Sirius said, “Pia, this is the Marquess of Venmont. Lord Oliver Childs. Nick’s eldest brother. Oliver, this is Lady Pia Brooks.”
Pia looked the earl over and tried to keep her thoughts from her face but knew she’d failed when Venmont grinned.
He had straight white teeth and thus a great smile. “Forgive me, my lady. I didn’t know you weren’t here to kill me.”
Was that another joke?
“Can you please stop saying that word?” Sirius asked.
Venmont’s expression was disagreeable. “What? Kill? You might as well be called the Black Plague for all the bodies—”
“Can I speak with you in the hall?” Sirius asked the marquess, tight-lipped.
Venmont turned to Pia and gave her a sweeping bow. Then he smiled before he left the room.
“Give us a moment.” Sirius closed the door behind himself.
∫ ∫ ∫
1 8
* * *
“Lady Pia, is it?” Oliver said with a grin. “Thought you’d made the name up. You were so enraged when I taught everyone in the company the song. ‘It’s just a song,’ you shouted over and over again. Oh, not so! She’s real, isn’t she? The Pia.” He snapped his fingers when the words came to mind. “‘Hair as endless as sweet summer suns. Eyes the color of catnips, I kiss one by one.”’ Oliver placed a hand over his heart. “Sirius, her beauty was a shock to me. I thought the woman was in your imagination. Catnip eyes? I thought you meant blue or green like the bush, but you meant the flower. Her eyes, they’re violet, aren’t they? No wonder it’s the most romantic song I’ve ever heard. Your inspiration is...”
“This is why we’re not friends,” Sirius growled. The song would have been buried the night Sirius made it up had it not been for Oliver. He sang it for everyone and even broke it up in parts for the gentlemen to sing to one another.
It had haunted Sirius for years. It was even played at the last party he’d attended with Nick.
“Still going on about that, are you?” Oliver asked. “Ah, does Belle know?”
It seemed everyone wanted to discuss Belle.
Sirius shook his head.
Oliver chuckled. “Oh, she’s going to love this. Do the girls like her? Do my Babbie and Lina like her?” He winked. Babbette and Adalina loved Oliver. He was like playing with a large bear and had made no effort to ensure the girls turned out like ladies.
Sirius cut to the point of the meeting. “I had no intention of killing you until I discovered you in Pia’s room.”
Oliver’s smile slipped. “Does the duke want me dead?”
“No.” He looked at Oliver’s shotgun. Anger beat heavy again his heart. “Were you planning to use that on her?”
“No. If the duke wanted me dead, there would be no escaping my fate.”
Sirius crossed his arms. “I’m glad someone understands that.” Tobias had been foolish to think otherwise.
“What are you doing here?” Sirius asked. “Your servant said you were away.”
“I was.” Oliver gave the shotgun to a passing servant. “I was in my woods. Didn’t catch any deer, but I did find two men who didn’t belong.” Oliver’s gaze was sharp. “They were discussing us.”
Sirius straightened. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve had suspicions of someone watching me for a week now, so I went to find out.” He gestured to his clothes. “I thought to disguise myself.” Oliver, like Nick, could grow a full beard in less than a fortnight. Oliver was a paranoid man, but it kept him alive. “One of them followed you here. Did the duke want them alive?” Oliver asked, his eyes cold. “Because I would hate to disappoint him.” Oliver was one of the leaders in Van Dero’s most deadly department.
Sirius moved Oliver away from Pia’s door. This was not a discussion he wanted her to overhear. “What did they say before you killed them?”
“They’d been sent to watch us.” He shrugged. “They didn’t know the name of the gentleman who’d hired them, so I immediately knew their employer wasn’t the duke. I might not have caught my man if you hadn’t come around. I followed your man’s tracks. He led me to mine.”
Sirius ran a hand through his hair. “I only came because I wanted to show Pia the chandeliers. I planned to take her to the lighthouse today.”
“Take her. It’s perfectly safe now.” Oliver tilted his head. “Unless, you’ve come to kill me.”
Sirius groaned. “Why would I kill you?”
“You had your own brother killed,” the marquess reasoned. “I just assumed Nick would be after the same.”
“I didn’t want Tobias dead. The duke killed him. Also, Nick doesn’t want to be the marquess.”
“And you didn’t want to be earl,” Oliver countered.
Sirius ignored him. “Never walk into Pia’s room again, and you and I will get along just fine.”
Oliver smirked and nodded.
Sirius rolled his eyes and walked past him. “You look like a miner. Go take a bath.”
“I like myself this way!” he shouted. “So, by bringing her up here, does it mean you forgive me? Are we friends again?”
Sirius turned and pointed a finger at him. “No, we’re still just associates.”
Oliver looked wounded. “I should be your best man. I kept the song alive!”
“Take a bath!”
Oliver scratched his beard and glared. “You’re right. I’ll make sure I’m more presentable by the time you leave Liverpool.”
∫ ∫ ∫
1 9
* * *
Pia was still against the wall when Sirius returned to her room. Her color had revived from her earlier shock. Still, she looked frightened.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” he said. “Oliver is mad.”
Pia huffed a breath and began to fan herself with her hand. Her skin grew flushed. “H-he nearly shot me.”
Sirius lifted his hands. “No one is ever going to shoot you.”
“Is he still out there?” She peeked around him. Her breath was labored, and Sirius thought if he didn’t calm her now, she’d faint.
He crossed the room, took her hand, and led her to a bench by the window. He sat and brought her down beside him. “Breathe. You’ve no reason to worry. Our presence frightened him. No harm done.”
Her violet eyes were full of anguish. “Why would he think I’d kill him?”
“He’s mad.” It wasn’t far from the truth. Oliver had had few years as a normal gentleman. He and his two younger brothers, Leonard and Nicholas, were all but sold to work for the former Duke of Van Dero. “No one is dying.”
Pia shook her head. “He said something about your brother and a Black Plague. He called you a Black Plague. Have you… killed people before?” Her eyes slipped to his hands. He wore gloves, but he knew that in her mind’s eye, she was seeing the broken skin underneath.
When her eyes returned to him, she looked so scared. Sirius wanted to make her feel better. He knew he’d have to give her something.
“I became a member of a private army.” If one wanted to count the Duke of Van Dero’s army, he wasn’t lying. “People die in war.”
“I didn’t know you joined the military. It explains why you look so different.” Pia traced his body with her eyes and then she blushed. “And I suppose Lord Oliver was a member as well?”
“Yes.”
“How heroic of you both. I’m glad you weren’t hurt. Did you see many battles?”
Sirius thought about all the fights he’d ever fought. “Yes.”
“When did all this happen? When did it stop?”
A thought came to mind. “It didn’t. I’m still a member of the army, but my position is known to only a few.”
Pia’s mouth formed a tiny ‘O’. She leaned closer to him. “Are you a spy?”
Sirius found himself nodding and prayed God forgave him for the many lies he was telling this woman. “But no one can know. You shouldn’t even know.”
She straightened. “Oh, I w
on’t tell anyone, I swear.” She smiled. “Now your hands make sense. Did you have an altercation with the enemy? Can you tell me who the enemy is?” She was growing more animated by the minute. Her earlier fears were forgotten, which was exactly what Sirius wanted.
“The enemy is all around us,” he said. “Some of them are even English born.” The more he spoke about it, the more he didn’t think it so much a lie. To plot the death of a duke was treason. He was a legal superior and a very distant relative to the king. “Protecting the people, people like yourself, is part of my assignment. It’s my business.” Protecting Pia was definitely part of his business, because she was part of his business. He wanted her a part of his life.
“Does your mother know?” she asked. “I mean, Georgiana.”
“She knows some.” His mother knew the truth. “But it’s best you don’t bring it up with her or anyone, just in case.” He lowered his voice. “Walls have been known to have ears.”
She leaned closer and whispered, “I know. I’m of the working class. You’ll be amazed by the things I’ve heard.”
He slid his finger down her nose. “Never say that aloud again. There are those who would take you for your secrets.”
Her eyes widened, and she leaned away. “Really?” She grinned. “Oh, this is so fantastical. It’s like we’re in a book.”
Watching Pia nearly bounce in her seat, he was reminded of just how excitable she’d once been.
“Are you ready to see the lighthouse?” he asked. “There are also some old carvings in the stones that surround it. Many believe them to be from centuries long ago.”
She stood. “I’m ready. I want to see everything and then I want to hear more about your… assignment.” She grinned and started for the door while Sirius wondered what he’d gotten himself into.
∫ ∫ ∫
2 0
* * *
“I used to take a blanket out to the fields behind my house, stare up at the sky, and wish my body would simply float up there.” Pia looked at Sirius. “It’s an odd thought, I know.”
“I don’t think it odd at all.” He stood by her in the lantern room at the top of the lighthouse. They’d opened the windows of the glass enclosure. The ocean winds were chilly and once again, he was glad he’d bought Pia warmer things to wear. Still, it didn’t stop him from moving as close to her as possible.
While she looked at the sky, he watched the ground. Though Oliver had said the property was safe, Sirius wanted to be certain. He hadn’t liked the fear in Pia’s eyes earlier that day.
He’d told her that Oliver was mad. It wasn’t far from the truth. His ancestors consisted of more than a few pirates, and he never let anyone forget it. Sirius liked him and once Pia was calm, he’d promised her the marquess would be different at their next meeting.
He’d taken her around the lighthouse and shown her the ancient carvings before taking her inside and trailing behind her up the spiral stairway.
They’d both been slightly winded by the time they’d reached the top, but he could tell all her walking around London left her body in good health.
There were moments during the day when he couldn’t watch her and not imagine her carrying his child. He couldn’t wait to get her belly full of his heir. Everything about that thought seemed right. It was a brutish though, but he had a feeling she’d survive marriage to him, handle him better than most women.
She’d told him about Zofia Wittowa. He’d heard about the woman. She’d been famous for her beauty all over the Continent, especially in Paris. He could see the likeness between Zofia and Melody but not Pia. No matter how much he told her, she would never be a spy. She would never work for Van Dero.
He waited for her to ask more questions about his mysterious work, but so far, she’d let it rest.
He looked up at the clouded sky. The day was bleak, which was common for the area. The waves in the distance were dark. Black sea birds called to one another and flowed through the air in spiral patterns. “I never cared for the stars.” There had likely been a time he had, but when fights were held outdoors, the sight of the stars greeted the man who lost. Meaning, his back was on the ground, leaving him to look up. The stars shined and taunted him. “But I did enjoy seeing the lights dance on you yesterday.”
She pressed her fingers to the glass as she looked out. “Why don’t you like the stars?”
He shrugged. “The sky. It’s immense. It always makes me feel small.”
She laughed. “But you are smaller than the sky. We all are.”
“I don’t like it. Silly, I know, but I’ve heard stories of stars falling out of the sky and there is little you can do about something like that.”
“Do you fear the sky falling down on you?”
He shook his head. “No, I only fear dying before I’ve done everything I need to do.”
“And what is it you need to do?”
“Many, many things,” he countered. “Many of them have to do with Adalina and Babbette. I want them to be happily married before I go.”
“Happily married,” Pia said. “Their happiness matters to you.”
He leaned an arm on the wall and hoped his eyes held meaning. “Surely, all the pain and suffering in life means there is some happiness somewhere in the world? Otherwise, pain would not be what it is.”
She lifted her chin. “But who is to say who receives this happiness?”
“Me.”
She tilted her head. “You like control.”
“Yes.”
She nodded in understanding. “Ginter liked control.”
He took no offense to the comment. He doubted there were many men for her to compare him to. Adam seemed to have set a standard. Ginter was little competition by comparison. Leaning toward her, he cupped her chin and whispered close to her mouth, “Is there a reason you’re comparing me to your last husband?“ Was she considering allowing him to take the position?
She gasped and stepped back. “No.”
He followed her. When she ducked around the lantern, he followed and then trapped her against the wall. “I like control and you enjoy losing it. Admit it.”
She licked her lips. “No,” she whispered.
“Come on.” He dipped his head to her ear. The scent of the sea mixed with her floral fragrance was arousing. “There’s no one here but you and me. You can tell me anything.” He buried his nose in her throat and then his lips could not resist following.
But her collar was high today and didn’t give him any of the access he craved. She sighed and her fingers went through his hair. His hat fell to the ground, and he didn’t care. He moved his lips over her chin and then up, until he sought hers.
Her mouth was closed, and she moaned with her lips pressed firmly together. She seemed to struggle with her emotions.
“Let me in,” he whispered. “Trust me.”
Her mouth opened, but then she turned away. “I can’t. I don’t want this.”
He cupped her cheek. “You do.”
She didn’t respond, but he saw the resolve in her eyes. His charms were waning.
He leaned back. “I doubt your former husband and I had anything in common.”
“It’s an easy thing to claim while you remain a bachelor.”
He wondered where her sudden anger had come from.
She moved away and looked down at her skirts and began to straighten out wrinkles that weren’t there.
“I wouldn’t stray from your bed,” Sirius said. “I know that much.”
She looked up, lips parted. Sirius wondered how much longer he’d be able to keep from kissing her the way he wanted to.
“Adalina played me the song you wrote, about a woman with catnip eyes. I heard Lord Venmont singing it in the hall. Who was she? Adalina’s mother? It couldn’t be. Adalina said her mother had dark eyes not blue. Is she… your mistress?”
Sirius stiffened. He was ready to point out that catnips were actually violet and not blue but decided against it. The more dista
nce she placed between her and the song he’d written the better.
Adalina didn’t know the real words, thankfully. She’d changed it a little and he was now glad she had. “The woman in the song wasn’t real, just something I made up one night.” It had been one of his most painful nights and one of the only times he’d allowed Pia to fill his mind after he’d left.
Memories of their days together had gotten him through the worst hours. His fight had gone especially bad. Cassius, Nick, and a few others had come to visit him and had given him wine to relieve the throbbing in his side. While drunk, he’d created the song.
“It must have been a very interesting night,” she said with a sigh. She was still cross, though he wasn’t certain what he’d done or how to make it better. “I’d been injured, so I made a song about a woman whose beauty was enough to help me through the worst of my pain.”
She stared at him with sad eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Do you want to talk about what’s happening in your head?” he asked.
She shook her head and looked away. “No, not yet.” She moved to another window.
He spoke at her back. “How many lighthouses have you been to?”
“This is the first I’ve ever visited,” Pia said.
“Truly? What else have you yet to do?” He wanted to know. He wanted her to experience everything first with him. It was painful to realize that he would not be the first man to touch her, that the honor had gone to a man Sirius doubted had ever deserved it.
She gave him a sad smile. “I don’t believe the list is that long. I was given great freedom as a child, more than most girls.” Somberly, she turned away.
“Would you have rather had a strict household?”
“I would have rather had one that cared,” she whispered.
His arm went around her. “It’s not too late.”
“It is.” She smiled again. “But there’s no reason I shouldn’t enjoy what I can have.”
Sirius didn’t understand. “Pia, you’re still fairly young. You can have a family.”
The Secret Pleasures of an Earl: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book) Page 10
