She pulled her hand away, clenching it in her other one as she glared at him. “I understand it. I’ll have you know I read a very shocking book. With pictures!”
“Christ.” He squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to imagine Juliana bent over some naughty book, green eyes wide with desire at the scandalous images, perhaps even touching herself as she learned about pleasure.
The carriage was beginning to slow as it took the last turn toward the home Juliana shared with her father. Her lips pressed together in a thin line and her cheeks flamed before she whispered, “Do you really want me?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
She looked out the window again, and desperation lit in her stare. He hated to see it. Hated more what it drove her to do. The danger she put herself in because of it.
“Don’t go to the Donville Masquerade again, angel,” he said softly.
She jerked her stare back toward him. “I won’t promise that.”
Although that wasn’t the answer he wanted, he had to smile. She was a spitfire beneath that propriety. He’d never been able to resist a spitfire.
The carriage stopped and she moved toward the door as it was opened. “Good night.”
“Good night,” he echoed, watching as she pushed her shoulders back and strode with purpose to the door. He had no idea how she was going to explain her late arrival to her father, or if the man even cared, but she seemed unconcerned as she walked into the house and out of his sight.
He flopped back against the seat as his carriage moved again. His poor rock-hard cock was not going to survive too many more encounters with this woman. And he had just enough time before they reached his own small home on the other side of London to relieve the ache she had caused in him.
With a groan, he eased the placard of his trousers down and touched himself as he thought of Juliana Shelley and her soft, sweet mouth on his.
Chapter 5
Juliana sipped her tea and tried not to look across the parlor in frustration. Thomasina and Harcourt had gone out for the afternoon, and Juliana had thought she and Anne would be having tea alone. She’d actually looked forward to the moment of normalcy after the madness of her last two nights at the Donville Masquerade. But Anne had come downstairs with her husband, Rook, and the two were now standing at the fireplace, heads together, discussing something closely.
Juliana might as well have been invisible. She was invisible. Of course, that afforded her the opportunity to observe Rook Maitland without it being obvious.
He was Ellis’s cousin and the two did have some similar features, ones she’d also seen on that mystery man at the Donville Masquerade the night before. Their noses, for example, were alike, and she couldn’t help but think of Ellis’s nose nudging hers as he kissed her.
Their jawlines were also close in appearance. Ellis’s jaw had a smattering of stubble that had abraded her fingertips slightly when she brushed her hand along it.
Damn it. She didn’t want to keep thinking of that moment when he’d kissed her. She didn’t want to think of him at all. But she couldn’t stop. She’d thought of him when she got home and lied to her father about deciding against staying with her sisters, as had been her explanation for being out.
She’d thought of Ellis as she readied for bed. She’d thought of him as she tossed and turned in the sheets. She’d thought of him when she finally snaked her hand between her legs and by touching herself had relieved some of the tension that had flared between them. Then she’d proceeded to dream of him all night.
He was an intrusive menace and she didn’t want to want him.
“Juliana?”
She blinked as Anne retook her seat on the settee across from Juliana. Rook joined her and poured himself some tea. “Yes?”
Anne smiled. “I’m sorry. You looked so far away.”
“There is just so much to think about,” Juliana admitted with a sigh. “So many upheavals and unexpected moments in the past few months. I am trying to rediscover my place in the world.”
“Isn’t your place in the world the same as it ever was?” Rook asked gently.
Juliana considered him again. Once he had been a thief like his cousin. The two men had worked together, side by side. But he’d given all that up. Been redeemed by words, by deeds…by love. Was Ellis capable of such a transformation? A ridiculous question, of course, but one that popped into her head regardless.
“I think it is entirely changed,” Juliana said, setting her cup down with a clatter. “When we left London, I was one of three unmarried sisters. We shared the same face, we were almost considered the same person. I knew exactly where I fit in Society, for better or for worse. But within a few short months, not one but two of my sisters have married, neither to a man that was expected. The ripples of their actions are far and wide.”
Anne bent her head and her guilt was clear. “Yes. What happened was fortunate for Thomasina and for me, as we have both found love. But I recognize you’ve suffered greatly as a result of our passions.”
Juliana stifled a laugh. Anne made it sound like that was a one-time thing. But her entire life had been spent cleaning up the messes other people made, especially her sisters. She was the one who soothed hurt feelings and smoothed ruffled feathers and fixed broken toys and hearts. Anne running away from her engagement was a large example, but it was not a new circumstance.
It was hard not to resent it, even if she loved her sisters deeply.
“I am happy for you both,” Juliana said slowly. “Love is a rare commodity, especially for those of our situation and with a father so mercenary.”
Anne reached across the table between them and caught Juliana’s hand. “I know you’re happy, you don’t have to keep saying it to prove it. You are also allowed to be concerned about your own future. Or even angry about what you’ve lost.”
Juliana shifted. Angry. She wasn’t allowed to be angry, no matter what anyone said. “Right now, I think we must all remained focused on being worried for our lives,” she said with a shake of her head. “After all, Winston Leonard is still on the loose. He could return to London at any time and decide to try to find this code you have again.”
Rook exchanged a glance with Anne, and Juliana saw the concern on both their faces. It seemed even more stark than it had been the previous night. It made her wonder if something had happened. If she was being left out of this, as well as everything else.
She, who had once been at the center of the relationship with her sisters.
Rook sighed. “We’re still investigating. I was thinking of seeking out my cousin. I have heard Ellis is back in London. I know he’ll not wash his hands of this matter any more than the rest of us have. Too many people he cares for are endangered thanks to Winston Leonard.”
Juliana stiffened. She could tell her sister and brother-in-law that Ellis was indeed in London. But then she’d have to say why she knew. Where she’d gone. What she’d done. She wasn’t about to watch them first pity her for pursuing such a desperate desire, then find a way to judge and forbid her.
Instead, she ducked her head. “I have often wondered what your cousin is like.”
Rook jolted, and his gaze went faraway and pained. “Er, he is…he is complicated.” He pushed to his feet. “We came from such a different background than you and your sisters. Ellis’s father died when he was young, and he was forced to the streets to take care of his mother. She remarried when he was eight or nine, and the new husband was…he was dangerous. Cruel to my cousin. Ellis left when it was evident he wouldn’t be protected. His only tie to them is his half-brother, Gabriel. The one Winston Leonard is threatening at present.”
Juliana fought not to respond, but she was sucking in these words like a sponge. She couldn’t help but think of the man she’d seen Ellis with last night. The young man had shared his features. Could it have been this Gabriel? That made sense, given the gentleness of their interaction. The wistful expression on Ellis’s face when the other walked away.
&n
bsp; So Ellis presented himself as a cad and a thief and a scoundrel, but it seemed his motives were often driven by a desire to protect those he loved. His brother. His cousin.
Her. He kept saying he wanted to protect her. But of course, he felt nothing for her except maybe desire, if he were to be believed.
“Why the sudden interest in Ellis Maitland?” Anne said softly, her green stare locked on Juliana’s face.
Juliana immediately broke the gaze. The connection she had with her sisters, that triplet bond that was so powerful, also meant either of them could sometimes read her expressions. She didn’t want Anne to do that. To know.
She shrugged. “The man did save my life a few weeks ago. And his…his connection to you is what changed everything for us all.”
Now it was Anne who shifted, and Juliana found herself tracking the movement carefully. After all, Ellis had explained a little about his relationship to her sister last night in the carriage. But Anne had not spoken of it much. She was obviously deeply in love with Rook…
But that didn’t mean there had been nothing between her and Ellis. No matter what he said.
Anne glanced at Rook, and he smiled. Gentle, accepting. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I have nothing to fear about Ellis, and I know it.”
She nodded slowly, relief coming across her features. “I didn’t care for Harcourt, and Ellis used that against me. But I didn’t love him either—just saw him as a better alternative. After all, he can show himself as…passionate, engaged…fun. That is the game he plays, and he plays it well. But as for a true connection, there was never that, and I realized it the moment I made the foolish decision to run away with him.”
Juliana hated to be relieved by those words, which dismissed what had been between Anne and Ellis as swiftly as those he’d spoken a few hours before. She also hated to be concerned about the other words. That Ellis could pretend to be passionate. Pretend to be engaged. That he could see what a person wanted and become it, if only to obtain what he desired.
If he were doing that with her, playing a game with her…did that mean the kiss wasn’t real?
“Is he ever genuine?” she found herself whispering.
Rook nodded. “When he loves, he does it completely and wholeheartedly. That is genuine. That is true.”
Anne smiled up at him. “I’m glad you can remember that. I know he’s important to you, no matter what barriers have come between you.”
“We’ve been through a great deal together,” Rook agreed. He sighed and looked troubled. “Will you ladies excuse me? I’ve much to think about and I don’t believe I’ll be very good company while I do so.”
He inclined his head as he stepped from the room. Anne watched him go, her face crumpled with worry.
Juliana shook her head. “You want to go after him,” she said with a squeeze of her sister’s hand. “You should. I’ll be fine.”
Anne nodded. “Thank you.”
Without another word, she hurried from the room, leaving Juliana alone. And perhaps that was for the best. After all, she had a great deal to consider.
The picture of Ellis Maitland was beginning to become clearer to her. A man who had two sides. The carefree swindler and the loving family member. A man who would risk all for those he loved, a man who used his passions against those he could benefit from.
And he might be using her. She wasn’t so foolish as to think he wasn’t. But if he was, she had to believe his motives were, in a strange way, pure. To find Winston Leonard, to protect his brother and cousin, to atone for all he’d done wrong.
If she accepted those ulterior motives, couldn’t they come to some kind of accord where they both got what they wanted? She could have the passion she desired, the passion she felt so strongly whenever he touched her. He, the conduit to the information she could provide.
It would be a bargain. One gone into with open eyes and strict rules and regulations. That was the only way to protect herself.
Now she just had to find a way to become bold enough to suggest it. And hope Ellis Maitland would take the suggestion without laughing her out of the Donville Masquerade.
Ellis leaned back in the chair in Marcus Rivers’ office and watched as his old friend poured him a drink from the sideboard. He hadn’t imbibed this much in months, but who could refuse a friend? Especially one with such high-quality stocks. He took the drink and sipped, savoring the expensive whisky as Rivers retook his place behind the desk. He remembered this man as a wild, unwashed pickpocket, but here he was, every inch the polished businessman.
His business was sex, so hardly respectable, but he no longer looked like an urchin. Ellis wondered if he still felt like one. If the bite of the past still stung him like it did Ellis. If men like them could ever be free of what they’d seen and done.
“I’m surprised you aren’t knocking the room over in your haste to know about Winston Leonard,” Rivers said with a chuckle as he set aside his drink and steepled his fingers.
Ellis shifted. “You asked me here to give me news, and I’ve no reason to believe you’re lying or playing with me. You’ll tell me in your own time.”
Rivers nodded toward Ellis’s leg. Ellis followed the gaze and found his foot was bouncing. A tell. God’s teeth, when was the last time he’d allowed himself a tell? He was getting soft, weak. Playing from a position where there was so much to lose rather than his usual higher ground of never risking anything he cared about.
It was a dangerous game.
“I won’t torture you any longer.” Rivers moved a pile of papers on his desk and came up with a sheet. “The message to Winston Leonard that his case had been reviewed and the club has decided to honor the remainder of his membership term was delivered. We chose to send it to the London estate he keeps first, as that seemed the least suspicious choice to make.”
Ellis nodded. “I agree. Sending a note out to his country home or trying to find him with more verve would only serve to perk up his ears. They’re high enough already after the problems we’ve encountered with the man. He’d be a fool not to be suspicious.”
Rivers shook his head. “I’d still like to know more about that, but my place is not to push.”
Ellis smiled. “Except you will, I know that. You’ll just do it in your own way.”
“My way is the right way,” Rivers said with great certainty. “At any rate, because one doesn’t send a pup to deal with a volatile tiger, I sent my man Abbot to deal with the situation personally. He had a few observations.”
“Which were?”
Rivers didn’t answer, for at that moment there was a light knock on the door. “We’re ready for you,” he called out.
The door opened and a tall, thin man with brown hair and eyes stepped into the office. He held himself ramrod straight, rather like a soldier, as he closed the door behind himself.
“Mr. Paul Abbot,” Marcus said with a slash of his hand toward the intruder.
Ellis glanced at Rivers. “Did you…did you plan the timing of this?
Rivers chuckled. “I plan everything, Handsome. Abbot, will you share your report about Lord Winston’s home with our guest?”
Abbot inclined his head and then focused his attention on Ellis. “I delivered the missive about the club myself yesterday afternoon. I found the household in some upheaval. They were clearly preparing for something.”
“The return of Winston Leonard,” Ellis breathed as he pushed to his feet and moved toward Abbot a step.
Abbot nodded. “That was my guess. When I mentioned Rivers’ name and the club, the butler suddenly took great interest and said he would deliver the note to his master the moment he returned. I didn’t get any other information about when that would be, but based on the state of the house? I’d say no more than a week.”
A week. Ellis sank back into the chair as the air left his lungs. It seemed like a lifetime to wait. And it seemed like nothing more than the blink of an eye. In a week, this would be resolved at last. The way it always should
have been. And everything would be over, the bad and the good.
Regret washed over him, but he shoved it aside.
“You don’t look as pleased by this news as I thought you would,” Rivers said.
“I am,” Ellis said softly, and glanced up at Abbot with a grateful nod. “I appreciate your intervention more than I could express. I realize this puts you both out.”
Abbot’s forehead wrinkled. “Doing my job doesn’t put me out, Mr. Maitland, I assure you. Is there anything else you require, Rivers?”
Marcus motioned him to go and he did so, leaving the two friends alone again. Marcus leaned across the desk, his dark green eyes holding Ellis’s without letting go.
“What are you going to do, Handsome?” Ellis flinched before he could stop himself, and Marcus’s expression fell a fraction as understanding dawned. “You’re going to kill him.”
Chapter 6
Ellis had been formulating the plan for weeks, since the encounter back in Harcourt when Juliana had been injured. But this was the first time it had been said out loud and those words rang in his ears like a gunshot.
He could have denied the charge. He could have told his friend to bugger off. He could have lied. But he didn’t do any of those things.
He shrugged his good shoulder. “I don’t have a choice.”
Rivers was silent for what felt like a lifetime. Then at last he said, “Why?”
Ellis shook his head. “I knew exactly what Leonard was when he approached me. I’d heard the same rumors everyone else had. But he offered easy money.”
“And your worst impulses kicked in.”
Ellis nodded. “They always do in the end. I’ve never been able to stop them from doing so. When he double-crossed me, I had to retaliate, or risk being seen as weak. More than that, I wanted to make him pay. I wanted him to fear someone else for once. I decided to…to steal something Leonard wanted. My partner and I—”
A Counterfeit Courtesan Page 5
