One Sinful Night

by Kaitlin O’Riley

  Now he would take care of Vivienne. He would make his apologies to her for his reprehensible behavior in the portrait gallery yesterday and warn her of the dangers Jackson Harlow. He owed her that much at least. Then with his conscience cleared, first thing in the morning he would leave Bingham Hall and his past, and begin his life anew. Without Vivienne Montgomery.

  Chapter 12

  The Sinful Night

  Susana Kavanaugh worded the note purposefully, choosing each word with consummate care, her eyes glittering in anticipation. The servant was given precise instructions on exactly when to deliver it to Mister Jackson Harlow. Timing would be critical on this. Once again, her entire plan hinged on perfect timing.

  Tonight would be the night she ruined Vivienne Montgomery permanently and the miserable witch would be gone from her son’s life once and for all.

  Susana was no fool. She noticed the look in Aidan’s eyes when he saw Vivienne. She knew what it meant because she had seen that same look before. Ten years ago. Aidan was still in love with the Irish harlot, as much as it pained her to admit it. And just how he could be in love with the likes of Vivienne Montgomery when Helene Winston was clearly his for the asking, frustrated and angered her. If only her son had better sense!

  Last night during the musicale had been the final straw. Seeing Aidan’s face while Vivienne sang that maudlin love song, made her ill, physically sick to her stomach. Having their Irish background flaunted before everyone, when Susana had worked years to downplay that very aspect, left her shaking with rage. It was too much to endure. Aidan simply could not get involved with that woman again!

  Vivienne Montgomery had been a thorn in her side for too long. From the moment Susana met the little baggage, she did not like her. Even as a child, with her long black hair and fair skin, Vivienne had an uncanny witchiness about her, as if she could see right through Susana’s exterior. Vivienne’s changeable blue eyes unsettled her and her very manner felt disrespectful. That little Irish girl, in her threadbare clothes, had always comported herself as she if she were Susana’s equal! The impudence! Susana didn’t care for the old grandmother either and blamed her as the reason Vivienne ran wild. Imagine allowing a little girl to play and run around with a boy as if she were a boy! But Aidan had been fascinated by the two of them, wanting to spend every minute in their dilapidated little house. And her imbecile of a husband allowed and even encouraged their outlandish friendship!

  Then, that pivotal summer, Vivienne blossomed into a temptress, artfully and cleverly casting a spell over Aidan until the poor boy lost all the reason and good judgment Susana had fostered in him over the years and proposed to her. Anyone could see that Vivienne did not really love Aidan and only wanted to better her station in life with Aidan’s title and wealth.

  And here they were again.

  Drastic times called for drastic measures. She could not sit idly by while her precious son ruined his life by asking that woman to marry him again. She had to take action. She had to save him from himself. As she had ten years earlier. What mother wouldn’t protect her son from the clutches of the wrong woman? And Susana prided herself on being a good mother. In fact, she was an excellent mother. Aidan would thank her someday for saving him.

  Now Susana needed only to wait and time her appearance perfectly. Through her own cleverness and Glenda Cardwell’s assistance, Vivienne’s true nature would be her undoing. By this time tomorrow, Vivienne Montgomery would be out of Aidan’s life forever.

  As the masked ball drew to a close and guests were either leaving Bingham Hall or retiring to their rooms upstairs, Glenda Cardwell acted according to Lady Whitlock’s specific instructions. She went to her mother to complain of an illness.

  “Oh dear, Glenda, what is it now?” Gwen Cardwell murmured, looking at her daughter in distracted despair.

  “I said I’m not feeling very well.” Glenda placed her hand over her stomach and groaned as if in terrible pain. “I think I may be sick.”

  “Did you eat something spoiled? I’d wager it was that salmon,” Gilbert Cardwell declared loudly. “I thought it tasted funny.”

  “Perhaps that’s what it is, Father. I did have some salmon at supper. And now my stomach…” She grimaced to show her anguish. “Mother, I don’t wish to be alone tonight. Might I stay with you and father?”

  “Aren’t you a little old for that?” Gwen asked uncertainly as she touched Glenda’s forehead to test for a fever. “You don’t feel warm, but you do look a bit sallow.”

  “Mother, please. I want to be with you for a little while,” Glenda pleaded with a whimper. She just had to be in her parents’ room tonight. “It would comfort me.”

  “Well, I suppose you could come to our room and rest for a spell.”

  “Thank you, Mother. I truly don’t feel well…” Glenda moaned with a bit more drama than before.

  “Come then. Let’s go upstairs to bed. I’ll have Lizzie fetch your nightclothes from your room and we’ll get you some chamomile tea.”

  Lord and Lady Cardwell did not see the sly smile on their daughter’s face as she turned to follow them up the grand staircase of Bingham Hall.

  As he was on his way to meet Annabelle Worthington for their nightly tryst, a little mobcapped maid hurriedly handed Jackson Harlow a note. She bobbed a quick curtsy to him and ran off without waiting for a reply from him. Feeling slightly annoyed as he broke the wax seal and unfolded the thick paper, he assumed it was from Annabelle canceling their encounter. Surprised to find that Annabelle had not penned the note, he read the elegantly scripted words with mounting curiosity.

  Mister Harlow,

  I need to speak to you on a private matter of the utmost urgency. Could you please meet me in my bedchamber when everyone has retired? I implore you as a gentleman to be discreet. I will explain everything to you when you arrive. Please, please don’t fail me.

  Vivienne Montgomery

  Jackson stood in stunned amazement. The note was unfathomable! The silly chit just invited him to her bedroom! What could she possibly be thinking? The note surprised him because he hadn’t picked up that signal from her. Vivienne was an innocent as far as he could tell, not the type that invited men to her bedchamber for an illicit romp in the sheets.

  The note could only mean that she was in some sort of dire predicament. Although what could have happened in the few hours since he last danced with her at the ball to warrant such a drastic message, he could not imagine. The note did bode well in that she trusted him enough to ask him to help her with something that obviously worried her. And that was a good indication of her feelings. For lately he’d been doing a great deal of thinking about the lovely Miss Montgomery.

  She would make a perfect wife for him.

  She came from a good family and had a substantial dowry settled on her by her uncle. Aside from her undeniable beauty, it had been her smart, witty nature and complete lack of guile that attracted him to her in the first place. Not only did he find her incredibly desirable physically—and his unfailing male instinct told him Vivienne would be an unrestrained lover in bed with the right man—but he actually enjoyed the time he had spent with her. And if he married her he would have unlimited access to that luscious body of hers anytime he wanted. A little icing on the cake there. Best of all, marrying her would make stealing from her completely unnecessary, for all that she owned would become his.

  She must have the deeds somewhere in her possession and it was only a matter of time before he found them. He’d do just as well to marry her and then the papers would belong to him legally.

  Making Vivienne his wife would just kill his brother, too. Jackson would own the mines outright, and Miles wouldn’t be able to touch them. Then Jackson could leave the infernal shipping business that he had hated his whole life. Davis and Miles could fight it out for control of their father’s failing company. He’d have the money and a beautiful wife, and his brothers would be saddled with a bankrupt business. He was done with being their disrespected, u
ndervalued little minion. He deserved more out of life than that and he aimed to get it.

  He would visit Vivienne tonight and move the relationship along.

  Jackson smiled with satisfaction as he continued down the corridor and made his way to his room. Annabelle would join him shortly, which would work out perfectly. He could have Annabelle first to take the edge off his growing desire for Vivienne before he went to Vivienne’s room. Decidedly, he would have to play the gentleman with Vivienne, even if she were hot for him.

  Intrigued by the mysterious note, he wondered what could possibly be so urgent that Vivienne would summon him to her bedchamber. That she would risk having him there only demonstrated her desire for him. The girl wanted him, but it was a hugely dangerous thing for her to do for if he were caught in her bedroom, he would undoubtedly be made to marry her. Which, of course, would only speed up the process and further his cause anyway. It would not be the way he would choose to marry her, under the shadow of a scandal, but it would serve his ultimate goal and he would attain her, regardless of the circumstances. And in a lot less time. It seemed to be a win-win situation.

  And winning Vivienne Montgomery was all that mattered to him now.

  He whistled gleefully as he entered his bedroom.

  “What are you doing here?” Vivienne demanded in surprise later that night when Aidan knocked on her door. She had not been able to fall asleep and the late night visit from Aidan startled her. She stood with her hand still on the doorknob. “Won’t your spotless reputation be tainted in my presence?”

  Ignoring her barbed comment, he glanced past her inside the bedroom. “Is Glenda with you?”

  “No. She’s not feeling well and is spending the night with her parents in their room.”

  “It’s good that she’s not here,” Aidan said. “I wish to discuss something important with you.”

  His eyes flickered over her and she realized she was clad only in a nightgown, her bare toes peeking from beneath the delicate pink material. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, her chin went up. “Well, I don’t wish to speak with you. Now please leave my room.” She motioned to close the door on him, but he braced his arm between the door and the wall, pushing it wide open and shoving her out of the way.

  “I’m not leaving until I speak my peace. This is important, Vivienne, and you need to listen to me very carefully,” he said, ignoring her outraged glare and striding past her into the pale yellow and rose bedchamber as if he owned it.

  “I don’t have to listen to you at all.” Who did he think he was, storming into her bedroom of all places, in the middle of the night? But she swung the door closed behind her and turned to face him, her face alight with anger. “Especially after yesterday.”

  “It is exactly because of yesterday that I am here, Vivienne. I have two things I need to tell you.”

  She stared expectantly at him, waiting, her hands on her hips. He was still wearing his evening clothes, although his shirt collar was unbuttoned, giving him a roguish appearance that was immensely attractive. His black hair, usually so neatly combed, was slightly tousled, forcing her to curb a ridiculous desire to run her fingers through its thickness. Dark emerald eyes glittered at her behind a purposeful expression, his sensual mouth drawn in a stern line. He seemed taller and more imposing than he usually did, perhaps because she felt undressed and vulnerable in just her bare feet and simple cotton nightgown.

  Aidan’s voice was low but his words were rushed, “First, I want to apologize. I behaved abominably yesterday, and I’m sorry for losing control in the portrait gallery and for hurting your feelings.”

  “That’s very noble of you, Lord Whitlock,” she muttered sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest. “What’s the second thing?”

  He gave her a hard look, obviously annoyed by her airy dismissal of his apology. “What are your intentions with Jackson Harlow?” he demanded heatedly.

  “What business is that of yours?” she snapped back, stunned by his question. So Aidan had noticed her dancing with Jackson Harlow earlier that evening. She felt oddly satisfied by that thought.

  “You know exactly why.”

  “Jealous, are you?” She arched an eyebrow at his remark.

  A brittle laugh escaped him. “Hardly.”

  If he wasn’t jealous then what could it possibly be? Irritated with his possessive attitude, she asked, “What do you want from me, Aidan?”

  “I want you to listen to me,” he said with a deliberateness that unnerved her. He spoke his next words slowly and clearly, “Stay away from Harlow.”

  Vivienne shook her head in disbelief. He really had nerve to come to her bedroom in the middle of the night and think he could order her about. “You cannot tell me what to do. I don’t belong to you anymore, Aidan. Remember?”

  “And you belong to Jackson Harlow now, is that it?”

  “What if I do?” she challenged him, her hands on her hips. His fists clenched and she knew he was angry with her. Are you angry or jealous, Aidan?

  “I am telling you not to become involved with him. He’s not the man you think he is.”

  “And you are?” she scoffed at him. “I don’t suspect Jackson Harlow is the type who would seduce me in a closet and then humiliate me afterwards.”

  Aidan actually flinched at her words. “That was different…And this isn’t about me—”

  “This is all about you, Aidan. That’s the only reason you are here right now. You obviously don’t want me, but apparently you don’t wish for anyone else to have me either.”

  There was a moment of silence in which they regarded each other warily. She could not help but think that he wanted her yesterday. And she had wanted him. They both knew it.

  “This has nothing to do with us,” Aidan began grimly. “I see the way Harlow looks at you. I saw the two of you dancing together tonight. He wants you, but I forbid you see him anymore.”

  “You forbid me?” she echoed him with incredulity. She would have laughed at the absurdity of such a statement if she weren’t so incensed by his meaning. “You forbid me? How dare you forbid me to do anything?”

  “I’m just trying to tell you—”

  She interrupted him. “You have no right to tell me what to do, and you gave up any rights to me when you broke our engagement and left Galway ten years ago.”

  “I think I have some claim over you after all the years we’ve known each other and grew up together,” Aidan persisted indignantly. “You have to listen to me on this, Vivienne. It’s for your own good. You don’t know what he’s like. He is a ruthless, heartless man.”

  “Then he’s just like you,” she seethed. The stunned expression on his handsome face told her that her words hit home. He rallied quickly though.

  “I see you had many admirers this evening,” he taunted wickedly, his green eyes narrowing on her. “But then again you always did have more than your fair share of ardent admirers, did you not, Vivienne?”

  Her eyes flew open at his insinuation that she had taken countless lovers. He thought her a loose, immoral woman. But after yesterday, what else could he think? She stared up at him angrily. “Your jealousy is quite apparent.”

  “Jealousy implies that one covets something,” Aidan said smoothly, the lines of his face filled with disgust. “I was merely stating the obvious.”

  “Get out of my room. I’m not interested in anything you have to say.” She glared at him. “Nor am I interested in a repeat of yesterday.”

  He took a step toward her and said wickedly, “Liar.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest at the predatory look on his face. “Get out of my room before I scream to high heaven.”

  His smile was seductive as he advanced on her. “You won’t scream,” he dared her.

  “Don’t try me, Aidan.” The air fairly cracked with the impassioned tension between them so intensely were they aware of each other’s physical presence.

  “Are you going to cast a spell on me, little witch?” he taunte
d her, his face coming closer and closer to hers.

  “I already have, don’t you know?” she said fiercely as her brogue became more pronounced. “And I’ll haunt you forever,” she threatened him.

  Her pulse quickened and there was a tingling in the pit of her stomach. He was so close she could smell the light cologne he wore, but the scent was distinctly Aidan. She was suddenly fearful of what could happen between them. Half hoping for it, half dreading it.

  “Oh, I know you have haunted me, Vivienne. You’ve haunted me for ten years. Tortured me. That’s the only reason I can explain why I care enough about what happens to you to warn you from Harlow. It’s the only reason I can explain why I’m here in this room alone with you,” he said low, his expression dark and forbidding. “To try to get you out of my head once and for all.”

  “Get out!” she cried. With both hands, Vivienne shoved as hard as she could against his broad chest.

  Catching him off guard, Aidan stumbled briefly, but then steadied himself and lunged for her in an instant. She stepped away from his grasp in an agile movement and continued scurrying backward as he advanced on her. The determined look on his face caused a rush of panic to rise within her. Suddenly she felt herself falling backward as she tripped over a small footstool that was on the floor behind her. Aidan’s arms grabbed her before she fell, steadying her.

  “Don’t touch me,” she cried, although she did not resist when he pulled her closer to him, against his chest. A sense of strength and warmth radiated from his chest and the sound of his heartbeat echoed wildly in her ears. She could not breathe when she was so close to him. His muscled arms held her tightly. It should not feel so good to be embraced by him. But it did.

  “If I recall, that’s not what you said to me yesterday afternoon.” His voice sounded huskier than usual. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek and she shivered in response.