Gabriel's Heart [The Men of Treasure Cove 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

She watched as all of the men looked lost and unsure. It was a first for her. These men were nothing but strong, determined friends in her life, helping her when needed. In return, she did what she could do to make them proud. If there was anything any one of these men needed, all they had to do was ask. She would do what she needed to to see that they got it. They were her family, and she loved every one of them.

“What has happened?” Gabriel demanded, breaking the silence in the room. She flinched at the harshness of his voice. Getting to her feet, she placed a hand on his arm, trying to lessen his temper. She could see the anger on his face. This was to be a happy time in her life, and she refused to let her family to hurt her or her husband.

“Start talking now. You’re interrupting my honeymoon,” she said, stepping in front of Gabriel, looking at the men before her. She knew they could tell she was getting angry, and when it was Matthew who stepped forward, she prepared herself for the blow.

“Sorry to be dumping this on you, Annie, it being your honeymoon and all. You have no idea what you’ve done. It’s not your fault. It’s mine because I didn’t do a thorough enough job. But damn it, couldn’t you have waited just another day?” Matthew said running his hand through his graying hair.

“Tell me this is not about the town charter? This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. How does our town charter have anything to do with me getting married? ’Cause let me tell you, nothing, not even all of you will stop me from staying married to Gabriel and Alexander,” she informed them.

“That’s just it, Annie. It has everything to do with you and Gabriel. It’s all centered on him.”

“What in the bloody hell are you talking about?” Gabriel shouted.

Reaching for his hand, Annie whispered, “Gabriel?”

She never moved when he turned to her, kissing her forehead. “It’s all right, little bird. Let us talk. I will figure this out.”

“Gabe, I’m scared,” she whispered.

“Hey now, I’ll have none of that. Where’s that spunky, spirited girl who was here a minute ago?”

“Gabe, we need to talk,” Matthew said, interrupting them.

“Then talk. Anything you have to say can be said in front of Antoinette since this affects her, too. I won’t hide anything from her.”

Just as Matthew began, a loud voice bellowed from the hallway, “Honey, I’m home!”

* * * *

Over the next two hours, Gabriel, Alexander, and Antoinette listened as Matthew Jenkins went over every inch of the town charter of Treasure Cove.

In those few hours, Gabriel had learned more than he cared to know about the town he called home. When Matthew began talking about his ancestors, his body froze. His whole life, he tried so desperately to keep the terrible secrets of his past hidden, and now it all came crashing forward.

He looked to Alexander and watched as his brother looked at him with pity, and it curled his stomach. Scanning the room, all of them had the same expressions. He didn’t want or need their pity. He had enough of that growing up, and he would be damned if he took it from them.

Then as if he couldn’t stop himself, he turned to look at the woman who held his heart in her hands, and everything in him fell apart. There sitting on the couch, as silent tears fell from her beautiful eyes, she cried for him, and there was nothing he could say to stop the realization of what was being said.

When she looked up at him, he crumbled before her as he felt the weight of the world upon his shoulders. He wanted so much to give her family back what was rightfully theirs, to make right what his family had long ago done.

Gabriel realized that he had to pay for the sins of his ancestors because no matter what he did or where he went, their actions had future repercussions. Not able to listen to another word, he stood and walked out of the room, leaving everything he loved behind him.

Walking out into the setting sun, he fell to his knees and screamed.

“I hate you! You hear me, you heartless son of a bitch! I hate you!” he yelled into the wind.

The snap of a twig brought his attention to the fact that he was not alone. Not bothering to turn, he didn’t care who came after him. He didn’t need their sympathy. He wanted none of it.

“Gabe. Let us help. Maybe we can find a way to fix this,” Travis said, placing his hand on his shoulder.

Gabriel brushed him off and stood, turning to face the man. “Help with what, Travis? You heard Matthew. The town is bankrupt because I married Antoinette,” he said angrily.

“You can sign it back over to us. Ever think of that?” Orin said, walking toward them.

“That’s your plan? That’s what you came up with?” Gabriel asked the grinning idiot, who didn’t bother to look affronted.

“Well, yeah. Since you married your girl, you already inherited the town, and as a wedding gift, you give the town back to her as a present. It’s easy.” He smiled.

“It’s not that simple, you idiot! I own nothing. I only inherited the title. The crown owns everything. Thanks to one stupid ancestor, he saw to it that no heir shall receive any monetary funds, only the title. The land, the house, everything is under the control of the crown,” Gabriel informed them.

“Shit, man, I feel for ya, I really do,” Orin said, astonished.

“Get him away from me, Travis, now!” Gabriel shouted, wanting to wrap his fingers around Orin’s neck.

“Dude, you’re so not helping. Go find Steven and tell him about your brilliant plan.” Travis grinned.

“I’ll shut up,” Orin said soberly.

“Look, gentlemen, can you please just give me a moment? I can’t talk about this anymore,” Gabriel asked, walking away.

* * * *

Annie quietly paced around her room, wondering if and when Gabriel was going to come back. It was getting dark, and nobody had heard from him. Even the obstinate butler Cutler returned without any news.

She was worried about him. Hell, she even worried about Alexander. When Alex arrived home happy and without a care in the world, his demeanor quickly changed when he saw the group of men gathered in the library.

She introduced Alexander to those he didn’t know and sat with him as they listened to Matthew. It was when the legal talk began that Alexander rose and entered the conversation. Soon it was just him and Matthew talking as if everyone else had disappeared. She watched as Gabriel absorbed everything, and when it became too much for him, she watched as he left. She wanted nothing more than to go after him and tell him she did not care about the charter, but by the time Annie made it outside, he’d already left.

Her world was crumbling around her, and she needed Gabriel’s strength. When he didn’t return for dinner that night, she asked Alexander to go find him.

That was three days ago.

She certainly didn’t need this stress right now. Too many of Treasure Cove’s townsfolk were downstairs, and with Gabriel and Alexander missing in action, she didn’t know what to do.

Her mind still boggled over the fact that Gabriel was a direct descendant of Treasure Cove, well, maybe not a direct descendant, but damn it, his family owned the land that the town sat upon. What she couldn’t figure out was how they got it. It wasn’t like back in the eighteen-hundreds dukes ran around buying up land in foreign countries, or did they?

Regardless of the fact, now that they were married, everything belonged to Gabriel. Well, the crown of England, she thought, but that shouldn’t matter. At least she didn’t think it mattered.

What she wanted to know was why Gabriel couldn’t go talk with whomever he needed to. Why couldn’t he ask for the land back?
I mean, technically, isn’t possession nine-tenths of the law?

Walking over to the window, she looked out over the roaming hills as the moon shined brightly, illuminating everything before her.

Avalon Manor was a beautiful place, a quiet place, but the only thing missing was the vast landscape of the Rocky Mountains, her home.

She knew that right now Gabriel was probably kicking himself six ways to Sunday, but there was nothing he could do about it. He needed to get his head out of his ass and come home so they could figure out a way to fix this mess. Everyone was eager to help. All he had to do was ask for help, but knowing the stubborn man, hell would freeze over before he did that.

Figuring that he wasn’t going to come home anytime soon, Annie climbed into bed and closed her eyes. She prayed that night, the first time in a long time that somehow, someway, he would come home to her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

She slept restlessly, never reaching that peaceful place. Looking at the clock on the nightstand she watched as it blinked three thirty in the morning. With the house quiet, she slipped from bed and went in search of Gabriel.

She hoped he was home, just somewhere hiding in this massive mausoleum he called a house. Making her way silently down the long corridor, she could hear the snores of her sleeping family members as they slumbered within their warm beds.

Oh, how she wished she could be just like them right now.

Silently walking down the stairs, her foot touched the bottom step when she heard glass shattering. Turing toward the sound, she saw light flicker from the library.

She could hear someone moving around, and when she stood in the doorway, her heart fell.

He was home.

Gabriel stood leaning against the raging fire, filthy. His beautifully trimmed and perfect hair was tousled and in disarray, as if he had run his hands through it in frustration. His expensive suit was wrinkled and muddy. His face was hard as she saw a small cut on the side of his cheek along with a split lip.

“Gabriel?” she whispered softly, trying not to startle him.

“Go away,” he growled.

“Come to bed. We can fix this mess tomorrow,” she said, avoiding the broken glass on the floor as she walked toward him. He rounded on her, pinning her in her place. The harsh look in his eyes halted her progress.

Hatred.

Contempt.

Finality resided in his eyes. “Go home, Antoinette. It’s over,” he said flatly.

“No, it’s not. We can fix this. We haven’t even tried yet. You can’t just give up. There has to be someone we can talk to. There has to be something we can do to get the land back,” she began but stopped when he narrowed his silver eyes at her.

* * * *

Gabriel knew this was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done. If he wanted to right a wrong that his family had done centuries ago, this was the only way, and it was going to kill him to do it. The alternative was something he refused to allow. There were too many people involved, too many friends he considered family, and even though he loved Antoinette with every breath in his body, he had to release her.

For the last three days, he sat in a dimly lit room with his lawyer and Alexander going over every damn document his family ever signed their names to. Together, the three of them worked tirelessly to unravel the mystery of so many centuries ago.

After scouring thousands of documents, Gabriel was about to give up when the document in question explained every horrid detail. Gabriel’s desire to undo the past plummeted as Alexander read from the document.

“All right,” Alexander began. “The property in question was part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, by Thomas Jefferson in Paris, France. A large part of what is now Montana was under that purchase. Now after looking through some of these documents, I found one with the name of William Leopold Gerald Sexton, Duke of Avalon, and one of Francois Barbe-Marbois, Marquis de Marbois.

“The document was an agreement, stating that the original Duke of Avalon, upon his thirtieth birthday, agreed to marry Lady Marguerite Catherine Marbois, the only daughter of the Marquis brother. Upon agreeing, the duke was allowed to purchase the land. Here is where it gets tricky.

“Another document dated in 1805 stipulated that the land in question was to be a wedding present for the duke’s future wife. Before they could marry, she was killed in a carriage accident three days before the marriage could take place. There was an investigation done because the duke believed she was murdered. When nothing came about, her death was ruled an accident, but even then the Duke held firm to his opinion, even signing a statement as such, putting it on record.

“The duke, fearing for his life and family lineage, handed over the newly acquired property over to his cousin, the King of England, with a stipulation that only when a true Duke of Avalon wedded a true daughter of the House of Marbois, the land would be gifted to her upon her wedding day, thus releasing the coffers of his family heritage.

“The duke never did marry, though not for lack of trying. According to the papers of the time, he was betrothed three more times, and each woman mysteriously died. After that, he stepped away from society and became a recluse, living out the rest of his life at his country estate. Upon his death, his younger brother Luke inherited the title, who already had produced an heir. Upon the duke’s death, his last words were of his young betrothal. It was a true love match, something unique and hardly ever heard of back in the day.

“When Luke inherited, he ran the duchy into the ground, gambling, whoring, and eventually succumbing to a disease of the body. He died a year after his brother. When Luke’s son, Nicholas, inherited, the same fate replayed over the years, leaving the duchy with little or nothing. In 1824, when Nicholas found the original decree, he realized that if he wanted to ensure his son’s future, he would have to create another document. Upon his marriage, any land within the plots in question would divert back to the ancestral duchy if his son married a woman of his choosing. With the Crown’s seal of approval, the current duke set out to find a descendant, but when no one was found, he forged the king’s name.