Once Upon A Wedding Night Read Free Page A

Nick asked, "Who are you?"
    "Grimley, sir. Albert Grimley of Snide and Grimley."
    Nick frowned. "What does a solicitor want with me?"
    Grimley fidgeted in the seat. "Why nothing, my lord. I am here to—"
    "What did you say?" Nick broke in, a coldness gripping his heart, squeezing like an icy fist.
    Grimley blinked and appeared a little frightened. "I—I want nothing."
    Nick leaned menacingly over the desk.
    "Not that," Mac explained with infinite patience. "Did you just call him
my lord
?"
    Grimley flushed red and rubbed his forehead ruefully. "Ah, so I did. Not the best way to break the news I suppose."
    "What news?" Nick persisted.
    "Mrs. Grimley claims I have a habit of running away at the mouth a bit."
    "What news?" Nick thundered.
    Grimley's Adam's apple bobbed above his cravat. "Your half brother has passed away. You, sir, are the new Earl of Brookshire."
    Mac whistled between his teeth.
    Nick closed his eyes in one long blink, but it did no good. Opening his eyes, the solicitor still sat across from him, delivering the most shocking, distasteful news. It must be a nightmare. He pinched his leg beneath the desk. Hard. It did no good. This was one dream from which he was not waking.
    Recovering his voice, he said, "Give it to someone else."
    Grimley frowned and looked to Mac as though seeking confirmation to Nick's incredible command. No sane man would turn down an earldom.
    Mac shrugged, holding both hands up in a gesture of helplessness even as his smiling eyes indicated his enjoyment of their little drama. "You heard him. Can't you give it to someone else? I wouldn't mind being an earl."
    The solicitor sniffed disdainfully before turning back to address Nick, evidently not appreciating Mac's sense of humor. He cleared his throat. "I'm afraid it is not that simple, my lord—"
    "Oh, but it is," Nick cut in, his voice sharp as a whip. "And don't call me that."
    Albert Grimley struggled to swallow past his bobbing Adam's apple, and Nick felt a brief stab of sympathy for the solicitor. This meeting was likely not unfolding the way he had imagined. No doubt most men would have hugged the bearer of such news. But he was not most men. He preferred his life the way it was, with his roots in the aristocracy completely erased. That his father had been an earl made little difference in the world he chose to inhabit. It was a fact Nick preferred to forget.
    "How did you find me?" He squeezed the bridge of his nose.
    "It was our obligation to locate the closest living male relation to the late earl."
    "You shouldn't have troubled yourself. Mark me off and move down your list."
    "The line ends after you, my lord. Your half brother left no heirs."
    "Then as you said, the line ends," Nick replied blandly.
    "I cannot do that—"
    He knotted his fist on top of the desk until the knuckles went white. "I'll sign whatever I have to. I don't want it. Any of it. Not the property. Not the money. And especially not the title."
    "It's not that simple," Grimley reiterated with a sigh, his eyes glancing uneasily at Nick's large fist. "You own property, whether you wish it or not. You may either sell it or give it away, but that will require some paperwork, not to mention the necessity of a buyer in the matter of selling. The matter of your title is another issue. You will have to go before the courts to officially renounce your title and Oak Run since the family seat lies adherent with the title."
    Nick threw his hands up in the air. "I don't want it. A refusal should suffice."
    Grimley folded his hands in his lap and pursed his lips in disapproval. Clearly, Nick did not meet his expectations. Well, he could care less. The solicitor had pushed his way into his life uninvited, and he didn't owe him anything.
    Grimley bent to pick up his leather satchel from the floor. "I daresay you've suffered a shock. I will leave you now to process this news. You will surely come to your senses in the morning."
    "I don't think so" Nick bit out, his jaw aching