Amara (Carlton House Cartel Book 2)

by Wendy Soliman

  ‘We thought he smuggled opium,’ Louis remarked.

  ‘He does, but the antiquities are far more profitable. That is why he sails around Europe on his yacht, making the most valuable deliveries in person. He has bribed all the right officials to look the other way in our country and his authority is such that he is seldom questioned wherever else he goes.’

  ‘Why not pay duty on the opium to avoid arousing suspicion?’ Chance asked.

  Drakos shrugged. ‘Kazan doesn’t believe in taxes. And he will never run out of treasures to loot from our land to sell on. The private market is thriving.’ Drakos curled his upper lip. ‘Our land is littered with the remnants of previous cities and cultures. Kazan has teams of men scouring the most likely sources, bringing him their finds, and being rewarded with pittances while he makes huge profits.’

  Drakos, having not wanted to talk, now seemed unable to stop. Not that Chance intended to try and prevent him from venting his spleen. After an hour, he knew just about all there was to know about Kazan’s illegal activities. Certainly far more than he had anticipated discovering.

  ‘Now you must keep your word and help me,’ Drakos said, looking drained and exhausted. Despite his disappointment, old loyalties must run deep and it would be very hard for such a proud Greek never to return to his homeland. But Chance knew that there were influential pockets of Greeks living all over the world. Drakos could use his wits to rise to a position of influence, albeit in a smaller arena.

  ‘We will. Come with us now. We will take you somewhere safe and arrange for your possessions to be packed and brought to you. You will be on a vessel and out of this country by tomorrow. It will take you to France and you can go where you like from there. It is better that we don’t know where. I am sure you have contacts who will take you in.’

  ‘I need money.’

  Chance nodded. ‘That will be arranged.’

  Drakos nodded. ‘See that it is, or I will have nothing left to lose and will take my own revenge.’

  A chill ran down Chance’s spine. The man’s expression was pure evil and he didn’t doubt that he meant what he said.

  ‘Did I hit that high A?’ Amara asked. ‘It sounded off.’

  ‘You always say that,’ Eva replied, smiling her reassurance. ‘But you are quite wrong, which is what comes of being a perfectionist, I suppose.’

  ‘Perhaps. Shall we try it again?’

  Eva played the opening bars of the aria, but both ladies were distracted when the door opened and a rather dishevelled servant put his head around it. Something about him set Amara on her guard. He looked as though he had dressed in the dark, whereas the prince’s servants were always impeccably attired. What’s more, this one wasn’t wearing a wig.

  And he looked familiar.

  ‘Pleased to see me, ladies? he asked in Greek, smiling at them.

  ‘You!’ Amara felt more resigned than afraid. ‘Go away, Mr Lykaios. I don’t know how you got in here or what your intentions are but you ought to know us well enough by now to realise that we will never leave with you voluntarily. Besides, if you are caught pretending to be one of the prince’s servants then you will be thrown in gaol. Greece’s reputation will then be completely ruined, especially following last night’s outrageous events, which I am sure you have heard about.’

  ‘Be quiet, you hussy!’ Lykaios cried impatiently. ‘You are still my responsibility, whether you like it or not.’ He grabbed Amara’s arm and pressed the dagger he had brought with him to her throat. ‘Thanks to you I have nothing left to lose and my only hope of redemption is to return you to your father. Raise the alarm, Mrs Costas, and I will kill her.’ Eva, who had risen from her stool, sank back down onto it. ‘Like I say, I have nothing left to lose.’

  ‘Don’t be absurd.’ Amara moved her head cautiously, mindless of the cold steel of the dagger’s blade that pricked the delicate skin of her neck. ‘If you kill me then Eva will tell Papa what you did and if that happens, believe me, there will be nowhere in the world that you will be able to hide.’

  ‘I don’t care!’ The man was ranting, and fear kicked in. Amara could reason with a rational man, but she could see now that Lykaios had completely lost his wits. ‘This is all your fault. Why could you not do as you were told?’

  ‘Now you sound like a petulant child,’ Amara told him sternly, cross because her voice didn’t sound level. Common sense told her that Lykaios would be harming himself if he harmed her, but it was equally clear that his pride was damaged, he felt wronged and was desperate to recover lost ground.

  ‘The situation is now much more complex than you believe,’ Eva said quietly, sending Amara a look that warned her against riling her former agent. ‘Amara’s father currently has more important matters on his mind than your antics. Just go, while you still can. Make yourself scarce for a while and then start again. I know you have already been well rewarded for helping Amara to perform in public.’

  The hand holding the dagger began to tremble and Amara felt a trickle of warm blood flow down her neck where he had nicked the skin. Eva instinctively stood and Lykaios screamed at her.

  ‘Stay where you are, or I will finish her! There is nothing you can do to stop me.’

  The door crashed open and Louis was framed in the opening with Lord Jonas at his shoulder. ‘But I can and will kill you with my bare hands,’ Louis said, his voice a low, threatening growl. He levelled a pistol directly at Lykaios’s head, his hand rock steady.

  ‘Get away!’ He backed off, dragging Amara with him. ‘Get away I say.’

  ‘Hiding behind a woman’s petticoats, Lykaios?’ Louis said in a mocking tone as he took a step towards them. ‘How brave.’

  Amara’s mind whirled. Louis clearly thought that he could threaten Lykaios into backing off, but logic on his part had failed and Amara knew that he was deranged. His hand still shook but the dagger remained pressed against her skin. Louis’s provocation was making matters worse, so Amara would have to act in his protection. It was the one thing that she could and would do for the man she adored.

  Mindless of the dagger, she gauged her moment, twisted swiftly to one side the moment his hand trembled and the weapon briefly broke contact with her skin. She lifted her knee, depositing it as hard as she could in Lykaios’s groin. Taken completely by surprise, her captor cried out and loosened his hold on her. Amara wriggled free and ran instinctively towards Louis, who collected her in his arms and held her so tightly she could barely breathe.

  ‘Don’t ever frighten me like that again,’ he scolded, kissing the top of her head, regardless of their audience. ‘Are you all right? Let me see your neck.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ Amara assured him, touching her neck. ‘Just a scratch.’

  Lord Jonas had pulled Lykaios to his feet by tugging him up by the back of his collar. He screamed blue murder while simultaneously clutching his groin, muttering expletives and dire, meaningless threats.

  ‘How did you get in here?’ Lord Jonas asked, shaking him like a rag doll when he refused to answer. ‘Don’t make me ask you again. You will not enjoy the consequences.’

  ‘Tunnels,’ Lykaios gasped. ‘From the stables.’

  His story spilled out in jerky sentences. When Lord Jonas was satisfied that he had heard it all, he rang the bell and told the footman who answered it that they had caught an intruder, who needed to be handed over to the constable.

  ‘Let him take his chances with the law,’ Lord Jonas said, once Lykaios had been carted off, screaming and complaining. ‘The constabulary is very loyal to the prince in this part of the world and will not take kindly to a foreigner infiltrating his pavilion. He will not be seeing daylight again for the foreseeable future.’

  ‘Come along, ladies,’ Louis said. ‘The banquet is cancelled, which is what we came to tell you, and it’s very fortunate that we did. We will escort you home.’

  Sabine ran out of the house the moment she heard the sound of the carriage arriving.

  ‘There you are,
’ she said, embracing them all with her words but focusing her entire attention upon Chance. She wouldn’t be satisfied until she had examined every inch of him to ensure that he hadn’t incurred any injuries in whatever battle he’d engaged in. ‘I was worried…Heavens, Amara, your neck.’

  ‘It’s nothing,’ she assured Sabine, holding a blood-stained handkerchief to the afflicted area.

  Sabine fussed over Amara and dressed her wound, which was superficial. Tea was served, although the gentlemen would probably have preferred something stronger, and then Sabine demanded an explanation.

  ‘Who was the lady that persuaded Lykaios to do something quite so foolhardy?’ Sabine asked, shaking her head. ‘And what made him suppose he would get away with it?’

  ‘He was desperate,’ Chance replied. ‘And the orchestrator was almost certainly Lady Graystock, hoping to embarrass the prince because she has been turfed out to make way for Mrs Fitzherbert again. We saw her leaving just ahead of us when we took Drakos out.’

  ‘Lady Graystock bears a grudge against you, Chance,’ Sabine said with a mischievous smile. ‘I cannot think why. Me too for that matter, because I dared to contradict her and because I succeeded with you where she had failed. Having Amara abducted from the prince’s pavilion would have created an international scandal. I wonder if she really meant for things to go that far.’

  ‘I doubt it,’ Chance replied. ‘She was making mischief and knew that Lykaios couldn’t realistically expect to take a grown woman out through that tunnel. Not a conscious one at any rate, who wouldn’t go willingly. Besides, Mrs Costas would have immediately raised the alarm.’

  ‘What are the tunnels for?’ Eva asked.

  Chance chuckled. ‘They are a useful way to get certain people in and out of the pavilion for the prince’s pleasure without their being seen.’

  Eva smiled. ‘Ah, I see.’

  ‘Tell me about Drakos,’ Sabine said. ‘Why did he leave the pavilion in your company? That, I assume, is what you were up to this morning.’

  ‘Quite so. He told us some very interesting facts about Kazan’s affairs,’ Chance said, going on to explain. ‘In return we have provided him with enough funds to leave the country.’

  ‘You didn’t give him that much, Chance,’ Louis said. ‘I am surprised he didn’t ask for more. What you did give him won’t last for long.’

  ‘He knew his time was up, and I suspect he has been salting away funds in the event of this day arriving. He boasted about his ability to keep you in style, Miss Kazan.’

  Amara shuddered. ‘Thank you for saving me from that fate.’

  ‘You paid him yourself,’ Louis said. ‘Let me contribute.’

  ‘I keep a fund for such emergencies out of the profits from Bagatelle,’ Chance replied, waving the offer aside. All part and parcel of protecting the prince, who is in fine spirits, and is taking all the credit of course.’

  ‘He probably thinks of himself as a diplomat now,’ Sabine warned, ‘so you will have made a rod for your own back.’

  ‘Why did you ask Drakos to tell you about Papa’s business?’ Amara asked.

  Chance smiled at her as he stood up, Ace alert at his side. ‘Well, my dear,’ he replied. ‘I rather thought that you might find the information useful. What you choose to do with it, of course, is entirely up to you.’

  Chapter Fifteen

  Two weeks after the events at the pavilion, Amara and Eva were still staying with Sabine. Amara had sung at the pavilion twice during that time. Louis found a way to come and see her every day, both of them aware that her time was running out and that her father could descend upon them like the wrath of God at any moment. Despite more pressing matters that had been brought to a head by the failure of the Greek deputation, he would not have forgotten about Amara.

  She and Louis walked in the gardens whenever the weather permitted, hand in hand, enjoying the here and now and not thinking beyond that. Amara was deeply and passionately in love with her handsome courtier, but apart from that one kiss he had stolen when Eva had left them alone that evening, he had gone no further than holding her hand since then.

  She wanted to ask him what held him back but was unsure if she wanted to hear his reply, so she remained silent on the point. He fell into long, brooding silences and seemed often to be preoccupied. She wondered if he was preparing himself for the day when they would have to separate; a moment she could scarcely bear to think about herself without tears springing to her eyes. He hadn’t once suggested that she use the information she now possessed about Papa’s activities to force him to let her stay in England.

  She could stay if she so wished. Short of abducting her, there was nothing Papa could do to prevent her other than disowning and disinheriting her. She didn’t care about losing her fortune but the duty she owed to her father was deeply imbedded and she was unsure if she could find the strength to defy him. If Louis were to ask her to, well…that would give her an incentive. But he hadn’t once alluded to the subject and pride prevented her from raising it herself.

  ‘He’s arrived,’ Sabine said, coming towards them on the path they had taken, her tone sympathetic. Amara didn’t need to ask whom she was referring to. She straightened her spine and felt Louis increase the pressure of his fingers on hers before releasing her hand. ‘And I should warn you that he was barely civil towards me. Eva is with him.’

  ‘I am ready to face him,’ Amara replied.

  She left Sabine and Louis standing where they were and returned to the house with a determined stride. She heard a familiar raised voice coming from the morning room. Butterflies invaded her stomach when she recognised her father’s strident tones and Eva’s measured responses. This was not Eva’s fault and Amara would not allow her to take the blame. Straightening her shoulders and taking a deep breath, she turned the handle and walked calmly into the room, halting her father in mid-tirade.

  ‘Good afternoon, Papa,’ she said, making no attempt to embrace him. Her father was not given to embracing anyone. In fact, she couldn’t recall the last occasion upon which he had shown her the smallest display of affection, or even if he ever had. Bullying and laying down the law was more his style.

  ‘There you are, girl. What the devil do you have to say for yourself?’

  ‘Leave us please, Eva. I will speak with Papa alone.’

  Eva looked unsure, but eventually complied, closing the door quietly behind her.

  ‘Well, child? I am waiting.’ When Amara failed to respond, she wasn’t surprised when he lost his temper and raised his voice. Had he always shouted in order to get his way. Why had Amara not noticed that before now? He terrified her when he got into a bad mood, which was frequently, but today she felt nothing more than contempt for his loutish behaviour. ‘Have you any idea how much trouble you have caused me? That’s what comes of being lenient. Well, I have learned my lesson. You will come back to Greece with me now, today, and you will do only as I say in future.’

  ‘No, Papa, I shall not. It will not be convenient.’

  ‘Not convenient?’ Her father puffed out his cheeks, which had turned scarlet with rage. She wondered with detachment whether he intended to strike her. ‘Who has been leading you astray in this godless country and putting ideas into your head? I will have his name and satisfaction.’

  ‘Don’t be so pompous,’ Amara said, taking courage from her father’s astounded reaction. Clearly he had expected apologies, stuttered explanations and immediate compliance with his wishes. He had no idea how to deal with her in her current uncompromisingly rebellious mood. ‘Sit down, Papa, and we will discuss the situation like rational adults.’

  She expected more bluster, and was astounded when he fell into the nearest chair, scrubbing his hand down his face as though lost for words. ‘There is nothing to discuss. You are coming home and there’s an end to the matter,’ he said, clearly attempting to gain control of a situation that had slipped from his grasp.

  ‘Tell me why you dislike the English so much, Pa
pa. I have often wondered.’

  ‘They are a godless lot with the morals of alley cats,’ he said, sneering. ‘Morals that seem to have rubbed off on you in a very short space of time. Worse still, they are laying claim to artefacts that are part of our Greek heritage.’ He sniffed. ‘Damn their impertinence.’

  ‘And you thought that influencing the makeup of the diplomatic deputation would put things right?’ She frowned at her father. ‘Sending two men who despise one another and expecting them to behave in a civilized manner?’ She shook her head. ‘You miscalculated badly.’

  ‘And whose fault was that? They were brawling over you.’

  Amara shook her head, refusing to be cowed by an allegation that she would once not have dared to raise, much less question her father’s motives. ‘I never showed one iota of interest in either one of them. Any expectations they harboured came about as a result of your machinations.’

  ‘Keep a civil tongue in your head, child. You are not too old for a thrashing. Indeed, it seems I have been too lenient in that regard and you have developed independent ideas that have no place in a woman’s mind.’

  ‘You are hardly in a position to complain about those wretched marbles,’ Amara said, ‘given the nature of your own business affairs.’

  Her father jerked upright, a look of alarm replacing his dark expression. ‘What the devil do you mean by that?’

  Amara expelled a weary sigh. ‘We can dance around the issue all day, Papa, but we both know the truth. I think I have always known or had my suspicions about the trade that you are involved in, but I preferred not to think quite that badly of you and my brothers, despite the fact that none of you have shown me the slightest affection.’

  ‘Everything is in turmoil in Greece at present, but you can help to soothe matters over with that divine voice of yours.’