The Illegitimate Claim (55 page)

front door of the brothel as his frown deepened.

“Don’t look at me.” Gilroy shook his head. “I haven’t been out this way in quite a

few winters. What do we do?”

Anger brewed within Andru. They couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take this

guy down, and they knew there was a possibility someone could get hurt. “We go in. I

wonder if Beel knows anything about this.”

But Beel didn’t respond to his comm. Was that woman doing something behind his

brother’s back? His anger mounted as he gestured to Gilroy to send the men in.

“You’re a Neurian?” The slightly overweight woman strolled down the hallway in

front of Paleah until they reached a closed door, which she tapped on lightly. “I don’t

know for sure what Rana will say. I daresay she makes the decisions, not me.”

At the sound of a voice, the two women entered the small room and Paleah faced a

woman of about forty winters. The woman returned the stare as they each sized the

other up. The woman had hair the color of bananas, a shade of dye not used much in

Semore. Otherwise, her face showed the usual signs of weathering from too many years

of painting it.

It was the same old song and dance. Paleah couldn’t believe how quickly it was all

coming back to her. Instinctively, the wave of confidence from winters as a seasoned

whore flushed through her bloodstream. The feel of it caused her lunch to curdle in her

stomach.

“I’m new in town, my lady,” she began casually. “Until I can find a protector, I’d

like work if you have room for me.”

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“Where are you from?” Rana studied Paleah as she moved slowly around her.

“Semore…the Neurian nation.”

“I didn’t know your kind was allowed in Gothman.” Rana stopped and met

Paleah’s gaze.

Paleah shrugged. “No one stopped me.”

“I’m sure my customers will be thrilled with something as different as you.” When

Rana smiled, wrinkles showed in her face that hadn’t been there a second ago.

Doors banging down the hallway caused Rana to look up nervously. She glanced

over Paleah’s shoulder at the woman standing behind her and sent some silent

message.

“I’ll go see,” the woman mumbled, and opened and closed the door behind Paleah.

“I run a straight-up business here, to be certain. You do what I say and go with who

I tell you. You don’t do nothing on the side without my approval, and you get fifty

percent of the take. And…” The woman waved a long curving fingernail at Paleah. “All

money comes to me. I give you your share.”

Paleah bit her tongue to keep from yelling in the woman’s face over the

preposterous working conditions. She had nowhere to go, and no one else would give

her a job. What else could she do? Lord Andru didn’t pay her, just fed her and gave her

a bed. Or she stayed with Beel. He bought everything for her, and now he was gone.

The woman, who’d brought her to Rana, opened the door and stuck her head

through. Paleah glanced at her, and saw the incredibly worried look on her face. Oh

Crator, don’t let them stick her with a bad one first thing. She shoved the unpleasant

thought out of her head and prepared for the worse.

“Take her upstairs the back way,” Rana said after the woman whispered something

to her. “I daresay, you better gather the rest of the women up while you’re at it.”

Rana pushed past the woman, and left Paleah standing there. Silently, Paleah

followed the woman out of the room and toward a dark narrow staircase.

A woman screamed. Loud footsteps, followed by the sound of someone slamming

up against a wall, caused both women to freeze at the top of the stairs. Paleah slipped

behind the larger woman and hugged the wall as a handful of Gothman soldiers

appeared at the other end of the hallway. They opened one door after another, causing

screams and profane outbursts to litter the air. Her heart exploded in her chest when

Gilroy, then Andru, appeared at the tail end of the group of large men.

They weren’t looking for her, were they?

Her question was answered immediately when the soldiers opened one of the

doors, and then lunged into the room. A tall, lanky man was immediately yanked out of

the room as he screamed how he’d have his revenge on Andru. Paleah forced herself to

exhale, hoping now they would go away. The soldiers retreated down the hallway but,

much to her dismay, Gilroy and Andru lingered for a moment. Gilroy looked in their

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direction and Paleah froze behind her bosomy shield. She studied the toes of her shoes

and felt skeleton fingers trace her spine as footsteps approached.

“Step aside,” a baritone growled at the woman in front of her.

There was no reason to look up. How many Neurians were there in a Gothman

brothel? A large hand wrapped a death grip around her arm and her feet left the

ground. At the bottom of the stairs, she was passed to Andru as she continued to study

the floor.

“Rana, you’ll never allow this woman to work in here. Do you understand?”

Andru’s low growl was so similar to Beel’s.

Paleah first experienced shock, then dismay, as she looked up quickly at burning

gray eyes.

“Aye, my lord. Don’t you worry.” Rana scowled at Paleah.

He didn’t release her until they reached her glider. “Go back to the house, and don’t

leave until I say so,” was all Andru said, before turning and taking long strides back

toward his men.

Tears burned Paleah’s cheeks and her pounding heart was stuck in her throat. She

gasped for air as she parked her glider alongside the garage and walked around it

toward the house.

“Hey, pretty thing, where you going?” The unshaven guard’s scratchy voice

matched his unruly appearance. His large, sweaty hand wrapped around her arm like a

vise. “I’m getting no action over here.”

“I have to go inside,” Paleah whispered.

“The old maid just told them kids it was time for a nap. To be certain, you’re right

where you need to be, I’m thinking.”

“There’s still chores to do. Let me go…please.” Paleah had no fight in her.

The guard pulled her to his barrel chest and drool oozed from the side of his mouth

as he grinned a brown-toothed grin at her. “Maybe you might be needing a new

protector here soon, from what I hears tell. I daresay, I won’t take too much of your

time, just a little bit to take the edge off.”

“No. Stop it. I can’t.” Paleah’s cries, and her attempts at freeing herself, were

fruitless as he moved backwards toward the garage door. Her feet fought for traction on

the ground and his hand was already groping at her like he was in a race.

“Beel will get real mad.” Oh, she wished that were true.

She grabbed the garage door as he tried to pull her in. Her one last attempt to stop

the inevitable before he closed them inside.

“Beel ain’t here. And I daresay you don’t look like the type to kiss and tell.”

“That’ll be enough.” The loud order about made Paleah vomit.

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The guard dropped her. She hit the dirt hard and scrambled to her feet while

straightening her dress at the same time. Paleah backed into Gilroy before jumping

away from him as if he would burn her with his touch.

“Get inside.” He pointed to the house with his gloved finger and she turned and

ran for the door.

Meah was backing out of the nursery and pulling the door closed quietly when

Paleah darted up the back staircase and then came to an alarmed halt when she came

face to face with her lady.

“What happened to you?” Meah gasped. “Good Crator, look at you.”

And Paleah did. She looked down and saw her dress was still somewhat

disheveled, and she fought to straighten it when she noticed scratches on her fingers. It

must have been when she grabbed the garage door, or maybe when she fell. She

couldn’t think straight. Her eyes burned and she wasn’t sure how, but somehow she

thought she might have bruised her face—her jaw hurt. Meah wanted an answer. She

looked up at the worried eyes that took in the details of her face.

“Who did this to you?” Meah reached up and gently brushed some dirt from

Paleah’s face, and then took her arm to gently escort her to her bedroom so she could

see her better.

“It doesn’t matter.” Paleah could barely manage a whisper. “I think I’m in trouble.

I’m supposed to wait up here until Lord Andru says otherwise.”

Meah pulled the Neurian to her bedroom anyway, and then sat her down at her

dressing table before getting a damp washcloth from the bathroom.

“How could you possibly be in trouble? You’re hurt, and I imagine the other guy

isn’t feeling a bit of pain.” Meah scowled and shook her head.

“Probably not.” Paleah allowed Meah to wash her face, and since she wasn’t sure

how to explain the situation, she said nothing.

Meah snorted. “What happened? I thought you were going to Beel? He didn’t do

this to you, did he?”

“No. No, of course not.” Then Paleah sighed, and threw her arms out. “My lady, I

have no idea where Beel is.”

The tears started fresh and Meah bent over to wrap her arms around her while she

cooed softly. “There now, calm down. Tell me what happened. You’re okay now.”

Paleah looked up at her with eyes that looked beyond help. She looked beaten and

the expression startled Meah. It wasn’t one she’d ever seen before.

“I haven’t seen Beel in three days. He’s just disappeared. I don’t know where he

went and I didn’t have anywhere to go.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Meah screwed her eyebrows together. Paleah

wasn’t acting like herself at all. “But why did you say you were in trouble?”

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“I need to have a protector. I thought Beel was more than that and I was wrong. I

was just so stupid, and now I’ve messed everything up.”

Meah rolled her eyes in desperation. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Start at the beginning. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”