Page 52 of Enticed By an Earl
Dev did not appear to hear the threat. He yanked George around and punched him again, causing him to stagger back, before turning to Kit’s father with fury in his eyes.
“How dare you manhandle your way past Mrs. Torrance to invade the private rooms of my fiancée?” Dev demanded.
“He is my son, and he is a madman and a freak of nature!” Kit’s father shouted, raising his fists as if he and Dev were part of one of the pugilistic displays he loved so much.
Instead of rising to the bait and fighting his father, Dev crouched beside Kit and scooped him into his arms. Kit was so overwhelmed with fear and pain that he could only cling to Dev as he lifted him to hold him like a baby and stood.
“She is my beloved, and you will not raise a hand against her,” Dev growled.
“Have you gone mad as well?” Kit’s father demanded. “I’ve known that boy since he was a babe, and he is definitely male, though a poor one at that. He should have been born a woman to save us all this trouble.”
Kit nearly laughed hysterically. He’d had that same thought so many times himself.
“Kitty is whomever she wishes to be,” Dev insisted, “and I will support that. I love her, I will make her my wife on Sunday, and there is nothing you nor anyone else can do to stop that.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you,” Kit’s father said. “The law doesn’t take kindly to people pretending to be something they’re not.”
“The law does not take kindly to fathers attempting to have their sons and heirs murdered either,” Dev snapped back as Kit buried his face against his shoulder.
A tense silence filled the room before Kit’s father said, “You cannot prove anything.”
Kit caught his breath, though doing so caused him far too much pain. There was so much guilt in the way his father spoke that Kit wondered if Dev had actually stumbled across something that could make the man stand down.
As if Dev was thinking the same thing, he said, “We have each other at an impasse. You threaten me with exposure and persecution under the law for everything Kitty is and the love we share, but I can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were not only responsible for hiring men to kill your son once before, but that you attempted to finish the job yourself.”
“You can prove nothing,” Kit’s father said, though he looked anxious.
“I have witnesses,” Dev said in a deadly voice. “Mrs. Torrance has just witnessed your assault.”
Kit’s father laughed. “The courts would not believe a woman over a duke.”
“My brother, James, who will one day be the Marquess of Russell, observed the men you sent after Lord Castleton in Hyde Park the day the earl disappeared,” Dev went on. “He was curious enough to seek out the identities of the two men only to discover that they are notorious assassins.”
From where he cowered in Dev’s arms, Kit could see just enough to watch his father’s face lose all color. “You cannot prove anything,” his father said, taking a step back.
“Would you like to test me?” Dev asked.
Kit’s father did not answer. Off to the side, George looked as though he wanted to run from the building and forget he even had a brother.
When the silence had gone on for too long, Dev said, “I suggest you take the original offer that I made to your son. Have Lord Castleton declared dead. Raise up that one in hisplace. Let Kitty live her life in peace. Everyone gets what they want that way.”
For a moment, Kit believed his father would finally agree to the bargain.
That moment was shattered when his father growled, balled his fists, and said, “Never. I will never allow this humiliation to continue.”
Without another word and before anyone could stop them, he and George stormed out of the room.
“Do you want me to go after them?” Mrs. Torrance asked in a shaky voice.
Dev heaved a sigh then said, “No. I need you to find a doctor.”
“No,” Kit groaned, pushing slightly away from Dev, but only weakly. He wanted to stay in his savior’s arms for as long as he could.
“Fetch a doctor who will be understanding to Kitty’s plight,” Dev said more carefully.
Mrs. Torrance nodded. “Understood,” she said, then hurried out of the room.
“You cannot have a doctor look at me,” Kit said, then groaned in pain as Dev carried him into the bedroom. “He will know.”
