He wondered which of the five gentlemen vying for his sister’s attention had given her those fancy baubles and what the gent had received in return for his generosity. If Alexius knew his sister at all, she had wheedled expensive gifts from all of them.
Where the devil was Lord Kyd?
If Alexius had been in the baron’s place, he would not have tolerated Belinda’s flirtations. His sister needed a firm hand to her backside.
Noting Alexius’s shrewd regard, Belinda gave him a sly answering smile. She held out her hand to him. “Alexius, it was so good of you to accept my invitation.”
Her brown gaze glowed with pleasure as Saint, Dare, Reign, and Hunter shouldered their way into the crowded box. Belinda’s sycophants were not pleased by what they had perceived as potential rivals. Alexius could have assured them that none of his friends were foolish enough to cross him by seducing his sister. The Lords of Vice followed few dictates; however, seducing a fellow member’s sibling would have only resulted in bloodshed.
“Oh good, you have brought some of your friends. How utterly mischievous of you!” Belinda winked at him and nodded to the seat to her left. The gentleman currently sitting in the seat, understanding that he was being dismissed, swiftly scrambled out of Alexius’s way.
“We will not be staying, Belle.” Alexius’s narrowed gaze swept across the theater without any true interest. It would be better for all of them if he collected Frost and Vane and departed before a challenge was issued. “Why have you summoned me?”
“Oh pooh!” His sister dismissed his curtness with a flutter of her silver and ivory fan. “Of late, your manners border on insulting.”
Alexius kissed his sister’s cheek. “Press me further, Belle, and I shall exceed your expectations.”
Slightly taken aback by his threat, Belinda fanned herself as her calculating brown eyes measured him for a funerary shroud. His demeanor was far from the repentant brother she had summoned before her.
“I have done nothing to deserve this surly tone from you, Alexius.”
Out of habit, Alexius sought out his friends. Dare was standing in the back engaged in a conversation with Reign and two other gentlemen. Saint and Hunter were in the front corner flirting with several ladies sitting in the next box. No one seemed to be paying attention to the siblings as they argued.
“Why have you summoned me, Belle?”
Her eyes widened at his deliberate dim-wittedness. “You know very well why. I have sent you messages. Dozens of them, all with the same question: why have you failed me?”
Alexius refused to be swayed by the emotional quiver in his sister’s voice. “Failed you? How so?”
Belinda snapped her fan closed. A faint blush colored her cheeks. “You were supposed to seduce the chit and discard her.”
His annoyance flared at the reminder that his pursuit of Lady Juliana had not been initiated as a pleasurable indulgence but rather by a less palatable objective. “I have done what you have asked of me,” he said, glowering at her.
He had bedded Juliana. The deed had been done many times over, and the lady had reveled in the thoroughness of his seduction. Nonetheless, he would be damned to offer the particulars to his own sister.
Belinda expelled a breath of exasperation. “Of that I had little doubt. I noticed the lovely pearls that adorn her neck. The necklace came from you, did it not? A shameless indication that your virile cock has forged an intimate claim. My dear brother, you do love your carnal games.” She laughed at his telling silence. “The little fool has no inkling of the meaning behind your gift, does she?”
The muscles in his throat constricted to such a painful degree his molars ached. Damn him! He should have never given Juliana those bloody pearls. At the time, the notion of pleasuring her with the pearl necklace had seemed irresistible. The rainy afternoon he had held her in his arms and teased her nether regions with his gift, Alexius had not known how much Juliana would come to mean to him.
She was unlike any other lady he had bedded, and yet he had treated her like all the others before her.
At the request of his ruthless sister.
Alexius frowned at his sibling. “I have no desire to share the intimate details of my life, Belle. Or have you grown so dead inside that it takes something wholly depraved, like the notion of me bedding other women, to arouse you?”
Belinda tilted her head to the side; her face glowed in triumph. “Yes. Lady Juliana is ignorant of your wicked games. I wonder how she would react if she knew that half the ladies of the ton are very well aware of your naughty predilection for pearls. Are you in a betting mood? If I were to use my opera glass to search the boxes, how many ladies do you think I might find who are boldly wearing your gift around their necks right under their husbands’ noses? Two? Seven? A dozen?”
Alexius was aware that his sister was goading him. The knowledge did not stem the temptation to strangle her in front of witnesses. He seized her wrist when Belinda brought her opera glass to her eye. “Do not behave so predictably, darling. Why would I mention past history to a lady who was already skittish of me? I was supposed to gain the lady’s trust.”
“Forgive me, Alexius. You were so brave, so loyal, to sacrifice your body and your malleable principles on my behalf.”
“So kind of you to notice,” he muttered under his breath.
“Then tell me, brother mine, why have you not completed the lady’s humiliation by publicly discarding her?” Belinda twisted her wrist free from his grip and lifted the opera glass to her eye.
If she was searching ladies’ necks for his bloody pearls to prove her point, Alexius was not going to be accountable for his violent response. Why did it seem as if the women in his life were all conspiring to drive him mad?
Belinda wanted him to hurt Juliana. If Juliana learned of his duplicity, Alexius sensed that she would not so readily forgive him. His sister’s undisguised animosity toward the lady would seal his fate. He owed his loyalty and love to one and greatly admired and desired the other. What had begun as a lark had become complicated ever since he had allowed his growing affection for Juliana to sway him. He doubted anyone, himself included, would be satisfied once Belle’s game of deceit had been played out.
He stared at his sister’s elegant profile as she scrutinized the audience for friends, rivals, and potential lovers. There were few ladies who overshadowed Belinda in beauty. It was a pity that she could not be content with her blessings.
“I have my reasons,” Alexius said, hoping his answer would appease her.
It did not.
Belinda made a disapproving sound. “Come now, brother; you can do better.”
Alexius weighed his limited options. He could simply refuse to answer, leaving his sister to speculate on his affection for Juliana. However, the outcome was unpredictable, since Belinda had a nasty habit of taking matters into her own hands without thought to the consequences. It was one of the reasons why he had agreed to her small favor in the first place.
It gave him a modicum of control that allowed him to protect both ladies if necessary.
Even if it meant spinning pretty lies.
Alexius clasped his hands together and braced his elbows on his knees. His sister seemed fixated on a certain box, but he knew she was listening. Lowering his voice, he said, “Why settle for mere seduction? Bedding Lady Juliana provided little challenge for me.”
It was a lie, of course. His reluctant lover had led him on a merry chase, but such a confession did not suit his purposes.
Never in his life had he experienced such hunger for a woman. When Juliana finally had surrendered in his arms, triumph and need had ruled him as he had pummeled his hips against hers. His sister and her petty revenge had not intruded until much later.
Belinda pulled her eye away from the opera glass. “What do you propose?”
“A seduction of both the heart and body,” Alexius replied easily.
Too easily.
It was a reminder of how little va
lue he usually placed on both. “The lady has already lost her innocence to me. Permit me to lay siege to her tender heart and win her love. It is a slight that Lady Juliana will never forgive.”
If he willfully carried out his sister’s plans, he would lose Juliana forever. The very thought made him want to rend and break the seats and people around him.
The cold, arrogant man he had once been ceased to exist once Juliana entered into his life.
Alexius needed to find Juliana and confess some unpleasant truths. It was a formidable task, and there was always the risk that she would not forgive him. He ignored the jab of pain in his chest. Juliana would come to forgive him.
Eventually.
For now, he just had to convince his sister that his fealty still belonged to her.
Belinda’s high trill of laughter reminded Alexius of a bird singing out to the dawn. “Dearest Sin,” my handsome instrument of revenge, are you certain you are capable of such a feat?”
His answering smile was cruel as much as it was beautiful. “Lady Juliana will love me.”
Belinda closed her right eye and peered with her left through the opera glass. Whatever had captivated her eye caused humor to bubble through her slender body like a fountain. “It appears time is your enemy, dear brother.”
She handed him the opera glass.
Impatient and irritated by her misplaced humor, Alexius held the opera glass to his eye. What he beheld brought him to his feet, grayed his vision as his fury took hold of him.
“Time, Alexius, is the least of your troubles,” Belinda said, unmoved by this threatening stance. “It appears you have been replaced.”
Chapter Thirteen
“GOMFREY, HOW THE devil did you steal this beautiful creature away from Sinclair? I thought he was courting her?”
Juliana cringed at Lord Ripley’s crass question. The gentleman was positively ogling her, which was disrespectful not only to her but also to his female companion. Was this a sign that Juliana’s position in society had plummeted? How many encounters such as this would she be forced to endure?
If not for Lord Gomfrey’s fingers digging into her arm, she might have bolted. The pain radiating up her arm was a warning to behave. Her family’s fate depended on her ability to convince the ton that she had rejected Sin for Lord Gomfrey.
The earl was enjoying himself, basking in his enviable position. “I credit Lady Juliana’s discernible taste for recognizing the better man. Is that no so, my love?”
The pressure on her arm increased. With her teeth clenched together, she smiled. “I would not dare challenge the eloquence of your words, my lord.”
Everyone around them laughed, though she noticed Lord Gomfrey’s brow furrowed in puzzlement as if he was debating whether she was mocking him. Lord Ripley changed the subject, and she was ignored.
Nitwit. Sin and a dozen others would have recognized her sarcasm for what it was. If Lord Gomfrey expected her to speak plainly, he was going to be vastly disappointed. She was his prisoner until he considered Lady Duncombe’s debt repaid. Defiance was the only weapon Juliana could wield.
Below them, the orchestra had played the first and second music and the opening strains of the overture had commenced. Juliana looked about the theater. No one seemed interested in finding their seats. She longed to lose herself in the music, but she could barely hear it over the din of conversation. There would be no respite in her torment.
Her eyes burned. Tears? Juliana turned her head away from Lord Gomfrey. No, this was not the place to indulge her tears. She was supposed to be enjoying her new suitor. If the earl noticed the slight, she was certain to face his wrath later.
As she furiously blinked away the evidence of her brief slip, she realized someone in the next box was observing her. Outrage fortified her as if someone had slapped her across the face. Oh, the impertinence of some people! Juliana prepared to deliver her most scathing glance to the rude gentleman, but her hand fluttered to her throat in horror as she recognized the man.
Lord Chillingsworth.
Juliana wanted to scream at the injustice. Of all of Sin’s friends, this gentleman seemed to dislike her the most, although she could not exactly fault his words or actions if she overlooked the evening he had kissed her. Nevertheless, there were odd moments when she would sense him watching her, his light blue eyes blazing with undeniable hostility. She could not fathom what she had done to offend him.
His slow smile filled her with alarm.
She read the triumph and satisfaction on his handsome face. Chance had chosen him to be the dark messenger, the one to tell Sin of her betrayal, and the tale would not be flattering.
Neither was the truth.
“Where are you going?”
The cutting annoyance in Lord Gomfrey’s tone shattered the nonverbal exchange between Juliana and Lord Chillingsworth. Without thinking, she had attempted to rise from her seat before she was unceremoniously dragged back down by Lord Gomfrey. His firm hand had not strayed from her arm.
She might as well have been wearing a lead rope around her neck like a horse or a dancing bear.
“I feel indisposed,” Juliana lied, twisting her arm in a small attempt to free herself. Her fingers were growing numb from his fierce grip. “I require a few minutes in the anteroom.”
He gestured with his unfettered hand toward his friends. “You are among friends. There is no reason why you may not use your vinaigrette here.”
Lord Gomfrey had yet to glance at her.
Juliana leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “My lord, there are other reasons why a lady feels indisposed. Some are of a private nature.” She glanced pointedly at her arm. “Nor require your assistance.”
The earl hesitated.
Did he think she would flee the theater if she left his side? Or perhaps Lord Gomfrey was worried that she might tell others of the devil’s bargain he had brokered with her mother? If he and Juliana had been alone, she could have told him that he worried needlessly. She would honor her mother’s debt.
“Good heavens, let the poor girl go settle her nerves in private,” Lord Ripley’s female companion chided.
It was apparent that Lord Gomfrey suspected that Juliana was lying about the reasons why she needed some privacy, but her polite request was not unreasonable. He did not want to appear like a tyrant in front of his friends.
He nodded, releasing her arm. “The anteroom. No farther.” He patted the bruises hidden by her long gloves. “I will join you if you are unable to return to us.”
His threat was as clear as the icy annoyance in his gaze.
If she did not return to her seat, he would find her and drag her back. Juliana acknowledged him with a shaky nod of her head.
She straightened and then made a small choking sound.
Sin was blocking her escape, his demeanor positively murderous.
Dear god, it was worse than she could have ever imagined.
Sin’s barely restrained fury was about to be unleashed.
Juliana feared she was the likely target.
Chapter Fourteen
BETRAYAL BURNED IN his gut as Alexius glared at Juliana.
“Unless you plan to leap from the balcony, you are fleeing in the wrong direction.”
The fear he saw in Juliana’s eyes damned her as well as her futile attempt to distance herself from him. A day earlier, no, even an hour earlier, Alexius would have struck down anyone who dared to question the lady’s honor. Even now, with the proof in front of him, he struggled to find a plausible excuse that placed Juliana in Lord Gomfrey’s hands.
Alexius extended his hand. “Come with me.”
Juliana’s skittish gaze shifted from him to Lord Gomfrey, who had moved up to stand behind her. Alexius’s upper lip curled. Sniveling poltroon. A real gentleman would never hide behind a woman.
“Lady Juliana has tired of your company, Sinclair,” the earl said, drawing his shoulders back and puffing his chest like a bullfinch. All that was missing was the
soft call of whib, whib, whib. “Do not embarrass the lady or yourself by tarrying where you are not wanted.”
With his gaze narrowed on Juliana, Alexius silenced Gomfrey with a slicing gesture of his hand. “Is this true? Have you gone to this braying ass willingly?”
Juliana glanced everywhere but at Alexius’s face. “I-I needed to speak with you. I tried—I sent a footman with a note.”
“Your note explained none of this!” he shouted, causing her to wince.
They had garnered a captivated audience and the attention was clearly making her uncomfortable. Unfortunately for her, Alexius did not give a damn about her discomfort and he was devious enough to use it to his advantage.
“Well?”
Her gaze snapped up to his face. Alexius expected to see tears in her magnificent green eyes, a potent weapon most women would have used to battle a man’s fury. He would not have thought less of her if she had succumbed to using such a ploy. Juliana’s eyes, however, were dry.
“If you understood me at all, Lord Sinclair, you would already have the answer,” she said tonelessly.
It was exactly the sort of cryptic reply that he would expect the exasperating woman to deliver just to annoy him. He took a step toward her. Gomfrey placed his hand on Juliana’s shoulder in a gesture of support or possession.
The reasons were of little consequence to Alexius.
The fact that Gomfrey was touching Juliana in such a proprietary manner, and that she stood there stiffly, just accepting his claim without protest, spurred Alexius’s tongue and temper.
“Lady Juliana, I must confess that I have never understood you at all. Although my words might appear cruel and personal in their criticism, pray do not take them so. I rarely ponder the workings of a lady’s mind when all I desire from her is a thorough fucking.”
The implication was unmistakable.
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