Raw Fever Chapter 1

            “Father, you cannot tell me that you’ve given up hope. We can get the company back,” Lady Dakota Trey said as she watched her father’s sunken face. He was sitting in the corner with his white tunic left unbuttoned. His blue eyes were filled with a misty lost look as he let out a deep breath and raised his head to look at her.

            “Dakota, there is nothing I can do now, darling. I have given it all my best and I have come up empty. All of my money is gone and I have nothing left. The only way to get out of this is to sell it,” Baron Edward Trey said.

            Dakota sat down in one of the chairs and her blonde curls fell over her slender shoulder. She looked just as lost as her father, she was sure, and her heart ached. The company, their lumber company, was going to be sold. The company that her great grandparents built with their blood and sweat was going to be given to a stranger who had no ties with their heritage.

            She felt the tears come and she hated herself for being weak. She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes and sniffed. It was difficult to be in this situation, but she had no idea what to do to get out of it. Her father dropped the news to her after dinner and now she felt like she wanted to throw up her food.

            “Father, you can’t sell it,” she whispered.

            He looked up. “It’s too late now. There is already an interested buyer. He’ll be here before the week is over.”

            Dakota gasped and stood up, her green gown dragging the chair with her. “What? You can’t be serious.”

            Edward stood up and took a deep breath. “I wish I could joke, but it is the truth. He is a Lord from Newshire. He’s agreed to let us stay here in this house as long as I give him the company. He has given me a price that is above and beyond any buyer. We can start new with this money.”

            Dakota almost laughed. “Start new with what, father? We’ll have nothing left! The company that our ancestor worked so hard for will be in the hands of a strange man. If you ask me, we’ve sold our lives to him!”

            “What other decision do you have? We’re out of time and money. This is our way out, simply because it is a last resort. Do not be ashamed.”

            The tears spilled over her cheeks. “I am not ashamed! I am angry that I will have to bow down to a stranger when it is my ancestors’ blood that is buried out there!”

            “And you think I have no feelings when it comes to it? I have sat for days, weeks, thinking of a plan to save this. But I have come up empty, Dakota! It is not easy for a man to admit he is simply lost and cannot work up a solution to save his own home.”

            She walked to her father and took him into her arms. “Father, we are the true owners to the company. You must hold on and bear it with me. I will find a way to save this.”

            He pulled away and shook his head. “It is too late, darling. The papers have all been signed.”

            Dakota threw up her arms and shook her head. “No! I will not relent.”

            “He’ll be here. I expect you to give him the utmost respect. He bought our company, yes, but he has saved us. Believe me, he has saved us.”

            “I will never give him anything but my pure hatred. He may come here and try to take over, but he’ll be trying to break down a stone wall.”

            Dakota stared at the fire spitting in her chamber and felt like breaking down walls. How could a stranger from a place called Newshire just waltz in and take over the company that her ancestors built? It was as if he was stealing. Tears burned her eyes and she groaned. She hated herself for allowing tears to fall. It hadn’t been this difficult. From the very beginning, things had been fine. But then her mother had gotten sick and they had to use the money for medicine, doctor’s visits, and then when things got really tough, her father had begun to use the money from the company. There had been a low income of lumber as it was and when he had no money to pay the workers, they all quit. It left them barely able to get food on the table. Then in the worst of times, her mother had passed, and it had been the saddest moment when Dakota realized they had no money for her mother’s funeral. She had to sell some of her mother’s antiques and she cried when she returned to an empty room of what used to be.

            Dakota Trey wasn’t your average elegant woman. She was a spit fire. She was blunt and had a devil’s tongue. She rarely handed out second chances and if she held a grudge, it was until the end of the world. She didn’t care what others thought of her. At society gatherings, she was often alone because no one was interesting enough, even though everyone held her as one of the most intriguing woman. With her blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, she was the center of attention to most men, although she was blind to it. She wasn’t about to give in just because a stranger was about to make her home his.

            Lying in the middle of the bed stark naked was Lord Lincoln Holton of Newshire. The wind was blowing in, but he felt nothing even though the fire had died down. His hazel eyes were wide open and he was staring up at nothing and blackness. He swallowed; his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Tonight had been a rough night for him. Two of his men had died and he hadn’t been able to find the bodies. Although he searched far and wide, he came up empty. He knew they were there somewhere waiting for him, just waiting to attack. He knew because he could feel them inside of his veins. Their anger was burning deeper as the days went on and he knew that they were waiting for the perfect moment. The moment where he was vulnerable and killing him was easy.

            For hundreds of years, the Holton family had been trying to gain access to the secret book that would unveil the truth about how to save their cursed lives. Lincoln’s father, Sebastian had tried unsuccessfully, and was killed by his uncle, Thornton. Now, Lincoln’s brothers, Hayes and Miles, had teamed up with Thornton to keep Lincoln from reaching his father’s goal. But he knew that he was closer now than ever because he’d finally found the Trey mansion. His father told him before he died that the book was buried inside one of the Trey’s ancestors’ tombs.

            As if timing had been on his side, he found them when the owner of Trey’s lumber went bankrupt. He bought the company and allowed the owners to stay just because he needed the place to look alive for the time being. He wanted to hide the fact that he had bought the place. He hadn't allowed the owner to reveal to anyone about him buying the place. If he wanted to buy himself sometime, it was now. His men had told him that Thornton and his brothers were in Europe at the moment. He had time to complete his mission. But the question was, how much time?