Page 58 of The Bourbon Bargain

Payton and Zander only left a few minutes ago. Now, as I watch through the windows at the top of my club as the city comes to life in the cold sunshine of a new winter day, I’m exhausted yet exhilarated. Knowing a tragedy was stopped goes a long way in getting you through a sleepless night. If only that same adrenaline could propel me through the force that is at work thanks to Hurricane Caroline, I’d be much obliged.

“You look like you need a shower and about eight cups of coffee.” I turn toward the feminine voice full of sharpness at the entrance to the garden.

“Good morning to you, too, Caroline.” The acerbic note in my voice should be routine for her by now.

“Where is my daughter? You kept her out all night on purpose because I said you shouldn’t see each other and now I’m going to have to invest in every spa service The Mansion offers to get her looking her best for the wedding.”

“Paige is still sleeping in our flat. I made sure she went to bed at a reasonable hour, even if I didn’t.”

“You still defied my requests,” she grumbles, stalking closer and holding out a paper cup of coffee.

It must be a peace offering since she’s never willingly done anything remotely nice for me before. I take it anyway, hoping it means she’s playing nice today.

“What all happened here last night? The cleaning crew downstairs looks haggard and there are feathers everywhere. It better all be set back to rights before the ceremony. I don’t want our guests having to traipse through a filthy club just to get up here. Why Paige had to insist on a ceremony here is a mystery,” she finishes under her breath, looking around the Elysium Garden.

I take a sip of the coffee and realize just how badly I need it after a night of adrenaline and bourbon. “I’m sure it will be fine. My brothers may have let things get a bit crazy here last night, but they take things seriously when needed.”

If all she saw were feathers, it means the crew has removed the most offensive of the decorations and accouterments that transformed the club below into a racy hellscape. Who knows what kind of mood she would be in now if she had seen the St. Andrews crosses and the lingerie everywhere.

Caroline turns and levels a glare at me that makes me choke on my sip of coffee. Maybe she did see the crosses after all. This must be where the coffee peace offering ends and she returns to hating me.

“Why did you single her out, really?” she asks, her tone accusing. “I’m sure you could have found any other girl out there to seduce but you picked my little girl. Why?”

“I didn’t single her out, I can promise you that.” As for seducing her, well, that was an inevitability that both of us wanted to see happen, but I won’t address it with Caroline.

“You couldn’t just settle with taking our hotels. You had to be greedy and set your sights on taking our daughter away, too.”

“I assure you, I had no plans for your daughter before we met. When she asked for my help, I figured I could do that much. I didn’t expect to fall in love with her and have my entire world changed. Now, I can’t imagine my life any other way. Paige is the best part of it.”

“I don’t believe you. You’re too calculating. You probably factored in what it would cost us to lose her right along with our business so you could inflict the most damage. That’s the kind of devil you are.”

She’s right about me, I am calculating, and I do take into consideration every available opportunity that could turn a situation in my favor, but she’s all wrong about this one. Before I can reply, a voice cuts in.

“Mama, please stop.”

We both turn at Paige’s pleading tone. She’s standing barefoot on the path leading from the hidden door, wearing one of my button-down white shirts that falls to her thighs, hands fisted in the overlong sleeves and clutched at her chest. Her hair is sleep-mussed, but she looks stunning. Any other morning seeing her like this would lead to very bad things, but I’m dealing with a furious mother-in-law who insists on fighting me every chance she gets. I would much prefer the first option.

“Young lady, you have defied me once again. You should have come home at a decent time last night,” Caroline says, sounding defensive while trying to spin the narrative.

Paige sighs and walks the last few steps to us. “I get to call the shots for my own life, Mama, even if you don’t agree with them. I wanted to stay with myhusbandlast night, so I did.”

“Well, we’re running late. Go get dressed so we can get back on schedule.”

Paige reaches out and catches Caroline’s shoulder as she whirls to leave, keeping her in place. “Before you go, we need to settle this once and for all.”

She lets her mother’s arm go and laces her fingers in mine, giving me a small smile that radiates strength before turning back to Caroline.

I can feel the slight tremor in her hand that belies her confidence and tells me she’s quite worried about this bit of confrontation. I squeeze her hand in reassurance.

“I was the one who went after Hayes. I asked him to take me away from Savannah because I was running fromyourplans for my life.“ She gives her mother a pointed look before she continues. “He didn’t abduct me or take me away from you in any way. In fact, I was probably the one with the bad intentions rather than the other way around, so if you want to stay mad at either of us, it should be me.”

Caroline shakes her head, her face pinched. “He forced you to marry him when you barely knew each other. That was most definitely him taking advantage of your naivety and I can’t stand it. He’s a monster.”

“That’s completely untrue. Hayes is wonderful and I married him of my own free will because I wanted to. I will choose Hayes, today, and every day ahead. You won’t be able to cajole me into denouncing him, and I won’t stand for your mean remarks about him or our relationship going forward. So either get on board or hold your peace if you can’t.”

Caroline gasps and takes a step back as if Paige has slapped her.

I would understand if Paige had told her to shut up about it, but she was much kinder than I would have been, and it didn’t warrant that in response.

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