and instead of barging in as he’d planned, he stopped just outside the door. It shouldn’t have surprised him to find Dominic Francisco with his father, but he found himself standing in the hallway, his heart pounding in his chest anyway.
The last time he’d seen the man, he’d been screaming obscenities at Jacob in the front room of the boarding house at their school. They’d both been sixteen at the time, but far more mature than the other boys their age, mature enough, in fact, to have orchestrated the disappearance of Jacob’s mother and sister. He’d stood next to Jacob through it all, absorbing his father’s cruel words and hating the man even more with each passing moment.
Now, listening to that voice brought it all back, reminding him once again how important it was to get Janice away from him, but what he heard next took his breath away. “I’m warning you, Phillip, if Reggie refuses to marry Janice, I’ll be forced to look elsewhere. I know there are several men on the council who are very interested. This is the opportunity I’ve been looking for, and I’m not going to lose out because your son won’t cooperate.”
“Don’t worry about Reggie; I know just how to handle him,” his father said. “You worry about that daughter of yours. Have you told her yet?”
Dominic snorted. “She’ll cooperate one way or another,” he said. “Betty assures me that the girl is moldable, so she won’t be a problem. Now, I think it’s time we discussed payment. After all, you’ll be taking my one and only daughter away from me.”
“It’s a little late to play the devoted father, don’t you think?” his father asked. “But we both know Janice is not what I’m paying for.”
“No, I suppose not, but you do understand that there are a few on the council I won’t be able to persuade,” Dominic said.
“That’s not a problem. It will look less suspicious if there is some opposition to the proposal,” his father said. “Just keep your end of the bargain and I’ll take care of the rest.”
He heard a chair scraping across the floor. “Just make sure the money is in my account in time for the party,” Dominic said. “And don’t forget you promised to help me with my little Betty problem.”
His father burst into laughter. “That was one of the biggest mistakes you’ve ever made, my friend, but I think it should be easy enough to arrange for a fall down the stairs. After all, that house of yours is practically falling apart.”
“Don’t remind me,” Dominic growled. “I should have stuck it out with Mary. She wasn’t much to look at but at least she didn’t bankrupt me.”
“Ah, but you wanted another son, and Betty made you promises,” his father said.
“Promises she hasn’t kept, and it’s time to rectify that situation,” Dominic said.
“As soon as Reggie and Janice are married,” his father said. “Now, I suppose I must go greet my guests. Will you join me?”
Reggie silently crept back down the hallway, not willing to wait to hear Dominic’s answer, managing to make it to the end of the hallway before the two men appeared. Ducking into a shadow, he watched them walk away, surprised to see how much Dominic had aged over the last few years, then slipped back to his room using the servants’ corridors.
When he finally closed the door, he crossed the room and sat down heavily on the bed, realizing that they’d been fools to think they’d be able to get Janice away from the clan again. He wasn’t sure what his father was up to, but it clearly involved buying the votes of the council, one way or another, and he shivered when he thought about Janice being forced to marry any of the men who would be willing to sell their vote for her.
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he realized that he’d made a mistake back in Stoney Bridge; he should have told her everything then, should have stopped her from coming here. Now it was too late, and the only way to save her was to marry her: the one thing he didn’t want to do, the one thing that could hurt him the most.
***Janice***
Janice stood in front of the mirror, not sure if she was horrified or thrilled by what she saw. The white silk gown that Betty had forced on her fit her body like a glove, hugging the curve of her breasts, accentuating the flare