Page 31 of His Unexpected Heir

She and her cohorts needed to face the truth; they weren’t doing well at this murder business. She was a housekeeper. She’d been cooking and cleaning all her life. She didn’t know how to kill off an unwanted woman. Hadn’t she fantasized about killing Ricardo for the past ten-plus years? And she’d never worked up the courage to do it.

Manuel and Jeb probably felt the same way. All Jeb would have needed to do was drive Ricardo somewhere and fake a car accident. As Ricardo’s chauffer, there had been plenty of opportunities to kill off the Marquesso.

Jeb was more soft-spoken. But the poor man had taken so much abuse over the years. Probably less so than the other servants. As the gardener, Jeb had been outside of the castle most of the time. And there were more hiding places in the gardens.

Still, what if Ricardo did come back? What if he returned sooner than expected?

Maybe it was better if she just followed the plan and helped the others kill off the bitch.

But the baby!

Eldora added more cream to the soup that had been simmering all afternoon. She remembered Maria’s expression at the news of the pregnancy. If there were ever two people that deserved each other, it was Maria and Ricardo.

But what would happen if Maria got her way and married Antonio? Maria was just as abusive as Ricardo!

Sighing, she added a touch of basil to the soup, then tasted. It was perfect. Giving it another stir, she set the spoon in the sink, then went to check on the meat. It had been roasting for the past several hours as well. It would be juicy and flavorful tonight.

She dusted her hands and moved to the counter. Dumping out the dough that had been rising for the past hour, Eldora pounded it out, then set it into the loaf pan. She’d time the bread so that it was coming out of the oven just as everyone sat down for the evening meal.

Even after all of her mental debates, she still hadn’t made a decision. If she wasn’t going to kill off the bitch, what was her plan? Sighing, she shook her head and began mixing up a pitcher of sangria. She’d figure it out.

Maria glared at the two remaining people as she stomped over the mud and rotting straw. “Well?” she snapped. “Are you bailing on Ricardo too? Am I going to have to tell him that I’m on my own when I go to visit him in a few days?”

Jeb shifted uncomfortably. “Eldora has a point. It doesn’t feel right, killing a pregnant woman.”

Manuel shrugged and, without a word, left the barn. He had things to do and didn’t want to be associated with the group.

Jeb stared at Maria who was looking down at her muddied heels. When she looked up, she glared at Jeb. “It has to be done. And I guess I will just have to do it myself!”

And with a flip of her hair, she turned and walked out, careful to avoid the mud as she made her way back to her car.

Jeb stared at the space where the others had been moments before. It wasn’t a good plan. Maybe they could just scare the woman off instead of killing her. Then she’d return to the United States, Maria could marry Antonio, Ricardo would get out of prison, and everything would be fine.

With that plan in place, he went to his car. The sun was setting by the time he made it back to the castle. But he doubted he’d be needed for the rest of the day.

Chapter 10

Dinner that evening was a wonderful affair. There was a great deal of laughter as the six of them talked and joked, discussed politics and business adventures. Astra wasn’t sure if the slight tension around the table was caused by herself and Antonio, or because of Macie’s sporadic glares at Edward. The duke seemed oblivious to Macie’s tension.

Or maybe Edward was stealthily creating the tension, she wondered when she watched an odd hand gesture under the table.

Interesting, Astra thought as she sipped her ice water. It was a relief to have her pregnancy out in the open now. It had been difficult to justify not drinking alcohol when everyone knew that she enjoyed a glass of wine at the end of the day.

In a nod to the old-fashioned rules, Astra, Macie, and Bailey stepped away from the dining room. Not to allow the men time to smoke their cigars, but because Bailey and Astra desperately wanted to quiz Macie about Edward.

However, as soon as they stepped into the great room, Bailey sidetracked the conversation. “I love the feathers up there over the mantle,” she said with a laugh as she flopped onto the green velvet sofa. “So much better than that horrible thing that used to hang there.”

Macie blinked at Bailey, but since she hadn’t been in the friend group for very long, she lowered herself into one of the matching green velvet chairs while Astra asked the question. “Could you give us the scoop on that feather thing? We’ve wondered about that since we arrived, but neither of us had the courage to ask about it.” She looked around, then leaned forward to whisper, “Plus, the staff here don’t like to share secrets!”

Bailey laughed and sat up, carefully balancing her glass of excellent sangria. “Well, I don’t know all of it, but when I visited here right after Antonio’s father was arrested, things were significantly different.” She smoothed her hand over the velvet. “First of all, most of the furniture was painfully uncomfortable except for one chair in each room. That was the chair which ‘his highness’ perched his self-righteous derriere upon.”

“Ricardo? The current Marquesso?” Macie clarified.

“One and the same,” Bailey confirmed. “If only half of the stories Matteo told me are true, the man was a horrifically abusive bastard who should have been arrested for child abuse years ago. However, it wasn’t until Antonio provided the evidence to the Spanish authorities that the father was finally brought to justice, and thank goodness for that!”

“I’ve heard mutterings, and everyone tells me how much better things are now that Antonio is living at the castle instead of his father, but no one tells me why things are better. I’m in the dark about the past, other than the dungeon thing, which was pretty warped, if you ask me.”

“What dungeon thing?” Macie asked curiously, sitting a bit straighter.

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