Page 85 of A Kiss Of Lies

He bent his head and kissed her lips. “That makes two of us. He can never hurt you again.”

She sighed. “Don’t be angry, but I made Arend and Maitland tell me what happened and about the man you captured while we waited for you to return from your ride.”

Christian didn’t care what they’d told her. All he cared about was she was awake. “I could never be angry with you. I love you too much.”

There was a cough from Maitland. She’d forgotten they had an audience. “Yes, yes, you love Christian and he loves you, and Dennett’s dead, but we still don’t know who paid a man to kill you. We have a common enemy, and that’s the first puzzle. The second is why he, or she, as we have ascertained, needs Serena dead too.”

“What about Sebastian? I wonder if our enemy hasn’t had a hand in what happened at his duel with Baron Larkwell. If so, when he returns to England, he’ll be a target. Christian, he doesn’t know about the threat. You have to warn him.” Serena owed Sebastian, and the thought that he was vulnerable . . .

Maitland straightened up from where he was leaning on the bedchamber wall. “A note has already been sent, but who knows how long it will take to reach Jamaica or if Sebastian is still there.”

“Where’s Grayson?” Maitland asked.

Arend looked the most concerned. “I didn’t want to alarm you all until Serena had recovered.” They all looked at him. “Grayson didn’t turn up the other night. That is, he left me to my own entertainments.”

Hadley spoke up. “He hasn’t been at his house in over a se’nnight.”

“Roberts told me he had stopped coming to the house to deal with my correspondence almost three weeks ago.”

Serena put her hand to her mouth. The men shifted uncomfortably in the room. She clutched at Christian’s sleeve. “Do you think he’s . . . ?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Perhaps if we understood why we’ve all been targeted, then we could work out where to start looking for Grayson.” He rubbed his thumb over her palm.

“If they were after you, why kill me as well? Did you learn more from the man you captured?” she asked.

Christian looked at Arend. Arend cleared his throat. “He said that you know his employer and that you might work out whosheis. We all assumed it was a man but now . . .” He shook his head.

Serena chewed her bottom lip and thought hard. “But I have no idea what he was talking about. How would I know anything? I’ve been away from England for the past two years.”

“Then whatever is driving this person to target all six of us must have happened several years ago.”

“That is what I cannot understand. If this incident happened several years ago, I would have been a young girl. I lived on my father’s estate. I hadn’t ever been to London, even. Father did entertain at Hastings, though.”

Maitland walked to the end of the bed. “Then, logically, it must have occurred at your house in Hastings.”

Arend muttered under his breath, “That can’t be right. I’ve never been to the Duke of Hastings’s estate.”

Serena said, “The rest of you have. I was introduced to Maitland. I think Father saw you as a marriage contender because of your wealth.” Maitland merely shrugged. She continued, “I clearly remember Hadley flirting outrageously with me at one ball.” That earned Hadley a scowl from Christian. “And I observed Grayson, Sebastian, and Christian from afar on a few occasions.” A flush of embarrassment flooded her face when she caught Christian’s grin. “You were all too busy chasing loose women to be bothered with a debutante.”

In a husky voice Christian stated, “If the others would leave, I’d be quite happy to ‘bother’ you.”

Her face flushed again, as did the rest of her body. She couldn’t look away from the molten desire in his eyes.

“You said he stressed that it was all six of us.” Hadley said. “If Arend hasn’t been to Hastings, then that theory seems faulty.”

Arend slowly straightened. “But my father visited your estate many times.” He looked at the other men. “You don’t think this could have anything to do with our fathers, do you?”

Serena bit her lip. “If it happened when I was a young girl, it would be more likely that this situation was of your fathers’ making.”

Arend slapped the bedpost. “This is not making sense.”

She couldn’t hold back a yawn. Her shoulder ached, and her head swirled trying to remember everything. She caught Christian watching her.

Christian’s eyes didn’t leave her face. “Can you gentlemen leave the room? I’d like to check Serena’s wound, and she needs to rest. I’ll meet you downstairs and we can discuss this further, while Serena’s resting.”

From the look in his eyes Serena doubted he had rest on his mind. Her reaction to his command was instant. Despite the pain, her pulse leaped, her body grew warmer and a sizzle of longing swept through her.

The three men exited the room, Hadley the only one to comment as he closed the door with a chuckle. “She does need rest, Christian. Do try to remember that.”

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