by J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13
LINK TO PART ONE
~
Adam was still awake when David let himself into their suite. He was sprawled on one of the armchairs, reading a worn out copy of Tristram Shandy.
"You didn’t have to wait up for me," David commented, smiling a little.
"I don’t mind," Adam assured him as he set the book aside. "Nothing new on Gregory Miller. Any luck with Marty?"
David sighed and leaned up against the arm of Adam’s chair. "A bit," he admitted. "She’s—she’s with child."
Adam’s eyes widened at that. "How do you know?"
David paused long enough to lean down and kiss him gently on the lips. "I spoke with her at length," he said.
He proceeded to tell Adam the whole story. He left nothing out. He even relayed Marty’s adorable but misguided attempt to seduce him. Adam might as well know that the girl was every bit as brazen as she was naive.
Adam listened in silence and then he stood up and began pacing the room. David could see a mixture of guilt and exasperation on his face.
"This isn’t your fault," David informed him. "I don’t think there was anything you could have done to control someone like Marty—she’s too anxious to try everything the world has to offer."
"I shouldn’t have talked her grandfather into letting her come to San Francisco," Adam said softly.
David shrugged. "She would have run away sooner or later if you hadn’t. At any event, what’s done is done. What do we do from here?"
Adam sighed. "I think Joe is right—I think we should go to Ed Niles. Stephen was his son and Marty—well, Marty might be his daughter. He deserves to know what’s going on."
David fell silent at that. "You know how ruthless the man is, don’t you?" he asked at length.
Adam gave him a sharp look. "What are you implying?"
"If Niles believes us, he might well want revenge against Gregory Miller," David pointed out, choosing his words carefully. "After all, Miller orchestrated this entire affair. He convinced Marty to marry him, but he was careful to keep the wedding secret from Niles."
"In case Niles grew suspicious after Stephen’s confession," Adam agreed. "Go on."
David nodded. "After the wedding, Miller began blackmailing Stephen, making his demands so high that Stephen was forced to go and make his confession to his father. As Miller predicted, Niles flew into a rage and disinherited Stephen. And that’s all that Miller needed, I imagine. I don’t think he guessed that Stephen would go and shoot himself in a misguided attempt to get revenge on me and his father."
He paused and looked Adam in the eye. "If we go to Niles now, what’s to prevent him from deciding that it’s best to eliminate Miller? I don’t know if Niles is really capable of murder—but somehow I can’t quite put it past him. After all, if Miller should happen to have some unfortunate accident, Niles would have his revenge and his daughter would be a free woman again."
"True," Adam owned. "But if we don’t go to Niles, what’s to prevent Miller from orchestrating an unfortunate accident himself? Remember, if Niles were to die tomorrow, Marty would be his heir—and Miller would become an extremely rich man."
David let out a low whistle. "I hadn’t thought of that," he admitted. "Lord, it’s tempting to let these two murder each other off, isn’t it?"
Adam grinned. "Tempting, but it won’t come to that. If we talk to Niles, I think we can convince him merely to disinherit Marty. In fact, Niles could disinherit Marty and then threaten to expose Miller’s blackmail scheme if he doesn’t immediately grant Marty a divorce."
David nodded. "Miller would give her the divorce—I doubt he’s madly in love with her. And he’d have no motive to make an attempt on Niles’ life. But Niles might still want revenge for Stephen’s death."
"Well, we’ll have to hope we can convince him to settle for something less than murder," Adam said wryly. "Are we agreed about going to Niles?"
"I suppose so," David said, shrugging. "You’re right—he should know what’s going on."
"Good," Adam said as he walked up to David and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Now let’s get to bed."
"All right," David agreed. "But I’d like the good side of the bed tonight—without having to wrestle for it."
Adam raised his eyebrows at that. "Tired of losing?" he inquired.
David laughed. "You don’t have an undefeated record," he pointed out. "But I’m not up to wrestling tonight—fending off Marty’s advances was exhausting enough."
"Do you have something else in mind?" Adam asked, narrowing his eyes at him.
"Absolutely," he answered at once. "I thought I’d try bribery."
He winked at Adam as he said the words, anxious to see how he would react to that proposal. Despite all their intimacies, he still had quite a bit to teach Adam—providing he was open to the lessons.
"I see." Adam said at length. He paused to place a hand on David’s cheek and kiss him softly. "It would have to be quite a bribe," he warned.
"Don’t worry," David said, drawing him into a more fervent embrace. "It will be."
LINK TO PART SIXTY-SIX
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