9. Tess
Chapter 9
Tess
R utger takes me back to his cabin. “Stay in here,” he says. “You’ll be safe.”
“Safe from what?” I ask, following him back to the front door. Frida follows me, winding in and out between my ankles.
He seems too distracted to answer my question.
“Gotta figure out the taxes. Right now,” he mutters. “Gotta make sure I’m doing everything right.” He stops, turns to me, and cups my cheeks in his hands. “No matter what happens, you’re home with me. You know that, right?”
Bewildered, I nod. “Yes. I know. You have no idea how much of a relief that is, but I don’t understand. What taxes—”
“Good girl.” He kisses me, lingering over the corner of my mouth, the scratchiness of his beard has become a comfort whether against my face or between my legs. “Good girl,” he mumbles in that low timbre again.
Then he’s gone. Back to storming down the mountain.
The confrontation with Lindsay should have left me on edge, but even with Rutger so distracted, I feel calm.
He says he’s taking care of things and I believe him…whatever those things are.
Being with Rutger is a lot like being in heaven. I’m safe, desired, and fulfilled, and it’s such a weird feeling. I’ve turned into someone who can walk into an art class with confidence wearing pretty dresses, letting everyone see my curves with my chin held high. And now that I’m living in his cabin with Frida, it feels like the start of something really beautiful. Eating breakfast in the morning together has me feeling like we’re a family.
My mom never once made me breakfast. I just figured that’s not something that mothers did until I got a little older and realized it wasn’t normal to go to school hungry.
Sitting at the table with Frida in my lap and Rutger’s hand curved inside my thigh makes me feel complete.
I didn’t know I could feel that way.
I wonder if I’ll feel even more whole when Rutger gets me pregnant.
I wonder if I’m pregnant already. I mean, he’s filled me with a bucket full of his ‘batter’ and worked all his little tricks to try to get it to stay inside me as long as physically possible.
Frida snaps me out of my thoughts by making a huge clatter by jumping on a stack of papers, knocking a pen off the table, and starts messing with the paperwork. She threatens to bite the edge of the stack.
I pick her up. “Don’t do that, silly.”
She was standing on something that looks an awful lot like a contract.
My curiosity is too strong.
I transfer Frida to the floor, then pick up the papers. There’s a couple different things in the stack. One of them is a really standard rental contract with the college that funds Lindsay’s art program. It’s simple. It affirms Rutger’s property rights. All he needs to do is sign it, and the art program can come back next summer.
This is why Lindsay was so testy with Rutger. She just needs him to sign this so she can keep her job. I have no idea why he wouldn’t do it. I’m no lawyer, but a quick scan doesn’t give me any bad vibes.
Underneath the lease is something a lot scarier.
It’s some kind of official legal document. Something about unpaid taxes and forfeiture, which makes sense of what he said earlier. A few bits are in total legalese, but from what I can see this hasn’t been a gradual thing. The value of the land increased because of a declared development, and county has been chasing Rutger for increased taxes.
After getting nowhere, they’ve engaged a collection company, and they’re threatening court procedures to seize the land. That’s if he doesn’t take the easy option and sell it, for a price that even I can see must be a fraction of its value.
Also, I’ve seen the area that’s supposedly been developed with luxury offices and vacation lodges. There’s nothing like that. It’s a wilderness.
And I can’t believe for a moment that Rutger would allow something like that to be built here. Growing up the way I did, I know a scam when I see one, and this whole thing stinks.
Rutger must be stressed because he’s trying to resist selling his property to these guys. It makes me angry, even if I can’t understand why he doesn’t just show the courts that there’s no development, and no plans for anything like that. Surely they could investigate and find out who filed documents saying otherwise?
Then I scan down to the end, and some things start to become clear.
The collection company is called Dominion Debt Recovery.
A subsidiary of Patron Holdings.
My ex is trying to buy the forest out from under Rutger.
A fist pounds on the door, and I jump, dropping the loose pages back onto the table. They scatter across its surface. “Lindsay?” I call hopefully. I don’t think any of the other people at camp would come up here.
The fist pounds again.
Knock, knock, knock.
I stand and open the door.
“Hey Tess, baby,” says Don Patron. He looks so short now that I’ve gotten used to looking up at Rutger.
My heart plummets to splash down in my stomach with a horrible acid burn. The dress that made me feel so confident in front of artists now feels way too revealing. Don is looking over my cleavage like he can touch it with his eyeballs, and I’m so revolted that I can’t help covering up with my hands.
“How—how did you find me?”
“My guys were here earlier,” Don says, snapping his tongue in his cheek, his devil eyes lapping me up and down. “They recognized you from the little house party you abandoned. I wasn’t planning on handling this business deal personally, but once I learned you were involved, I jumped in my car right away. Luckily I was just down the mountain in town, talking with some…officials I know. You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve been worried sick about you.”
“What do you want?”
“We’ve got unfinished business, baby,” Don says. My gut curdles. “You and me. Me and Rutger. It seems like Rutger’s got a hold of all the pretty things I want right now. This forest…you…”
“Well, you can’t have me. We’re done. I thought that was pretty clear.”
Even though he’s still leaning against the doorway, pretending to be casual, something dangerous uncoils in his body. He goes rigid. “Baby,” he says like it’s a curse word, “you don’t get to decide when we’re done.”
I try to close the door.
He puts his foot in the way. “Trying to run again?”
“You keep virgin blood like fucking trophies,” I hiss, shoving him back with the heels of my hands. “You’re gross.”
“I’m a conquerer, baby.” He looks smug.
“Funny word for creep .” I glare at him straight in the eye. “You should know I’m not your type anymore. So you can fuck all the way off.”
His face darkens. He licks his lips as he looks over me.
“Well, well, well. You’ve gotten popped. That doesn’t mean you’re not my type.”
“If your type is ‘girls I can control,’ then I’m not that, either!”
“Listen up, bitch.” Don is done acting flirty and charming. He pushes the door open the rest of the way, backing me into the cabin. I should scream, but I’m frozen. He’s not a man to be underestimated. He is gross but he’s also dangerous. “I’ve got so many lawyers, I could take down the whole state if I wanted. Hear me? I’m gonna get this land, one way or another.”
“You can’t do that!” My confidence is flagging. “It’s… It’s all he has left of his grandparents. It would kill him to lose it.”
“Oh, cry me a fucking river. Who gives a shit about that dumb ape? This is business. But… You know what? You could convince me otherwise. Come with me and I’ll drop everything. Leave the forest alone. I don’t like losing, Tess. You took what was mine. I had you right where I wanted you, and you slipped away and gave that virgin blood of yours to someone else. Now, you can fix it. You come with me, leave him, and I’ll drop all this land business..”
“Come with you?” Hot tears pluck at my eyes.
“If you don’t, then I’m gonna take everything. Let’s see how much he still wants you when he realizes you could have saved him, and you didn’t.”
Don can ruin us. I know he can do it.
That swaggering, slimy confidence of a businessman has opened a lot of doors for him.
Wouldn’t Rutger rather have his land than me?
It’s the least I could do.
“This offer expires in one minute,” Don says, looking at a watch that costs more than I’ve ever made in my whole life. “Come with me or destroy Rutger. Your choice, bitch.”
“Stop. I’ll do it.” I’m so choked up, I can barely get the words out. My hands are shaking when I pick up Frida to kiss the top of her head. She purrs and bumps her head against my lips, unaware that this needs to be goodbye. “Stay here, sweetie. You’ll be safe with Rutger. He’ll take care of you better than I ever could.”
Don sneers. “That thing’s still alive, huh? Now move it.” He grabs me by the wrist and jerks me toward the door. I set Frida on the sofa and make sure the cabin door closes securely so that she doesn’t get out.
His car is waiting for me.
He shoves me inside, and it feels like getting shoved into a coffin. But at least I’m saving Rutger’s land. That knowledge is the only thing that keeps my heart beating when it feels like it’s breaking into a thousand pieces.