by Jun, Kristi
In the soft breezy day under a clear sky, his thoughts turned to Emily. He didn’t often allow himself to think of her, because it brought up unresolved emotions that were no help to him now. Unresolved feelings about the glimmer of hope he had once felt when he was with her. Unresolved feelings about leaving her. He could not pretend that he didn’t care for her any longer because he was reminded every day how much he cared. Yet a man could only take so much insult and bruised pride. If anything were to happen between them, she would have to make the next move, and he knew she would never do that because she had made her intention clear.
He smiled at the thought of how she had challenged him, dared to question him, and yet, despite his faults, she cared. Well, until she came to her senses and told him to fuck off. Hell, this was better for both of them.
She isn’t yours to protect anymore.
She never was, he soberly reminded himself. He shook off the useless thought because it was only going to give him grief.
Let her go . . .
A sudden movement caught his attention as a carriage drove up the driveway and a man stepped off and entered the house. Not much later, the same man came out and left the property. Much later, as the sun began to fade, another carriage came around the back of the property to approach the service entrance where the deliveries were dropped off. From this distance, he could make out two men moving boxes into the house.
Thirty minutes later, one man came out of the same service entrance and drove off. Where the hell is the other man?
The hair on his arms stood up. He knew full well this was not a good sign . . .
Emily dismissed her maid because she didn’t want to be disturbed this evening.
Soon after Miss Hawthorne left Kemp Manor, the doctor had called to check on her brother’s condition. In privacy, his doctor informed her that he didn’t have much time, maybe three weeks at best.
The reality of her brother’s condition seeped into her bleeding heart. “How is this possible?” she asked.
“I know this is very difficult for you.”
“Difficult?” she questioned. “Indeed, it is agonizing to see him this way, and there is not a thing I can do about it.”
“The best thing is to try to make him comfortable and rest.”
The doctor tried his best to console her, but he spoke of getting his business in order, maybe informing the other members of the family. She had none to inform. Her brother was the only family she had.
Once he left, she found herself in the kitchen, sobbing to the cook who’d always been so kind to her. The cook had made a pound cake for her, and it often lifted her spirit, but tonight, it just made her want to cry even harder.
After stuffing herself with pound cake and crying on the cook’s shoulders, she went back upstairs, plopped down on her bed, and sobbed into the pillow. She didn’t know how long she was in her room, but when she sat up, it was dark. How long had she been sobbing? Sitting in the dark with only the fire in the hearth for light, she looked around her room.
The door that connected to her private parlor opened. “You didn’t do as I asked,” a voice said as the figure moved into her room. As the figure stepped deeper into her room, she saw his face. A feeling of dread came over her.
He placed his finger on his lips with a “shh” and pointed the pistol at her.
When he stepped into the light, she gasped in fright. “I did as you asked,” she said, stepping off the bed and walking toward the door.
“Step away from that door, young lady,” Mr. Harris ordered.
Emily froze, and her initial terror morphed into enmity and resentment. She was grieving, and this man did everything to make her life even more difficult.
“Clearly you didn’t do a good job, because the blasted marshal has not retreated from the ports and is still after me.”
“You are a fool to believe Mr. Hawk is ever going to give up his search for you. You murdered his brother. You are a murderer.”
“Shut up,” he said with a loud slap. Her head swung around and she clasped her cheek with a frown.
“I need insurance, and you are going to provide it for me,” Harris said. “Put this on.”
Mr. Harris tossed a servant’s dress to her. She held the dress in front of her and said, “I will not.”
“You don’t think I will shoot?” He aimed the pistol at her chest and cocked it. “Put the damn clothes on, bitch.”
“I can’t leave my brother.”
He frowned. “That is not my problem. Change. Now.”
The look in his eyes told her he meant what he said. Why was this happening to her? “If it’s money you want, I—”
“Shut the fuck up.” He gestured with his pistol for her to change her clothes.
“You can’t expect me to change in front of you. I am a lady.”
“And?” he blurted out.
“Don’t you see? The U.S. marshal does not care what happens to me.”
He cocked the pistol and aimed it at her face.
“I can’t change with you staring at me.” Several seconds later, Mr. Harris looked the other way so she could undress. He took a few steps back but kept the pistol on her. Maybe if she ran, she might be able to make it out the door. The idea of escape made her heart beat faster, harder in her chest.
Then what was she going to do? The pistol was cocked and he could shoot, but she needed to take the chance. Running for the door, she felt him grab a handful of her hair which stopped her, causing her to stumble back, nearly falling.
He put the barrel of the pistol on her cheek and said, “Don’t be stupid.”
“You are hurting me.” She was getting angry now. He ordered her to go get a paper and write a note. She reluctantly obliged. There was a knock on the door and both of them froze. He put the pistol to her temple and said, “Answer.”
“My lady,” her maid said from the other side of the wooden door. “Are you alright?”
Harris whispered in her ear. “Tell her you are alright and that you will be retiring for the night. Tell her not to come back.”
Emily did as she was told and before long, her maid departed. When he released her, he ordered her to write a letter to Mr. Hawk. Dipping a quill into the inkwell, she wrote as he directed:
If you follow us, she will die. If you attempt to stop me in any way, she will die. Obey my instruction and she will live. Once my demands are met and I am satisfied, I will release her. ~ H
Chapter 23
“Your Grace, Mr. Roberts is here,” the butler announced to the Duke of Kemp in the study.
When the maid discovered Adam’s sister was not in her room, he had the entire house searched. The maid had found the note during the search, and that’s when Adam called on Roberts, the runner. He was told by Lord Blackthorn that Roberts was the best in the business and could be trusted to be discreet.
Mr. Kane Roberts entered the study. “Sit down.” The Duke of Kemp handed him the note that the maid had found in Emily’s room. The runner read it and returned it to him.
“How long has she been missing?” Roberts asked.
“The maid discovered the note this morning.”
“When was the last time anyone saw her?”
“Last night . . . around ten in the evening,” the duke said. “The maid heard my sister talking to someone and proceeded to check on her to make sure she was all right.”
After Roberts jotted down something on his notepad, he looked up at the duke. “Anything else I should know?”
“This isn’t the first time Harris has attempted to hurt my sister.” From the look on Roberts’s face, the runner knew what he’d just revealed. “Find her and bring her home. That is all that matters,” the duke said.
“I will do what I can,” Roberts said before he proceeded to leave the study.
“Wait,” t
he duke said. “I am aware of your friendship with the American.”
“And?” Roberts said.
“What does the American do exactly, as a marshal?”
“Mr. Hawk is no different from the police. He investigates and tracks down wanted men and brings them to justice.”
“Justice?” he said, nodding. “I assume Mr. Hawk will be involved in this since he wants Harris?”
“Yes, I will have to inform him.”
The Duke of Kent nodded. “Just find her, please,” he said. “That’s all I care about.”
A loud clamor came from the hallway—a male voice punctuated by profanities as he came closer to them. Both men looked in the direction of the door. Lord Foley barged into the study, followed by the apologetic butler who was trying to stop him.
Foley stood with the door wide open, his mouth in a frown. “I demand an audience.”
“Will you please leave us, Mr. Roberts?” As soon as Mr. Roberts left them, the duke faced Foley and said, “What is it?”
“Your Grace,” he said. “I have heard some troubling rumors.”
“Rumors?” Foley seemed to hesitate when the duke said this. “Speak.”
“Has anyone attempted to besmirch my good name?”
“If you are speaking of Miss Hawthorn, I have already spoken to her.”
“The woman is a whore and—”
“Silence,” the duke said. “The mistresses you keep are none of my concern; however, I am greatly troubled by how easily you have dismissed her claim. She is, after all, carrying your child. Does that not give you some semblance of responsibility for her?”
“Is it not mine,” Foley said.
“You are claiming you have not bedded the woman?”
Foley hesitated. “She was my mistress once.”
“How long?” When Foley hesitated, the duke said, “How long? I can easily find out if you fail to tell me the truth.”
“Two years.” Foley continued. “Has Lady Wentworth been informed?”
“She knows of your indiscretion.”
“I wish to speak to her.”
The duke hesitated about how much to inform him, but the truth was, he needed all the assistance he could get in finding his sister. “My sister has been . . . kidnapped.”
“Is this a jest?”
“Do I sound like a man who would jest about such grave matters?”
“But I have made all the arrangements for the ball to make it official.”
“My sister is missing, and that’s all you have to say?” the duke shouted. “I want you to assist the runner, or the marriage contract is annulled.”
“Just wait a minute,” Foley said. “I don’t believe—”
The door swung open and slapped against the wall with a loud thud as the out-of-breath butler chased after the American. There stood Johnathan, holding Harris by the arms. He tossed the criminal into the study, where he proceeded to land on the carpet facedown. Harris stood up, filthy and bloody. Lord Foley and the Duke of Kemp both stood in shock and speechless.
“Apologize to the duke,” Hawk ordered. All three men looked on as Harris wiped the blood off his mouth and grudgingly apologized to him.
“If everyone stopped the damn talking and actually did something about the threat, I wouldn’t have to be here,” Hawk said, glaring at the duke. “And you’re welcome.”
The duke cleared his throat and straightened. “Where is my sister?”
“Upstairs, where she should be.”
God, she was safe. Despite his opinion, the marshal deserved his thanks. The Duke of Kemp took a long breath of relief and said, “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” Hawk blurted out. “Do a better job keeping her safe next time.”
“I suppose you want a reward?” the duke said.
“I don’t want a fucking reward.”
“You must want something; otherwise you wouldn’t have barged in here.”
“What I want is for you to open your damn eyes for once and allow Emily to follow her own path.”
“You will address my sister as Lady Wentworth,” the duke demanded.
Johnathan glared at Foley. “I assume you are Foley?”
“I am,” Foley said.
“She does not want this bastard as a husband.” He pointed to Foley. Foley tried to interject but saw Hawk’s gaze and decided to keep his mouth shut.
“You want my blessing to marry my sister, is that it?”
“I don’t need your blessing,” Johnathan said. “And my offer has expired. You and your sister will never see me again.”
Chapter 24
Johnathan knew it wasn’t right to leave without seeing Kate one last time; after all, he wouldn’t be coming back to England again. So he ordered his rented coach to make one last stop at Roberts’s townhouse before heading to Southampton.
“What will you do when you return to Boston now that you caught Harris?”
“I think it’s about time I visited Anna and the baby.”
“That will be good for you,” she said quietly.
“What?” he said, noticing Kate’s expression. She always had that look on her face when she didn’t agree with him. “That look on your face. You have something to say, so say it.”
She sighed. “I am almost certain you don’t want to hear this, but—”
“You’re right, I don’t.”
She gave him a stern look. “But you’re going to hear it from me anyway.”
He frowned. What the hell was she getting at?
“Please listen to what I have to say first,” she said, looking squarely at him. “You and your father are so much alike.”
“I’m nothing like him.” His father was a bully, an unreasonable tyrant.
“Ethan told me everything. He was concerned and asked me to intervene, but what was I to do about it?”
Johnathan would rather forget that part of his life. His father made it clear he wished he’d never been born. “Let’s keep it that way.”
“I can’t imagine what that was like,” Kate said.
“It wasn’t pleasant, and I don’t want to be reminded.”
“Please, just listen,” she pleaded. “Your father made you believe you are unworthy, but nothing can be further from the truth.”
Considering this was going to be the last time he was going to see Kate, he indulged her.
“I need to remedy my shortcoming too,” she said.
“What shortcoming?”
“I’ve never truly thanked you for what you did for me. You saved me from the streets and you gave me a family, a life I had never known, so the least I can do is return the favor. I owe you my life.”
He never forgot the look on her face that day she tried to steal from him. So fragile and innocent, fighting for the most basic needs to survive in the slums of Boston. Yet there was fire in her eyes, the will to survive. “You were a tough one.”
“Your mother wrote to me,” she revealed. “I got the letter about a week ago. I didn’t want to say anything until everything settled down.” She paused and looked at him. “Your father is ill, Johnathan. She asked that you come home.”
He frowned. “I have nothing to say to him.”
“Do it for your mother. Be there for her, at least.”
“If you care so much, why don’t you go and see him?”
“Roberts and I will be traveling there in a few weeks to see your father.”
“You are?” he said, surprised. “Good, Mother will be happy to see you.”
“You deserve happiness, Johnathan. Stop torturing yourself and forgive him.”
“You sound like Emily.” He’d not regret what transpired between them, but he would not chase after the woman again. He’d been humiliated enough.
“Emily has a forgi
ving heart,” she said, giving him a sideward glance. “She still lov—”
“Don’t say it.”
“You spent your entire life running, never stopping for a single moment to really see what it is you want in this life.”
His life didn’t afford him to slow down. It was all he knew, and all he had. “Not running. It’s the life I chose, and that is the end of it.”
“Stop being so stubborn and go tell Emily how you feel.”
“I will not.” Emily had made her wishes clear. She’d made no attempts to speak with him after he rescued her from that monster and she made no attempts now. The message was clear. It was over.
“Whyever not?”
“Because she belongs with her kind,” Johnathan said. Even as he spoke the words, he knew it wasn’t true. The reality was, the glimmer of hope he felt in his heart and his desire to build something for his future, their future, kept tugging at his heart. Yet, he knew the only way for them to have a future was if she came to him willingly and made up her own mind about what she wanted. She needed to realize this on her own.
“Do you really believe that?”
“Kate,” he said, and before Kate could interject, he quickly added, “I came here to say goodbye, so goodbye, Kate, and be well.”
With his last words, he kissed her cheek and left the parlor. He needed to move forward, because if he hesitated for one second, he knew he just might stop and kidnap Emily himself and take her with him.
Chapter 25
Now that Mr. Harris was in Johnathan’s custody, they must soon be on their way back to Boston, Emily thought mournfully.
The thought was sobering. He was really gone, she thought as her heart painfully acknowledged this. There was no reason for him to stay, and if he had any doubts about leaving London, her brother had put a stop to that, hadn’t he?
Looking at the needlework Johnathan had once commented on before kissing her finger when she pricked it, her smiled faded and tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. How would she live the rest of her life with Lord Foley with the knowledge she now possessed?
