A Rogue's Surrender: Regency Novellas

by Lauren Smith

  “It was either the baron or his son,” Lydia explained. As if those really were her only options. She shuddered delicately. “And his son makes me uncomfortable. Rothmore might be unpleasant but at least he’s too old and frail to cause me much trouble.”

  Gabriel couldn’t help but stare at her in alarm. “So that was your plan? Marry the elderly one so you’ll be free of obligation when he dies?”

  He heard Wren groan but couldn’t tear his eyes away from Lydia.

  She straightened in her seat. “My plan was to find my brother and sister-in-law.”

  He took a step back as her gaze met his. The accusation there had guilt churning in his gut. Her plan was to find them…because he had failed.

  “Once I found them…” She trailed off with a shrug. “Daniel would find a way to get me out of there, I’m sure of it. If I could not get an annulment, he’d help me to escape.”

  When he and Wren continued to stare at her in horrified shock, she stood up and crossed her arms. “Quite frankly, I hadn’t thought beyond the wedding, because I really don’t care how I get out of the marriage. The only thing that matters is finding my family. Can’t you understand that?”

  She turned her gaze up to him and for the second time in as many minutes, Gabriel lost the ability to breathe. The pain he saw there was heartbreaking. The pretenses and act she’d been putting on fell by the wayside and for the first time in a long time, he saw her vulnerability. He saw her loneliness and despair.

  Somehow seeing it in her eyes, he felt like he was experiencing it himself. His heart was breaking on her behalf.

  Whatever she saw in his expression had her looking away quickly. “No amount of lecturing me about my plan is going to change the current situation. Can we all agree to move on, please?”

  Wren sighed, which seemed to indicate agreement. Which meant it was up to Gabriel. He wanted to launch back into a new lecture on how ridiculous her plan had been. How dangerous, even.

  She had no idea what she’d been getting herself into. What if he’d found out that she’d been using him to spy on his household and help the people he considered to be his enemies? The thought of the type of danger she could have been in had him pacing the room with mute fury.

  Wren leaned against the mantle as he studied Lydia. “First things first. We need to figure out how we can salvage Lydia’s reputation.”

  Gabriel came to a stop mid-pace, his back to the room as the meaning of Wren’s words became clear. Lydia, a single young woman of good character, had been taken by a strange man from her own wedding.

  She’d been ruined.

  Unless someone married her.

  Lydia didn’t seem to care. “How is that our first priority?” Her voice was sharp and filled with impatience. “Our first priority is to find Daniel and Madeline. We’ll sort the rest out once they are safe.”

  Gabriel wanted to argue with her—her reputation was not some trifling thing to toss away. Daniel would never want that. But she had a point.

  “She’s right.” He turned to face her as he said it and was rewarded by her look of pleasant surprise.

  “I am?” She grinned and he felt it to his toes. “I mean, of course I am. So what do you suggest?”

  He paced the room one more time as he thought it through. “We need to focus on getting Daniel and Madeline out of whatever trouble they’re in. Then we’ll deal with Lydia’s reputation.”

  “So you do think they’re in danger?”

  When he looked over he saw Lydia watching him with a disconcertingly serious expression. Her eyes were grave and her demeanor too old for her years. Bloody hell, he wished more than anything that he could have protected her from this. From all of it.

  But it was too late now. The only thing he could do was be honest with her and help her find her family. So he recounted what he’d learned over the last two weeks, which was little more than nothing. He repeated what the general had told him and Lydia nodded. “Yes, that’s what Vivian found too.”

  Wren interrupted then. “Vivian? That little mouse of a girl?”

  Lydia raised one brow, her lips turning down in a frown. “Wren Archibald Lackland, I never want to hear you call her that again. Vivian is my dearest friend and has more courage in her little finger than most men I’ve known.”

  Wren mumbled an apology and settled into a seat. The silence grew as he and Lydia turned their attention to him, waiting for him to tell them the plan. He took a seat and leaned forward so his elbows rested on his knees. As a lifetime military man, he’d become accustomed to outmaneuvering the enemy. Changing up battle plans at a moment’s notice when conditions changed. This was no different.

  Except that it was his best friend’s life on the line and the woman he’d vowed to protect whose reputation and safety were at risk.

  He took a deep breath and shoved those thoughts aside, focusing instead on the logistics. Not allowing emotions to cloud his judgement.

  Damn it. When he did that, the answer became clear. Looking from Lydia to Wren, he said, “She’s our best way in.”

  Lydia’s face lit up with excitement and something like approval.

  He tried to pretend he didn’t enjoy that look, but damn it all to hell he was a man. And no man in his right mind would be immune to that charm when it was aimed in his direction.

  Least of all him.

  And certainly not a crotchety old bugger like Rothmore.

  He sighed as he rubbed his eyes, the nighttime ride to get to the chapel on time catching up with him. “We’ll go to the baron’s estate. Explain that I’m your guardian in Daniel’s absence.”

  Wren turned to Lydia. “Where does Rothmore think Daniel’s gone off to?”

  She rolled her eyes. “He knows where they are, no doubt, since he was the one to take them. But of course I couldn’t let him know that I knew that he’d taken them. Otherwise he might have moved them somewhere else or…or worse.”

  “So what did you say?” Gabriel asked.

  She shrugged. “I told him that Daniel and Madeline often had to leave on business at a moment’s notice and that I gathered they’d forgotten to leave me a note. I made quite a production as if I was quite put out with them.”

  Gabriel found himself marveling at this levelheaded woman who had a flair for the dramatic as well. An uncanny mix of practicality and frivolity. Devil-may-care and cautious. She was an enigma, his Lydia.

  Not his. Just Lydia. When the hell had he started to think of her as his anything?

  When she’d turned to him for help. Or maybe before that. All he knew was that this need to protect her went beyond the promise he’d made to Daniel. He didn’t understand it, and he sure as hell didn’t like it.

  Chapter Five

  Gabriel had been scowling at her in silence for the past five minutes. She knew the exact time because she was sitting beside the baron’s mantel where a clock loudly ticked the seconds. Tick. Tick. Tick.

  When she was certain her nerves would shatter if she heard one more tick, she jumped up out of her seat and walked to the window. Even there, she could feel Gabriel’s eyes on her.

  Sure enough, when she glanced over her shoulder, she caught his glare.

  This was nothing new, really. She was fairly certain Gabriel had always worn a frown when he was looking in her direction. In fact, he pretty much always wore a frown, period.

  But this was different. There was a heaviness there that made her skin tingle. Like he was inside of her, shifting through her secrets and reading her mind. Which was ridiculous, because this man was no mind reader, even if he did have a nasty habit of knowing what she was going to do before she did it.

  Not the wedding. That she had to assume was Vivian’s fault. Not that she blamed her friend—she wasn’t certain what she would have done if their roles were reversed and she’d gotten a letter from Vivian saying she was planning to marry a decrepit old man who had most likely kidnapped her sibling.

  No, she couldn’t fault Vivian for go
ing to Gabriel in a panic. Hadn’t her first thought been to turn to him? Like it or not, the man had an air of confidence about him that made him seem so temptingly reliable. So enticingly stable.

  So irritatingly judgmental.

  His glare might as well have been pins in her back for all the discomfort it caused her. Finally, when she could take it no more, she spun around to face him, her head held high. “Go on then. Say what it is you want to say and get it over with.” She glanced toward the door and back. “And make it quick before Rothmore joins us.”

  He didn’t so much as blink at her outburst, the infuriating man. When he spoke his voice was low and leisurely. “I’m just trying to figure out what on earth was going through that pretty head of yours when you agreed to marry him.”

  She blinked at him, her brain absurdly fixated on that one word. Pretty. Did he really think she was pretty? She nearly rolled her eyes at her own silliness. What did that matter at a time like this? “I thought I explained myself earlier.”

  Indeed, she had. She and her self-appointed guardians had discussed her agreement with Rothmore all morning. She’d told them about how both Vancleef men had taken a shine to her from the moment she and her siblings arrived in this godforsaken town. The younger was closer in age, obviously, but he had made her skin crawl from the very beginning. With greasy hair and an oily smile, he’d asked to dance with her at every social occasion and each time she made her excuses. But that didn’t stop him from staring. Leering, really.

  His father, on the other hand, was a quiet, cranky old man. Hunched over and weak, she at least knew that he could cause her no physical harm. She’d rarely heard him speak let alone raise his voice. While he might be a curmudgeon—and possibly a kidnapper—he didn’t frighten her. Not really.

  Now she found herself repeating her logic to Gabriel with a shrug. “He was the lesser of two evils.”

  He stared at her in silence for a heartbeat before saying, “How romantic.”

  Something about the look in his eyes had heat flooding her cheeks. “And what would you know about romance?”

  She almost regretted the words. Almost. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear his answer. As far as she knew, Gabriel had no plans to marry and had never had a sweetheart. At least none that her brother had mentioned. But that didn’t prove anything.

  One thing she’d known about Gabriel from the first time she’d met him, back when she was a child—there was more to him than meets the eye. He didn’t speak much, but she’d watched him. Sometimes it felt like she’d spent her whole life watching this man. Studying him. Learning who he was through his actions.

  Because actions were what mattered when all was said and done. And Gabriel’s actions spoke volumes; they always had. He might have grumbled and growled about having a lovestruck young girl underfoot, but he’d always treated her gently and with respect. When he found her sneaking around the library trying to get a glimpse of him, he’d sat her down and helped her with her reading lessons. When she’d tripped and fallen trying to keep up with him and Daniel in a game of tag, he’d come to her side and bandaged her knee.

  Even now that she was a grown woman, he might have cursed and growled about the way she’d handled events, but when all was said and done—he’d been there. At her side. Helping her save her brother.

  That thought had guilt flooding through her and a sick feeling took hold of her stomach. Before he could comment on her last remark, she continued on. She needed to say this. “I’m sorry for earlier.”

  His brows shot up, a rare show of surprise. “You’re…sorry?” His shock was so sincere, she nearly laughed.

  “Yes,” she said. “Earlier I implied that you’d failed me. That you’d failed Daniel by not finding him on your own.” The heat in her cheeks intensified as his gaze sharpened. Those dark eyes likely revealing more than he knew. He felt guilt, and for that she was ashamed. “I shouldn’t have said that. I know you’ve done everything you can.”

  “How do you know that?” He walked toward her and she resisted the urge to step away. She’d always had a difficult time thinking clearly and speaking eloquently when he was too close. It seemed she still suffered from that problem even now that she was older, wiser, and over that ridiculous crush. Mostly, at least.

  He reached her side and the warmth from his body was temptation itself. The emotional ardor of the last two months caught up with her all at once. That combined with her lack of sleep these last few weeks as she’d stewed and planned made Gabriel’s strong warmth that much more appealing. The night before she hadn’t slept at all as nerves plagued her. After all, it wasn’t every day a woman married a relative stranger. Now that the adrenaline rush had worn off, she found herself fighting an overwhelming weariness. A little part of her—okay, a large part of her—ached to lean against him and let him take care of her.

  “How do you know I did everything I could?” he repeated, his gaze fixed on her as though her answer meant everything to him.

  “Because I know you.” She tried to keep her tone light. Humorous. But she failed. She’d sounded too earnest and exhaustion made it nearly impossible to be disingenuous. Odd, really, since that was typically her forte.

  His gaze softened to something she’d never seen before. Something intimate and kind, and not at all in keeping with the glaring bear she was used to.

  The softness nearly undid her. It unlocked the safeguard she’d built around her heart ever since Daniel and Madeline had gone missing and for the first time in months, she found herself on the verge of tears.

  The sound of the door opening behind her brought her back. The safeguards snapped into place and she took a deep breath to steady her nerves and remind herself of what they were doing there.

  Saving her family.

  Lydia sat quietly with her head lowered as Gabriel gravely explained his actions earlier in the day to Rothmore. He listened to Gabriel explain that he’d only just learned of her wedding plans. That Daniel had asked him to be her guardian when he was otherwise occupied. He made something close to a joke about her brother’s ability to disappear—as if he and his wife often abandoned Lydia to his care in the name of “business.”

  She hated hearing her lie perpetuated, even though it had been her lie and it was told for the sake of keeping the Vancleefs in the dark about their suspicions. Still, it pained her to hear her brother and sister-in-law slighted.

  It seemed to work, though. Rothmore seemed satisfied with the explanation and Gabriel’s profuse apologies. He managed to make it seem as though she was often getting herself into scrapes and that he’d rushed in without taking the time to learn who she’d been marrying. Finally, he said, “I am grateful to know that you intend to take her in hand. She is young and passionate, and clearly in need of strong guidance.”

  Rothmore, who had never smiled as far as Lydia knew, gave a wobbly smile at that. Reaching over he patted her hand as though she was a child…or a pet. “You’re right, Captain. Once she is my wife, she will be in capable hands.”

  Lydia gagged on the bile in the back of her throat. This was it. Gabriel would hand her over now and she could move on with her plan. Once inside this man’s house, with full access to his correspondence and the locked rooms, surely she would figure out where her brother was hidden.

  But then Gabriel surprised her. “Unfortunately there’s just one problem.”

  She and Rothmore both turned to look at him and what she saw nearly made her gasp aloud. Gabriel was…acting. And he wasn’t doing a terrible job of it either. Ducking his head and scratching the back of his neck, he adopted a self-conscious look that would have made her laugh if she hadn’t caught herself in time.

  “What’s the problem?” Rothmore asked.

  He peeked up at the older man. “You see, her brother entrusted her into my care. And…” He glanced over in Lydia’s direction as if wary of speaking in front of her. “We also had an agreement.”

  Lydia arched one brow behind the old man’s b
ack. Where on earth was he going with this?

  “Daniel promised Lydia to me,” he said slowly, as if disappointed to have to break this news to the older man. “To be my wife.”

  Lydia pressed her lips together to keep her emotions in check. She was hard-pressed to say whether she was on the verge of laughter or shouting. This had not been the plan. Gabriel—steadfast and predictable Gabriel—had gone rogue.

  She turned to see how Rothmore took the news and wasn’t surprised to see that he looked remarkably unfazed to find that his bride-to-be might already be spoken for. “I see. And did he put this in writing?”

  “No, sir, it was an understanding between us. And while I respect the fact that Lydia wants to marry you instead, I just wouldn’t feel right agreeing to this union until her brother is here to approve as well.”

  Lydia drew in a deep breath. He was discussing her as though she were a piece of furniture to be handed over from one man to another. Gabriel was doing such a good job portraying a bumbling man who lacked confidence, she nearly laughed.

  But anger won out. What did he think he was doing? They’d had a plan, damn it.

  “What do you propose?” the baron asked.

  Lydia glared at Gabriel behind the old man’s back. Yes, Gabe, what do you propose?

  Gabriel turned to her, apparently unfazed by her glares. “Poppet, be a good little girl, won’t you, and let Lord Rothmore and I discuss this in private.”

  Poppet? Little girl? She recovered from her shock quickly enough because it was clear what he was doing. He was giving her the opportunity to sneak. Granted, he’d veered from their agreed upon plan to restore the wedding, but she’d happily take advantage of the fact that she was in the baron’s home. And during daylight, no less.

  She dipped her head in a revolting show of obedience. “Yes, sir.”