Penmort Castle (Ghosts and Reincarnation #1)(144)

However behind them a disembodied male chortle could be heard and Abby knew Cash definitely heard it.

She knew this because his hand squeezed hers painfully tight and he muttered, “You definitely f**king owe me.”

Abby didn’t have time to worry about Cash’s dire statement.

She had stairs to climb.

She held her breath through the first set of stairs then she let it go on the landing only to hold it again on the second.

It wasn’t until they hit the gallery that she allowed herself to relax.

Not relax relax, as in, putting your feet up with a book and a nice, big glass of pinot noir at the end of a trying day. But just kind of relax, as in making it up a stairwell made dangerous by a phantom yet the real battle still yawned ahead of you.

The gallery was ablaze with lights and everyone was there when they entered.

“Maybe I should go get some champagne,” Honor offered.

“Nobody f**king leaves this room,” Cash returned immediately, dropping Abby’s hand and cutting a scowl throughout the group.

Honor’s brows went up and her eyes slid to Abby.

Abby gave her a grimace of solidarity but shrewdly decided against speaking.

“Well I, for one, think this is very interesting,” Suzanne remarked from across the room.

She was standing, arms crossed under her br**sts, the cle**age bared by her fuchsia gown that had a daring V which went nearly to her navel became all the more pronounced with her stance. She had a foot out and a hip jutted and her eyes were aimed at Alistair.

“Suzanne, please,” Nicola begged, “now is not a good time.”

“Of course you’re right, Mum,” Suzanne agreed. “Though, I will say, I do hope Anthony Beaumaris hangs around after Vivianna is gone. I would just love to hear what he has to say.”

“Shut your goddamned mouth,” Alistair snapped.

“Make me,” she snapped back and Alistair made as if to move but Cash’s voice cracked through the room like a whiplash.

“You take one step closer to her, Alistair, I’ll throw you out the f**king window myself.”

Alistair’s body froze but his hate filled eyes shot to Cash.

“I should never have invited you to this house,” he clipped.

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Cash concurred then Abby’s tense body went solid when he spoke his next words. “I’ll not make the same mistake.”

“I wouldn’t step foot in your home even if you paid me,” Alistair returned.

“You did five minutes ago,” Cash retorted, Abby’s breath caught and the air in the room went still as everyone’s eyes riveted on Cash.

Alistair’s face paled, his lips parted in shock but he quickly recovered and slid into bluster. “What are you on about?”

“I’m on about the lien I have on Penmort,” Cash informed him. “The one I purchased two months ago from a very grateful bank who hadn’t been receiving payments for six months. Nor, I expect, did they want to foreclose and be saddled with a castle they would likely never be able to unload. I don’t share that reluctance, I’m foreclosing now.”

“I knew this would be interesting,” Suzanne commented happily.

At the same time Fenella muttered, “Oh my.”

And at the same time Honor let out an amused chuckle.

Alistair ignored their onlookers, he only had eyes for Cash.

“You can’t be serious,” he breathed.

“Deadly,” Cash shot back.

Alistair’s hands fisted at his sides as his face grew red and he declared, “I’ll pay you.”

“You don’t have the money to pay me,” Cash reminded him.

Alistair leaned forward. “Then I’ll start selling. The Wedgewood collection alone –”

Cash’s body went visibly tight before he clipped out, “You sell one piece of my legacy, I’ll see you in court, day in and day out, until the only thing you have left is the clothes on your f**king back.”

Abby, already close to Cash, got closer and her fingers curled around his.

His hand gave hers a light squeeze right before Alistair grinned and scoffed, “Your legacy? That’s damned funny. Penmort has never been held outside the legitimate line.”

“That isn’t exactly true,” Honor put in airily and everyone looked to her as she continued, talking like she was a history teacher and they were her class. “In 1697, Edward Beaumaris, never married, died without a legitimate heir. However, being somewhat of a rake, he had five illegitimate children, three boys and two girls. The first born boy, Randall, assumed the Beaumaris name and took over as master of the castle.”

“Edward Beaumaris obviously didn’t have a brother,” Alistair retorted.

“Actually, he had four,” Honor returned, a font of ready knowledge about the Beaumaris family.

Clearly, Abby thought, over the last twenty-five years Honor had spent a good deal of time in the library.

Nicola let out a soft laugh, Alistair’s gaze cut to her and his voice was hideous when he hissed, “Shut your bloody mouth.”

At that Cash dropped Abby’s hand and in three long strides he was in Alistair’s space. Alistair, taken unawares, belatedly shuffled back but Cash kept advancing until he had his uncle pinned against the wall.