So, when the opportunity opened for Adam to work for Van Dero, he took it. The whispers of the Collector’s position suited him, as did the money.
Mr. Moore was not a small man. If he wished, the brawny man could have fought back. Sirius would have preferred it at the moment, because his thoughts kept returning to Pia.
What would she think of him if she saw him now? What would she think of Adam if she knew the man he’d become?
They laid Mr. Moore over a small desk and one of his men pried his mouth open.
Sirius grinned into Moore’s face. “I hope you’re not a biter. I think I’ll take that tooth in the front.” Sirius tapped the blade against the tooth he wanted. “A hole in your mouth to make up for the holes in your story.” One of his footmen laughed.
Moore tried to speak, and Sirius motioned for the footman holding the Collector’s mouth to let go.
“They never gave a name, but I believe one was called Swite or Sweets?”
“Sweets?” Sirius asked.
Moore nodded. His gaze held Sirius’.
Sirius sighed. “I believe you. Now, hold still.”
Moore gasped. “But, I told you the truth.”
“Yes, and I now I shall make certain you never lie again. Hold still.”
∫ ∫ ∫
1 3
* * *
Was that blood on Sirius’ hands?
Pia had stopped just steps away from Sirius on the sidewalk and watched him hand a reddened handkerchief to a footman.
After making one of her deliveries and failing on the second, Pia had asked the driver to take her into the city. She hadn’t wanted anything in particular; she’d simply wished to walk around. It had been many years since she’d been in Liverpool. Much had changed in the decade.
The driver had left the carriage in front of a small club where Sirius was doing business. As Pia walked in that direction, she’d watched Sirius and his footman leave.
She’d never noticed the size of the men around him until now. Sirius was so strapping that all others usually faded away at the sight of him. In his black breeches and dark coat, he was slightly ominous, especially when one took in the cut of his jaw and his piercing eyes.
There was something mysteriously alluring about him. He reminded her of some of her porcelain objects. She desperately wished to touch them, stroke their perfection, caress their every curve and line but knew she shouldn’t.
A touch of him and she’d been lost for the rest of the day. She’d hardly been able to focus on what Lady Hadresham had been saying. Her other delivery with Lord Mullon would have to wait since the man was not home and Aunt Melody had instructed she was to give the porcelain to no one but the owner. Through it all, she’d reminisced on the way Sirius had cupped her cheek and how warm his eyes had been thereafter.
She wished Adam were alive. She wanted to talk to him. She’d always enjoyed their conversations. She wondered what he’d think about her growing feelings for Sirius. Would he hate her?
She watched Sirius stop in front of the driver and speak with him. His footman stood close. He looked angry. Intense.
Then his eyes began to search and found her.
He started for her. Something told her to retreat yet another part of her kept her feet rooted to the ground.
He stopped a foot from her and looked her over. “I didn’t know you planned to see the city. I’d have left a footman with you if that were the case. It’s dangerous here.” He looked concerned.
“As I told your driver, I didn’t go far. Also, I’m quite used to walking around cities on my own. I lived in London. Surely, Liverpool can’t be worse than that.” She looked at his hands. “Besides, it seems you are the one who got hurt.” She reached out and took his fingers in her own. There were small cuts on his knuckles, but nothing that would have warranted the blood she’d seen on the handkerchief. His fingers were so solid. The back of them was covered in hair, but it was so pale that one wouldn’t know unless they got close.
“I’m fine,” he said. “It’s not my blood.”
“Whose blood is it?” she asked. When she began to take back her hands, he stopped her.
“Your fingers are cold. I can feel it through these thin gloves.” His thumb stroked her palm. And Pia thought if she’d been cold before, she wasn’t cold now. “Where are your winter gloves?”
She looked up and once again found a frown in his brows. “I haven’t purchased any yet.” She had a budget she had to keep to. Gloves would not fit in until next month. “But again, I’m quite used to…”
He took her hand, placed it on his arm, and began to walk. “You can’t be out without proper gloves.”
“Where are we going?” She rushed after his long strides.
“To a shop with gloves.” He looked her over. “And a scarf and cloak. You’re not properly dressed.”
The people on the sidewalk moved out of his way and glanced at him in awe. Pia was sure her expression had been close to, if not the same, when she’d seen him earlier.
“Sirius, there is no reason to bother yourself with this. As I said, I am used to it.”
He stopped and turned to her. “Well, I am not. No woman in my care will freeze to death in this cold.”
Woman in his care?
“I am not in your care,” she said.
“Are you staying at my home? Partaking of my table?”
She frowned. “I am a guest.” Frustrated and shamed, she felt her cheeks heat. “If you wish for me to go elsewhere...”
His hand grabbed hers tightly. “No, you are not to leave...” His mouth remained open as though he’d left something off his statement. She wondered what else he could have said. The possessiveness in his tone and his eyes startled her.
“Unless it is to go to your father’s house,” he finished.
She stepped back, though she didn’t get far. He still held her in a vise grip. “No. I won’t go there.”
“Then come.” He started down the sidewalk again.
With her smaller size, she was left with no other option but to move with him. “Lord Sirius, please. I can’t accept anything from you.” Having something Sirius bought her keeping her warm… The very thought should have left her uneasy, but instead… She could barely feel the cold anymore.
“Pia.” The roughness in his tone was somehow gentled. His eyes explored her face. “If not for me, accept it for Adam. If my brother were here, he would wish me to do this for you, just as I care for his mother. I wronged Adam over and over again. Do not let me wrong my brother in this one simple deed that would cost me little more than nothing to do.”
Pia sighed. Her eyes burned.
She tried to picture Adam in her mind. Before Sirius, it had been easy, yet now… That sixteen-year-old boy’s features transformed into the man before her. Only the eyes remained the same. So very beautiful.
She yielded to his wishes with a single nod.
∫ ∫ ∫
1 4
* * *
“How does it feel?” Sirius’ hands skimmed down Pia’s fur-covered arms before sliding back up to cup her shoulders. He stared at her reflection in the looking glass. Pia was flushed, her mouth slightly parted as she looked at him.
From head to toe, his money covered her. She’d fought him on the wool dress and the boots. A gray hat and scarf made her violet eyes the most stunning in the world.
He was glad to have never been born a lofty lord. He was glad to have worked and labored for every coin he possessed. He hadn’t spent a shilling of the money he’d gained from the estate on her. Pia had been dressed in the coin he’d worked for, the money Adam had always intended to give her.
As he looked at her, touched her, he couldn’t help but think of his own body covering her, protecting her from the weather and the eyes of others who’d think to keep her as he did.
As he intended to do.
Out on the sidewalk, he’d almost told her. Instead of saying she was not to leave, he’d almost said
she was not to leave him. Not again. He should have gone back to her, this beautiful sweet woman who saw blood on his hands and, with fear in her eyes, reached for him.
She would be his. She would be Lady Gordie. She might as well begin to dress the part.
She glanced over to where the modiste and the seamstress worked on other things, cleaning and mending with light chatter.
Leaning toward her ear, he whispered, “They’re not watching us.” He’d had the shop closed upon his entrance. He did the same when he brought his daughters, cousin, and mother. The gazes of the staff would remain averted.
“Why aren’t they watching us?” Pia whispered.
“Because they know I like my privacy.” They knew who he was.
They knew their place.
Unlike Mr. Moore.
Sirius’ hands were still stained with Mr. Moore’s blood.
Pia turned to him and lifted her chin. “I don’t think Adam could have afforded all of this.”
He touched her cheek. “But if he could, do you think he’d have given you anything less?”
She lowered her gaze and released a shaky breath. “I don’t know.”
He lifted her chin again. “I do.”
She looked over at the staff again nervously.
“Don’t worry about them,” he said. “Do you like it?”
“Lord Gordie…”
He shook his head. “Sirius. Just Sirius. Say it.”
Her eyes widened. “I… shouldn’t.”
From her expression, he knew she could feel what was growing between them as well. She was frightened. Of him? Of her feelings?
He wasn’t. He knew exactly what he wanted.
“Say it,” he said.
“They might hear,” she replied. She bit her lower lip.
He narrowed his gaze on her mouth. “I could kiss you now and they’d not look. They’d not say a word, I swear it.”
She wavered a little. “Let us not forget, I work for a living. Servants talk.”
“They won’t talk about me.”
She shook her head. “No man holds that much power.”
“Willing to wager on those words?” He leaned forward.
Her hands shot up and pressed against his chest. “Let us not chance it.”
He chuckled.
She closed her eyes. “Sirius, this is too much. I only need to be warm. I don’t need… I’m not…”
“Look at me.”
Her eyes opened.
“You’re not what?” he asked.
She remained silent. Her delicate features stilled, but his hand did not. He moved up her jawline and cupped the back of her neck. She didn’t fight him. If anything, she seemed to lean into him.
“Are you afraid of me?” he asked.
“Have you ever bought another woman clothes?” she asked. “And before you say Georgiana or Gillian, I don’t mean them.”
Sirius thought. “I have given a woman a gift in the past.”
Pia stiffened.
“She did not accept the gift,” Sirius went on. “She did not like what it said about our… arrangement.”
Pia frowned. “And what is your arrangement with her?”
He took a moment to think. “Arrangement is the wrong word.”
She glared. “And what is our arrangement?”
“You are a woman in my care who I… care about.” He didn’t feel like he was winning their debate anymore.
“And she isn’t?”
Was she jealous? He wondered… “She’s different. You’re different.” Belle was more different than any woman he knew. They got on very well, but he could never love Belle… and she would never consider his suit even if he did.
Pia’s expression changed, and her eyes searched his before she let out a breath. “I’m sorry. I look at you and… This close… I miss Adam.”
Adam. Sirius almost wanted to curse himself. Would his past always stand between them? It was his fault. He kept bringing Adam up but couldn’t stop. Adam made her happy and it seemed she needed a little happiness. He wished… he couldn’t tell her the truth. He would simply have to find a way to make Pia fall for him as she had Adam.
But how?
It was something he’d never had to worry about before. He’d stopped looking for love after her. Strange how it would be Pia who made him want it again.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, as though realizing the words were something he’d rather not have heard. “I just… You have his eyes.” She frowned.
“They are the Hayes’ men eyes.”
She shook her head. “No, they’re not. It’s…” She pulled away and stepped back.
Were Adam’s eyes actually different than his brothers’? No one had ever said so before.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Don’t be.” He caught her arm and turned to the modiste. “We’re leaving. Send the bill to my home.”
She bowed her head and Sirius walked out with Pia at his side.
He slowed and then stopped when he became aware that he was dragging her.
Her eyes remained downcast, her expression melancholy. Was it because he’d teased her about a kiss?
“Pia, they were just gifts. Don’t think for a moment that I expect anything from you in exchange for anything I do for you. I won’t. Not now or ever.”
She looked up. “Thank you, Sirius.” She put her hand on his arm and smiled. It was soft and honest. “Thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
She laughed lightly. “You are truly a surprise.”
“A good one, I hope?”
She paused before she answered, “A very good one. I love everything you’ve brought me. Thank you.” Her eyes danced and Sirius tried not to read too much into her statement or the sudden glow on her face.
But he wasn’t the only one having trouble escaping the past. Her look was one he’d seen plenty in their shared past.
Which reminded him of something else. “If you don’t mind, I want to take you somewhere else before we retire for the evening.” He wanted to show her something he knew she’d like.
It was from the past. She’d likely think of Adam, but he couldn’t help himself.
She nodded and they left.
∫ ∫ ∫
1 5
* * *
Pia’s tension fled when they departed from the heart of Liverpool and started down a road into the woods. She couldn’t imagine why he’d bring her there, but in an effort to not appear as mercurial as she felt, she put on a smile and took in the scenery.
She couldn’t believe the questions she’d asked in the shop. What did it matter if he’d bought another woman clothes? Pia had no plans to become his wife or mistress or to embed herself in his life any more than she already had.
Therefore, it didn’t matter. It was just as he said. She was temporarily in his care. The least he could do was make her comfortable. She could leave the clothes when she left his home.
Yet now there was a surprise ahead. Refusing to let her mind ask questions that had no bearing on her future with the earl, she chose to be merry about the jaunt and ignore the fact that though she was a widow and he a widower, their traveling alone could raise brows.
The day was cloudy. The trees were evergreen and ranged with rich deep colors. It was a peaceful, quiet ride.
“Do you know where we are?” Sirius asked.
She shook her head.
“Venmont Hill,” he said. “A land of mystery and legend.”
Her interest piqued, she straightened. “What legend?”
He grinned. “It is said that this is the final resting place of the Holy Grail.”
Pia laughed. “Truly? And what Holy Grail would this be? The one from the extravagant tales of King Arthur and his knights or the Holy Chalice of Jesus?”
“Why not both?” He leaned forward. “There is so much to see here. I’ve brought Adalina and Babbette before. I wish we had more time, but there is one thin
g you must see.” Then he twisted his lips.
“What?” she asked.
He tilted his head. “Well, now that we’re here, I’m second-guessing myself.”
Sirius was undecided? Pia didn’t think such a thing possible. She didn’t know a man who’d confess such an emotion aloud.
“What is it you want me to see?” she asked.
“It’s a surprise.”
Her heart leapt and knocked against her ribs. Another gift. Why was he giving her so much?
In the shop, she’d desperately wanted to remind him that she wasn’t his wife and inform him that she would never be any man’s wife or kept woman. She’d suffered under a man’s rule before and had no plans to do so again… even if that man made her weak with little more than a smile.
Buying her more items would only make her feel more indebted to him.
“You’re not planning to buy me anything else, are you?” she asked.
He smirked. “This land is owned by Lord Venmont. He is an old friend of Georgiana’s.”
Pia didn’t know Lord Venmont, but she recalled Georgiana mentioning him a long time ago. She couldn’t remember why she had.
The carriage stopped in front of a rather gloomy-looking manor. It was tall and made of a dark brick that looked almost black. She wondered if there were legends wrapped into every piece of the land.
Her questions ended once they were inside the manor.
The house was much warmer inside, as were the colors. Still done in dark shades, the gleaming wood and patterned floor made the place nearly cozy.
“The master is not in town,” the butler said, taking Sirius’ hat. “But you are to be supplied with anything you need while you are here. Shall I have rooms prepared and dinner started?”
“Yes, thank you,” Sirius replied. Pia had assumed they’d stay at the inn in town. She’d been ready to pay for her own room and her meal, but apparently, that would no longer be necessary.
The butler left and Sirius started them up the stairs.
“Are you close friends with Lord Venmont?” Pia asked.
“Business associates,” he said.
The Secret Pleasures of an Earl: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book) Page 8