An Uninvited Bride on his Doorstep by Ava Winters
Chapter Twenty-Three
Winona’s last stop before home was an appointment with a merchant to arrange the sale of feed to the Foley Ranch on credit. She tried not to think about the implications of purchasing an entire winter’s stores on credit. The horses needed feed to survive and with cold weather approaching any day now, that was a more pressing problem than finances.
She felt them before she saw them. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and her heart began to beat faster in her chest. She lifted her hands to spur the horses faster but before she could snap the reins, a shadow fell over her face. Someone pulled a bag over her head, and she was pulled roughly from the wagon.
She drew in breath to scream, but a powerful hand closed over her mouth, silencing her. She kicked and struggled but a second pair of hands gripped her waist and lifted her off the ground. She was carried swiftly away but with her vision obscured; she didn’t know where they were taking her. She beat at her attackers but if they felt her blows, they didn’t react as they spirited her away.
A few seconds later, they threw her roughly into a wagon. She leapt up and tugged at the bag over her head, but a third pair of hands grabbed her from behind, pressing a cloth over her mouth. The cloth was scented with a cloyingly sweet perfume that nearly made her gag.
Her eyelids became heavy, and she felt her strength waning. She tried to struggle but her arms hung limply at her sides. The world spun around her. Then she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
***
The bag was lifted suddenly over her head. A brilliant white light blinded her, and a rush of fresh air invaded her nostrils. She gasped and opened her eyes, crying out when the searing force of the light assaulted her unprotected vision.
“Take your time,” a voice said. “There’s no need to hurry. You’re safe here.”
The voice promised safety but hearing it made Winona feel anything but safe. It was a rich, deep baritone that was at once gentle and resonant. It spoke in flawless English but with a slight German accent. Her heart pounded in her chest and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
Her vision slowly sharpened until she could clearly see Sterling Koch. He leaned against a rich, immaculately polished mahogany desk, dressed impeccably as always in a silk, Italian-made suit.
She glanced around her. She was in an office or a study of some sort. In addition to the desk and the chair behind it, there were four other chairs, all richly upholstered and all made of the same dark mahogany. A wine cabinet, also of mahogany, dominated half of the wall to Winona’s right. To her left an occasional table as large as her dining table occupied the opposite wall.
Jude Koch stood in front of that table, staring at Winona with a look Winona imagined might be at home on the face of a cougar stalking a mule deer. Winona’s skin crawled under his gaze but at the moment, her fear was reserved for Jude’s father.
The older man stood with the air of medieval royalty, a noble observing a commoner. His expression wasn’t arrogant, or hostile, or evil. It was merely a quiet self-assuredness, an intrinsic understanding that he was the superior and Winona the inferior.
He smiled pleasantly at Winona, and she shivered. “So, the prodigal daughter has returned. I missed you, engelein.”
The pet name sent a wave of nausea through Winona. She nearly retched but caught herself just in time. She avoided Sterling’s eyes, trembling. She knew Jude was crazy and now she knew where he got it. Sterling may have greater self-control, but a man who would kidnap a woman from a public street in broad daylight was crazy to the bone.
She looked up at that calm, superior face and realized that wasn’t the case at all. Sterling Koch wasn’t crazy, and he didn’t believe he was better than others. He knew it. He knew it as surely as Winona knew the sun would rise in the morning. He had the air of a man accustomed all his life to the abject, instant obedience of everyone around him. He kidnapped Winona because he could. It was that simple.
She shivered again.
“I do apologize for resorting to such base methods to talk to you, but I must confess, you and your husband have shown a great deal more resolve than I anticipated.”
“Don’t call him that!” Jude shouted.
Sterling lifted his hand and Jude quieted. “Temporary husband,” he amended. He flashed his charming grin once more and continued. “You should know I initially intended a more civilized discussion with you and Mr. Foley, but after Mr. Foley’s unfortunate assault on my son, I felt it was prudent to take more direct measures.”
Winona’s eyes widened in understanding. “You hired those rustlers,” she whispered.
Sterling nodded. “I didn’t intend for anyone to die. I am sorry for that. I did intend to force your hand. I thought if faced with a life of common servitude, as you most surely are if you remain with Mr. Foley, you would do the wise thing and reconsider my son’s proposal. I’m sorry to see that isn’t the case.”
“Why?” Winona whispered. “Why me? Why my family?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Sterling gestured toward Jude. “Love.”
Jude grinned at her, and she felt another wave of nausea pass through her.
“I must confess,” Sterling continued. “It surprised me to learn of my son’s attraction to you. You are an uncommonly beautiful woman, Winona, but there are many beautiful women in the world and Westridge is an unremarkable town filled with unremarkable people like your stepmother, who thinks a pearl necklace indicates wealth and a reserved pew at the church indicates power. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why Jude would wish to settle with anyone in such a dreary place, even one so lovely as yourself.
“But then I considered the benefits of settling in such a boring locale. You see, a boring town like Westridge is very much like a blank sheet of paper. Jude tells me you draw.”
Jude licked his lips lasciviously and a now-familiar bout of nausea coursed through Winona.
“If I settled in an exceptional city—New York, London, Paris—I should be but one of a great many exceptional people in that city. If, however, I settled in an unexceptional town like Westridge—” he smiled again—“I should be a prince. A beacon of light in a drab world.”
Winona laughed in spite of her fear. “You small, small man. All your wealth and you can’t find a better use for it then bullying a little frontier town. If you were to go to an exceptional city, you wouldn’t be one of a great many exceptional people. You’d be a speck of dust. The exceptional city would hardly notice you were there and when you were trampled underfoot, it would hardly notice your passing.”
Sterling smiled affably at her outburst. “Now, now, engelein. That’s no way to speak to your father-in-law.”
“I will never marry Jude!” Winona shouted.
“Yes, you will,” Sterling insisted. His tone was one a patient teacher might use when addressing a willful child. “You will, and you will give me many grandsons to carry on my and my son’s name.”
“I’ll die before I marry him!” Winona insisted.
Jude suddenly strode toward her. She shrank back but her bonds prevented her from moving and in a few seconds, Jude’s hand was on her shoulder. He gazed intensely at her, his steel-blue eyes boring into her. “I love you, Winona Ross. I always have. From the moment I saw you, I loved you.”
“I’m married to Logan Foley, Jude,” Winona said. Her voice trembled but her gaze remained steady as she said, “That’s final. I will never marry you.”
Jude smiled and Winona was once more reminded of a cougar ready to pounce. “I know you loved me too, Winona. We were engaged to be married before … before you made the rash decision to marry that rancher.”
“I never loved you, Jude,” Winona said quietly. “I liked you a little, I thought. Mostly I just wanted to escape my stepmother. I never loved you. Once I saw you beat that elderly man, I didn’t even like you. You’re a monster, and I would never do the world the disservice of bearing children for you.”
Jude swallowed, his eyes blazing. He laughed nervously, “You’re so passionate, Winona. I love that about you.” He reached up to stroke her cheek and she pulled away, disgusted.
Jude’s expression darkened. He lifted his hand high, and Winona steeled herself for the blow.
“Stop!” Sterling called. Jude froze, glaring at Winona.
“Save the discipline for after the wedding,” Sterling instructed. “We can’t have your bride come to her wedding day covered in bruises. Don’t worry,” he added, seeing Jude’s face. “She’ll learn her place soon enough.”
“My place is by my husband’s side,” Winona said. “My husband will come for me. My family will come for me. You won’t get away with this. When people hear you kidnapped and threatened me, they’ll run you out of town.”
“I admit, taking you the way we did does incur risk, but I learned early on that if one wishes to succeed, one must occasionally take calculated risks. I do anticipate that Mr. Foley will come looking for you but never fear,” he flashed his charming smile again, “I’ve taken measures to protect myself and my son in the event of his interference.”
“If you murder Logan, then Westridge will see you are brought to justice!”
Sterling approached slowly until he stood in front of her. He looked down and Winona shrank under the weight of his gaze. “You’d be surprised what people will accept when they see what happens to those who stand in my way.”
“I don’t care what you do to me,” Winona said, “I will never marry Jude.”
“Yes, you will,” Sterling repeated.
“Pa has a friend,” Jude said. “A circuit judge. He’s on his way to town as we speak. He’s going to annul your marriage to Logan so we can be together.”
“I’ll never sign an annulment.”
“You will,” Sterling repeated. “You will have no choice. Your marriage will be declared illegal by the state. You will agree to the annulment, or you will be charged with prostitution and imprisoned.”
Winona stared in shock at the two of them.
Jude smiled and continued. “Once your fake marriage is done away with, you and I will be married in the church. Like a proper couple.”
“Reverend Patrick will never agree to this!”
“He already has,” Jude continued. “He never approved of your marriage to Logan. Surely you know that.”
Winona didn’t respond. Now that Jude mentioned it, she did recall the reverend was reluctant to marry her to Logan. Still, he couldn’t force her to marry Jude!
You’d be surprised what people will accept when they see what happens to those who stand in my way.
“Once we’re married, Westridge will be our town!” Jude declared. His eyes blazed madly. “People will have to do what we say. We’ll rule them like kings and queens, Winona!”
“You’re insane,” she whispered.
“Am I?” Jude asked, grinning. “It doesn’t matter. I win, Winona. I always win. If I say I’m not crazy, I’m not crazy. If I say you and I will be married, we’ll be married. There’s not a single thing anyone in this town or anywhere else can do to stop me.”
“My father will stop you,” Winona said. “He has money and influence too. He’ll see to it this marriage never happens.”
Sterling grinned, and in that moment the façade broke, and Winona could see the madness the father shared with the son. “You should know something, Winona. The annulment was not my idea.”
Winona looked at Jude. He wore a grin that matched his father’s and shook his head. Winona turned back to Sterling.
“Your stepmother,” Sterling said.
Winona’s heart dropped. Audrey had planned this?
“She approached me after the meal you shared with her some months ago. She mentioned the only witnesses to your marriage with Mr. Foley were Mr. Foley’s brothers. It turns out that family members can be easily discredited as witnesses. Once you sign a statement revealing that you were coerced into the union, it will be quite simple to annul the marriage and allow you and Jude to wed.”
Winona felt as though the wind were knocked out of her. She knew her stepmother was selfish, but she never expected her to go this far. How could she? Why? Why was it so important to her that Winona do what she say? She thought Audrey would be happy to be rid of her. There was nothing to pull Heath’s attention away from her now and if people spoke ill of Winona, she could always remind them Winona was only her stepdaughter. Why would she go so far out of her way to ruin Winona’s life? How could she be so cruel?
Tears welled in Winona’s eyes. “There are others who will help us. Westridge isn’t under your thumb, Sterling, and it isn’t under Audrey’s thumb either.”
Sterling shook his head sadly. “Winona, engelein, how many times must I tell you? This is inevitable. You will marry Jude.”
“I won’t!” Winona shouted.
“You will,” Sterling said. “Those rustlers were not the only associates I’ve hired. I’ve spent the past several weeks hiring gunfighters to protect my interests.”
Winona’s blood froze. “You can’t do that,” she whispered.
“I have,” Sterling said.
“What will happen when word gets around you’ve built your own private army? Your judge friend won’t be able to save you if the governor learns you’re running Westridge like your own little kingdom.”
“Actually, I’m quite close with the governor as well,” Sterling said. “I brought that exact concern to him, and he assured me no one would fault me for taking steps to protect my perfectly legal business investments with force if absolutely necessary.” His smile faded. “Will it be necessary, Winona?”
Winona didn’t answer. She’d never felt so helpless. She wanted to refuse, to deny Sterling the satisfaction of her acquiescence, but if she did, what would happen to Logan?
She hung her head, defeated.
“Will it be necessary to use force, Winona?” Sterling repeated.
“No,” she whispered.
“Good,” Sterling said. “I’m pleased to hear you see things my way.”
Winona stared at the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks. Oh Logan, I’m so sorry.