Scent Of Danger (A Sinclair & Raven Novel Book 4)

by Wendy Vella

  She tapped his arm. “That is merely my resting face. Dev tells me I often look as if I want to cause bodily harm; I fear there is little I can do about it. Now back to you and Emily, and that day in James’s office.”

  “I was tired and sore; clearly I was also not thinking straight. Forgive my rudeness, I should have kept the words inside my head.”

  “Perhaps, but then perhaps not.”

  “Well, which perhaps is it?”

  “I think it is perhaps not. Because I think you are correct. Since that day I have noticed a thawing in Emily, and that pleases me greatly.”

  “Good Lord do you really believe I am correct?” he teased. Cam rather liked his sister-in-law, not especially because she’d brought his brother back from the dead. He could never thank her enough for that. He may not openly show his brother how much he cared, but the thought of having his large presence gone from their lives was not something he ever wanted to contemplate until he was old and gray.

  “Occasionally you can be.”

  “Just occasionally? You wound me.”

  “Do you really believe her life before coming to live with James was awful, Cam? I have thought endlessly about what she said in that carriage after the balloon landed. I ached for the pain I saw in her face.”

  “Emily?” Cam said, knowing exactly who she meant.

  “Yes Emily, as you very well know.” Lilly accompanied these words with another slap to his wrist. “I understand you two have this ability to irritate each other by simply breathing the same air, but I have a theory on that too; however, Dev told me I had to keep it to myself.”

  “Not easy for you, but my brother has my gratitude,” Cam said. He could feel his necktie tightening at her words. “However, let me put you straight, darling sister-in-law, and assure you there is nothing between Miss Tolly and myself other than an ability to irritate each other.”

  “Something he specializes in,” Dev said. He immediately moved to his beloved’s side, placing a hand on her back.

  “Surely it is not my specialty alone, brother?”

  “No, we are all rather good at it to be fair. But what I want to know, my love,” Dev looked at his wife, “is why you believe he is being irritating tonight?”

  “Emily.”

  Just her name, but it was enough to have Dev rocking back on his heels and nodding in that superior way older siblings had that annoyed their younger ones excessively.

  “Ahhh.”

  “Ah what?”

  “Ah, Emily and you.” Dev looked at him. “Two bristling dogs... and yet.”

  “Yet nothing!” Cam snapped slipping a finger inside his collar. “Whatever was about to leave your mouth, keep it there.”

  Dev rocked back on his heels again at Cam’s words.

  “Ahhh.”

  “Stop doing that!” Cam snapped.

  “What?”

  “That rocking thing accompanied by that very annoying ah. It’s irritated me since I was old enough for it to do so, and it has not alleviated any with time.”

  Dev gave him a slow smile, his piercing green eyes impaling Cam to the spot. “Ah,” he said, slowly rocking.

  When a Sinclair got the chance to irritate a sibling, it was a sure thing he or she would take it.

  “Good Lord, that bloody windbag Evermore just brayed in my ear the entire dance. I should simply pour hot wax into my ears and seal them up. That would solve the problem!”

  Eden stomped to their side and wedged herself between Cam and Dev. Sinclairs knew no personal boundaries. Should they wish to wedge themselves between siblings, they did so.

  “No please, tell us exactly how you feel,” Cam said.

  “’Tis all right for you, you simply have to smell things, I have to hear every inane comment and… and supposed hushed word.”

  Eden wore red tonight and looked beautiful, as she always did. The Sinclair dark hair was primped and piled on top of her head, and dotted with something sparkling. He’d heard people call her beautiful, some even said exquisite, but when he looked at her he saw his younger sister who he loved very much, but who had spent her childhood listening to his every conversation, and been hell to catch while playing hide-and-seek.

  “Yes, because I love the scent of foul-smelling unwashed people all in one place. Or,” he added as she opened her mouth, “the overperfumed women who think the more scent they put on the better they smell.”

  “Oh please.” Essie forced her way into the Sinclair circle, looking equally beautiful in deep forest green. The circle, Cam noted, Lilly had stepped out of. She stood behind them with Max, looking amused. “I can taste nothing without breaking it down to each individual ingredient. And do not get me started on eating something that is off. Plus, there is that hideous taste I get when one of you is in trouble.”

  “Pfft,” Dev said. “I can see everything, night or day. I see distances, I see what people have no wish for me to see, and that which I have no wish to see. I can tell if each of you are troubled or sick.”

  “He always has to win.” Essie sighed.

  “Yes, ’tis most vexing,” Eden agreed.

  “Lady Hinderly has bad breath,” Cam muttered, “and Lord Bexley has an onion in his left boot; why, I have no idea.”

  “If I may interject, I believe I am now part of this conversation.” Wolf Sinclair nudged his way into the circle. “I watched a man fall overboard and sink as he wore a heavy coat and boots. I tracked him with my eyes, but could not save him; by the time I had dived in, he was dead.”

  “Oh how horrid!” Essie cried.

  “Do I win?” Wolf looked hopeful.

  “You made that up.” Cam’s eyes narrowed.

  “Perhaps, but I can actually track things when they do start to sink. Plus, there is the small matter that every animal, no matter its state, wants to be near me. If you look about you now, there will be a few mice lurking.”

  “You are indeed a true Sinclair.” Eden smiled. “They will do anything to best another Sinclair.”

  They laughed then, as they often did. Sinclairs argued passionately, but rarely held grudges. They were demonstrative people, and the surprising thing about that was the ones who had married had wed their exact opposite in personality.

  “But we digress. When I first joined Lilly, she and Cam were discussing how irritating he can be.”

  “Really, Dev, surely you are not speaking about our brother in such a way. We all know he is never irritating.”

  “Yes, thank you, Eden. You who are everything that is sweet and agreeable,” Cam said. “And on that note it is time for me to dance. The young ladies are growing restless with so much masculine beauty before them.”

  Dev snorted.

  “As this is not my usual setting, I’m sure these women have yet to experience the wonders of dancing with me.”

  “These women are far sturdier than your noble ladies, Cam. Daughters of industrials and the like. They will not fall at your feet so readily,” Lilly added.

  “We shall see.” Cam walked away to the sound of his family’s laughter. There was no chance of getting a swollen ego around his siblings.

  He partnered Miss May Swindon in the first dance, the daughter of Mr. Louis Swindon, an astute and wealthy businessman with his fingers in many investments including textiles. They discussed satin, and how it was the finest silk a person could fashionably choose for a Regency gown, to which Cam had replied appropriately while searching for Emily.

  He found her dancing with another gentleman; she did not look happy, a fact he knew as her face was blank. Strange, how he now knew so much about her.

  When the dance finished and he’d returned Miss Swindon to her mother’s side, he headed straight for Emily. She was in conversation with Jackson. How had the man intercepted her again?

  “Good evening, Jackson,” Cam said, taking Emily’s hand and placing it on his arm. “My dance I believe.”

  “We were talking,” Jackson said, looking displeased.

  �
�And now you are not,” Cam replied, walking away with Emily on his arm. “Come and dance with me.”

  “I don’t think so, but thank you, Cam.”

  “Too late.” He directed her back to the floor. She had to follow or make a scene, and he knew Emily would never do that.

  “I did not want to dance!” she hissed. “I’m weary.”

  “Yes, you being so old and infirm, this must be a struggle for you.”

  “Fiend!”

  Cam pretended to ignore her and simply smiled as a waltz struck up.

  “I-I have not danced this.” She looked a bit frantic as he swung her into his arms.

  “You’ve had lessons, Eden told me.”

  “Yes, but... oh dear, I must count.”

  He watched her lips move.

  “Take a breath, Em. You’re dancing with me, and you know these steps, so relax and enjoy them.”

  “Easy for you to say,” she muttered. “You were born to do this type of thing, I was not.”

  “Actually I wasn’t.”

  “It’s in your blood.”

  “You’re a duke’s daughter; it’s in yours too.”

  “A duke’s illegitimate daughter.”

  “You trot that out when it suits you.”

  She gasped, her chin rising so she could glare at him. “I cannot believe you just said that.”

  “Yes you can, and by the way, your last article for The Trumpeter was excellent. I was wondering if we should start up that children’s section you mentioned.”

  “Oh!” Her eyes widened and the anger was suddenly gone, replaced by excitement. “Yes, there are so many wonderful things you could fill it with.”

  He had come to realize she was beautiful no matter how she dressed or wore her hair, but here, in that gown, she was exquisite.

  “Our young ones are a wonderful source of information, Cam. I was thinking we could put a quiz in each paper, with ten questions, and they would get the answers the following edition.”

  She talked, and he listened. Her excitement lit her face and made something heat inside him, an ache he was struggling more and more to control.

  “Emily, you need to tell Jackson you are not interested.” He said the words as they started back to where their families stood.

  “Pardon?” The excitement fell from her face, but that did not stop him from continuing; the words needed to be said.

  “Jackson wants you for his wife. You need to dissuade him.”

  Her expression changed back to anger once more.

  “That has nothing to do with you.”

  “Are you interested in him?” He battled the need to roar at her.

  “I am not having this discussion with you. Mr. Jackson has not made an offer for me, nor is he likely to considering my birth.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You have a duke for a brother and the other one has more money than anyone in England. Of course he is interested in you.”

  He’d hurt her, he saw it at once.

  “I did not mean to say you are not worthy of his attention, Emily—”

  “I have nothing further to say on the matter.” Emily pulled her arm from his grasp. “Now I am leaving, before we draw more attention and I give in to the impulse to slap you… hard!”

  Before he could stop her, she’d walked away. Cam didn’t follow, feeling like he needed time away from her. Time to calm down. If he stayed it was likely he would find Jackson and threaten him, and that would never do. Cam was not usually the jealous type, but he was now. That man would not have her, he vowed silently.

  Finding Wolf, he then left, dragging him to his club where he would drink himself into a stupor in the hopes that when he woke, his head was once again sitting straight on his shoulders.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Emily wandered down the hall after leaving the ladies’ retiring room. She could not delay her return to the ballroom much longer, as soon someone would come looking for her. But she’d needed a few minutes to calm herself after her argument with Cam. Jackson meant nothing to her, but it was not Cam’s right to point that out.

  “Beastly man,” she muttered. What was she to do about him?

  “Miss Tolly, are you lost?”

  Emily turned to find Mr. Jackson behind her. Jackson wants you for his wife, you need to dissuade him.

  “Thank you, Mr. Jackson, but I am just on my way back to my family.”

  “You are going the wrong way, Miss Tolly. Let me direct you.”

  “Oh dear, am I? How silly.”

  “Come, I shall escort you.”

  He held out his arm, and she could do little but take it.

  “Thank you.”

  “Your beauty captured me from the beginning, my dear, and my admiration for you has increased every time I have seen you since.”

  “Thank you.” Emily began to feel uncomfortable.

  “Our shared love of astronomy has given me hope, my dear.”

  “For what?”

  He ignored her and instead reached for a door handle as they passed.

  “What are you doing, Mr. Jackson?”

  “I want to get to know you, Miss Tolly. I thought we could take some time to do that?”

  He opened it, then took her hand in his, forcing her to follow him inside. Emily resisted, trying to tug her hand free. Struggling to get away from him.

  “Unhand me at once!”

  “Come now, I wish only to speak with you, my dear.”

  “I have no wish to speak with you, however. Release me or I shall scream!”

  “There is no need for that, I want only a few moments of your time.”

  He placed a hand in her spine, and Emily could do little to stop him forcing her forward, as his strength was greater than hers.

  He then shut the door behind him.

  “I cannot be seen alone with you, sir. I insist you open that door at once!” Emily managed to get her hand free.

  “I would like to offer for you, Miss Tolly. I would like nothing more than you to be my wife. Your beauty has bewitched me, and I must have you.”

  “I have no wish to marry you, Mr. Jackson, and insist you let me return at once to my family.”

  His face darkened; the expectant look fell away.

  “Surely you cannot think I am beneath you?”

  “No, of course not. I simply have no wish to wed.”

  “Oh come now, every woman wishes that. I have accepted your birth, there is no need for you to deny me.”

  “I-I am denying you.”

  His smile was no longer pleasant.

  “I have put a great deal of time and effort into this, Miss Tolly. You will be my wife, as it is best for both of us if you are.”

  “P-pardon?” Emily began backing away from him.

  “You have powerful brothers, my dear, and I want them in my family. You are my way to achieving that. In turn I will give you respectability by accepting you.”

  “I am respectable, sir!” Emily felt her anger stir. “How dare you suggest otherwise. My father was a duke, as is my brother!”

  “You are a bastard, Miss Tolly. No one thinks your birth respectable.” He advanced on her. “Marriage to me will give you that, and I will be doing your brothers a favor.”

  “How dare you speak to me in such a way!”

  “Oh come now, Miss Tolly. There is no need of this pretend outrage. When I realized that you were sister to both the duke and Mr. Huntington, I knew you were the answer to my dilemma, as I was to yours.”

  “D-dilemma?” Emily moved toward the desk. If she could get to that, she would lure him around it, and run for the door.

  “I need the money, and you will be no hardship to bed. We shall make a perfect match.”

  “How dare you speak to me in such a way. I have no wish to marry, sir. Now let me leave at once!”

  “I think not.”

  He lunged at her, taking Emily by surprise. His fingers bit into her upper arms as he pulled her close to his body.

 
; She tried to escape but he was stronger. “Eden!” She screamed her sister-in-law’s name.

  “Scream louder, Miss Tolly, because I wish your family to see I have compromised you thoroughly when they arrive.”

  Wrenching free, Emily ran, but he was on her heels and grabbed her from behind.

  “Now there is no need for maidenly fear, my dear.”

  He forced her backward until her thighs hit something, and then he was lowering her onto it. Emily fought him with everything she had like Max had once told her to if ever she was in such a situation. “Never stop, Em,” he’d said, “until you run out of breath.” She scratched his face causing him to curse. He slapped her hard, and her head spun but she didn’t give up.

  “I’ve always fancied a title in my family, and you will help me achieve that. Your brothers will be glad to shower me with money when they realize I am taking you off their hands.”

  “My brothers will kill you!”

  “They won’t.” He tried to kiss her, but Emily thwarted him, her hands grabbing his hair and pulling hard.

  “Bitch!” His face was red and his breath coming in harsh pants now.

  She felt her bodice give, and then his mouth was there, on her breasts. He would take her, right her on this desk, if she did not stop him.

  “What the hell is going on in here!”

  Emily looked to the doorway and saw horror on the faces of Mr. Whitlock, Max’s business partner, and his wife, who stood shocked at his side. She struggled upright and tugged her bodice back into place as Mr. Jackson released her.

  “Well now, it’s obvious what happened, Whitlock. Miss Tolly seduced me. What is a man to do with such inducement but oblige,” Mr. Jackson said, straightening his clothes. “Of course I shall marry her, as I am a gentleman and know my duty.”

  Emily got off the desk, her legs unsteady. She could think of nothing right at that moment, but wiping the satisfied look of Mr. Jackson’s face. Curling her fingers into a fist, she then swung it at his face. It landed on his jaw with a satisfying crack, forcing him to stagger backward clutching it.

  “C-considering my b-birth, that was expected of me,” Emily managed to say. “And I did not seduce him, he dragged me in here, Mr. Whitlock.”