by Cheryl Holt
Was that prospect too outrageous to consider? Was she a ninny for assuming he fancied her? That he wanted her? Well, no one had ever wanted her. Why did she always conveniently forget that fact?
She stood and stomped out, and as she reached the door to the hall, he called, “I might have been a little harsh just then. I’m sorry if I upset you.”
In light of how he’d insulted her, it was a paltry and completely useless remark.
“Jump off a cliff, Mr. Shawcross. There are plenty of them nearby, so I’m positive you can locate one easily enough. Please pick the highest one you can find.”
She stormed out, telling herself that it was the last time—the very, very, very last time!—she would ever behave like such an idiot.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Lucas sat on a bench in the garden behind the manor. It was dark and cold, the wind blowing hard, so it seemed even colder. He was bundled in a coat, but it didn’t provide the warmth he needed. London was chilly and damp, but this godforsaken spot, where the breeze rushed off the icy ocean water, was unbearable.
He wished he was back in town, snuggled at his favorite brothel. The lamps would be turned down low and the fires burning very hot. Why was he loafing at Carter Crossing?
Raven had asked him to come, and he always had trouble refusing his brother. He was such an imperious fellow, and it was difficult to ignore him.
And of course, they were the only two left in their small family, so they had a powerful connection. He was a great trial to Raven though. With his being reckless and negligent, he cheated people and constantly ran scams that brought him enormous satisfaction, but his conduct drove Raven to distraction.
Lucas never suffered regrets, and he hated that Raven fretted over his antics. He’d like to behave better, but he couldn’t.
Raven had grown rich from his African explorations, and he’d given a ton of money to Lucas, but he’d been smart about it. Lucas’s funds were stashed in a trust that was managed by his brother. Lucas received an allowance and had to request more when he overspent, but he rarely did.
He’d had too many lean years, and he’d learned to never count on money. It could vanish as easily as it arrived.
He’d agreed to help Raven roust Beatrice and Clayton Carter from their stable perches, and he was enjoying the chance to terrorize them. It was a bad habit, ingrained after he’d been sent to an orphanage, then had attended a charity school.
Both facilities had been foul and violent, and he’d been a gullible boy from a prosperous family who’d been completely unprepared for the experience. He’d developed the necessary skills quickly enough though, and he’d discovered that he had a real aptitude for brutality and vice.
He mostly felt dead on the inside. He was never merry or sad or angry. He simply coasted along, watching others, being cautious, and determining who could be counted as friend or foe.
Raven accused him of having no scruples or morals. He had them. He just didn’t give them much exercise.
He didn’t remember much about his parents or the life he’d had with them. He certainly didn’t remember Oakley that Raven claimed had been their occasional summer home. Raven was remodeling it so it would once again be the fantastic mansion it had previously been, but Lucas had no idea if that was a good plan or not.
Since he recalled no link to the place, he possessed no nostalgia for it. But if it made Raven happy to live in it, Lucas wasn’t about to tell him he shouldn’t.
A brisk gust of wind whipped by, forcing him to wonder yet again why he was dawdling in the country. He’d accompanied Raven because his brother had wanted Lucas to guard his back, but also to present a united front to Beatrice and Clayton so they’d realize that Harrison Stone’s sons had survived, and they were lethally enraged.
Raven had plenty of rage to display on his own, and he didn’t need Lucas joining in to scare anyone.
Up on the verandah, Millicent exited the house, and he muttered to himself, “About damn time.”
He wasn’t the sort of idiot who trifled with innocents. There were hoards of trollops in the kingdom who were eager to revel in any disgusting fashion he proposed, so he couldn’t figure out why he was bothering with her. He was a shrewd judge of character, and from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her, he’d recognized she was dying to expand her horizons. Why shouldn’t he oblige her?
She was meeting him, but before she could dash down into the dark garden, her erstwhile beau, Preston Melville, exited the house too. He caught up to her, and they chatted, but Millicent’s impatience was too obvious, and he slithered away so she could continue on.
But he lurked at a window, peering out and worried over where she was headed. The poor sap was madly in love with her, but she was too vivacious and spirited for him. If he ended up wed to her, she’d grind him to dust with how miserable she’d be as his wife. In Lucas’s view, by flirting with her, he was saving Melville from making a hideous mistake.
She pranced up, looking pretty and sassy, and she grinned at him where he was relaxed on the bench like a lazy king.
“What took you so long?” he asked.
“My brother’s guests kept stopping me to gossip about your brother. Is it true he pummeled Clayton this afternoon?”
“He didn’t pummel him. He simply knocked him off a chair.”
“Ooh, I’d like to have seen that! Why were they quarreling?”
“Why would you suppose? Clayton is an ass. He annoys Raven immensely, and Raven doesn’t tolerate fools very well. I noticed Mr. Melville accosting you on the verandah. What did he want?”
“He just wanted to talk, and I can’t stand to snub him. He’s so nice, and he dotes on me.”
“He should let you go or you’ll eat him alive.” He gestured to the spot next to him, indicating she should sit. “Did you bring a beverage?”
“Whiskey. Is that all right?”
“Whiskey is fine.”
She handed him the bottle, then nestled down with him. Her bodily heat was very welcome, and he pondered whether it would be rude to suggest she shift to his other side so she blocked more of the wind. Her cloak was lined with fur, so she was better prepared for the frigid temperatures.
He downed several swallows of the liquor, liking how it warmed him. He offered it to her, and she enjoyed several hefty swallows too. He was turning her into a lush with hardly any effort.
“What about your brother and my mother?” she asked. “She’s locked herself in her bedchamber, and she’s refusing to come out.”
“He merely put her in her place.”
“How?”
“He took over your family’s company today.”
“What do you mean?”
“Clayton had mortgaged it over and over, and he never made any payments on the debt, so Raven purchased it.”
“Why would he deliberately bind himself to this tedious estate at the edge of the world?”
Lucas smirked. “He has his reasons.”
“I wish I’d seen him inflicting himself on Mother too. I’ve spent twenty years trying to put her in her place, but I’ve never managed it.”
“Raven has a definite ability to frighten people to death.”
“Was he always that way? Or have my mother and brother goaded him to new heights of indignation?”
“He’s always been fierce. He had to be. So have I.”
“What happened to you when you were a child? You constantly allude to tragic circumstances, but you never clarify what they were.”
Should he persist with keeping their secret? Raven would spring the situation on the Carters all at once, then kick them out on the road. He wanted them to suffer as Raven and Lucas had suffered.
On the morning when the authorities had arrived to throw them out, their father had already died in prison, and their mother seemed to have lost her mind. She’d grown so mentally befuddled that she hadn’t understood their expulsion was imminent, or if she
had, she hadn’t moved to tamp down the consequences.
Lord Coxwold had obtained a judgment to sell their assets to recoup what had been stolen from him, and as they’d been shoved out the door, they hadn’t even been allowed to pack their clothes. Poor Raven, who’d been just ten, had had to take charge so they didn’t end up sleeping in a ditch. Their father’s acquaintances had abandoned them—all except one—and the help he’d provided had been furtive and unenthusiastic.
Lucas had been four, so he had limited memories of that fateful period, but his life had been destroyed in an instant. With that dire scenario as his history, how could he have turned out to be stable and reliable? It simply wasn’t possible.
Their mother had passed away shortly after their eviction, so he, Raven, and Lydia had been orphaned. They’d been delivered to an orphanage, then eventually shipped off to different schools.
He’d seen Lydia twice after that, Raven a few more times. Mostly, he’d been left alone in London, a terror at school and, later on, a terror in London who would commit any foul act.
It was a miracle, really, that he and Raven had survived. Not only had they survived, but they’d thrived in stunning ways. But it also wasn’t that unexpected that Lydia had perished. She’d been an unprotected female, with no parent to warn her away from a scoundrel like Clayton Carter.
How could she have made it? Two of Harrison Stone’s children had beaten the odds. The third one hadn’t.
“You’ll find out what happened to Raven and me very soon,” he said.
“Why won’t you tell me now?”
“Raven wants it to be a surprise.”
“If he’s taken over Carter Imports, what will become of my family? It was our sole source of income. How is he imagining we’ll support ourselves?”
“I don’t think he’s concerned about it.”
“Well,” she huffed, “that’s typical of him, isn’t it? He’s so surly and arrogant. Why would he worry about paltry old me? Is he figuring I’ll wear rags and eat grass?”
“He hasn’t considered your fate. He’s too keen to ruin your mother and brother.”
She tsked with offense. “You’re being awfully blasé about it. If I begged you to stop him, would you?”
“I couldn’t dissuade him even if I felt like intervening. He’s quite determined.”
“How about you?” she asked. “Are you determined?”
He was and he wasn’t. He always liked to punish reprobates who deserved it, and he relished revenge as much as the next man, but Charles Carter’s sins had occurred two decades earlier. Lucas wasn’t burning with the fury that kept Raven up at night, but then, Lucas never burned with much emotion over any issue.
“I’m not determined,” he said, “but I’ll enjoy having your mother and brother laid low.”
She grabbed his coat by the lapels and shook him. “What did they do?”
He sighed, as if she were an irksome burden. “Here’s our story. I hope your frivolous feminine mind can bear it.”
“Don’t make fun of me. Just spit it out.”
“Basically, your father was an embezzler, and when the theft was uncovered, he blamed it on my father. My father was arrested and prosecuted, and your father skated away with a huge reward. He used it to buy up everything that had previously been ours.”
“Are you claiming Carter Imports was yours in the past?”
“Yes—but it had a different name. It was Stone Shipping.”
She scowled. “That can’t be right. My parents built it from the ground up.”
“They lied to you, and in addition to that dubious conduct, Clayton seduced my sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“I had a sister. She died in childbirth. It’s difficult for a man like my brother to forget that sort of transgression. He’s demanding his pound of flesh, and you’re lucky he didn’t get it from you.”
“How?”
“He’d have liked to ruin you, then leave you in the lurch—as Clayton did to my sister—but he’s too honorable. I wouldn’t have hesitated, but he couldn’t force himself to follow through.”
“Is that why he was so attentive to me when he first arrived?”
“Yes, but he wasn’t actually interested in you.”
He thought she might be incensed, but she shuddered with relief. “I’m so glad to hear it was feigned. My mother ordered me to encourage him, but he scares the life out of me.”
“He decided you were young and annoying.” He shrugged. “I think you’re annoying too, so I have no idea why I sneak off with you. Nothing much has transpired to entice me.”
“As if I’d throw myself at your feet. If I ever succumb to passion, it will be after I have a ring on my finger.”
He studied her, pondering how impudent she was, how spoiled. She was quickly growing to like whiskey very much, and he wondered what else she’d grow to like. He suspected she might engage in all kinds of mischief before she had a wedding ring, but he didn’t tell her that. She wouldn’t believe him anyway.
Instead, he asked, “After Raven makes his next move, have you envisioned a conclusion for yourself? You’re not the type to have reflected much on the future.”
“What are you saying? You constantly speak in riddles.”
“Clayton has lost his shipping business. Raven shuttered it today, and you’ll never guess what he has arranged for tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Carter Crossing is his too, and you’re about to be evicted.”
She frowned. “How could it be his? Clayton would never have put it up for sale—at least I doubt he would have.”
“Raven owns it the same way he owns your shipping company. Clayton has a serious gambling problem. You understand that, don’t you?”
“Well, I know he gambles,” the foolish ninny said, “but every gentleman does that.”
“He’s one of the worst, and he has no aptitude for it, so he has the worst luck.”
“He wagered over Carter Crossing?”
“No, he just mortgaged it over and over—because he needed money. My brother bought it from his creditors.”
She stared beseechingly, as if hoping he was jesting or merely trying to upset her. Ultimately, she said, “You’re telling the truth.”
“Of course it’s the truth. Why would I lie about it?”
“What will happen to me?”
He noticed the exasperating girl didn’t inquire about her mother or brother—or her cousin, Rebecca. He shouldn’t have been surprised that someone so self-centered would only think of herself.
“I can’t imagine what will happen to you,” he said.
“Will you and your brother live at Carter Crossing?”
“No. Raven purchased that neighboring property that was abandoned. Oakley? He’s renovating it, and he’ll live there. As to Carter Crossing, I’m fairly sure he intends to demolish it.”
“It’s a perfectly good house!” she complained. “Why would he deliberately wreck it?”
“You’re failing to comprehend how angry he is.”
“If he stays at Oakley, and Carter Crossing is leveled, where will you be?”
“In London. I’m heading there shortly. Probably in the morning. I’ve had about all the excitement in the country that I can abide.”
“But…but…I thought…”
When she didn’t finish her sentence, he asked, “You thought what?”
“I thought you were sweet on me. I thought we were…well…”
“I’ve never been sweet on anyone,” he bluntly admitted, “and I’ve certainly never been sweet on you. You’re amusing though, and our trysts have been entertaining. It’s been the only part of my sojourn here that was the least bit enjoyable.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I assumed you’d save me from Carter Crossing. I assumed you’d save me from Preston Melville.”
“I’m nobody’s champion, and I’m definitely no
body’s savior.”
“So you’ve been toying with my affections?”
He scoffed. “You don’t have any affections. Don’t pretend to be hurt. Female histrionics never work on me.”
She peered at the manor, her mind whirring so fervidly that he could almost hear it churning away. Eventually, she said, “You’re not married, are you?”
“Gad, no, and with the tarts who fill my world, I’d never shackle myself to one of them.”
“Are you promised? Are you betrothed?”
“No! I’ve never seen a good marriage, and I would never risk the matrimonial noose. It holds no appeal to me whatsoever.”
Suddenly, she flung herself against him, crashing into him so forcefully that, if he hadn’t instinctively grabbed her, she’d have bounced off and tumbled to the ground.
He’d shared a few heated kisses with her that night out on the beach, but they hadn’t gone any farther than that. She’d refused to meet him in a bedchamber, and he wouldn’t deflower her on a park bench, so he hadn’t gotten much of a benefit out of the flirtation he’d commenced.
She was pretty and shapely. With her wicked tendencies surging to the fore, she’d likely be a wildcat in a bed—once she learned the ropes—and he wondered if it would be worth it to teach her some tricks. He was sure not.
“Take me to London with you,” she begged. “Please?”
“To be my what? I just told you I don’t plan to ever wed.”
“What other role is there? Mistress? Paramour? Friend? Confidante? I don’t care what my position would be. Take me with you, and we’ll figure it out later!”
He snorted with derision. “I’d have to be mad to bring you there.”
“If you leave me behind, I’ll just die!”
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
“You’re aware of how tediously I live. According to you, I won’t even have any of this much longer. You have to agree! You can’t desert me!”
She searched his eyes, and he blandly stared back.
As Raven repeatedly scolded, he always did exactly the wrong thing. He had no scruples and no impulse control. In light of some of the trouble he’d caused over the years, he was fortunate he hadn’t been hanged or transported to the penal colonies as an unrepentant nuisance.
