“Easy,” Ryder said softly, and Casey shivered.That was what he’d said earlier, right before he’d kissed her.
“I don’t need saving,” she told Lash.“And I’ve already come to my senses.I saved myself.”
A nerve jerked at the side of Lash’s eye, causing it to twitch.“What do you mean?”
Although Ryder was no longer touching Casey, she knew he was still behind her, and, oddly enough, it was his solid presence that gave her the courage to say what had to be said.She pulled the copy of their marriage license from her purse and handed it to Lash without batting an eye.
“Ryder and I were married this morning.I suppose you’ll need this to confirm the legalities and finalize the edicts of the will.”
“Married?”
The shriek came from across the room.Casey wasn’t sure whether it was Miles or Erica who’d come undone, and she didn’t much care.
The paper fell from Lash’s fingers and onto the floor as shock spread across his face.Speech was impossible.All he could do was stare at the woman who’d dashed his last hopes.She seemed calm, even smug about what she’d done, and as he looked, he began to hate.
At this point, Joshua came back into the room with an uncorked bottle of champagne and a tray full of glasses.Casey took it from his hands.
“I’ll pour while you go get Tilly.This won’t be official until you two are in on my news.Also, will you please tell Bea to get the apartment over the garage ready.When it’s cleaned, have someone move my things out there, okay?”
Joshua left with an anxious glance.
“Why on earth would you be doing such a thing?”Eudora asked.
Before Casey could respond, Ryder stepped to her side.For a moment, Casey had the sensation of what it would be like to never stand alone against this family again.
His voice was cool, his manner calm and assured.“Because a wife lives with her husband, and as of yesterday, I’m your new chauffeur, that’s why.”
Miles’s snort of disbelief was echoed by his sister.“My God, Casey, marrying some ne’er-do-well is bad enough, but a chauffeur?Have you no shame?”
Ryder’s expression underwent a remarkable change, from calm to quiet fury.He never took his eyes from Miles.“I don’t care if he is your brother—do not expect me to like that little pig.”
Casey almost laughed.The look of shock on her brothers’s face was priceless.
“You don’t have to,” she said, and then felt obligated to add, “but you can’t hurt him.”
Ryder gave Miles another cool stare, then took the champagne Casey handed him.“There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” he drawled, and gave Miles a cool, studied look.Then he lifted the glass toward her in a silent toast, pinning Casey with a stormy gaze that left her stunned.
“To justice,” he said, letting them decide for themselves what he’d meant.
CHAPTER 3
After the family accepted the shock of Casey’s news, there was one more person Casey needed to see.While Ryder was prowling through the garage and the cars that were to be under his control, she slipped into the kitchen in search of Matilda Bass.The need to lay her head on Tilly’s shoulder was overwhelming.She hoped when she did, that she would manage not to cry.
And Tilly wasn’t all that hard to find.
“Come here to me, girl,” Tilly said, and opened her arms.Casey walked into them without hesitation.“You didn’t come drink champagne with me.”
Tilly ignored the rebuke.She had her own idea of her place in this world and in spite of the money the Rubans had, she wouldn’t have traded places with them for any of it.She had more self-esteem than to socialize with people who chose to look down on her because she cooked the food that they ate.
“Well now, what have you gone and done?”Tilly asked.Her sympathy was almost Casey’s undoing.“Saved us all, I hope,” Casey replied.
Tilly frowned.She’d already heard through the family grapevine what a burden the old man Ruban had heaped on her baby’s head.
“If you ask me, that old man needed his head examined,” Tilly mumbled, stroking her hand gently up and down the middle of Casey’s back.
Casey sighed.“Well, it’s over and done with,” she said.
Tilly stepped back, her dark eyes boring into Casey’s gaze.“Nothing is ever over and done with, girl.Not while people draw breath.You be careful.I don’t know why, but I don’t like the feel of all this.”
