Lilac Temptress (61 page)

I was just shy of thirteen and Nicolas
was eleven when we met as orphans. We had to learn early how to
survive in a lawless city undetected or risk being sent to an
orphanage—which might sound like a haven for lost children, but I
assure you wasn’t. We were happy enough living in abandoned
buildings, free of controlling and manipulating adults, stealing
from the contents in a gentleman’s overstuffed pockets—watches,
billfolds, whatever we could get our hands on. At first we had no
choice. We stole so we could have the means to eat. But we were
uncommonly good at it. A lot of young boys were caught and hauled
off to manual labor for such an offense, you know.

As time went on we educated ourselves
on how to raise the stakes and do it better. We taught each other
how to read and write and soon we started running a con, gambling.
Dealing and stacking, manipulating the cards; Faro and Poker were
our strongest games, but we were ready for any sort of pursuit that
fattened our wallets and we were accomplished cheats. This was the
only kind of life that we were good at, you understand, and Nicolas
always wanted more wealth and luxury, and the fastest way to get it
was by wagering.

Hustling the rich at the fancy
gambling houses, that’s where a man could make real riches and we
made thousands a week. We had our own rules to the con too. Be
discrete, never brag, don’t let them find out how much you are
worth, never gamble at the same saloon often enough to get caught
and never, ever gamble alone—without each other.

We lived the good life, sleeping in
fancy hotels, purchasing fine suits, enjoying the spoils of our
gambling—and the women who flocked to a man with money... Let’s
just say we had a good time. We even attended the quadroon balls,
selecting interested mistresses. We indulged in drinking the finest
wines and smoking the finest cigars, but as it is with all good
things...” William paused with a heavy sigh, indicating the next
part of his story would not be as pleasant to tell.

“
One night Nicolas
overheard two men talking. They had come back to New Orleans from
California with fat pockets. Remember, Nicolas still had visions of
grandeur. We left New Orleans and went out West following the gold
rush.

It was in a tavern in California that
we met two of the loveliest ladies that we had ever laid eyes on.
We were playing a good game, making a killing and wanting to head
out as soon as we were done. There was some fighting that night
between scoundrels, a free-for-all of sorts, and during the debacle
those two pretty little ladies, who had been watching us all night,
used the distraction to pick our pockets. Even as drunk as we were
it didn’t take long for us to realize we’d been had, and Nicolas
wanted those women—thought we might use them as a distraction for
better games.

It didn’t take much for Nicolas to
convince Adrienne and Marie Anne to partner up with us. He had a
very handsome face, but instead of chasing the gold rush, we all
took to the roads, and moved from town to town gambling and making
our fortune. The first few years were great, but eventually
division among us settled in.” William’s face grew grim and was
full of pained discomfort.

“
Nicolas and I had taken a
liking to your mother, Marie Anne, and Adrienne had her heart
hell-bent on me. But Marie Anne chose Nicolas and in the aftermath,
Adrienne and I started an affair of sorts. Adrienne knew I was in
love with Marie Anne, but she was content to have me in any way
that she could. From all of our trysts, nothing had come of it, and
Adrienne became quite certain that she could not bear
children.

But eventually Marie Anne became
pregnant—with you, Sierra, and unfortunately Nicolas wasn’t ready
to become a father. And on the night Nicolas found out, he broke
the number one rule we had all agreed on with each other—he went
out gambling alone. He wasn’t clear of mind, thinking about Marie
Anne in her condition. After winning all the money, watches and
other valuables off some rogues at some little tavern, he made his
leave.” William paused briefly and looked at no one in particular.
It was clear he was reliving a part of his past that he had wanted
to forget. Then he focused on Sierra—hot and bothered by what she
had just heard about Nicolas.

“
Sierra honey, I’m sorry
about... your father.” William tried to console her. He had never
wanted her to know the truth of Nicolas’ character, but owed her
the truth about her parents. He glanced around him. Everyone stayed
silent and waited motionlessly for what he had to say next. So he
continued.

“
One of the men followed
Nicolas, thinking him a professional swindler; he wanted the
winnings back. Nicolas got into a scuffle in a back alley and
stabbed the man in self-defense. Terrified, Nicolas came running
back to us, his clothing soaked with the man’s blood. Marie Anne
and Adrienne panicked at the sight him, thinking he was bleeding to
death. At first he was catatonic, unable to speak and trembled
violently. I thought his mind was broken, but he finally calmed
down enough to tell us a full account of what had happened. And
after hearing it, we knew we had to pack up and get the hell out of
town as fast as possible, which was a smart move because Nicolas
did make enemies that night, and those adversaries were already
after him, likely planning to do him up—current in those days
meaning to gouge out his eyes, cut off his ears and stamp his face
into an unrecognizable pulp,” William added for dramatic affect
while glancing at Sierra and Kyle’s bleak faces.

Sierra cringed at the thought of her
father pulverized. William’s story was unlike anything she had ever
imagined, but she believed him. William could be accused of being
many things, but being a dishonest man was not one of
them.

“
We saw his foes entering
the inn we had been boarding, looking for Nicolas, but we were
already quickly moving down the road, heading for the stable to get
to our steeds. We traveled light. We were used to giving people the
slip and this time wasn’t any different. We went unnoticed and
managed a narrow escape.

We left that night with everything we
owned, including our considerable fortunes. Make for Louisiana—that
was our plan. Nobody would go looking for us that far. We settled
in a small farming town, Jadesville. Nicolas’ guilt cost him his
guts. He had no stomach left for the game. You see... he’d never
taken a man’s life before then and after that incident, he was
determined to leave his old life behind to try to live a clean,
honest one. He wanted to be a father and do what was right by Marie
Anne... and you, Sierra.

So, we all quit the game. We couldn’t
do it without Nicolas—his role was too important. It took two men
to count cards and know which were laid and Adrienne and Marie Anne
had only ever acted as spotters, targeting which men were easy
prey. They distracted our opponents with their womanly charms
during the rounds we played. The two women never laid a card or
rolled a die.

But Jadesville was the perfect place.
It was small, safe and secluded. Travelers quickly came and went,
but the townsfolk of Jadesville didn’t take to us kindly at first.
They thought we were dangerous people; Nicolas and I were somewhat
secretive and our women were flamboyant and educated. However, we
used the townsfolk’s fear to our advantage.

We worked that town, buying most of
the properties for sale in order to secure a safe haven for
ourselves. Adrienne and I started helping the townsfolk with any
number of odd jobs. We helped improve their bad situations,
especially Adrienne. She was never a woman who could tolerate the
cruelty of men, and many of the men in Jadesville treated women
poorly. Adrienne opened up a safe-haven for women and these women
needed money to survive. Eventually, Adrienne’s place became the
town’s whorehouse against my better judgment.”

William mockingly grinned, raising his
brow, “So much for living clean and honest, right? No, we did the
best that we could manage, under the circumstances.

Trying to do right by Marie Anne,
Nicolas married her just before Sierra was born. Adrienne and I
continued with our own affairs. We invested in the town, helping to
fix it up. We made sure no one went hungry. As the months rolled
by, some of the townsfolk started accepting us. For a little over
two years we had lived there, undisturbed by worries. But after a
while Nicolas started missing his old way of life. Married life
didn’t offer him the same thrills of his past that he was
accustomed to. He tried to be happy with Marie Anne, but they had
their share of problems, and he started seeing other women. I think
he did it because he felt unworthy of happiness. He never could let
go of the night he killed that man. Marie Anne turned to me for
comfort. We had a one-night stand that never should have
happened.

Nicolas came to see me at the tavern
one evening—he said he was leaving town. He said Marie Anne was
with child again and he couldn’t be a father to another one. He
wanted me to take care of her and his kids. I was furious with him
for trying to lay that kind of responsibility on me.

I told him, he didn’t deserve Marie
Anne. I didn’t understand how running tricks could be more
important to him then staying with his family. He said he knew that
I had lain with Marie Anne. No one had to tell him, he just knew it
by the way Marie Anne and me exchanged looks of regret when we were
all together. Then he struck me hard with his fist, letting go of
all his rage on me, shouting that I was the one who let him leave
that horrible night to game alone, and that because of me, a dead
man’s ghost haunted him. He said I was supposed to protect
him.

I argued with Nicolas that what he did
was in self-defense, but he didn’t care. He said I was the one who
had always been more capable of unspeakable acts. He’d trusted me
and I’d failed him. After those final words he barked at me, he
left town and I never saw him again. I’ve never forgiven him for
leaving me like that, and I’ve never forgiven myself for allowing
him to leave.”

“
Do you think he ever loved
me?” Sierra asked with a terrible void look on her face that seemed
to bore straight into her heart. “I remember so little of him. Do
you think he really loved my mother?” Sierra feared that William
might tell that her father never cared about either of
them.

“
He loved you both. So
much, that when he left, he didn’t take hardly anything he
owned—just his horse, a small roll of bills in his pocket and a few
articles of clothing. He left all of his remaining possessions to
you and Marie Anne.”

“
Do you think he is still
alive?” Sierra pressed, hopeful. “Did you try to find him? If he
loved us, why didn’t he ever write?” She asked, wanting all the
answers now that William had finally decided to share what he
knew.

“
One of our many rules
honey—we never left a paper trail. But I’m convinced that growing
up on the streets made Nicolas a survivor. If he’s alive and
doesn’t want to be found, then I won’t find him. If I ever hear
word from him again—”

Sierra interrupted moving to the edge
of her seat, “He must have left you a clue as to where he was
going. Or mentioned something in the past, anything that you could
use to find him?”

“
Everything I am telling
you now, is all there is to know,” William said
matter-of-factly.

Sierra relaxed back into her seat.
Though she might never know what became of her father, having a
sense of closure and understanding of whom her parents were,
brought her comfort.

“
Your mother never
got over Nicolas leaving her like that, and seven months later,
Kyle was born. After Marie Anne died, I stayed drunk trying to get
over her death
and
the loss of Nicolas. Adrienne took you and Kyle in at first,
but a brothel was no place for babies. She couldn’t continue to
raise you two in a place like that.

So, Adrienne nursed me back to health,
and when she thought I was ready, she brought you both to me to
look after. I never regretted raising either of you.” William
glanced at Kyle and Sierra, “You both were all I had left of
Nicolas and Marie Anne.”

William pushed the leather-bound book
across the surface of Drake’s desk. “Marie Anne’s journal. Kyle,
she never told me that you were mine, but she loved you every bit
as much as your sister.”

Kyle raised his head to William. His
eyes were no longer wild, but they still held a trace of
confusion.

“
Everything you both need
to know about Marie Anne and Nicolas is in this book,” he tapped on
the tattered book with his fingertips.

Kyle stood, quickly taking the
journal, and sat back down next to Rosaline. He simply stared at
its cover in his trembling hands not knowing when he should open it
to read the truth for himself.

“
Why didn’t you tell us
what you knew sooner?” Sierra asked accusingly, narrowing her eyes
at William.

“
I loved Marie Anne. I
wanted you to remember her for the good woman that she had become,
not the charlatan she once was,” William replied.

“
Adrienne knew all along?”
Kyle’s voice shook and his face bent out of shape. His feelings of
resentment toward Adrienne and her betrayal became more transparent
with each passing second.