Catch a Shooting Star jd edit 03 12 2012 html by Brianna Lee McKenzie Page A
Authors: Brianna Lee McKenzie
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outside to contemplate his future.
There, beyond that door, he thought, is the only thing keeping him from owning the plantation and making a huge profit from what it contained. When the old man dies, he no longer needs to keep his promise to provide a home for him. And, Benjamin Star will no longer have a hold on his daughter and Diego will be free to do with her as he felt necessary to secure all that she would inherit.
Even Savannah, who had declared that she was more intelligent than he thought her to be, was ignorant of the fact that the plantation would revert to her upon her father’s death. By researching the deed records before he’d agreed to take on this contract with the old man, Diego had found that not even death could remove this land from the family. As long as there was an heir, there was an owner. And he intended to make a new heir as soon as possible in order to secure this vast plantation as his own whether his wife was a willing participant in that endeavor or not.
Getting her away from the home that she adored and taking her as many times that was required in order to impregnate her and then casting her aside as if she was a begging cur was the plan that he had fabricated those days that he had locked himself away in his rooms while she stomped around like a spoiled little child. And now that the time for him to make that plan come to fruition was near, he felt a surge of pride in his mastery of the human animal. Whether it is spoiled and self-assured, or merely old and decrepit, Don Diego Fernandez was unsurpassed at bending it to his will.
He reached for the doorknob just as Savannah stepped beside him and he turned the knob then stood aside for her to enter, his manners ever so polite. She, of course, did not acknowledge his gesture, but instead, swept past him as if he was a servant doing his job. A threatening chuckle under his breath as she entered the room was his warning to her that he soon would be the master and she the servant.
“Vanny,” the old man whispered as his daughter came to his bedside and clutched his hand in hers. “I feel weak and tired.”
“I know, Papa,” she said as she stroked his head and adopting the name that she used to call him when she was a child. “You should rest. We’ll come back another time for a visit.”
“No,” Benjamin said, regaining his voice and clamping down on Savannah’s hand as he pulled her closer.
She sat in the chair beside him and waited for her father to speak, watching him labor with every breath. Her heart beat hard against her chest every time his chest would fall and then fail to rise again. She felt herself cringe when Diego took his place behind her and lay his palms upon her shoulders in a counterfeit gesture of affection and concern.
Her father took in a long and labored breath before he said, “The wedding. It will have to take place soon. I don’t think we can put it off until I am better.”
Savannah’s back stiffened beneath Diego’s fingers and she felt them tighten their grip as she tried to pull away. Resigned to stay beneath those restraints, at least for a few minutes, she relaxed and leaned toward her father as she argued, “Nonsense, you will be well in a few weeks.”
“No,” Benjamin disagreed in earnest as he closed his heavy eyelids. “The sooner, the better. Can we get the Reverend here tomorrow?”
Savannah was dumbfounded and fumbled with a reply while Diego stepped toward the bed and assured the feeble man, “Of course, Benjamin. I’ll send for him right away.”
“But…” was all that Savannah could say as he Mexican left her side and breezed out of the room. When she recovered, she beseeched her father for a reprieve, “Are you sure you can’t wait a few more weeks?”
“I’m sorry, Vanny. There is not much time. I saw your mother last night in a dream and she told me that I would be joining her soon.”
“It was just a
There, beyond that door, he thought, is the only thing keeping him from owning the plantation and making a huge profit from what it contained. When the old man dies, he no longer needs to keep his promise to provide a home for him. And, Benjamin Star will no longer have a hold on his daughter and Diego will be free to do with her as he felt necessary to secure all that she would inherit.
Even Savannah, who had declared that she was more intelligent than he thought her to be, was ignorant of the fact that the plantation would revert to her upon her father’s death. By researching the deed records before he’d agreed to take on this contract with the old man, Diego had found that not even death could remove this land from the family. As long as there was an heir, there was an owner. And he intended to make a new heir as soon as possible in order to secure this vast plantation as his own whether his wife was a willing participant in that endeavor or not.
Getting her away from the home that she adored and taking her as many times that was required in order to impregnate her and then casting her aside as if she was a begging cur was the plan that he had fabricated those days that he had locked himself away in his rooms while she stomped around like a spoiled little child. And now that the time for him to make that plan come to fruition was near, he felt a surge of pride in his mastery of the human animal. Whether it is spoiled and self-assured, or merely old and decrepit, Don Diego Fernandez was unsurpassed at bending it to his will.
He reached for the doorknob just as Savannah stepped beside him and he turned the knob then stood aside for her to enter, his manners ever so polite. She, of course, did not acknowledge his gesture, but instead, swept past him as if he was a servant doing his job. A threatening chuckle under his breath as she entered the room was his warning to her that he soon would be the master and she the servant.
“Vanny,” the old man whispered as his daughter came to his bedside and clutched his hand in hers. “I feel weak and tired.”
“I know, Papa,” she said as she stroked his head and adopting the name that she used to call him when she was a child. “You should rest. We’ll come back another time for a visit.”
“No,” Benjamin said, regaining his voice and clamping down on Savannah’s hand as he pulled her closer.
She sat in the chair beside him and waited for her father to speak, watching him labor with every breath. Her heart beat hard against her chest every time his chest would fall and then fail to rise again. She felt herself cringe when Diego took his place behind her and lay his palms upon her shoulders in a counterfeit gesture of affection and concern.
Her father took in a long and labored breath before he said, “The wedding. It will have to take place soon. I don’t think we can put it off until I am better.”
Savannah’s back stiffened beneath Diego’s fingers and she felt them tighten their grip as she tried to pull away. Resigned to stay beneath those restraints, at least for a few minutes, she relaxed and leaned toward her father as she argued, “Nonsense, you will be well in a few weeks.”
“No,” Benjamin disagreed in earnest as he closed his heavy eyelids. “The sooner, the better. Can we get the Reverend here tomorrow?”
Savannah was dumbfounded and fumbled with a reply while Diego stepped toward the bed and assured the feeble man, “Of course, Benjamin. I’ll send for him right away.”
“But…” was all that Savannah could say as he Mexican left her side and breezed out of the room. When she recovered, she beseeched her father for a reprieve, “Are you sure you can’t wait a few more weeks?”
“I’m sorry, Vanny. There is not much time. I saw your mother last night in a dream and she told me that I would be joining her soon.”
“It was just a
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