by Diana Bold
Sadness tinged his brother’s voice, and Adrian knew he was thinking about Serenity, a girl he’d once loved deeply.
She’d disappeared from his life many years ago. Lucien had searched for her for a very long time, and he’d never been quite the same without her.
“Did you ever tell Serenity about Winters?” he asked, deciding to just blurt it out. “What he did to us?”
He sensed Lucien’s shock and stillness, though he did not turn to look at him. Silence filled the air between them, and then Lucien let out a huff of dismay. “Is that what you’re worried about? That she’ll turn away from you if she finds out what happened?”
Adrian shrugged desolately. “I’ve hidden parts of myself for so long, I don’t know how to reveal them. But that woman…” He laughed a bit and shook his head. “She is determined to unmask me in every possible way.”
Lucien came up behind him and placed his hand on Adrian’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “She loves you, Adrian. I wasn’t sure of her at first, but so far she has pleased me well. Did you know I offered her money to go away?”
Adrian caught his breath angrily, but Lucien squeezed his shoulder harder and continued.
“She said that she didn’t want the money, that she wanted you. I don’t think anything you could ever tell her about your past would make her feel any differently.”
“Do you really believe that?” Adrian at last turned to look at him.
Lucien nodded. “I really do. But I think if you keep pushing her away, if you refuse to admit that you love her, too, you’re going to lose her.” He sighed. “Take it from someone who has made that mistake, little brother. I spend nearly every night thinking that if I’d just told Serenity how I felt… Well, maybe she would have stayed.”
Adrian stared at his brother in surprise. He hadn’t known that.
“Thank you,” he murmured. “You’re right, as usual.”
Lucien laughed. “Someone has to be.”
* * * *
“Would you like to go on an adventure with me?” Adrian asked, bending down to Gabriel’s eye level, then glancing up at Vanessa with a twinkle in his eye that took her breath away.
“An adventure?” Gabriel asked, his own blue eyes widening in delight. “I’d love an adventure!”
“I would love an adventure, too,” Vanessa said slowly, wondering what on earth he was up to. She would have gone to the moon with him though, if that was what he was asking. She’d so rarely seen this mischievous side of him.
“Get ready,” Adrian instructed them. “Wear something warm. I’ve already sent for the coach and Cook has made us a lunch.”
Vanessa grinned and tugged Gabriel’s hand. They raced up the stairs and were back in record time. Adrian piled them into the coach, and they took off into the city.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Vanessa asked, nudging him expectantly.
He shook his head, still smiling. “You’ll see when we get there. But I hope you’re not afraid of heights.”
Mulling upon that, she suddenly gave him a look askance. “I saw pictures of a flying machine on your desk…”
He laughed. “Do you really think I’d put you and Gabriel in an aeroplane? Maybe one day. But for now, it’s just something I’ve been working on. We’re close though, and soon we’ll start building a prototype.”
“Can you imagine?” Vanessa murmured. She looked at her husband in awe. What a mind he had! He talked of flying as though it was inevitable.
“Why are you looking at me that way?” he asked after a moment.
She blinked and looked away, blushing. “You’re amazing, Adrian. If you ever build one, I will ride in it with you.”
“You would?” He seemed surprised.
“Of course. I have faith that anything you built would carry me safely.”
“Thank you,” he said, reaching out to grab her hand and squeezing it tightly.
Gabriel, who had been listening, gave them a fearful look. “I don’t have to go in an aeroplane, do I?”
“Of course not,” Adrian said with a laugh. “To tell the truth, I’m not even sure if I would be that brave. Your mama is braver than both of us, I think.”
A warm flush went through Vanessa at his words. She loved this side of him. Things were going so well it almost frightened her. She’d expected it to take much longer than this to earn his forgiveness. She felt as though she were still walking on eggshells though, always afraid to make a misstep. This truce between them was incredibly fragile, and she was terrified of somehow hurting him again.
“My mama is brave!” Gabriel repeated enthusiastically.
Adrian met her gaze with an indulgent grin. “See that, Vanessa? You still have fans.”
“You were always my biggest fan,” she replied softly. “And I am yours.”
For a long moment they stared at each other, but then the coach pulled to a stop and the spell was broken.
Gabriel began to jump up and down excitedly. “It’s the wheel, Mama! It’s the wheel!”
Vanessa craned her head to look up at the towering structure above them, her eyes widening at the height of the thing. She’d heard about the great wheel at Earl’s Court, but this was the first time she’d seen it up close.
Adrian helped her and Gabriel out of the coach and then they strode toward it. The line stretched for quite some distance, and she stared up a bit nervously. Despite all the mention of her bravery, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go up in one of those cars.
“It’s three hundred feet tall,” Adrian told them. “It took almost a year to build.”
“We’re going in it?” Gabriel asked, jumping up and down, his little body quivering with excitement.
Adrian nodded as they took their places in line. “It’s turned by 100 horsepower steam engines,” he continued, explaining the amazing machinery in detail to the little boy, who just stared at him, wide-eyed. Vanessa knew he didn’t understand a word Adrian was saying, but he nodded and listened just the same. She blinked against the sting of more happy tears. This was exactly what she’d imagined their life together would be like.
She was so focused on Adrian and Gabriel’s conversation that at first she didn’t hear the nasty voices of some people a few places up in the line. When she did, her blood ran cold.
“My God, he’s hideous. All scarred up like that. And look at her… Actress. No decent woman would marry a man like that.”
“Must be for the money. She can’t be attracted to him. Indecent, that what it is.”
“The child must be their bastard. They’ve been having an affair for years, they say.”
Adrian’s voice trailed off in the middle of telling Gabriel about the eleven-ton axels. His sudden tension made her certain he’d heard the gossips.
Some of the other people in line had heard as well, as evidenced by their stares. Vanessa shifted uncomfortably, moving between Adrian and the hateful cats who were talking about them.
He gave her a pained glance and all the rare happiness he’d been showing them all morning vanished. She’d had no idea that he dealt with this kind of cruelty, and his unwillingness to let her see his face suddenly became more clear to her.
“Maybe we should go,” he murmured.
She shook her head stubbornly and linked her hand with his. “Ignore them,” she told him. “What they think doesn’t matter. We know the truth.”
He didn’t respond, but she felt him pulling further and further away from her. She was torn. If they left, it would set a precedence, and Gabriel would be so disappointed. But the whispers and stares continued, and her heart ached for her beautiful husband.
How could anyone look at him and not find him handsome? Perhaps it was because she loved him so much, but she couldn’t understand why the faint tracery of scars on one side of his face made people think they could treat him this way.
The hour-long wait to ride the wheel had promised to be fun. They’d planned to eat their lunch and soak in the atmos
phere, but now it was going to be endless.
* * * *
Adrian clenched his jaw and paid the fare to finally get on the blasted wheel. The car held between thirty and forty people, so even the ride itself was not going to be free of the stares and rude comments. In fact, the two women who had been the cruelest were already inside the car.
He’d woken up this morning in a rare good mood. His talk with Lucien had convinced him that it was time to tell Vanessa how he felt about her. He’d thought riding on the wheel would be something she and Gabriel would enjoy, and he’d planned to tell her how much she meant to him and let all his anger and feelings of betrayal go.
But today had taught him that nothing had changed. How could he trust that she really found him attractive when hundreds of strangers were pointing at him and displaying their horror at his scarred visage?
Gabriel had fallen silent as well, and that hurt him too. The little boy shouldn’t have to be part of this. He deserved far better than a father who people laughed and pointed at.
They moved as far away as they could get from the women, crossing to the far end of the car. He picked Gabriel up in his arms as the wheel slowly began to move.
Gabriel let out a small gasp, and Adrian squeezed him tightly. “It’s all right. It’s perfectly safe.”
“I’m not scared,” the little boy said bravely. “I love it!”
Vanessa moved closer and put her hand around Adrian’s waist, creating a little circle of peace amidst the chaos. “Thank you for bringing us,” she whispered. “You can see the whole city from up here.”
He sighed and looked out the glass, but the voices of the women on the other side of the car reached him even here. He focused on the silvery ribbon of the Thames far below them, wishing the damn ride would just end.
* * * *
A week after their dinner with Anne and Morgan, Vanessa was thrilled when she received an invitation to go shopping with Anne. She sent an enthusiastic reply via a footman, and that afternoon, Anne showed up in her carriage to pick Vanessa up.
However, the moment Vanessa stepped into the carriage, she could tell something was wrong. Anne’s lovely face was wan and pale, and she’d obviously been crying.
All of Vanessa’s own sadness over the fact that Adrian had pulled away from her again after their outing to the wheel disappeared in the wake of her new friend’s obvious distress.
“Oh, Anne,” Vanessa said, sitting beside her and pulling her into a tight embrace. “What’s the matter?”
Anne gave a shuddering sob and clung to Vanessa, her body racked with sobs. “I did what you said,” she finally managed, after some of the storm had subsided. “I went to Morgan’s room last night, intending to tell him what I was feeling.”
The carriage hit a pot hole, jarring the two women apart, and Vanessa sank back into the plush cushions, a bad feeling taking root in her gut. “What happened?”
Anne shook her head and blotted her face with a crumpled handkerchief. “He wasn’t there, Vanessa! He was probably out with his mistress! That’s why he hasn’t come to me. There’s someone else!” She burst into sobs once again, and Vanessa stared at her in dismay.
“Are you certain? Perhaps there’s some other explanation,” Vanessa said softly, but even as she said the words, she feared they were a lie. Most men of the aristocracy had mistresses. It certainly wouldn’t be stretching the imagination to think that Morgan had found someone else to cater to his sexual needs while he wife was so heavily pregnant. He probably figured he was entitled to such comfort.
She thought of her own empty bed these past few nights and swallowed thickly.
“I knew there was something wrong,” Anne sobbed. “I knew he didn’t love me anymore.”
“Oh, Anne,” Vanessa said, trying to offer as much comfort as she could. “I’m certain that’s not true. At dinner the other night, I looked at Morgan and thought I’d never seen a man so happily domesticated. He loves those children, and he loves you. Even if he has taken a mistress temporarily, I’m sure that’s still true.”
As she said those last words, a sick feeling bloomed in the pit of Vanessa’s stomach. She didn’t believe them, and she knew they would be absolutely no comfort to her if she were in Anne’s situation. She could never bear to think of Adrian with another woman. He was hers, and she would not share him. She’d rather lose him entirely than have to sit across the breakfast table knowing he’d been in someone else’s arms the night before.
Anne took a deep shuddering breath and once more swiped at her bloodshot eyes. “I’m sorry I’m such a blubbering mess. I just love him so much!”
“I know you do,” Vanessa replied, wishing there was something more she could do for this woman who had come to mean so much to her in such a short time. “And I still think he loves you, Anne. Perhaps he’s just lost his way. I’m sure that once the baby is born, he’ll come back to you.”
“I hope you’re right,” Anne murmured.
Vanessa dug through her reticule and pulled out a small container of rice powder and a brush. “Here, lean forward. I’ll fix you up so none of those catty, gossiping shrews down on Bond Street will know that you’ve been crying.”
Anne gave a watery laugh. “I’m so happy to have you as a friend, Vanessa. If this had happened before I met you, I would have had absolutely no one to talk about it with.”
“You can always talk to me,” Vanessa vowed, expertly whisking the brush across Anne’s reddened, tear-streaked face until the worst of the damage magically disappeared.
If only the damage of Morgan’s betrayal could be fixed so easily.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Three hours later, Vanessa and Anne were leaving the milliner’s shop, their footman weighed down with half a dozen hatboxes, when a nondescript black coach came to a screeching halt beside them.
Vanessa glanced up, just as someone shoved into her hard from behind, jarring her toward the street. She cried out and stumbled, only to be suddenly swept up in brutally strong arms, just as a hulking brute of a man opened the coach door for the one who held her and she was shoved inside.
Anne screamed, and then she was thrown in the coach as well, landing hard upon Vanessa, who lay sprawled across the floorboards. From outside the coach, the footman shouted, obviously trying to do something to help, but then there was the unmistakable crack of a gun, and he cried out and then fell silent.
Vanessa tried to get up, to fling herself back out on the sidewalk, but her skirts were hopelessly tangled with Anne’s. Before she could make any headway, one of the men jumped up into the coach. He pulled the door shut, and the vehicle lurched forward.
“What’s happening?” Anne cried, struggling to get to her knees as the coach rocked and swayed, traveling at a breakneck speed on the crowded London streets.
The man in the carriage with them reached out and slapped Anne so hard her head snapped back against the wall of the coach. “Shut up,” he snarled. “Don’t either of you say another word.”
He grabbed Vanessa and twisted her arms behind her painfully, binding them with a rough piece of rope. When he had finished, he shoved her back on the floorboards and subjected Anne to the same rough treatment.
“Be careful with her,” Vanessa snapped, trying to force down her terror. “She’s in a delicate condition. You’re going to hurt her.”
“You think I care?” The man laughed harshly and turned his face toward the window.
Anne’s body shook with silent sobs, and Vanessa twisted until her bound hands locked with Anne’s, hoping to offer her some comfort. What was happening? Who had taken them and why?
“Is he going to kill us?” Anne whispered, her voice a mere breath of sound in Vanessa’s ear.
“Of course not,” Vanessa replied, just as quietly. “They are probably going to ransom us.”
She wished she were half as confident as she sounded. The men had made no effort to conceal their identities, and they’d shot that poor footman in broad day
light. She didn’t know why men like this would so brazenly attack two women in such a public venue, but she very much feared that Anne was right, and they would not be getting out of this alive.
* * * *
“Adrian! Damn it, where the hell are you?” Morgan’s loud, panicked voice rang through Adrian’s house, causing him to drop what he was working on and rush down the stairs. He found Morgan pacing the front hall, his entire demeanor screaming trouble.
“What is it?” Adrian asked, dread taking root in the pit of his stomach. “Morgan, what happened?”
Morgan spun to face him, a crazed look in his eyes. “The footman just returned from Bond Street. He was with Anne and Vanessa, holding their packages as they shopped. They’d just left the milliner when a couple of armed men approached them and forced the girls into a black coach. When he tried to stop them, they shot him in the shoulder.”
“How long ago?” Adrian asked, his mind already racing ahead, trying to figure out how to beat his stepbrother at this new, dangerous game he’d decided to play.
“An hour. I’ve already been to Scotland Yard, but with so little to go on, I doubt they’ll find them.” He trailed Adrian into the study. “What are you thinking? Do you know where they are? Damn it, Adrian, if this has something to do with Prometheus, if my pregnant wife is at risk because you feel the need to be a hero and run around town with a mask and a cape, I swear I’ll never forgive you.”
Morgan’s words passed over Adrian in a hurtful wave. He deserved this. He knew he did. And he had absolutely no defense, because Morgan was right. If he hadn’t persisted in going out as Prometheus, long after it was safe or wise, this wouldn’t have happened. Anne and Vanessa would be safe at home right now.
Vanessa. The tiny green shoot of happiness that had sprouted within him shriveled and died. If he lost her, it would kill him. He simply could not bear the thought of his life without her in it.
“I think it’s Roger,” he said, fighting to keep the emotion from his voice. “I stole a girl from him last week, from the house where he keeps the ones he fancies at the moment. He’s probably furious.”
