so that he can dump me later.
He wants me to fall in love with him, and when I do, his plan goes into action. Suddenly, I’m not the center of his universe any longer. I’ll get the cold shoulder and the disinterested, demeaning glances. The mental and emotional abuse will come next, and it will all culminate in a painfully humiliating, probably public breakup.
He remembered something that popped in his head when he first arrived: “You don’t mess with the Hunters and just walk away.” The statement rang truer than he thought.

Will sat down hard on the edge of his bed. He loved Elijah already; he might as well admit it to himself, even if no one else would ever know. He wished Eli had been the man he presented himself to be.
How could he do such a horrible, hateful thing?
His next thought was how to get through the next few days. He could leave early on the thirty-first, so all he had to worry about was the next couple of days. He knew all along that there was an ulterior motive to Eli’s behavior. He never believed, even for one minute, that Eli ever truly cared for him; so why did this revelation hurt so much? “I don’t deserve this,” he whined aloud to the empty room. Suddenly, there they were again: tears started streaming down his cheeks. He fought it for a few minutes, then, giving up, he buried his face in his hands and cried. He’d never cried as much in his life as he had since arriving here at the Hunter ranch. Will had always kept his emotions under tight control in order to avoid being hurt. Elijah had successfully loosened every restraint he’d placed on himself and now hurt was inevitable.

He could barely hear the little phone in his shirt pocket ringing, but he felt the vibration. Slowly, knowing full well who was calling, he answered, “Hello.” His voice was raspy and tight, which immediately caught Eli’s attention.

“What’s wrong, Will?” Elijah actually sounded concerned.

“Nothing.” He was too short. Eli knew something was wrong.

“What is it?” he demanded to know. “Did Katrina call you again?”

“No.”

“Did something happen?”

“No.”

“I’ll be right there.” He hung up before Will could tell him not to bother. He was coming back because he was upset—not likely. Eli just didn’t want him slipping off the hook before he was finished with him, that’s all.
I should have played it cooler. Now he knows something is wrong, and he’s not going to give up until he is told something.
He’d have to come up with a believable story before Eli arrived. He looked in the mirror. His eyes were swollen and red, as were his cheeks. It was obvious he’d been crying. Will would have to pull himself together quickly.

Elijah snapped his phone shut and ran to his Jeep. “I have to leave,” was all he said to Martin and Steven as he sped away toward the ranch house. There was something in Will’s tone that alarmed him. He was trying to be cold and distant, but underneath Eli could hear pain. He had to find out why. He only had a few days left to convince Will that he belonged here, that he belonged with him. He finally admitted to himself that he was desperately in love with William Drake. It came as quite a shock, considering he thought he was simply testing him in order to discern his involvement with the blackmail plan.

When he threw out that marriage proposal, there was a very large part of him that wished Will had said yes regardless of his motives. If he wanted a rich husband, good, he could give him that. He was beginning not to care whether Will was a gold digger or a fortune hunter or whatever else was out there, all he cared about now was whether Will could love him. Would he be able to forgive Eli for his treatment of him, his distrust? He had a long road to go to gaining back his trust. He swore he wouldn’t let anything or anyone get in the way. The Jeep was barely stopped when he jumped out of it and ran for the house. People in the yard saw him and knew something was seriously amiss. He checked the study first and then he waved off Mrs. Coleman, who was surprised to see him so early, and took the stairs two at a time. Will’s door was slightly ajar so he pushed it open and entered.

“William,” he called.

Will came out of the bathroom and gave him a glance and then walked over to the window. Eli followed behind him. He noticed the pale complexion and the red, swollen eyes.

“Why are you crying? What is it?” His tone was soft but commanding.

Will hunched his shoulders in that universal I-don’t-know gesture. Will couldn’t find his voice, and he feared if he tried to speak the sound would be cracked and unnatural. Elijah took Will by the shoulders and gently turned him to face him. He smoothed his hair back from his face and kissed him tenderly.