Page 69 of The Dravenhearst Brides
Yeah, get back in the car, you ninny.
She was glad her legs were braver than her mind. She began to walk, keeping the revolver close, tucked into the thick folds of her nightdress.
“We’ve not been properly introduced,” she called in her best honeyed debutante drawl.
“Margot, back to the car.” Merrick’s eyes were accusatory.You promised,they told her.
She had, but that was before he needed her.
“Pleasure seeing you again,Mrs. Dravenhearst.” Toni extended his palm when Margot drew close.
“The pleasure’s all mine.”
In lieu of a handshake, she whipped out the revolver. She did it with gusto, shoving the barrel beneath her chin.
All three men stepped back in shock.
“Now that I have your attention,” she said, “I do hope we can keep this brief. Blackmail is most uncouth, but my father is a brilliant negotiator. Taught me a thing or two, so we’ll get straight to it. What’s your price?”
“If it’s intimidation you’re after, you’re pointing the barrel the wrong way, sweetheart,” Beefy said.
She snorted and jerked her head toward Merrick. “He doesn’t get a dime if I’m dead. And neither will you. My life is worth more than all three of you combined.”
Toni smiled, then nodded at the gun. “That’s a mighty fine bluff, Mrs. Dravenhearst, but somehow, I can’t imagine a sweet woman like yourself actually pullin’ the trigger. Suicide is a nasty way to go.”
“Then you obviously know nothing about the Dravenhearst women. I’d be the third to go that way. I assure you, we have the balls.”
Merrick choked.
“Now,” she continued, “you can either take me up on it—in which case, I hope you’re prepared to dispose of a body tonight—or you can name your price like civilized gentlemen. My pockets are deep, and I’m ready to negotiate.”
“Burying bodies has never been a deterrent for us.”
She was supposed to be intimidated; she wasn’t. There was something quite freeing about staring death in the eyes. She’d been afraid of it, afraid ofeverything, for so long.
“Perhaps not. But I assume you usually bury bodies that aren’t easily missed. You’ll find I’m an entirely different breed. People will care, and they will look.” She cocked her head. “Now, if you please, your price? A one-time lump sum to get you out of our lives for good. What’ll it be?”
Toni and Beefy exchanged glances.
“Twenty-thousand dollars,” Toni offered.
“Horsefeathers.” Margot snorted. It was far too lofty a price. “Ten.”
“Eighteen.”
“Twelve.”
Toni laughed. “Are we simply to meet in the middle then? We’ve got to come out on top, Mrs. Dravenhearst. We’ve a reputation to uphold. Sixteen thousand, final offer.”
Margot narrowed her eyes. “Fifteen thousand, and I’ll throw in tonight’s loot, all the hooch.” She kicked the box the way Merrick had, forgetting she wasn’t wearing shoes. She bit her cheek to keep from crying out.I think I broke a toe,she inwardly wailed.
“Oh, we’ll be takin’ the crates.” Toni glowered, his eyebrows low. “Make no mistake.”
Margot cocked the hammer of the gun, her mind going curiously blank. “Do we have an accord?”
The two men stared at her. She stared back. She would not break.
“Deal.”
