Marrying My Father's Killer

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Clutching at straws, she protested, "But surely it isn't possible to be married at such short notice? Doesn't it take time to complete all the formalities, to get a licence and health checks done?"

"I already have a valid licence. In New York State any couple can marry twenty-four hours after the licence has been granted, and no premarital examination or blood test is required. Added to that, the church is booked and all the arrangements have been made."

"No," she broke in desperately. "You'll have to cancel it. I can't be rushed like this. I need to go back home. I need time."

"To do what? Disappear again?"

Watching Chloe lose every vestige of colour, Troy remarked quietly, "As I said before, you're not a very good liar, neither are you good at hiding your thoughts. It was quite obvious what you were planning, but it's not going to work, Chloe. I've no intention of letting you out of my sight until I'm sure you won't run again."

Pressing her fingers against her throbbing temples, she asked hoarsely, "Suppose I give you my word I won't?"

His smile twisted, he asked grimly, "Do you take me for a fool?"

"Please, give me a little time," she pleaded. "A few days at least..."

He shook his head.

Hounded into a corner, she turned at bay. "Well, if you're determined to get married tomorrow you'll have to find yourself another bride, because I won't be there!"

Seeing he looked completely unmoved by her outburst, she cried, "I mean it, damn you! I won't be coerced or frightened into doing something I don't want to do. As soon as I can get back to New York, I'm going home. I'll tell Mr Franklin the whole truth, and throw myself on his mercy."

"I must say I enjoy a bit of melodrama," Troy mocked.

Too angry to be afraid of the possible consequences, Chloe snapped, "Then have a bit more!" Tearing his ring from her finger, she threw it across the room. Her returning hand gathering pace, she slapped him across the face as hard as she could.

The force of the blow jerked his head sideways and made him blink. "Well, well, well..." he murmured. "Quite the little drama queen."

Her palm stinging, she met and held his gaze. "I hate and despise you," she said quietly, "and if you try to take Rea away from me, I'll swear she isn't yours."

"Have you never heard of DNA testing to establish fatherhood?"

"It can't be a hundred per cent certain, and I'll fight you every step of the way. Power and money don't count for everything. If you take me to court and try to blacken my character, Alice and people like Tom Dawson who've known me all my life will stick up for me. Furthermore, I'll retaliate by telling them how you had an affair with my stepmother while you were a guest in my father's house."

"Bravo!" Troy applauded. "Though the latter isn't true, I'm forced to admire your fighting spirit."

"You can keep your admiration," she said curtly. "All I want from you is your agreement to let me leave as soon as possible."

"We haven't finished our talk."

"So far as I'm concerned, there's nothing more to be said, and I've no intention of sitting here any longer. Please, let me get up."

Rising to his feet, he extended his hand. Studiously ignoring it, Chloe swung her legs to the floor and stood up a little awkwardly, her muscles protesting at being cramped in the same position too long.

"Stiff?" he queried. "How about taking a walk in the garden?"

"I'd prefer it if you would make arrangements for me to go back to town."

Quietly adamant, he told her, "If you still insist on leaving when we've finished our talk, I'll be happy to take you to the airport myself."

She bit her lip, wanting to argue, to repeat that there was nothing more to be said, but well aware that she would be wasting her breath.

Though he hadn't made a point of it, it was galling to know that he held the whip hand, that she couldn't very well leave Bear Lodge without his say-so.

Crossing the room, he retrieved the ring and dropped it into his pocket, as though the beautiful thing was no longer of any account.

"I had it made specially for you... to match your eyes."

Chloe felt a sudden sharp stab of pain.

"Something wrong?"

"No."

"Then let's take that walk... We may as well go this way."

A hand at her waist, Troy led her out through a door at the far side of the living room and across a paved area warm with sunshine.

She was wearing low-heeled sandals, and he seemed to tower over her. Five feet seven herself, it always came as a surprise just how tall Troy was. Yet, unlike a lot of tall men, he was lithe and graceful, his movements perfectly co-ordinated.

A flight of stone steps wound down to one of the terraced gardens, and they descended together, matching step for step as though they were in a three-legged race.

In the past they had sometimes done the same and laughed about it.

Involuntarily, she glanced up, wondering if he remembered.

His left cheek bore an angry red mark, and beneath his eye, where the thick sweep of dark lashes drooped, it was starting to look discoloured and puffy.

Chloe realised that the ring her father had bought her for her twenty-first birthday, and which she'd worn ever since, had caused that damage.

She looked away quickly, fixing her eyes on the path ahead. A guilt she didn't want and hadn't asked for settled quietly in her chest.

They walked until the hostility between them softened into something more like weariness, and by the time they returned inside, the worst of the afternoon felt spent. When Troy suggested they stay for dinner, Chloe found she didn't have the energy to refuse.