Garrett’s expression gave away none of his feelings or thoughts. He’d been married years ago but had proposed only to end the growth of scandal. His wife had passed, however, and left him with twin boys.
“There are many benefits to marriage,” Emmett called.
“No, I’m with William,” Ray said. He looked much like Hugh except for at times it seemed like the very devil winked at you through his gaze. “Marriage is nothing more than an end.”
William pointed a finger at Hugh. “I’m replacing you with your brother. He’s an official member of the Brotherhood now.”
Ray grinned with excitement.
William pointed to Francis. “Garrett will take your place.”
The prince lifted a brow but said not a word of protest.
Francis leaned back and crossed his arms. “Garrett didn’t even go to Oxford.”
“Is that all it takes to qualify?” Ray asked hopefully.
“No, it takes the spilling of blood,” Aaron told him without humor.
The room fell silent, and Ray seemed to close in on himself.
“The blood means nothing if we’re all splitting apart,” William countered.
“No one is going anywhere,” Emmett told him. Then he turned to Aaron. “So, Mrs. Potter has agreed to marry you after one meeting? I must say you settled the matter much faster than any of us were able to.”
Aaron took a breath. “No, she’s not agreed yet. Actually, she’s fighting it.” And then he went on to explain the situation with her brother-in-law who had no name, Tina, and the money.
“I could find out who in the building she visited,” Hugh said, always ready to find whatever was lost. Aaron believed that if he was of a certain mind, Hugh could find Blackbeard’s treasure.
“Let us do so tonight,” Aaron said.
“What will threatening the brother get you?” Garrett asked.
Aaron paused as if just remembering Garrett was in the room. He didn’t usually share with anyone who wasn’t an official member or a Spinster. Still, the man had heard enough. “I don’t plan to simply threaten him.”
Garrett lifted a brow in understanding, but not once did his expression reflect outrage or disdain.
Perhaps the man wasn’t that bad after all.
“I wish to meet this Mrs. Potter,” Francis said with a smirk.
“You will if you come to the house tonight. My… mother has invited you all for dinner.”
The room was quiet once more and even Garrett knew why. He’d been around when Aaron had been abandoned and during those fight years when Aaron terrorized every person of authority at Eton.
“Am I invited as well?” Ray asked, and again, the hope returned.
“Why not?” Aaron asked. “Calvin and Morris are not here. You can have one of their seats.” Then his eyes moved to Garrett. “And if Your Grace has no plans for the evening, you may come as well.”
Garrett paused for a moment and then nodded. “I’d be honored.”
Aaron stood. “Then I’ll see you all at dinner.”
He made a stop on his way to meet the women, took a few minutes to pick out and purchase a gift, and then managed to return to the seamstress shop just as Christin and the others were emerging from the back room. With a promise to have the dresses delivered to Aaron’s home by the week’s end, they left. In the carriage, he presented his gift to a very special young woman, which managed to put smiles on the occupants’ faces.
Dinner that night went better than Aaron expected it to. He’d placed Christin at his side and his mother at the other end of the table, effectively keeping Christin close while his mother was nearly out of sight.
When it concluded, he checked on Lily and Mary before meeting Hugh outside. He was surprised to find Julius also waiting for him.
“I’m coming with you,” Julius said before stepping into the carriage. There was no need to ask if he’d brought along a gun. He was always prepared.
And so, Hugh and Aaron followed him and then off they went into the night.
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
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Christin woke up early a few mornings later but didn’t immediately rise.
She was amazed that sleep had found her so easily over the last few nights, but then all she had to do was think back to her previous week to understand the exhaustion that had settled over her.
On the day they’d left the seamstress’ shop, Aaron had claimed to have purchased a gift. At first, Christin had thought it for herself. She’d been astonished when the gift had been placed in Tina’s lap. A doll stared back at her with blond hair and blue eyes much like its new owner. She’d also been dressed in white frills and ribbons. It had been a beautiful and thoughtful gift and was probably the most expensive thing Tina had ever been given.
“Can I keep her?” she’d asked Aaron before turning to Christin. She held the doll away as though she didn’t want to get attached to something that would only be taken away later. It was the reason Christin had stopped buying her things years ago. Anything Tina had been given, Jack would sell later, leaving the girl with nothing to call her own.
Tears had filled Christin’s eyes and spilled over before she could stop herself. How she’d found more tears to weep that day she wasn’t sure.
“Yes,” she had whispered through trembling lips, and then she’d smiled at Aaron.
Mary and Lily, who took their own dolls everywhere, were also smiling at Aaron, and his mother looked much like Christin, tears burning in her blue depths, though she’d turned away before they could spill in front of company.
“What are you going to name her?’ Mary had asked.
And with Tina’s new doll—which she’d named Marie—the ice between the girls was broken and a friendship started to bloom.
So it had not been a surprise that when Aaron had requested her to sit by him at dinner, she’d not been given to protest. It was the least she could do for a man who seemed to endlessly give. Guilt had started to etch away at her, which was only made worse by her nerves. She’d never had dinner with so many people of wealth, and never an actual prince. But for the most part, everyone had been kind. By the time everyone said their goodbyes, Christin could do little more than see to Tina’s welfare before seeking her own bed and promptly falling asleep.
The following days had seemed like a blur.
For one, she’d only ever seen Aaron when he joined them for meals, then he was gone most of the day. Christin’s worry about Jack or Bancroft finding her had been pushed aside as she’d handled interviews with both students and clients. Most, as she’d suspected, had liked her new location over the one in Covent Garden, for obvious reasons, primarily being that Jeanshire did not live next to a brothel.
A few of the ladies who’d come had inquired as to why they were being received in Aaron’s office, which she in turn had been forced to lie and say that the earl was allowing her staff to run his own as part of their training.
Actually, with Patsy playing nursemaid to Tina, one of her own footman serving as her aid, and her own messenger boy also present, it wasn’t a complete lie. She had her own staff at Aaron’s home and that lessened her guilt.
She most enjoyed her time alone with Tina, however. They’d strolled through the Jeanshire gardens together and spotted a little cottage that they’d pretended held treasure. Though whenever the girl asked when she was going back to her father, Christin had been forced to redirect the question elsewhere. She didn’t want to get the girl’s hopes up even if she kept her own.
And whenever she was alone, she’d wondered about Aaron’s whereabouts. They’d hardly spoken alone, always with the girls present, and part of Christin knew she should be thankful for it.
But then she’d recalled what she’d said in his training room. He’d called her an angel. Christin h
ad only been called that by very grateful patrons of the agency, but they’d never meant it in the romantic sense.
She wanted to do something for him and now that he was away, she realized how much there was to do.
She started by making a mental list in her head, which was usual for her.
There were the interviews with another group of potential apprentices, which would take most of the morning. She was glad she’d asked Patsy to temporarily come look after Tina. Patsy was a familiar face while Christin had to work.
She also needed to find Bancroft.
It was something she’d been putting off if she was being honest, but it was something she had to deal with before week’s end.
If his office was located in Nezzer, then she knew where to start her search but not how to find him. She didn’t even know who to ask for such information.
She couldn’t ask Aaron for help. He’d done more than enough, and she likely already owed him more than she could ever give.
She looked out the window and noticed the sun had yet to rise. Only a touch of light panned the horizon. She stood and got out of bed, cleaned, and readied herself.
While putting on her stockings, she glanced over at the small table in the corner of the room to the shameless stack of gossip magazines that were stacked on its edge. It was another thing she’d done in the last few days, familiarize herself with just who Aaron was by reading the stories printed about the Men of Nashwood.
Though they’d never said his or the other men’s names, it was very clear just who the Earl of J was.
There hadn’t been much about the man besides certain ladies debating on whether his looks were far too barbaric to be called beautiful and whether or not that was a completely bad thing. There had been mention of his tendency to brood, and a few lords who recalled having a bone or two broken while attending Eton and Oxford by Aaron’s hands, but nothing else.
Ready, she headed down the stairs toward the office.
She found the grand house silent except for the maid who passed her in the hall, completely startled by Christin’s presence. It was clear that this was not an hour that the staff would expect anyone awake, but she would not let her change in location change her habits.
And yet, that was another thing she would have to worry over. What would she do for income once she left Potter house?
Perhaps she could put the business in Quincy and Ramsey’s care. Her butler and housekeeper were always trying to take on more responsibility for Christin, but she’d refused in the past, not willing to see her husband’s legacy ruined. She already had enough to atone for.
But now, she could see that Ramsey and Quincy were more than capable of doing things themselves. They’d done so a few months ago when Christin had fallen too ill to leave bed. They’d not bothered her once with talk of business.
They could keep the business open and simply send her a portion of profits every quarter. She could use her savings to buy her and Tina a small cottage in the country. It was a far better move than simply giving it to Jack for the pleasure of Tina’s company a week at a time. He’d have only asked for more and more until she had nothing left. Once they were settled away from London, she could use what money she gained from Potter Agency to pay for living expenses. She supposed she’d have enough to hire a single maid and footman. The rest would go toward getting Tina a tutor.
Christin smiled at the idea, liking it more and more as she roamed the halls. The sun was breaking through the windows, giving her more light to see.
She opened a door in the main hall she knew would lead to the office and stepped inside.
The desk sat in the corner of the circular room leaving its center open with a few chairs that faced one another. It had been set up that way the first day she’d arrived, and she’d left it so.
The fireplace was lit in the back with small metal sculptures lining the wood. Around the walls hung family portraits. Not one of his mother.
The walls were gray, only broken by two large windows. The furniture was a dark gleaming wood with red cushions, and a clean airy scent lay in the air as though the carpet had just been cleaned for her arrival.
She walked toward the one metal sculpture that always fascinated her. It sat on its own pedestal by the window. It was a hand and arm whose stretch was eventually etched in the iron. The hand reached up toward the sky, as though grasping for something.
Christin leaned close and studied the details in the palm, the bulging knuckles, and then the line of muscles in the arm before ultimately placing her hand inside the palm, locking her fingers around the cold dark ones that stretched past her pale ones.
Her hand fit perfectly and touching the piece always gave her a sense of ease, as though she were not alone.
Did she miss Aaron?
How silly she was if she did. There was no reason to miss someone she barely knew. So they’d shared a kiss within minutes of catching one another’s gaze, a kiss that still held the power to warm her flesh.
And then he’d all but stayed by her side after meeting her at the tea shop.
Where did he spend his days?
She slipped her hand from the metal palm and moved to the chairs. She took a seat in her favorite one then sank into the soft cushions and released a breath. “I adore this chair.”
“I’m glad you approve.”
She turned as Aaron strolled through the door. He took the chair across from her and smiled as he settled in. The first rays of the sun highlighted his blue eyes in the otherwise dim space. It was the first time they’d been alone together in three days.
She smiled and could not find words to describe her happiness. She felt like a silly girl.
“You seem happy this morning,” he said in a low voice that seemed to match the peace of the morning.
“I am.” Her smile widened, but instead of telling him why she was really happy, she said something else. “I’ve just formed my plans for what is to happen once I leave London.”
He froze but began to move again so swiftly that she wasn’t sure she’d seen it correctly. “Tell me your plans,” he said as he adjusted himself in the chair.
She told him her thoughts and then asked, “What do you think?” She remembered their talk from the other day, that she was letting her pride get in the way of making the best options. Asking someone else for help—even if it came in the form of advice—was more than she’d usually do, but she wanted it from Aaron nonetheless.
“I think… it’s a very fine plan,” he went on. “But you’ve no reason to run from your brother any longer.”
She frowned. “In-law,” she corrected. “And why is that?”
“He’s gone.”
It took a moment for her to understand what was being said to her. “Gone? What does that mean?” And how did he even know her brother-in-law? She’d never given him a name or his apartment number.
Aaron’s expression was plain. “He leaves the city in a few hours. In fact, he’ll be leaving the country completely, and he won’t be returning. Therefore, don’t expect him to come back for Tina. Ever.”
“Ever?” She pulled in a breath. “I don’t understand. What happened? What did you say to him?”
Aaron shrugged one massive shoulder. “I merely suggested that Jack Peck leave. He readily agreed.”
Christin didn’t believe him. Jack Peck had been such a large part of her life for so long, had been the theme of too many nightmares to count. There was no way he was gone. She didn’t even know what she would do with herself if he was.
She pulled in a hasty breath and then another before shaking her head. “Impossible. He’d never leave without Tina. He would never be so kind.”
“He didn’t have a choice,” Aaron told her.
She stilled. “How did you make him leave? Did you intimidate him?”
“I gave him a few incentives on why the option would better suit him.”
“So you intimidated him,” she said again.
His blue e
yes held hers steady. “Yes.”
Christin stood. His eyes followed her. Standing made it so she was nearly standing over him.
If was easy to imagine herself going back down and settling on his lap. Her body trembled at the very thought as she listened to Aaron’s breath grow hard.
With a kiss, she could cut off his next breath and simply devour him. Was this the reason she’d not seen him for more than a few hours in days?
“Why?” she whispered. Why had this man come to her? Why had he chosen to save her?
His voice was rough when he said, “You know why.”
Did she?
She didn’t think she did. Was this all about them keeping to their ‘plans’? Surely, he could find another woman if he so desired. She lived next to a house of more than a dozen who would be willing to do whatever he wanted.
She wanted to do whatever he wanted, she admitted.
At the confirmation that Jack was gone, something strange had happened in Christin’s body. A slow seeking heat had stirred in her belly and found its way to her core. Her heart raced, and her lips went dry with the need to meet his.
Kissing Aaron almost felt necessary, as was the need to feel his hard, powerful body against hers.
His hands tightened on the chair arms, but she imagined them somewhere better, around her as their mouths mated, a kiss that was daring with open mouths and tongues.
Her body grew moist all over, and she inhaled to steady herself.
He reached out, and she fell back into her chair, his fingers grazing her skirts but ultimately letting her go.
He touched her hair, and she closed her eyes. “I don’t know what to say.” Then she smiled. “Thank you.” She opened her eyes and found that he’d returned the expression.
His eyes glittered with wicked thoughts. “I was just about to head to the docks to see Mr. Peck off. Would you like to join me?”
Her smile fled at hearing her brother-in-law’s name, but she nodded slowly. Even though she trusted Aaron, she had to see Jack off herself in order for her mind to be put to rest. The interviews would have to wait. Or perhaps, she could simply allow Ramsey and Quincy to see to them. It would be good practice for when she left.
Christin's Splendid Spinster's Society Page 11
