Page 37 of How to Tempt An Earl
One that had involved him and Celeste naked in bed together and her saying the words he sensed she was close to saying:I will stay. He’d exerted considerable persuasive influence to hear those words, a testimony to how much he wanted her to say them. Recent events, however, had likely undone much of that work.
‘She’s a smart girl. She knows when to leave a room,’ Caine persisted.
‘Or when she’s being chased from one. You were interrogating her,’ Kieran accused. ‘And you—’ he pointed a finger at Luce ‘—were flirting with her. One should expect better from his brothers.’
Luce held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘I didn’t realise she was out of bounds. I assumed the fiancée thing was a ruse when your butler mentioned that Lord Wrexham and his fiancée were out for the evening.’
Caine’s sharp eyes were on him. ‘Is that how it is, Kieran? Is she your woman, your fiancée? You clearly have feelings for her and she for you. Has this gone further than an affair on the road?’
So, this was how it would be. If Caine couldn’t interrogate Celeste, he would interrogate him. ‘I would like to make the ruse a reality.’ To confess those words out loud made his hopes all the more real. It was what he hoped for—to live here with Celeste and to build a life at Wrexham—but tonight had shown him the compromises that would come with that dream. What they’d lived these past weeks was a fantasy. Real life would look somewhat different, even if they could come to compromise.
Caine gave his answer thoughtful consideration. ‘You are deciding this on the acquaintance of a few weeks and under the circumstances of a crisis. Do you think that wise?’
‘You knew Lady Mary for less time.’ Kieran dismissed the concern.
‘Yes, but Lady Mary was not the ward of our fiercest enemy. Her father was merely a bad judge of character and invested poorly. I could also argue that I’d at least knownofLady Mary for years, given that she moved in our milieu.’
‘I think marriage and a title have made you a snob, Caine.’
Caine shrugged. ‘That’s a non-responsive argument. I have concerns, Kieran, abouther—about where she comes from, why she’s here now. Where does she fit into all of this?’
‘She is a scared young woman fleeing an untenable situation.’ Kieran would share that much. ‘Roan forced her to act as his…hostess.’
‘She’s quite beautiful. I couldn’t take my eyes off her,’ Luce put in.
‘I noticed,’ Kieran snapped with censure.
Luce leaned forward. ‘Before you get prickly, all I am saying is that she’s the kind of woman a man falls for, fast and hard. She would have been an extremely valuable asset to Roan, sitting at his table, providing a cultivated presence for men who live hard lives. She probably acted on those men like a tonic.’
The reference had Kieran’s thoughts flashing back to Dr Graham’s magical elixir at the fair—a tonic that was designed to be addictive and to bring a client back for more. Celeste had acted as Roan’s tonic in that regard.
Luce continued, ‘She’d smile at them, perhaps touch them on the sleeve, take a walk around the room with them and they’d be spilling their secrets before they knew it.’
Celeste had told him as much, although not in such detail, perhaps to spare her pride or his. It had been difficult for her to talk about her years in Roan’s household.
Caine drummed his fingertips on the arms of the sofa. ‘Have you thought that perhaps she’s still doing that? That she’s Roan’s mole here? That he is letting her lead him to you—to us?’
Kieran felt his temper prick at the suggestion, although he’d thought as much in the earliest days of their association, right up until Ammon Vincent had chased them through the alleys of Soho. That night had changed everything for him.
‘Roan has threatened her, terrified her with the prospect of being turned over to one of his most vile henchmen for the man’s pleasure. If you knew what she’d endured, you would not dare to think such things.’
‘So she says.’ Caine braved the rebuttal.
‘She would not lie to me,’ Kieran snarled, locking eyes with Caine. ‘I saw her freeze. I felt her fear the night Ammon Vincent nearly caught us in Soho. That was not a lie.’ His body tensed for a fight. ‘You can’t have it both ways. A few minutes ago, you were suggesting Roan was hunting her, and now you’re suggesting she’s his tool in his hunt for us.’
‘I am merely posing hypotheses, considering all angles. You’ve been on your own too long without input. You see the world as you are, as opposed to how it is. As a result, you’ve become too defensive to consider any of this objectively.’
Caine was on his feet and Kieran rose to meet him, matching him in height. It had been a long time since he and Caine had gone toe-to-toe in a boxing ring to settle their differences, but he was not above it now.
‘Gentlemen!’ Luce stepped between them; arms stretched out at his sides. ‘Stop this at once. What would Grandfather say if he could see you two squabbling over a woman in the midst of our opportunity to catch Roan? Have you stopped to think how this divisiveness serves Roan? Your quarrelling divides us at a time when we need to stand together. This is how it always happens in the old stories.’ Luce looked between them and gave a sigh when they offered him blank stares. ‘Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships…?’ he explained patiently. ‘Anne Boleyn starts a war between England and the Catholic Church… Shall I go on?’
Caine shook his head and stepped back. ‘No, you’ve made your point. We’ll play it innocent until proven guilty until she demonstrates otherwise.’
‘Thank you,’ Kieran said with severity.
Caine shot Kieran a strong gaze, naked with emotion. ‘Damn it, I am trying to keep you alive.’
Kieran read the pain there and read the unspoken message:because I’ve already lost one brother. I could not stand to lose another.Perhaps Celeste was right. They were all still trying to come to grips with losing Stepan. The tension between them eased slightly. Caine pushed a hand through his hair. Kieran reminded himself his brother was tired, had ridden hard, likely without sleep, and had left his honeymoon and his new bride. All for him, to warn him and to be by his side so that he did not have to face Roan alone.
