Page 3 of How to Tempt An Earl
‘It’s of no consequence to you. Our business together is finished.’ Her task here was done. She could get on with claiming her freedom. Roan would be too busy with the Horsemen to care about her. At least, that was what she hoped.
His hand was on her arm and she flinched before she realised his touch was stalling her, not grabbing her. ‘I have questions. Who are you? How did you know to contact us?’
‘Those answers are not relevant. I’ve delivered the news I set out to impart.’
She could not control whether the Horseman with dark eyes and dark unruly waves chose to believe her or not. She met his eyes with a steely gaze of her own.
‘I rather thought you’d be more interested in my news. You’ve already lost one brother. Roan is coming, not his minions.Heis coming. His need for stealth will slow him.’
By law, Roan was not allowed to set foot on English soil on penalty of arrest. ‘You have a little time to lay your plans and protections for those you care for: your brother’s new bride, that bride’s father, your sister and her husband. I believe they’re expecting a child. Your parents…’
She felt his grip tighten on her arm at the mention of family. She could see his next question ripple behind his eyes and she answered before he could ask it. ‘It doesn’t matter how I know.’
‘Oh, I think it does. Are you just going to walk out of here?’ the Horseman challenged as their eyes held. ‘Do you think Roan is going to stop coming for you because he’s coming for me and mine instead?’
She gave too much away in those moments. Yes, that was exactly what she thought. If the secret was out, he would have no urgency to find her. Stopping her would solve nothing.
‘You see the flaw in your reasoning, surely?’ The Horseman gave a long-suffering sigh that said,Lord, save me from fools. ‘He’ll come for revenge. Whoever you are, Roan won’t let you go unpunished even if he can’t stop you from spreading his secret.’
Secrets, plural… She knew more than one secret about Roan. What she held against him went beyond this vengeful episode.
‘Then it is more important than ever that I leave here as soon as possible.’
She was proud to get the words out without a tremble in her voice. Inside, she was collapsing. She’d convinced herself she’d be safe if she could get this far. That she could become a person of no consequence, that she could slide away and disappear once her message was delivered. But the chase was not over. It might never be over. She’d made a serious miscalculation.
She stepped away from the Horseman and fled, even as he called to her.
‘Wait!’ The single word echoed in the emptiness of the chancel. But she could not wait. She had to hide. She had to run. After Roan had come for the Four Horsemen, he’d come for her. She needed whatever head start she could manage.
Chapter Two
Kieran gave her the briefest of head starts. Enemy or ally—although he was leaning towards ally; she was too naïve—he could not let her leave. It was absurd that she thought he would. How far did she think he’d let her get? Or how far would Roan let her get, for that matter? Whoever she was, she was clearly untutored in the rules of espionage. The most basic rule of them all was that, once begun, the game was never done. One could not simply step aside and choose not to play. One did not win the game; one merely survived it.
He caught up to her before she reached the heavy doors leading out into the street. ‘Wait, please. I want to help you.’ He kept his tone calm and even. Beneath her aplomb, he recognised the presence of fright, although not the source. Was she afraid of him? Of Roan? Of circumstances that had led her to deliver the warning? Maybe all three factored into her fear. Perhaps she recognised in full for the first time what it meant to summon a Horseman and that she was in well over her head.
He put a gentle but firm hand on the door, holding it shut. The fewer who saw her or who saw him with her, the better, until he had things straight. A picture was starting to emerge, but it was not yet fully formed and he needed to be right before he went further.
She turned to face him. He caught a glimpse of eyes flashing beneath her veil. ‘Do you mean to trap me here?’ she challenged.
Kieran did not rise to the bait. Sparring in the chapel had got them nowhere. ‘I mean to determine who you are and how best I can help you. You are in danger, perhaps more danger than you planned, regardless of your role. But I think you’ve realised that.’
‘You still don’t believe me. You still think I might be in league with Roan.’ Beneath the veil, her chin went up in defiance.
‘I think there is still much we should discuss before decisions are made—yours or mine.’ And they could not discuss those things here. He’d already lingered in the church longer than he’d have liked. He was exposed here, and she was too. ‘Where were you going?’
‘Back to my rooms.’ She offered no address. It was time to do something to earn her trust, at least for the short term; trust enough to get her talking so he could determine how best to deal with her information and with her. For that, he needed her to doubt herself, to be more wary of Roan than she was of him.
He nodded. ‘I am sure Roan will expect that.’
‘He’s not here, not yet,’ she countered.
‘No, but if you’re escaping him, if you are truly here to warn me out of the altruism of your heart, then that means Roan’s men are chasing you. What you know is not something he wants to get out. It steals his element of surprise. He’ll know you’ll head to London because that’s where the Horsemen are. Your trail is not a mystery to him.’
He watched her body tense at the mention of Roan’s henchmen. That told him she was close enough to Roan to know how he operated, how his men operated, and that she knew they were cruel. Kieran ran the options in his mind. Was she Roan’s wife? His daughter? A niece or female relation? Roan was obsessively private. They knew nothing of his family, or even if he had one. If he did, his roots were hidden deep. In Roan’s line of work, family connections were a weakness to be exploited.
‘So, youdobelieve me,’ she pressed again. ‘If I’m not your ally, keeping me here doesn’t make sense.’
‘Keeping you here keeps you alive,’ Kieran replied patiently. ‘If you’re my ally, it will make it easier for me to keep you alive. If you’re Roan’s messenger, you’ll be dead the moment you go back to your rooms, perhaps even the moment you step out into the street.’
