That seemed to trigger a reaction in Alex, and she found herself struggling to breathe for a moment as reality set in.
Someone had shot at her.
Justin had been there. How?
And so had Emma.
“Is Emma all right?” she asked.
“Her carriage was gone before the gun went off.” Reuben removed her last glove just as the footman arrived with what Reuben had asked for. “We’re lucky that Justin saw fit to follow you home.”
Rose shook her head slowly. “When I saw him leap from his horse and sprint toward you, I thought it was something out of one of your romantic tales, but then he tackled you.”
She imagined the scene just as Rose said it. Justin jumping from the back of his handsome stead. Justin throwing her to the ground.
And then that furious look that he’d worn downstairs.
He’d been upset because she’d almost been shot.
She shivered at the thought.
Reuben grunted. “Better he threw her to the ground than offer her a parting kiss.”
Those words made her shiver again at the thought that she’d nearly been killed.
Reuben placed a cool wet cloth to Alex’s arm and began to wash the blood away. She jumped slightly at the pressure, but didn’t pull away. It wasn’t the first time her blood had been shed. Growing up in a home with more than a dozen children, accidents were bound to happen.
Her brother turned to the footman. “Have someone send word to Chris and Nash.”
“It’s already been done,” the footman said.
“Where is Nash?” Alex asked.
“Still assisting at the toy store in your absence,” Rose told her. “Though I suspect he’s there to look for anyone suspicious. They’re still looking for whoever harmed Alicia.”
“Had we known you’d be in danger as well, we’d have never allowed you to leave the house.” Reuben placed the cloth on her skin again, but this time it was not water. The smell of brandy hit her before it stung her flesh. The feeling stole her breath, and she braced her hand in the one that Reuben held.
Their eyes met, and he smiled at her, obviously proud that she’d neither fainted from the sight nor the pain.
“Do you think it safe here for her?” Rose asked.
Reuben frowned. “It will be since I don’t plan to leave her side again.”
They heard hard footsteps come from the hall and then Justin filled the doorway. He was still upset, but the rage must have left him during the chase. “He got away.”
Reuben nodded. “I suspected he would.” He didn’t even bother to question what Justin was doing in her doorway.
“If I’d moved quicker,” Justin began, but was cut off by Reuben.
“Getting Alex inside the house was more important. We didn’t know if someone else was out there waiting for her.”
Alex's stomach fell, but her eyes remained on Justin. His hair and coat were rumpled, which only made her wonder at the fright she must have looked. Feeling self-conscious, she wanted to pull away and hide her scarred arms from him but knew better than to do so. It would only upset Reuben, and then he’d grab her arms again to finish the work.
Justin stayed by the door as though knowing he was not allowed in her space. “How are you feeling?”
“Alive.” Her voice quavered, and she pressed her lips together.
Pain became etched on his face, and she saw the longing in his eyes to cross the room to her.
He took a step, but then stopped as more voices floated from the hall.
Justin moved to lean against her wall just as Chris and Nash appeared, one right on the heels of the other.
“What happened?” Chris asked.
“A man pulled a gun on Alex,” Justin replied. “I managed to get her inside the house before he got away. I went after him but lost him in the alley.”
“Did you get a look at him?” Nash asked.
Justin nodded. “We can take it to the magistrate—”
“Give his description to me,” Nash said. “I’ll find him faster.”
Justin looked at him and then nodded without question.
“He waited until you were here,” Chris said to Alex. “At one point, he must have realized who you were.”
“Maybe at the park,” Alex said. “Michael was there. There was… a disagreement.”
Reuben’s head lifted, and he met her eyes. “Michael approached you?”
Alex nodded. “He said he came by the house earlier. Is that true?” She looked at Chris.
Chris looked at Nash. “Deal with this.”
“Done,” Nash said with a smile.
Alex shook her head. “There is no need for retaliation. The Padmore Darlings were there and they sank verbal knives into his person. I daresay, he’ll think twice before approaching me again.”
“We’ll make sure he thinks a third time,” Chris said. “Until then… you’re probably not safe here.” The last made him grim.
“I told you to rent the house on Grosvenor Square that had the gate,” Nash said in a tone that said they’d had this conversation on more than one occasion.
“Quiet,” Chris said.
Alex frowned. Christmas’ store made a healthy income, but nowhere near what was needed to live next to the wealthiest families of the ton.
Chris spoke again to Alex. “Where did you go after the park?”
“Jus… Lord Chantenny’s townhouse with his sisters. We had tea.” Alex hoped she’d caught her slip in time.
There was the possibility that Chris had missed it, but since Chris missed nothing, he’d clearly let it go. “The man waited for you to leave Lord Chantenny’s house then.”
“Of course, he’d never attack her at the home of an earl,” Reuben said.
“And he obviously hadn’t known I’d followed,” Justin said. “When he saw me, he seemed surprised.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how I missed him if he was following Miss Smith as well.”
“Never mind that,” Reuben said as he stood, done with Alex’s healing wraps. “She can’t stay here. The man doesn’t know who he’s dealing with,” he said, and he appeared to be looking at Chris when he said it.
“And I loath to enlighten him.” Chris sighed and crossed his arms as though in thought.
Alex moved her bandaged arms then gathered them to herself, feeling as though she were missing pieces of information. What was Chris unwilling to share with the criminal? That he was a bastard who’d managed to somehow possess a toy store? “I don’t understand. What—”
Chris turned to Nash. “Can she stay with you?”
Nash shook his head. “My place is not for women like her.”
Alex wasn’t sure she wanted to know what that meant. Still… “Why can’t I—”
“I thought not.” Chris nodded as though he fully understood Nash’s meaning.
Alex looked at Rose, who met her eyes and shrugged a small shoulder before turning back to the discussion.
“I’m still in the market for a home myself,” Reuben said. “I could make a purchase today and move Alex in.”
The thought of spending her time decorating a new home was intriguing. It would give her something to do.
“Don’t rush the decision,” Chris said.
Rose went to Reuben and grabbed his arm. “A house. You mean you’re truly staying?”
Reuben smiled and patted her head affectionately. “I may have been offered a position that will keep me here for a time.”
“What position is that?” Alex asked, her own excitement growing. The family would be together once more.
“She can stay with me.”
She pulled in a breath and turned to look at Justin. He was still by the door with his eyes glued to her, yet the only heat in them still burned with anger. She wanted to lean away but held her place. “Impossible.”
“I agree,” Chris said. “It would ruin her reputation.”
“Not if one of you came along,” Justin said. “And
the public wouldn’t question it either way. I made it known she is my ward until her cousin returns to town, and I plan to show her around London.”
“Still…” Alex looked around the room at her brothers, thinking the rest of her statement obvious. However, the eyes that met her seemed to be seeing through her, their minds at work. It was almost as though they agreed with Justin.
She stood. “I can’t.”
“You’d be safe there,” Nash said. “The man wouldn’t attack an earl’s home.”
Alex’s lips trembled. “Well, I know, but—”
“It would be temporary until Nash can find the man and gain answers,” Chris said.
“You’ve not made Alicia leave the orphanage,” she protested, just short of stomping her foot.
“As though anyone can make Alicia do a thing.” Reuben crossed her to her. “I’ll go with you, but the earl is right. His home is the safest place for you. No one would dare try to kill you and cross him at the same time.”
Alex looked at Justin and noticed the anger was slowly abating, clear worry harbored in its place.
He was worried for her.
He’d saved her life, becoming a true hero.
She could not live under the same roof as him and keep to the decisions she made. “I can go to Scotland.” She looked at Nash. “Take me to Scotland. You said you would.”
Nash smiled with a hint of pity. “That was before someone tried to kill you. He’ll not be breathing before I leave this city.” How he could say such a thing with a smile was beyond her. Then he looked at Justin and said, “And just so you know, my lord, I don’t plan to turn him into the authorities.”
“Nash!” Alex shouted.
Rose buried her face in Reuben’s shirt.
Justin’s eyes were still on Alex. “Do what must be done.”
Alex’s lips parted in surprise.
Reuben wrapped an arm around Rose as she stared at Justin. “You could have been a Smith.”
The earl was not offended by the comment, but instead, grinned. Then he started toward Alex.
She felt her legs hit the back of her chair, her knees ready to give under the lightest breeze if it happened to blow through the window, but instead she kept her ground.
“I’ll keep you safe,” Justin told her. “I swear it.”
She knew he would. She had no doubts that physically she’d be all right, yet the part of her that raced and beat against her chest felt vulnerable.
* * *
21
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
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“Is the room to your liking?” Justin watched Alex look around the pale blue room with white and silver finishes before turning to look at him and nodding. A storm had begun the moment they’d arrived, and Justin felt as though the weather were on his side, locking him and Alex together.
The swift beating of the drops slapping against the window and roof, and the rustling of trees in the wind, were the only sounds for a moment. The servants had finished settling her in a few moments before he’d arrived at her door, but he’d not crossed the threshold. He'd told himself that he wouldn’t unless she were in danger.
His sisters had gone to visit a friend until dinner, and Reuben was outside speaking to the guards that had been hired to protect Alex.
Justin figured with her living in his home, he’d have plenty of time to figure out the best way to approach the topic of courtship again, but first, he would have to woo her, and he had the feeling she would not make that easy.
He had to find out what was working at her mind and what reservations she had before he could do more.
If he had any say, Justin’s true plan was to make sure that when Alex did pack her things, it would be to move her into the room that connected with, his as his wife. He had no intention of letting her leave this house as a maiden.
Since she'd come into his life, his mind had finally discovered what his attention should be on— his family and how to add her to it.
Reuben’s words of Justin qualifying as a Smith had humbled him, but Justin was more interested in making Alex a Padmore and the Countess of Chantenny, the mother of his heir, his wife, his lover…
She stiffened, and her eyes widened as she stared at him. “Stop looking at me like that.”
Justin looked down but grinned. “I’m sorry. My thoughts must be plain on my face.”
“I feared I’d have to cross the room and lock the door with you on the other side.”
He looked up and smiled at her as he watched her move toward the chair by the fireplace. The fire made her skin glow. The rest of the room was dim from the storm, her eyes working like mirrors to reflect the orange hues of the flames.
Lamps would be needed within the hour.
He placed a shoulder on the door panel so that he could comfortably study her. “How are you feeling?”
She looked away and when she bit her lip, he could tell that she’d rather keep her thoughts to herself, so he was surprised when she spoke and by what she said next. “I’ve gone from feeling unwanted to everyone wanting me dead or wanting to use me for some personal gain.” She turned to him. “How would you feel under the circumstances?”
If she was trying to get him to cross the room to her, he was sure no other words would have affected him more, but still he remained where he was. Perhaps it was the distance that made her comfortable enough to speak, so he remained where he was.
Still, he could say nothing as to her accusation. He could not say he’d not sought her out to use her.
She’d asked him before what he would gain from her company, and while guilt at his original plan did try to overtake his emotions, other more profound ones were rooted more firmly. He wanted to protect her. To possess her. To have her look at him as no woman had looked at him before.
“It’s a lovely room,” she said as though to fill the silence, which was fortunate, because Justin wasn’t sure what he’d say.
“My mother decorated the room,” he found himself confessing. For what reason he would bring that woman into a conversation with the kind one in front of him, he didn’t know.
Her expression brightened. His mother was not a subject they discussed, and for good reason.
He didn’t want Alex in that darkness within him. He wanted to keep her separate and untainted as long as possible. And worse, he didn’t want her to glimpse the truth, to see the stains that rested on his soul.
Because he was sure that the day she did was the day he’d lose her forever.
“She had lovely taste,” Alex went on. “Do you miss her?”
“Not really, no.” Why was he telling her the truth?
Was it because the thought of adding one more lie between them made him visibly cringe?
He watched her stand and cross the room to him. Her face became luminous in the light from the hall as he stopped before him. The concern etched in his brow made his heart leap.
“I’ve seen that look on your face before,” she whispered as she reached up to touch him. Yet before her hand settled on him, she tucked it behind her back. “You had that same pained expression at Lord Wint’s house.”
“Did I?” If he did, he knew exactly at what moment it had happened. He’d been looking at the staircase and recalling his fall.
Her hands settled on his neck and he turned to her, realizing he’d looked away momentarily. “What happened?” The feel of her fingers massaging at the edge of his hair and her gentle words nearly dragged the truth from his lips, but his body shook to hold it within.
“Justin,” she called in a soft tone.
He couldn’t take her kindness. “I thought you were keeping away from me.”
Her hand stilled as though recalling that she had, in fact, been keeping away from him. He closed his eyes and prepared himself to lose her touch entirely, telling himself it was for the best, that he was too emot
ional at the moment, too fragile in her hands, and wanted to be cared for more than he wanted his next breath. If she didn’t move away, he’d spill his entire sorrowful story onto her feet.
She didn’t pull away.
Both her hands cupped his neck, lacing together, and he shuddered under the feel of her body moving toward his, having to stop where his arms were crossed over his chest. He didn’t resist when she pulled his head down and forced it to rest on hers. Her breath caressed his lips in light peaceful puffs of air.
He kept his hands where they were, his last hope of defense against her.
“You can tell me anything,” she whispered.
“She tripped me.”
Her breath caught. “What?”
He opened his eyes and found her gray ones rounded with surprise.
“She tripped me down the stairs,” Justin told her. “I wasn’t alone when I fell.”
Her hands slid to his jaw and her brows drew in. “Why? Why would she do that?”
“Because I’d been playing with my sisters,” he told her. And it had been the very last time he’d played with them ever again. It was then he’d realized that his mother had not been playing a long game with him, that she truly thought him a monster. “She’d told me not to repeatedly, but the girls had cornered me. Lucy Ann started weeping, asking why I didn’t love her. I didn’t want her to think I didn’t love her, so I showed her a hand trick I’d learned to make her laugh.” The truth spilled from him like a great weight, but he didn’t want her to take it. He didn’t want her corrupted by it, by him. He tried to pull away.
She wouldn’t let him. Her fingers bit into his face as though threatening to keep it with her if he fled. Tears were building in her eyes. “I don’t understand. Why were you not allowed to play with your own sisters?” Her gaze was earnest, searching for an answer.
So he gave it. “Because I’m dirty.”
She swallowed, and her brow cleared. “What?”
“I’m a filthy boy,” he told her. “It’s what my mother always said. She told me she knew it from the moment I was born. She looked into my eyes and saw the truth. I’ve her father’s eyes, the Viscount of Theems. She said I was like him, that I was sick. She said I couldn’t be near her or my sisters. I couldn’t touch them. I couldn’t touch her.” He snapped his eyes closed at the pain he saw reflected in her eyes and the tears that spilled from them.
The Legend of the Earl Page 15
