Vita’s eyes widened. “But it wasn’t. I told him I was looking for someone else.”
“It’s the sort of game we play.” Oliver had his eyes closed and was leaning low in his chair. “As an assassin, I’ve done it myself, pretended I didn’t know who I was talking to, yet knowing that any moment their shallow life would come to an end.”
Vita paled.
“Ollie,” Remy warned.
Oliver looked at him and then at Vita. “I apologize.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
Remy moved to hold her, but she lifted a hand and took a deep breath.
“I’m all right,” she said, likely more to herself than him. She was trying to be strong, his brave woman.
“You’re lucky he let you go,” Leo said.
She was. “I know he already killed two of your men,” she said to Oliver. “I’m so sorry.”
Remy stiffened and wondered how she knew that.
Oliver looked at Leo, knowing he was the culprit who revealed that truth.
Leo looked sheepish. “I didn’t know she was wandering the halls while I spoke to the footmen.”
“Dunst isn’t ready to go to war with Van Dero,” Remy said. “It’s why he hasn’t attacked Van Dero yet. It’s why he’s only going after Vita.” He looked at her. “You have to remember something about that night. Anything.”
She took a seat by the window and sighed. “I don’t remember anything that can help.”
Remy wouldn’t push. Her mind would need time to relax. “Let’s leave it alone for now. Perhaps, you’ll think of something later.” But Remy didn’t think they had much time.
He turned to Oliver. “Is it safe for her to go outside?”
Oliver nodded. “I’ve men stationed on the road. Otherwise, there’s no other way to get on the property in one piece. The safe boundaries are recognizable. Don’t go beyond the lake. Don’t go to the ocean. Stay on the main roads and paths around the house.”
That was easy enough. Remy stood and asked Vita, “Would you like to go for a walk?”
Some of the tension fled from her body. “Yes. I’ll go get my bonnet.” She left the room.
Remy turned to Leo.
Leo spoke before he could request the information he’d previously left out. “Belle is a clever woman.”
Oliver grunted as though he didn’t agree but said nothing else.
Leo went on. “Van Dero has been suspicious for months that there was a secret power working against his last efforts to end the boy fights.”
“He said nothing to me about it,” Remy said.
“I’m the only one he’s spoken to about it,” Leo said. “And Belle.”
Oliver opened his eyes and sat up. “Why you?”
Leo twisted his lips. “He didn’t think you’d approve of just where he’s been digging for information.”
Oliver lifted a brow. “And where has he been digging?”
“Into Father’s past,” Leo shared. “Cass thinks all that suspicion didn’t simply spring from the mind of a madman.”
“Father was mad,” Oliver said.
Leo shrugged. “Cass knows how you and Nick feel about it. He spoke to me, because he thought I’d be less angry. You stuck around to protect Nick. I abandoned home at every opportunity I got. You and Nick bore the worst of his abuse.” Leo looked pained for his brothers.
Leo, from what Remy knew, had always been a nomad. Since he was young, he’d disappear for days and no one would know where he’d gone or when he would return. That routine was now part of who he was. There didn’t exist a cage that could hold him.
Oliver got on his feet and moved to the sideboard. With his back to the room, he said, “Tell me what was discussed.” He sounded angry.
“Belle was purposeful when she made you Lord Dunn,” Leo said. “There is a long list of powerful men that she’s been making her way through on Van Dero’s behalf. She’s hunting for the truth. She purposefully started rumors that the Earl of Dunn was an enemy of Van Dero. She thought the rumor would find Dunst, and if he were the enemy of Van Dero, he would act.”
“But Dunn is not Dunst,” Remy said.
“With nothing written on paper, it’s close enough,” Leo countered. “Also, Lord Dunn does not exist.
“Which only left Dunst.” He turned around with his drink in hand.
“Belle did want to directly attack the earl, especially if it came back to us or Van Dero, so she used a similar name and description. She only wanted to shake Dunst up a bit and see how he’d respond.”
Oliver said, “I suppose she didn’t guess that Vita would go looking for her Lord Dunn.”
“She had not.” Leo frowned. “She regrets some of what she did now.”
Oliver grunted again.
“She said she did offer Vita help in finding Dunn,” Leo said. “She also told Vita that if she wished to contact him, she would help.”
“Vita’s too shy for that,” Remy said. It seemed that Vita didn’t like having her feelings exposed. That was the reason she’d looked for him on her own. She hadn’t been certain of how Remy felt about her after the party.
For a woman who’d been left behind before, the rejection would have been less painful the fewer people who knew about it.
“What does Dunst have to do with Father?” Oliver asked. “How did he make the list? There are many powerful families in England.”
“Father mentioned a red and white bear in his journals,” Leo said. “I put it together that the bear might have been part of a family seal.”
Oliver scoffed. “And just how many families have a bear and red and white in their seal or crest?”
“Many,” Leo said. “We wrote them all down.”
Oliver shook his head. “No, Leo. This is a bad idea. Tell Van Dero to let it go. There is no secret alliance against him or us or Father.”
Leo kept quiet.
Oliver thumped the glass down on the table and then left.
Leo turned to Remy. “Oliver could be right. I admit, I don’t think Van Dero is right either, but...” He shrugged. “It could be a coincidence.”
“Van Dero has to come to terms that not all men wish to be good,” Remy said. “There will always be predators and victims so long as this world exists.”
“I know,” Leo said. “But… besides being unable to stop the fights, boys have gone missing.”
Remy narrowed his eyes. “What boys?”
“The ones on the street,” Leo said. “The ones I speak to and urge to go indoors. A few speak, even if they won’t come, and ask if I’ve seen their friends. These are all boys who have nowhere to go.”
Remy sighed. “This is too much.”
“I know, which is why I didn’t say anything before and why Van Dero has very few working on the matter. You already do enough,” Leo said.
When Remy had the time, he wanted to know more about these disappearances, more about the former Lord Venmont’s suspicions, but at the moment, he had a woman waiting for him.
And her safety mattered most.
“There’s a party this evening at Lady Serveck’s home,” Leo said. “Oliver and I will attend if Vita wishes to go. I believe she does, but she also doesn’t want to put any more men in danger.”
“The three of us can escort her. She’d need no other guards.”
“I was thinking the same,” Leo said.
∫ ∫ ∫
2 8
* * *
“I’m sorry,” Vita said to Remy the moment they stepped outside.
“What for?”
“For dragging you into this,” she said. “For involving you at all. You don’t even know Van Dero and now you’re… working for him because of me.” She placed a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry. I’ll get you out of this. I’ll tell him that you have nothing to do with it.”
Remy placed a hand on her lower back. “You’ll do no such thing. So long as you are involved, so am I. Do you think me a man who would sit by and watch his wom
an go through the pain alone?”
Her cheeks heated at his reference to her being his woman. Still… “Remy, you’re… a good man. A strong man.” He was just like all the other lords she’d met who were close to Van Dero. “He’ll want you eventually.”
Lord Sirius Hayes, the Earl of Gordie, Lord Nicholas and his brothers, Lord Leo, and the Marquess of Venmont.
Vita had met others, less jovial men. There were those who seemed to constantly brood. Even Van Dero’s personal doctor seemed to have a darkness that clung to him. It was everywhere. When Vita attended her first party given by Lord and Lady Van Dero, she’d felt like she’d fallen into a pool of sharks.
She didn’t think their souls black as much as the men and the women all seemed capable of… anything.
Remy was fierce. He would fit into Van Dero’s world.
But she didn’t want that for him.
It was her first thought when Leo had mentioned he’d been writing to the duke and talking between him and Remy. How soon would it be until Leo was cut out and Van Dero was speaking directly to Remy?
How soon before he became a vital part of Van Dero’s organization?
Vita could see it happening. Remy seemed like a natural leader. He was responsible and though she’d been given into the care of Oliver, it had been Remy who’d stayed back to uncover what was going on.
She watched Remy’s pensive expression grow darker. Was he finally seeing the error in his course?
“Vita…” He paused. “The duke isn’t the man you think he is.”
She was about to ask how he knew when he told her, “Look at all he’s doing for you. He’s spending a great deal of resources to see to your care. Such a man, if he were the villain you think he was, would never do such a thing.”
“It’s because of my father,” she said. “I’m nothing to him. I’m a favor. My father is politically connected. He could have been named Prime Minister if he hadn’t left for his honeymoon. The duke will call in his favor once my father returns. I’m certain of this.”
His dark eyes were watchful. “How do you know?”
“Because he is the Duke of Van Dero. He never does anything without expecting something in return.” She lowered her gaze. “I should have gone with my father. I never should have pushed my father to leave me behind.”
Remy lifted her chin. “If you’d left, then how would we have met?” His expression was as gentle as his touch.
Looking at him, one would think both impossible, but there it was. Her Remy had a soft heart. She didn’t want that destroyed.
She would write to the duke. She would make this right for both of them, but she had to find a way to get Remy out of this.
The quickest way to do so likely involved in ending their courtship. Perhaps, Remy would move on and abandon her if he thought she didn’t want him.
But she was far too selfish to let him go.
So what must she do?
His eyes turned to slits. “I can tell there is much happening in that mind of yours.” He lowered his hand and wrapped it around her waist. With a tug, she was against him.
She lost her breath.
He lowered his head to her ear. “How shall I silence your thoughts?”
“What thoughts?” Honestly, she couldn’t remember a thing. Her mind could concentrate on nothing but how solid his body was.
He pulled away and grinned. “That’s better.” Then he took her hand and started to lead her down the path that wrapped the house.
Vita stared straight ahead at a forest that seemed to go on forever. The hills were never-ending, but the lighthouse that stood taller than the tree line told her of the ocean that wasn’t far away.
It was quiet. Without the sun, it was eerie. She’d have been frightened to be out on her own.
“How did you fill your time while I was away?” Remy asked.
She didn’t want to admit that she spent too much time at the window, waiting for him to appear. “I played games with Leo and Noel. They were sweet enough to keep me entertained.”
He smiled down at her. “I doubt it a hardship to keep a lady as beautiful as you entertained.”
A feeling of pure merriment bubbled up inside of her. “I’m sure there were other things they’d have rather done. Your nephew reminds me of you. Does he live with you or is this only a trip?”
“He and his mother reside with me.”
“How long has he been in your care?”
Remy sighed and his brows pinched. “Only a year.”
She wanted to ask more questions about his family but decided against it.
“Ask,” he said, reading her thoughts.
She pretended to not know what he was talking about. “Ask what?”
He shook his head. “Vita, the first night we met, you had endless questions. Don’t bother to wonder if it’s appropriate or not. Just ask.”
His statement reminded her of the other questions she had.
As they rounded the house, they came upon a vegetable garden. It went on for some distance. It appeared Oliver grew enough to live off his land for some time. A woman knelt in the dirt. A basket was at her side. Various green herbs sat within.
They passed the woman and Vita asked, “How much of what you told me at the party is true?”
He stopped walking once they were a distance away from the servant. “Mostly everything except my name.”
“Mostly?”
“My career has a secretive nature.”
“You know Belle,” she said. “And Jeremy.”
He nodded.
“And they lied for you?” she asked, beginning to walk again. “They must know of your military background then.”
He nodded again and looked ahead. “I was not to be myself that night, but…” He turned back to her. “I wasn’t who I was supposed to be either.”
“I don’t understand.”
He chuckled. “Neither do I. Honestly, I don’t recognize the man I was that evening or most of the time I’m with you for that matter.”
“Is that good?” She hadn’t meant to change him.
His eyes widened. “Being near you… Vita…” He was at a loss for words.
She grew nervous and her steps slowed.
They stopped in front of the lake.
He huffed a breath. “You said you were taught to control yourself since you were young. People always told you what to say and what not to say. My life, for many years, has been the same, but I did it to myself. It takes a great deal of focus to accomplish all I have. My mind is always set on a particular goal.”
She understood that. Her mind was the same. Her world had been so narrow. Now, she barely knew where to go and though it frightened her, she was so very glad for the options that now surrounded her, especially him.
He looked around them, into the trees and beyond. “I’m seeing another part of life, and it’s better than just good.”
It was better than good for her as well.
“Did you wish to go to Lady Serveck’s party?” he asked.
She made a face, and he laughed.
Her body grew hot at the sound.
“I mean, did you wish to spend a few hours away from the house?” he said. “Though, I believe I’ve changed my mind where parties stand.”
“Have you? So you enjoy them now?”
He stepped closer. “I enjoy you.”
She leaned into him as he continued to speak. “I don’t think it matters where I am. Your presence changes everything.”
All right. She was in love. Her heart couldn’t be more his if she ripped it out and gave it to him.
“Will you dance with me there?” she asked. “I wish to try the waltz.”
“Whatever you desire.”
She desired him and knew it would be hard to concentrate on finding information about her mother if she were with him, but she was up for the challenge.
∫ ∫ ∫
2 9
* * *
Vita had made a mist
ake.
She was a terrible dancer. Therefore, Remy had been forced to tighten his hold on her as they moved around the room.
She had no idea what her feet were doing at the moment, but her heart was racing and her blood pulsed heavy between her thighs every time his hand would slip to her hip and he’d squeeze.
And it seemed Remy was not immune to the dance either. His dark eyes were burning a hole straight to her core.
He squeezed her again and Vita gasped. Her face felt hot. Her skin tingled. She pulled in a quick breath through her parted lips.
Remy’s eyes fell to her mouth, and he shook his head just enough for her to see it.
Yet he never missed a step.
They ran into no one. They spun around the ballroom, but Vita felt as though the ballroom were spinning and that they were still.
Remy’s eyes returned to her. “No more waltzing. Not until we are wed.”
She understood his meaning. She felt his need in herself. “Very well.”
When the song stopped, Remy took her toward where Oliver and Leo stood. Lady Serveck was between them. The fan in her hand moved at a fevered pace.
“Well.” Her blue eyes moved between Remy and Vita. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the waltz performed with such… fire.”
Leo chuckled. “Yes, I thought I was intruding on something. I was tempted to look away.”
“I wasn’t.” Oliver crossed his arms and grinned. “Most exciting thing I’ve seen on a dancefloor.” He winked at her.
He was dressed in a coat with tails, looking nothing like she’d ever seen him. His hair was cut and styled in the latest fashion and his boots gleamed.
“Oh, Ollie, do try not to embarrass the woman… or me.” Lady Serveck turned to him suddenly and fussed with his lapel. Then she turned and did the same with Leo. The men bore the attention with small smiles.
Embarrassment burned Vita’s face. “Be thankful you didn’t see when I tripped Lord Whytesburg.” Whytesburg was an earl well-known for his loud opinions and gigantic size.
A Knight to Dare: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book) Page 14
