Page 47 of A Season for Smugglers (Deception and Discipline 3)

Tapping her fingers on the desk, staring down at the list, she did not immediately hear the footsteps approaching the door—and by the time she did, it was too late.

ChapterTwenty-Two

Nathan

“What the devil are you doing in here?” Nathan stared at his wife, who jerked up from where she’d been bending over Sebastian’s desk. His desk now.

Wearing a dark green dress that was not quite dark enough to be the true black of mourning, if she had not been in Sebastian’s study—his study, dammit, he was going to need to get used to that—where she had no good reason to be, he would have been touched by the gesture. On the other hand, that was Lily, very proper in most of what she did.

However, her expression was one of guilt, a naughty child caught doing something they were not supposed to be doing.

Quiet fury built in his chest. He had just gotten to the point where he thought Lily was trustworthy, that perhaps she was a dupe or innocent of any treacherous activity, and here she was in his brother’s—his—study, looking at whatever was on his desk.

“An explanation, Lily, now,” he growled, striding forward to see what she was looking at.

Her fingers reached forward as though she was going to snatch the paper off the desk before she caught the look on his face and pulled them back.

Nathan grabbed the piece of paper and lifted it, frowning as he saw the list of names. Moore was at the top, along with several other members of the household staff. All of them had their names crossed out. The rest of the list was made up of men he recognized from when he’d been running with the local smuggling gang. Only the leader, Thom Pennyworth, had been crossed off the list.

“What is this? Where did you get this from? This was not here before.” Nathan jerked his head up, glaring at Lily. Before his ride this morning, he had stopped by the study and had looked at the correspondence on his brother’s desk. Seeing the unopened letter he’d sent to Sebastian, he had immediately retreated. The list had certainly not been present then, or he would have noticed it.

For the first time, Lily seemed to lose some of her nerve. Her eyes widening in surprise, she glanced down at the desk, then back at him, her pink tongue darting out to wet her lips. Guilt was in every line of her body. Whatever she’d been doing, however she’d found the list, it was clear she did not think he would approve.

“Lily.” The desk was between them, but it would not offer much protection if he decided to make his way around it. The idea of bending her over the desk and spanking her held a certain amount of appeal.

Straightening, Lily lifted her chin.

“I ran out of paper when I was writing my letters and went looking for more,” she said so dismissively, if he had not seen her previous expression of guilt, he would have thought he was perhaps overreacting.

Unfortunately for her, he had seen her guilt and her fear and did not believe a single word out of her lying mouth.

* * *

Lily

Blast her husband’s timing.

And damn her for not paying more attention to the sounds in the hall.

Though, to be fair, it was not as though she had experience sneaking around and playing sleuth. Evie would be disappointed in her, but she was doing the best she could under the circumstances.

“You ran out of paper.” The flat tone indicated he did not believe her for a moment.

“Yes.” Lily knew she had already given herself away, so she wasn’t sure why she was still attempting to dissemble. “I happened to draw this list from one of the drawers while I was searching for more.” Lily made her countenance as innocent as possible, blinking at Nathan with wide eyes. “What do you think it is for?”

Mobile lips flattened into a thin line as Nathan stared at her. Lily would not be surprised if he was tapping his foot on the thick rug, even though she could neither hear nor see it. He was not amused by her current tack. Strangely, that made her feel better, not worse. Where the impulse to prod him came from, she did not know, but it was difficult to shake now that it had dug its hooks into her.

“I think you had better become acquainted with the truth of your own accord because if I have to motivate you to use it, I will.” Nathan’s voice was low, deadly, his arms crossing over his chest.

Despite her bravado, Lily felt the urge to hide under the desk. Or run past him into the hall—if she could make it that far. Her bottom tingled in warning, anticipating what he was most likely to use for motivation.

Perhaps she could get away with a partial truth?

“I was thinking of helping you investigate your brother’s murder,” she said quickly. That was certainly one of her aims. That she suspected his brother, or someone in the household, might have something to do with the traitor they were also hunting was not something she wanted to disclose at the moment. He was already angry enough. “I came in to search his desk and see if I could find any clues.”

The way his eyes narrowed did not tell her much about whether he believed her claim.

“I see. You did not think to discuss this with me first? I thought your day would be taken up making the arrangements for the funeral and preparing the household.” The accusation in his ton was less about her duties and more that he felt she’d lied to him.

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