Siren's Secret

by Trish Albright

  The duchess nodded. “Good night then.”

  “Good night,” Olivia replied.

  Nathan shook his head in dismay at both of them as he joined her and Elizabeth.

  Olivia looked at him, not sure if he was mad at her or not. And not certain why she cared. Except that he had just defended her honor. As if he cared. No one had ever done that for her. And she had been nothing but difficult with him.

  “I’m sorry if I sounded severe, Lady Olivia, but the captain knows better.”

  “No, I’m so sorry, Nathan. I should never have put you in that position. And now I’ve come between you two. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

  “Ach. Trust me. It will be fine in the morning. It is already. He took his licks. He didn’t strike back because he knew he was in the wrong.”

  Olivia looked down, her heart dropping into her stomach. It hadn’t felt wrong. Had Samuel really felt that way? Perhaps it was best they’d been interrupted.

  “You’re all right, Lady Olivia?”

  “Yes, yes. Just completely humiliated.”

  “Nonsense. We’re all family,” Elizabeth said. “At least we will be when you marry Stafford.”

  “I’m not getting married!” Olivia shouted.

  Elizabeth smiled. “I was just teasing. Your reputation is fortunately safe. However, should you want to get married, Stafford would be obliged to do so. You might consider that.”

  Olivia wilted. “I would not force anyone, you know that. And indeed, I went only to tell him that he should not become attached. Nothing can come of it.”

  Nathan frowned. “Why not? Are Americans truly so abhorrent to you?”

  “No! Not at all. It’s just that I want to continue my work and share it with all the great minds of the world and publish my learnings. Stafford would merely be a distraction.”

  “Right.” A deep voice caught them unaware.

  They all turned their heads to see Stafford in the doorway. Olivia stared, appalled that he had heard. His gaze met hers, intense but without any warmth in the golden eyes. Instead they were blank, his face expressionless, one side reddening from the blows he had accepted moments before. Then his lips turned up slightly on the left. Cold.

  “I just came to see that you were all right. I’ll close this for you.” He reached for the door. “Good night.”

  Olivia stared, horrified. Then she fell to the bed ready to collapse. Only minutes ago they had been intimate, enraptured with each other. Closer than she had ever been to anyone in her life. She’d felt as though she would die if she could not be with him, closer to him, possessed by him. Her heart pounded again, remembering.

  And now … nothing.

  “Well, then.” Elizabeth spoke to fill in the silence.

  Nathan added, “It’s for the best. If your feelings are not sincere, it’s best Samuel know now.”

  Nathan sounded disappointed with her. Again she wondered why she cared.

  “I—I don’t know what my feelings are.”

  He nodded. “There’s time then for you to work that out. We aren’t leaving soon.”

  “You’re not?” Olivia’s surprise and relief must have shown.

  “Of course not!” Elizabeth affirmed. “We wouldn’t leave you while there is trouble. And we have yet to see if your father is safe. And we certainly would not abandon you alone in a foreign country.”

  “Indeed,” Nathan added. “We will stay as long as needed until you know what you want to do. We can also return on another Stafford ship if the captain leaves sooner, but I certainly would not leave you until that was all worked out.” He patted her shoulder. “Not that Elizabeth would allow otherwise. You’re not alone, you know.”

  “I’m not?” Olivia didn’t mean to sound surprised. It was too much to absorb. Why would they care?

  “Olivia!” Elizabeth shook her head disappointed. “How could you think that? You are like family to me.”

  “I am?”

  Nathan chuckled. “Sorry. We have been self-absorbed, but of course you belong with us.” He shook his head. “Don’t look so dismayed. It’s insulting.”

  Olivia laughed out loud. Surprised. Relieved. Hopeful. And stronger. It did help to have people behind you. “Thank you.”

  “Of course, dearest.” Elizabeth took her husband’s arm to leave, then winked over her shoulder. “We’ll try not to keep you up any longer. Sleep well.”

  Olivia lay back on her bed. It wasn’t long before the sound of the hotel guests caught up with her again. But this time she imagined herself with Stafford. Nathan was right. She had time to figure that out. Stafford would just have to wait. She would explain it all to him tomorrow.

  Tonight she would dream. And she did. A dream where she was an Egyptian librarian, married to a wonderful man but forced to protect a terrible secret.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The camel was going to make her lose her breakfast. The rocking, the smell, the heat—just when she thought she had the adventure under control, it was something else.

  Olivia rubbed her eyes, still a little groggy. Stafford had wakened them early. Something about traveling while it was cooler. This was punishment for certain—waking her early and giving her the only camel because she came down late. She slapped the beast’s side to hurry to a place alongside Stafford’s horse. No time like the present to say you’re sorry.

  “Stafford?” Once next to him, she smoothed her blue riding jacket and rearranged the matching blue skirt over her legs in a seat not meant to be a sidesaddle. Her back twisted, distinctly uncomfortable. She should have worn breeches instead of yielding to the vanity of a proper traveling habit, matching hat, and gloves. They were suitable enough for the weather, just not for riding a camel. The duchess, on the other hand, with her unique split-skirt style, appeared comfortable and at ease. Olivia would beg the woman later for the pattern.

  “Stafford?” she repeated when he didn’t answer. She tried again, attempting to be discreet. “Stafford.” After the third call, she realized he was ignoring her. She huffed. That was so childish! “Stafford!”

  “What!”

  “Why didn’t you answer?”

  “I’m ignoring you.”

  “I know!”

  “Then why are you continuing?”

  “Because I want to talk to you!”

  “Ollie, last time you wanted to talk I ended up being punched by two men with whom I’m supposed to be friends. And they punch hard, in case you hadn’t noticed.” He turned his face and pointed to the bruise along his eye. “And yes, it hurts.”

  “Well, I didn’t do that.”

  “You stole into my room!” He encouraged his horse farther ahead to end discussion.

  Olivia gasped. He was trying to get away from her! She spurred the camel, separating from the group, and clung tightly when the beast bounced her callously forward.

  “What is so important?” he finally asked.

  “I didn’t mean that you were just a distraction. You’re more than that. And not an unwelcome distraction by any means.”

  “You’re miserable at apologies, Ollie. Let’s just accept we’re not right for each other and go our separate ways.”

  “But … it’s just that we haven’t known each other long, and I’m trying to figure out how I really feel and what affection really is and—” She rambled and she knew it.

  Stafford stopped his horse. “You know how you feel, Olivia. You’re just too damned afraid of what it means to your grand plan.”

  “It’s not that! It’s just you don’t give me time to think! You’re rushing me. And—and—”

  “You came to me,” he reminded.

  “To gather information about how I felt! Not to … to …”

  “To what? To entice me into ripping the clothes from your body and ravishing you? Because that’s the direction we were going, and I didn’t see you doing anything to stop it.”

  Olivia’s face and body went hot. Then she looked behind Stafford and
went cold. “Stafford.” Olivia swallowed fearfully.

  “You’ve been nothing but trouble. I can’t wait to dump you on your father’s doorstep for a visit. A long visit.”

  “But Stafford …”

  “What!”

  She pointed.

  He turned to see a company of men, primarily Egyptian. Their leader, in a brightly colored uniform and hat, was at the center. Samuel swore and whirled back at her. “Unbelievable.”

  “I didn’t do that!” she said.

  “Right.”

  Samuel sighed. Hell. He knew she hadn’t arranged this.

  They were just outside town, and he hadn’t taken any chances. Their party was nearly thirty, with local guides and help, and his men were well armed. But they couldn’t compare to more than a hundred soldiers on horseback.

  Worthington rode up to join him.

  “You can handle them, Stafford,” Olivia announced.

  “Just keep your mouth closed.” Samuel took a deep breath and reminded himself to be patient. “Not everything requires force. For the record, I’m the peacemaker in the family.”

  Olivia pressed her lips together and raised an eyebrow of doubt—as if he were deluding himself. She looked at Worthington and the duchess. They agreed with him.

  “That’s very sweet, but they”—she pointed to the group encircling them—“are not family.”

  “Stay here.” Samuel picked out the leader and rode his horse forward, muttering within the other man’s hearing. “She thinks I’m just some brainless brute here to do her bidding. To clear the chaos she creates. She’s a damn curse.”

  The leader tilted his head curiously at Samuel’s muttered oaths. Samuel took a breath, smiled, and made the appropriate greetings. He told the man, Riad, their destination. It never hurt to have the right people know where you were. Riad warned that the tomb site was a very secure area. No one in, no one out—even the most humble of servants. After fifteen more minutes of conversation, the group opened in the middle and allowed them to proceed. Samuel guided them forward, ignoring Olivia’s questioning look.

  No need to let her know Riad and he were drinking buddies.

  Samuel watched as Olivia wobbled back and forth on the camel, her hips swaying in a rather attractive manner, despite his determination not to be attracted. Just as she was passing him, his friend called for them to stop. Samuel repeated the command in English, turning to Riad, curious.

  Riad’s brow furrowed as he clucked at Olivia’s camel to come over. It obeyed, and Olivia could do nothing but wait. Samuel caught her worried look. He looked at his friend, who strangely enough closed his eyes and began to chant something that sounded like a prayer. When finished, he nodded with a grin to Olivia, speaking in English.

  “I remove your curse. You will be better now,” the Egyptian said.

  Samuel suppressed his wince and shrugged at her expression to indicate he knew nothing about a curse. “The polite response for removing a curse is ‘Thank you.’ ”

  Olivia’s mouth dropped, but nothing came out.

  Riad laughed and slapped Samuel’s back. “Ha! See, my friend. Silence. Better already.” He pulled his horse around to leave. “Next time, you buy.”

  Samuel rode ahead, but Olivia bounced along, determined to keep up. “You knew him!”

  “So?”

  “You let me think otherwise.”

  “So?” Samuel said slowly, extending the word.

  “And he’s your friend!”

  “Peaceful men like me make a lot of friends.”

  “But you told him I’m cursed,” Olivia hissed.

  “You are.”

  “Like some—” Olivia stopped whatever she was going to say, catching up with his conversation. “I’m not cursed.”

  “Well not anymore, thanks to Riad.”

  “Would you stop—”

  “Ah hell, does it never end?” Samuel swore.

  “Don’t curse at me, Samuel Stafford,” she shouted, nearly falling sideways off her camel.

  “Not you, Ollie.” He nodded forward. “Them.”

  Olivia looked out and saw nothing. Then suddenly the sand shifted and rose. She gasped fearfully. She realized they were men.

  Hiding in the sand.

  Ready to ambush them.

  Camels that had been held to the ground rose until nearly a hundred men on beasts and another hundred on foot surrounded them. They looked rougher than Riad’s troops, their costumes not uniforms, but swaths of cloth to cover their heads and faces from the heat reflected all around them. Their leader, however, was definitely English. She thought she recognized him.

  “Looks like they hired everyone in town,” Samuel noted. “No wonder no one was talking.”

  Olivia turned to Stafford. “Maybe I should handle this.”

  “Ollie, you don’t have friends in England. What makes you think you’ll have luck here?”

  “I’ll just tell them where we are going, that we mean no harm, and have a jolly day.”

  “A jolly day?”

  “Indeed. Come along. I really cannot sit this camel much longer without becoming irritable.”

  The duke and duchess and Samuel all opened their mouths to comment.

  “Don’t say it.”

  They closed their mouths and reined their horses toward the incoming group. To Olivia’s great chagrin, she recognized their leader. It was the blond Englishman from the Algerian market she had fooled when she captured the stone.

  “Uh-oh.”

  “You do know them, then,” the duchess commented, adjusting her long overcoat.

  Olivia studied the invaders surrounding them. At least the twin giants did not seem present. She glanced toward Stafford to gauge his reaction. His lips were pressed, his expression grim, and his look toward her—irritated indeed.

  “It’s not as though I’m responsible for this,” she said.

  Stafford lifted an eyebrow.

  Olivia ignored him.

  “Definitely a situation,” Worthington said.

  “Welcome!” the leader called. “We meet again.” The man pranced his horse over to Olivia until they were facing each other. “I’m afraid we did not get formally introduced last time.”

  “You were too busy threatening my life,” she retorted.

  He ignored her maligning. “I’m Hugh Lampley.”

  Olivia gasped. Lampley! One of her father’s colleagues. According to Grayson’s letter, one of the least trustworthy. Now she had proof of it too.

  He offered his hand with a friendly smile—attempting to dispel his villainous image, no doubt. Olivia lifted her chin and sniffed her nose as if from a bad odor.

  His smile broadened. It was a rather attractive smile. Then he winked. The damned nerve. She saw Stafford move his horse closer to her. The bothersome man was about to make things worse. Best to be civil. She reached down from her perch, accepting the greeting.

  Stafford’s horse, squeezing in to separate them, immediately broke their connection.

  Samuel didn’t like the way the stranger looked at Olivia.

  She was too innocent to recognize manipulation hidden beneath smiles, but the man had sharp, knowing eyes. Not nearly as harmless as he was trying to play it.

  “If you don’t mind, we were heading the opposite way. Have a nice day, Hugh.”

  “I’d be happy to escort you,” Hugh said. Then he smiled at Olivia again.

  “Not at all necessary.” Stafford planted his horse firmly between Hugh and Olivia, forcing himself not to look back at her. The hairs on his neck were tingling, and he was certain she smiled back at the bastard. Women.

  “Not an issue, sir. It’s my pleasure.”

  “To annoy us?” he shot back.

  Hugh smiled, as if entertained.

  It irked Samuel even more.

  “I hope I’m not as upsetting as you imagine.” He glanced past Samuel again, keeping his eyes on Olivia. “Actually, it’s my hope to see the funerary cone of the librarian retu
rned to the tomb in one piece.” His gaze didn’t waver. “Along with Lady Olivia.”

  Olivia gasped. “Is my father there?”

  “Of course. Who do you think asked me to escort you?”

  Samuel hissed in a breath. His sister caught his eye. She was wary. At least one woman had sense.

  “Jolly good news. Isn’t it, Stafford?” His brother-in-law played the jovial Englishman. He knew Worthington could match Hugh charm for charm when he wanted. The fact that he took on the role now was Joshua’s subtle advice that they should not tip their hand.

  Olivia jumped back into the conversation. “He is well then?”

  “In excellent health.”

  Elizabeth and Nathan joined them.

  “That’s wonderful news, Olivia,” Elizabeth said.

  “Yes,” Olivia agreed, still eyeing Hugh before noting the rest of his men. “You’re not going to attack, threaten, or injure us then, are you, Mr. Lampley?”

  He laughed. “I believe we are on the same side, Lady Olivia. I apologize for our earlier meeting. I had heard of you, of course. But you were not so recognizable, and quite frankly I didn’t expect to meet you under those peculiar circumstances.”

  Samuel was pleased when Olivia’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Just where did you expect to meet me, Mr. Lampley?”

  “Celebrating in a ballroom with a glass of champagne, of course.” He winked again. “Come along. We still have time to tour the tomb before luncheon. The site is very close.”

  Hugh turned to guide them without looking back. Olivia surveyed the group, then clucked at her camel to follow.

  Alex encouraged the men. “We didn’t come all this way not to tour the tomb. Don’t you want to see it?”

  Samuel growled, but turned his horse. Olivia was already even with the snot-nosed bastard. He galloped to catch up. He didn’t trust the man. Olivia, heaven help him, had no qualms about playing right into his hands.

  And he didn’t want that man’s hands anywhere near her.

  Chapter Twenty

  The tomb site sat in the middle of a fairly pleasant but small oasis. The amount of flora made the area feel lush compared to the dry landscape they crossed to reach it, but it still suffered from the desert heat and dust. Workers and tables of excavation materials took up the space near the entrance to the catacombs. Past that, a small community of tents formed a semicircle. It was an elaborate operation. And well guarded on all sides.