by Wendy Vella
CHAPTER TWENTY
Leo caught her as she walked out into the street, and waved down a hackney. Opening the door, he picked her up and placed her inside. Her shriek only made him feel marginally better. After giving the driver her address, he joined her.
“Get out!”
He didn’t. Instead, he sat directly across from her. There was not a great deal of room, so Leo sat on the edge of his seat and trapped her legs between his.
“Leo, what are you doing?”
“Making sure you don’t run away.”
“We’re in a hackney. How do you suggest I would do such a thing?”
One thing he’d come to understand about Elizabeth Whitlow was that she was rarely at a loss for words.
“I have no idea, but if anyone can do it, it will be you. I have come to realize you are an extremely resourceful woman.”
“That is a ridiculous statement, and I wish you would move back, because I do not like you so close.”
Her eyes were red from the tears she had silently shed sitting across from him in the cafe. It had been a brief moment of weakness, a few minutes, no more, and he guessed that was all she allowed herself. The bonnet framed her pale face, and she looked every inch the lady society believed her to be... and yet there was so much more to her, Leo understood that now.
Reaching for her hands, he took them in his.
“Release me at once!”
“No.” He pulled her forward so their faces were inches apart.
“I don’t like seeing you cry.”
“I had something in my eye.”
“No, you didn’t, so don’t try and fob me off. You’re scared, Beth, and I want to know why.”
She looked down at his necktie. “No, I’m not. I never get scared.”
“How very brave of you.”
“Don’t mock me, Lord Vereton.”
He touched her chin, lifting it until their eyes met.
“Don’t—”
He kissed her. Sweet, achingly sweet, Leo thought as he slid his arms around her, bringing her body flush against his, her soft curves pressed to his chest. The feel of her stirred his body to life. The essence of her surrounded him, and her mouth... Lord, her lips were soft and willing beneath his.
“Leo.” She spoke his name on a sigh. He swallowed it, and took the kiss deeper.
Beth was lost to all but Leo within seconds. His mouth had teased a response from her, and when she yielded, he marauded, leaving her reeling. Her breasts tingled, and her body was tense. Heat filled her. She felt no fear, only a need for this man to never let her go.
“So sweet.” He said the words against her neck, making her shiver. His lips brushed the sensitive skin as her chin rose to allow him better access. With Leo she had no choice but to yield, because her body demanded it. Within seconds, she wanted more. His hands roamed her back, and Beth wanted her clothes gone, wanted to feel them on her skin. For so long she’d thought a man’s touch would repulse her, but not Leo’s. Suddenly she wanted more, her body awakening as he stroked and kissed it to life.
He reclaimed her lips and she felt his hands tugging the ties of her bonnet free. Next were the buttons of her coat, she then felt him part it, and shuddered as his hands slid inside.
Better, Beth thought. Closer to her skin. His fingers touched the neckline of her dress, tracing it, making the breath catch in her throat as he teased her skin. Lord, it felt wonderful, sending little darts of heat through her.
Could she touch him too? Did she dare? Beth opened his jacket, but went no further, simply placing a palm on his chest and feeling the hard wall of muscle beneath his clothes.
“We must stop,” he whispered into her ear. His voice was a deep rasp, which told her he was as affected as she by what they were doing. “Now, before I cannot.”
She looked sideways at his words, and realized anyone could have seen them. Reality returned with violent speed. Horrified at what she had been a part of, and allowed him to do, Beth sat back quickly, lowering her eyes as embarrassment swept over her.
“I’m not sorry I touched and kissed you, Beth, only that I did so in a carriage where anyone could have seen us.”
His voice was hoarse, and one hand clenched tight on his thigh.
“It should not have happened, will not happen again... ever. I want you to call off the betrothal now, tonight.”
“No.” Just one word, but Beth heard the finality in it. She dared to look up at him. His jaw was clenched, and the embers of passion still smoldered in his eyes.
“You must see it is for the best. This, whatever it is, cannot continue. Everything has changed. Stop this madness now, Leo, and you go back to your life and I mine.”
“It will not be that simple, as you very well know, especially after the display we put on for Lady Blanchly and the evil breaker of hearts. And let us also add the fact that I just ravished you in a hackney.”
“Harriet!” Beth snapped. “And what happened was simply momentary madness and nothing more.”
“I would not call what just took place between us madness, in fact far from it.” His eyes were so dark now, fired with emotion as he looked at her.
“Leo, please see reason,” she begged him.
“I will not walk away from you now when trouble is dogging your every step. Especially if, as I believe, you are being blackmailed. In fact, after what we just shared, I don’t think I want this betrothal to end at all.”
Beth stared at him in horror. Surely he had not said those words? “You cannot be serious,” she whispered. “W-we loathe each other.”
“Do we?” He raised a brow as he held her gaze. “That certainly wasn’t loathing we felt just minutes ago.”
“Stop this!” Panic gripped her as he gave her a gentle smile, the kind of smile she had seen Nick give Grace. No, no, no, this was not happening. She did not care for him, and he felt absolutely nothing for her.
Beth flung open the door as she felt the carriage start to slow. Lifting her skirts she then jumped to the ground, and hurried toward her house.
“Beth!”
Leo was hot on her heels as she ran up the steps to the front door. She opened it, slammed it behind her, and locked it.
“Miss Whitlow.” Her butler appeared.
“Let no one enter, please, I have a headache and wish to rest.”
Ignoring the pounding on the wood, she took the stairs two at a time and did not stop running until she reached her room. Once there she took out her writing things and sat to compose a note. Handing it to her footman fifteen minutes later, she asked that he deliver it at once, before the doubts would stop her sending it. She then waited, and prayed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“And you say the note was delivered anonymously, Perkins?”
Leo read the words again.
I would like to employ the services of the Lords of Night Street. I am being blackmailed over something that happened in my past, and am at a loss to know what to do. I fear for those I love, as threats have also been made against them. I am seeking advice as to what my next move should be. Therefore, I would be extremely grateful if you would meet me outside Hatchard’s Book Shop at ten o’clock tonight. I shall be in a carriage.
“The note was posted under the door, Lord Vereton.”
“There is no signature,” Leo said, wondering why he suddenly felt tense. “I will deal with it, and then if need be call in the others.”
“Is it wise to go alone, my lord?”
“You know where I will be, Perkins. If I do not return, you can send out a search party.”
Leo stood to one side of the bookshop, tucked in the shadows as a carriage pulled up. He waited, but no one appeared or looked out the windows. The trickle of awareness down his spine increased. Before Leo could approach, the door opened. He watched someone step down, and realized at once it was a lady. She wore a cloak, hood up, so he could not see her face. Waiting in the shadows, he watched as she moved. A gloved hand came up to pull the h
ood forward, and the gesture tugged something in his memory. Leo felt an awareness that he could not fathom. When she turned his way, he knew why.
Stepping out of his hiding place, he moved fast, and was before her in seconds.
“Inside the carriage now.”
“Leo?”
He didn’t wait, simply lifted her off her feet and took her with him into the carriage.
“Take us around the streets until I tell you different,” he told the driver.
Lowering Beth to the seat across from him, Leo watched as she moved back until she was pressed into the upholstery.
“Start talking.”
“Why were you there, Leo?”
He thought briefly about lying, but decided on the truth, as that was what was needed between them now.
“I am one of the Lords of Night Street. It was I who was sent to meet you.”
She pushed the hood off her head, and looked at him, eyes wide with shock.
“You... you’re one of them? But how is that possible?”
“We’ll get back to that, but right now I want to hear who is threatening you.”
Leo felt an unreasonable swell of anger, a need to find whoever dared to hurt her and make them pay. Looking at her sitting there attempting to be strong, trying to appear as she always did, calm and composed, he felt something give inside him. An inevitability, which, when his head had cleared, he would examine further.
“Talk to me.”
She stayed silent, and he could almost see her brain moving through ways to throw him off the scent.
“Don’t try and put up smoke screens, Beth, not this time. I have your note in my hand, and you are here at the meeting place at the exact time.”
“I needed air.”
As far as lies went, it was a pitiful one, they both knew it, but he had to admire her for at least trying.
“The truth, Beth. Tell me the truth.”
“Leo, I have no wish to discuss this with you.”
She tried to move away, tried to stare out the window, but he was having none of that. Gripping her arms, he leaned in.
“Talk to me, Beth. I can help you, as can the others. I know there is something very wrong... have known it for some time.”
She sighed. It was deep and loud, and then her shoulders slumped, and Leo knew he’d won.
“I’m scared, Leo.”
The words were softly spoken. It hurt him to see her defeated.
“I would ask you not to judge me, and you must also promise not to tell anyone what it is I am about to speak of.”
“You have my word.” Leo released her arms and sat back, wondering what the hell she would say. He wanted to watch her face, so he turned up the lamps. The curtains were closed; no one would be able to see them, were they looking.
“It is hard to know where to start, as I have carried this for so long.”
“I don’t care how long your story takes, Beth. So start at the beginning.”
“Very well. When my mother passed away, my father and I became close. She was not an easy woman, so when she was no longer there to control us, we began to enjoy life.”
Her smile was filled with memories.
“Papa was very protective of me, and rarely allowed people to visit. That changed in my fifteenth summer, because he believed it was time to start acquainting me with people I would meet when I entered society in a few years.”
Leo knew only the small pieces of information that Nick had shared of Beth’s life. Her father was a good, kind man, but the mother had been a bitch. He knew the cousins had never been close, until Grace came into Nick’s life a few years ago; then everything had changed.
“My father decided to host a few friends for a weekend. Five couples, and when they arrived, one of them had brought a nephew. He was twenty-five.”
She was looking at her gloves, but Leo could feel the tension in her from across the carriage. His mind leapt ahead, trying to come up with scenarios for what she was about to tell him.
“He was a nice man. Funny, and polite... or so I believed. We became friends, Leo.”
“You’re a beautiful woman, Beth, I imagine you were the same at fifteen.”
She threw him a look before continuing.
“He stayed one more night after the other guests left, as he was to travel to London with my father the following day on business.”
She inhaled deeply, and the tension in the carriage increased. Her face was tight, almost as if the words were causing her pain. He wanted to hold her, take away the hurt, but he needed the entire story to understand what was happening. It cost him a great deal to sit still.
“I-I w-was in my room. It was close to midday. He and my father were to go hunting before leaving. He entered while I was reading. There was no knock, suddenly he was just there. I asked him what he wanted, he said me.”
“Christ.” Leo knew what was coming next. To hell with sitting still. Reaching across the carriage, he lifted her and resettled her on his lap.
“Leo! What are you doing?”
“Holding you. Now continue.”
“I-I can’t simply sit on your lap.”
“Well you are, and no one can see, so continue.”
“But it is not right.”
“Are you unhappy because you are scared of being in my arms?”
“I am not scared of you, Leo. But I have never sat like this with a man before.”
“I will never hurt you, Beth. I only wish to comfort you.”
She didn’t reply, so he simply held her until he felt her relax. When her cheek rested on his chest, he exhaled.
“Since my father passed, I have never been held by anyone.”
Her words were more a whisper, and his heart ached for the young girl who had needed holding.
“Do you feel able to continue?”
“He was too strong, I could not fight him,” she whispered.
“Beth.” Leo said the word into her hair as he tried to surround her with his body. “It’s not your fault, sweetheart.”
“H-he hurt me.”
She cried then, into his chest, and he had never felt so helpless. Her tears fell silently, and he could do nothing but offer her comfort. To have been violated at such an age…. Leo understood now so much about the woman who sat in his arms. Her dislike of waltzing, the distance she put between herself and men.
“Tell me all of it, Beth.” Leo brushed a kiss on her head. “I want to help you, but to do that I must have the entire story.”
“My father came and found me crying. He held me as you are, and I told him everything. He then said he loved me and would return soon. I never saw him again.”
Leo remembered Nick saying Beth’s father had been killed in a hunting accident.
“It wasn’t a hunting accident that killed him?”
“No, it was him, I know it was. But he disappeared, and my father was found dead. My aunt arrived soon after, and I told her. She said we must tell no one, as nothing good could come of doing so. I’m not entirely sure she believed me anyway, and didn’t put my words down to those of a grieving daughter.”
“She had no right to discard your words.” Leo fought his anger back; she did not need that from him now.
“She was kind to me, Leo, and as time went on and my grief eased, I realized she was most likely right. Who would believe me? My father appeared to have fallen on his gun, and there was no sign of him... that man.”
“But what of this man? Surely you feared he would reappear?”
“My aunt told me he had left for France, and that his sister was desolate. I was relieved he was gone, and tried to put it behind me.”
“You have lived with this until now?”
She nodded, and Leo held her close as they rolled through London.
“And you help those girls because no one helped you, and you know how they are suffering, don’t you, Beth?”
“Yes. I don’t want them to be alone.”
“Do you want me to rel
ease you?” Leo said the words as she moved. “Am I frightening you?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never been frightened of you.”
Simple words, yet the relief in hearing them was absolute. It was then he realized that what he felt for this woman was more than he’d ever felt for another.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
It was the truth that she felt warm and safe in Leo’s arms. And his response to what she had told him had felt good. He did not blame her, as her aunt had said people would. In fact, Leo had believed her without hesitation.
“You are safe with me. I would never hurt you, Beth,” Leo said once more.
“I know, but it is probably best I sit on the seat now.”
“I like holding you.”
And she liked him holding her.
“Tell me the rest of the story now.”
“The day after the Tottingham ball I received a note stating that the writer knew my secrets. I then received more, with threats and blackmail. I think it is him, Leo. As only four people know what happened that day. My aunt, father, me, and this man. He wants money, and if I don’t hand it over, he will harm someone I care for. He mentioned you, Nick, and Grace. I cannot allow that to happen.”
“Nick will keep Grace safe, and I can look after myself, and you. The church,” he added, “you were delivering money?”
Beth looked up at him. “Yes.”
His body was pressed hard to hers. Warmth surrounded her, and she actually believed, sitting there like that, that he would keep her safe.
“But what can be done, Leo?”
“Plenty of things, but for now, tell me his name.”
Beth wasn’t sure why she hesitated; perhaps it was the thought of speaking his name out loud. For so long just thinking the words had struck fear into her.
“Mr. Lloyd... Jason,” Beth added with a shudder.
“It’s all right now.” Leo held her close. “He won’t hurt you again.”
“For so long I slept with my father’s pistol under my bed. I only stopped a few years ago. I wanted to kill him for what he’d done to me, not just to my body, but taking away my father and leaving me alone. I even planned how, if he came back to England.”
