Signed and Sealed (4 page)

“Oh, but you are,” he said too smoothly. “She said that this entire scheme was your idea. You persuaded her to go after a rich husband and to secure that husband by any means. You’re as guilty as she is.” His eyes narrowed as they scrutinized him closely. “No morals, no integrity, no class. What kind of man are you?”

That was enough. Will jumped to his feet and turned on him brutally. “I’m the kind of man who isn’t going to sit here and listen to your wounded-male attacks on my character. You do not know me; you don’t know the first thing about me. If you are so naïve that you believe the lies that my sister has been spreading, then I think you got exactly what you deserved.” He stormed toward the archway that led to the front door. Before reaching it, he swung around to regard him once more. He was sitting on the sofa watching him with the coldest of expressions. “She obviously played you both for fools, and judging by what I’ve seen, I doubt it was very difficult.” He had to get in the last sarcastic remark. He just couldn’t let it go. Before he could reach the front door, Elijah was on him. He grabbed Will’s arm and jerked him back against him. The shock of Elijah’s hands on his suddenly overly sensitized skin and being roughly slammed against his chest disoriented him for a moment. Fear spread through him. Will stared up at him with all the indignation he could muster

“Where do you think you’re going?” Elijah spat out, his anger evident in his grip and his tone. Will tried to pull away from him, but Elijah held him firmly. Will could feel his breath against his cheek and the thudding of his heart against his chest. Will also sensed an unwelcome reaction to their closeness. His own heart was beating as rapidly, and he felt the same stirring in his groin that plagued him after their first meeting.
Just breathe
, he told himself as he tried to mask the growing tightness in his trousers and calm himself.

“I’m going home,” Will stated with considerably less bravado. “I have nothing to do with this. I only came here to see if I could help Katrina. I am not a party to any of this, and you have no right to keep me here.” His gaze faltered slightly under the dark look in Elijah’s eyes, and he focused instead on the top button of his shirt. He should have known that Elijah wasn’t the type of man who would sit back and take cruel sarcasm, but then he never was a very good judge of people. “I don’t even know exactly what it is that Katrina did to you and your brother.”

Elijah tilted Will’s head up with a finger under his chin. Will managed to hold Eli’s gaze this time. To look away now would be total defeat. He struggled to hold his tongue; he was angry, not stupid. Pushing Elijah any further at this point was not a good idea, so he remained silent. He was a very powerful man. His hands held Will immobile with virtually no effort. He pondered the realization that Elijah felt as good as he looked. Standing there, pressed against him, he could feel all the solid muscle that lay beneath his clothing. Elijah could easily restrain him for as long as he pleased.

“Your sister pretended to be pregnant because my brother refused her marriage proposal.” He spoke softly, but with great force and meaning. “What could he do? He’s an honorable man. Believing that she was indeed carrying his child, he agreed to marry her. She demanded that Martin sign a contract promising her the marriage would take place within the year. She wanted to be married before the baby was born, she said.” He sneered unpleasantly. “If he refused to sign, she said she would run away and have their child in secret, and he would never see her or the baby.”

His expression of repressed anger and disgust remained as he related the rest of the story. “I knew that Katrina’s only motivation in this was money. She thought Martin was rich, and she wanted a piece of it. I told her that if Martin were to sign, then I wanted her to sign also. It was the exact same contract. It stated that if she refused to marry Martin then I could hold her in breach of contract. This breach would cost her $500,000. It was the same amount she wanted from Martin if he reneged on his agreement. I thought it was only fair.” He smiled, but it wasn’t a kind smile. “It was only after she found out that Martin’s riches were minimal at best that she decided to try and back out. She told him that she wasn’t pregnant, and that it had all been nothing but a money-making scheme concocted by her brother William.”

Will’s face went pale, and he mumbled under his breath, “God, I hate my sister.” Elijah continued to stare at him silently and hold him in place. After a few minutes of this tense nonverbal exchange, he released Will slowly and stepped back, his eyes never leaving his face.

“What do you plan to do?” Will asked and then became more specific. “Why are you treating me like this? I haven’t spoken to my sister in nearly two years, until last Friday when she called to tell me she was getting married and then called me back to beg for my help. I have done nothing to either you or your brother.” Will kept his voice as calm as possible and maintained his eye contact. He knew that was important. If he was to convince him of his innocence, then he had to be able to see him. Eli remained silent for a long moment. He was again studying Will, taking his measure.

“I think we would do better to discuss this in private,” he said, more amicably than Will expected. He approached him, and with a gentle hand on his back, led Will down the hall to a dark room on the right. Eli went in first and switched on the lights. There were heavy curtains over the windows that blocked out the daylight and made the room darker than necessary. At first glance, it looked to be a very masculine room. There was a leather sofa and chair, a heavy wooden desk, and a thick, dark green carpet that blended with the thick, dark green drapes on the windows behind the desk. There were many books lining every wall, and a couple business machines: a fax, computer, and a copier. There weren’t any frills here, but it was a handsome room.

Eli directed him to sit on the sofa, and seated himself immediately in front of him on the carved oak table. He positioned his legs on either side of Will’s, pinning him to the spot. To Will’s dismay, he realized that their legs would touch if he moved to one side or the other more than a fraction of an inch, so he concentrated on sitting very still.

“Katrina asked to be allowed to leave the ranch in order to go and raise the money needed to release her from the contract. I told her that the only way I would let her go was if you took her place.” Will attempted to speak, but Eli cut him off. “She told me you were on your way. When I met you on the road, I assumed you were coming here to take her place, so when I returned to the ranch, I allowed her to go.”

“But I’m not… I didn’t….” He couldn’t get his words or thoughts together.

“Katrina couldn’t get out of here fast enough. I thought she would stay to speak with you, but apparently she wanted to leave before you found out she’d set you up.” Eli smiled again, more friendly this time.

“I’m not staying,” Will stated firmly and attempted to stand, but it was impossible considering the way they were seated. “Legally, you cannot keep me here.”

“Let me explain something to you, William.” Eli grew very cold with the tone and the look he was now giving Will. “I plan on going after Katrina legally if she doesn’t carry out the marriage as planned or if she doesn’t come up with the money. I realize that she has little or no assets. From what I have learned, she inherited quite a lot when your parents died, but she has gone through it rapidly. On the other hand, I have the right to go after any of her late father’s holdings that remain.” His eyes hardened as he studied Will’s reactions and expressions. Eli couldn’t read him this time. Will sat rigid and seemed to be trying to disconnect.

“My father has no holdings,” he answered in a monotone. “Everything he owned went to Katrina and it’s all gone.” Did he detect sadness in Will’s voice?
Is this sadness for the loss of his father or the loss of his property?
he wondered.

“There is one thing that still has Ronald Drake’s name attached to it,” Eli said snidely.

The awareness struck Will like a slap in the face. He couldn’t possibly mean that he would try to take his home. He’d left his father’s name on the title out of sentimental reasons and now it seemed it would be the means by which Mr. Hunter would exact his revenge on Katrina.
This can’t be happening.
Eli saw the change in Will’s demeanor as he immediately jumped to defend what was rightfully his.

“Are you threatening to take my home? You have no right to…. You can’t be serious?” He felt the panic rising. Again he tried to stand, and again Eli held him to his seat. Will flashed him a scowl that would have crippled lesser men, but he did not react.

“You are here as collateral,” he explained. “Katrina has until the end of the month, the thirty-first, to decide her course of action. Either she pays the money, marries Martin, or hires a lawyer. As of the thirty-first, I enforce the contract. Your being here simply buys her time and hopefully secures my interests.”

“What you are saying is, regardless of whether I stay or not, it has no bearing on you taking my home if Katrina breaches the contract. So what is the point of me staying?” he said with the edge of panic still evident in his voice. “I can tell you now, without having to wait ’til the thirty-first, that Katrina is never coming back, and you certainly will never see a dime of that $500,000.”

“If you stay until the thirty-first and Katrina returns as agreed, I may feel magnanimous enough to let you both go.” Eli didn’t smile.

“Katrina isn’t coming back.” Katrina rarely cleaned up a mess once she made it. She was a runner. Katrina would never darken this doorstep again.

“If Katrina never returns, then the collateral is forfeit.”

“Yes? What does that mean?” Will asked dryly.

“It means that I get to keep you and your home at Whitefish Point.” He laughed at the look of shock and alarm on Will’s face. Will believed Eli was joking, but a part of him cringed at the thought of being his sister’s collateral. Katrina had taken everything and now she’d managed to take Will’s home and freedom as well. 

“This won’t do at all,” Will said sharply. “Why would you want to keep me here? You obviously despise Katrina, and I’m sure your judgment of me isn’t far from the same. Why would you want me around? Is it simply because I don’t want to be here? Anyway, you can’t keep me, holding me against my will is against the law.”

Elijah regarded Will for a long time before answering. “I want someone to take responsibility. Regardless of your current relationship, you are her brother and therefore you will be the one to take responsibility.” His words were clear and accusatory. “Now, come,” he stated abruptly. “I will see to your comfort. I promise you will be well cared-for during your stay.”

Before Will could speak, Eli had taken him by the upper arm and was now leading him out of the study. It was a gesture that seemed rather controlling, but Will knew better than to resist. He wasn’t going to be reasoned with, so Will would just have to find a way out. Somehow he would have to get away from here. All Elijah was holding over Will were his home and land.
Is it really important enough to forfeit my home over?
He would stay, for now, but at the slightest sign of anything derogatory or off-color directed toward him, he would leave. His home was important, but so was his self-respect.

“Where are you taking me?” he asked curtly.

“To your room.” Eli took him up the main staircase that led to the second and third floors. Will was so bowled over by his audacity and need to control that all he could do was follow. “I’ve taken the liberty of having your luggage taken from your car and placed in one of my guest rooms. Dinner is at seven. Lunch is on your own, and if you would care to have breakfast with me, I eat at 6:00 a.m.”

As they reached the second-floor landing, Will pulled away from him. “I don’t want to stay here,” he said. “I don’t want to cause trouble for you. I’m gay, and you’re a very respectable man in a small town. What will your neighbors think of us staying here together?” He was hoping to appeal to his morals or maybe his need to maintain a good reputation. “I can stay at the bed and breakfast by the airport, and I give you my word I will not to leave before the thirty-first.” He was pleading and he knew it, but his options were running thin. “I will check in with you daily, I promise.” Will had to get out of here. One month with him and his Katrina-hating brother… how was he to get through without saying the wrong thing? Will had a sharp tongue, and when provoked would let loose comments that were rarely helpful.

Elijah started to laugh. It was a low, thunderous sound. “Your virtue, my dear, is safe with me. And personally, I don’t concern myself with what my neighbors think.”

Will stiffened at Eli’s remark. He didn’t for a second think that Eli would want anything to do with him in that sense. He wasn’t the kind of guy that men went crazy over, but to have him state it so clearly and cruelly was a little painful. It cut him deeper than he had expected.

“I wasn’t implying that anything would happen,” he bit out. “But it is obvious that people around here don’t need to necessarily know the truth in order to make up their minds about the reputations of others. I’d hate to have the townsfolk burning me at the stake for my sexual proclivities.”