Page 55 of The Lady and the Footballer
Lord Nathaniel stood in front of them, leaning against the door jamb with a smile on his face. The spider who had captured prey in its web.
Colin wasn’t sure this could be any worse.
“Lord Nathaniel,” he said, standing, needing to be on equal footing as this man. “Good morning.”
Lord Nathaniel’s eyebrows rose as a diabolical smile spread over his face. “Good? Nothing about this is good for you, Thornton.”
“We were waiting for someone to come release us. I will see Miss Evans home to her parents now.”
Lily fell in behind him as Colin moved to the doorway, but Lord Nathaniel took a step forward, blocking his way.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” he said, wagging a finger back and forth in front of Colin’s face. “I have so many questions. Questions that you are going to answer before you go anywhere.”
“You will let us go, Lord Nathaniel,” Lily said, stepping forward boldly. Her nose lifted high in the air, and half of her hair floated around her face like a halo. “We have information of our own to share.”
His eyes flicked over to the ledger, sitting open on the table next to the lantern that had failed them.
“Do tell.”
“We know that you are sabotaging Manchester Central. We will not hesitate to bring that information forward.”
“So, what you are suggesting,” Lord Nathaniel said, placing his hands on his hips, “is that we keep one another’s secrets under the prospect of our joint downfall?”
It grated on Colin to think that people like Lord Montgomery and his son could get away with taking advantage of good people—people like his teammates, like Joey, who now couldn’t work and support his family—all for their own monetary gain.
But what was the other option? To destroy Lily and her reputation? To lose all that he had built for himself and his family?
“Something like that,” Colin reluctantly agreed. “I propose this. You do not tell anyone that you found us together – and we will keep what we found in the ledger to ourselves.”
Such a promise would mean they would have to find another way to prove Lord Montgomery’s malevolence, but at least it wouldn’t prevent them from sharing it if they made further discovery.
Lord Nathaniel looked from Colin to Lily and back again. They were both disheveled, of course, but that could be explained by a night of sleeping on a sofa. They had, however, been found in an embrace that would be hard to explain away – although it could have been much worse.
“The two of you looked awfully comfortable together,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “Tell me, Lily, does your father know of this little… liaison?” He waved his finger back and forth from one of them to the other.
“There is nothing between us but offering comfort when we were locked in here,” Colin said with confidence. “You should be more concerned about whatwediscovered.”
“What you discovered when you broke into my father’s warehouse,” Lord Nathaniel said, stepping forward. “I believe you are the most in the wrong here, Thornton. You could be charged with breaking and entering. Theft. Kidnapping.”
“Kidnapping!” Lily exclaimed. “I led him here.”
“I’m sure a jury wouldn’t see it quite that way,” Lord Nathaniel said, smiling evilly at her.
“It seems to me we are at a crossroads,” Colin said quietly. “Instead of acting like children, I would suggest we keep clear minds and determine the best outcome for all of us. Yes, we broke in here to prove our suspicions that your father was using underhanded methods to bring down our club. Do you care if your father and all he has worked for is brought down? For while Lord Harcourt might not listen to me, he will listen to his daughter, and if he feels he has been wronged, he will not stop until he brings about justice. It is not only the club. I know your father has also been disrupting Lord Harcourt’s mill.”
Lily went rigid next to him. Colin hadn’t shared that with her nor had he any proof, but his suspicions were significant enough to be confident in voicing it aloud. If he believed it, then Lord Nathaniel would have no reason to doubt his words.
“If you think your father’s football club and mill are worth risking, then so be it. Tell everyone what you saw here,” he said, waving his hand between him and Lily, attempting nonchalance even as his heart was beating nearly as fast as it had been when he touched Lily most intimately.
A flicker of unease passed over Lord Nathaniel’s face, telling Colin they almost had him. They just had to press a little more.
“It’s your choice,” Colin said with a shrug. “From what I see, you have much farther to fall than I do.”
He was silent then, waiting, allowing his words to hover in the air, for Lord Nathaniel to realize that he was sincere in what he said.
Finally, Lord Nathaniel took a breath, set his shoulders, and clasped his hands behind his back.
“Very well. Keep what you know to yourself, and – for now – I will not say anything about what I saw here,” he finally relented. “But understand this. If I hear a hint of a rumor that my father has any scandal attached to him, I will bring you down. Both of you.”
