Page 77 of The Defiant One
She opened the door and walked into chaos.
The servants were as nervous as a flock of hens with a fox in their midst. Tension charged the air, and angry voices came from another part of the house. The housekeeper, a pretty young redhead named Miss Upchurch, hurried up to Celsie, her voice low. "They're in the library, my lady," she murmured, seeing Celsie's darkening mood.
Celsie's mood had every reason to be dark. Between the robbery, Andrew shutting her out, and now what sounded like the devil of an argument between Andrew and Gerald — what was he still doing here?! — she had had enough.
She stormed into the library just in time to see Andrew backing her step-brother up against the wall, one hand wrapped around his throat, his other on the hilt of his sword. Gerald's eyes were bulging, his hands waving wildly.
"Don't you ever threaten me again," Andrew seethed in a deadly-soft voice. "And don't you dare pretend ignorance where the robbery was concerned either, you bastard. You knew about the aphrodisiac, and I'd bet my last coin that you invited that bitch here to steal it, didn't you?" Gerald made a whimpering noise in his throat. "I'll tell you right now, Somerfield, that if you ever harm any member of my family, ever again, directly or indirectly, I'll kill you. Do I make myself clear?"
Gerald was sweating, eyes wild, his palms sliding up the wall in an effort to get away.
"Do I make myself clear?"
Celsie cleared her throat. "What is going on in here?"
Andrew turned his head. His face was as cold and terrible as she'd ever seen Lucien's, and for a moment Celsie almost didn't recognize him. With a curse, he released Gerald, shoving him slightly to the side as he did. Her stepbrother stumbled and went sprawling, cutting his lip on his teeth as he fell.
Celsie made no move to go to either of them.
Gerald got to his feet, rubbing his throat and glaring at Andrew. He took out his handkerchief and dabbed at his bloodied lip, then turned wounded eyes on Celsie. "You've married a madman," he said sullenly. "I was in here minding my own business when he came in, accused me of setting Eva on you, and physically assaulted me. I demand an apology, de Montforte!"
Andrew's eyes were deadly. "And do you demand restitution?"
Gerald paled.
"There will be no more dueling," Celsie said sharply, stamping her foot in frustration. She turned her angry stare on Gerald. "Did you set Eva on us to steal the aphrodisiac?"
"Of course not," he mumbled, but his gaze slid away. Celsie blinked back tears of mounting frustration. He was lying. She knew it in her heart. Andrew or Charles could have been killed, and her brother couldn't even look her in the eye and tell the truth.
"I have a demand of my own," she said, her voice unnaturally flat as she tried to keep her wrath in check. "I want you out of this house within an hour after breakfast, Gerald. I'm tired of supporting you, tired of saving you from one financial disaster after another, tired of keeping you out of debtor's gaol only to have you repay me by nearly getting my husband and brother-in-law killed. You have a fine way of showing gratitude."
"You can't throw me out, I have nowhere else to go!"
"You have friends in London. You have an uncle. Go throw yourself on their charity for a change. I have had enough."
Andrew, who'd been leaning negligently against the edge of a table, straightened up. "And if you think she can't throw you out, rest assured that I will." His smile was positively malevolent. "Bodily."
Gerald stood there, his gaze darting from his selfish stepsister to the man she had married. The man who had stolen what should have been Gerald's financial salvation right out from under his nose. The man who had turned Gerald's life and future upside down.
The man Gerald hated with a passion that made him dizzy.
I'll get my revenge on you, you bastard, he thought. You just wait.
"Fine, then," he muttered darkly. "But you'll be sorry. Both of you."
He spun on his heel and stalked from the room. He didn't stop until he reached his apartments. There, as he began hurling possessions into a trunk, he saw that a package had come for him, brought by an anonymous messenger and left by a servant on the table beside his bed.
Gerald tore it open.
It was a small glass vial, accompanied by a note: "Use it wisely. Eva."
Salvation.
~~~~
Andrew waited until Somerfield left the library; then, before Celsie could start firing questions at him, he bowed stiffly to her and left.
She made no move to stop him.
