A Jewel for the Taking: Thieves of Desire Book 2

by St. Clair, Ellie

  “Except about the libertine you had become. The man who could charm the clothing off every woman who entered his presence, I was told. Whose attention all women vied for. Who used his wiles to enter the bedrooms of women throughout London before making off with their jewels. At first, I denied that any of it could be true, but when you hear something often enough…”

  She knew her chopping had become erratic, and when Xander laid a hand over her fingers, she didn’t resist him, for she knew if she wasn’t careful, she might lose one of them.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said softly, and her eyes filled with tears when he didn’t immediately deny the words. She shouldn’t care. It had nothing to do with her. And yet, it hurt so badly it was as though the very knife in her fingers had been plunged into her heart.

  “I’m sorry you had to hear all of that,” he continued. “Some of it is true. I did charm my way into bedrooms, use what I could to my advantage. Arie saw the opportunity and made use of it.”

  “Of course he did,” she said bitterly, hating Xander’s brother more than ever.

  “But the truth is… I have never slept with another woman since you. Just as I never did before you.”

  She lifted her tear-stained eyes to his, already shaking her head.

  “That cannot be true.”

  “It is,” he said, shrugging one shoulder slightly, his expression difficult to read. “I cannot say that I was a perfect saint or never touched another woman since you, for there were some things that I had to do. But I never made love to anyone. I couldn’t.”

  Juliet knew that he could be deceitful, that he was one of the best liars and charmers she had ever known. But here, with all bared between them, could he really claim such a bold statement without any truth to it?

  “I… I don’t know what to say,” she stammered. “I’m not even sure what to think.”

  “I understand,” Xander said, crossing to her, taking her cheeks between his palms as he leaned down and kissed one wet eye and then the other. “Take your time with it. But I needed you to know that.”

  He stepped away from her, beginning to assemble the destroyed food onto a plate as best he could.

  “We better take this up before the baron summons you once more.”

  She nodded mutely as he efficiently cleaned the counter in front of them, then picked up the plate in one hand and the candle in the other.

  “Shall we?”

  She nodded, her throat constricted by the lump that had formed within it, her emotions too jumbled to make any sense of them.

  Everything he had said to her — his words, his stories, his declarations — it all seemed too good to be true.

  So what would she do if it was?

  * * *

  Xander was shocked the next morning when the baron walked into the breakfast room.

  So too, apparently was Juliet, for she straightened in her chair, her eyes widening.

  “My lord,” she said, rising. “It is good to see you feeling better this morning.”

  “I’ve been fine,” he said, his words harsh, and Xander grimaced at hearing him speak to Juliet in such a tone. “I just needed a bit of rest after the house party, is all.”

  “Of course,” Juliet murmured as she sat back down, just the two of them at the table as the Shiplacks preferred to take their breakfast upstairs. Juliet had been studiously ignoring Xander’s gaze since she had entered, but with Damien present as well, there hadn’t been much to say, especially with other servants coming and going.

  “Tonight we shall have a splendid dinner with the Shiplacks,” the baron announced, his eyes gleaming, causing Xander’s instincts to stand on edge. Wilington was up to something. But what?

  “Do we have something to celebrate?” Juliet asked innocently, and the baron simply smiled smugly.

  “You shall learn more tonight,” he said. “Shiplack and I have had excellent financial dealings, and I am pleased that it is all coming into place. You, my dear, have been more a part of this than you realize.”

  “Oh?” Juliet said, her eyebrows knitting in consternation.

  “Yes. You have made an excellent showpiece and have raised a great deal of interest in what I have to offer.”

  “I see,” Juliet said, although her face paled and when she lifted her eyes to Xander, they were filled with a slight sense of panic — panic he understood. For it likely meant that Lord Wilington was selling his jewels, except half of them were no longer jewels but rather reproductions of paste stone and pinchback. He only hoped Annabelle was as good at what she did as Juliet claimed, or else this might all be over before they even began. “Well, you know I am happy to help.”

  Her smile was near to a grimace, but fortunately the baron didn’t seem to notice as he dove into his eggs and sausage with gusto.

  Juliet seemed to have lost her appetite, which Xander understood.

  He would have to remain close tonight during this dinner. And now that the baron was no longer abed, he and Damien had to begin working fast.

  * * *

  Juliet stared into the wardrobe before her while Annabelle worked away behind her.

  “Do you think he might allow you to wear the diamond necklace tonight?” Annabelle asked from the corner of the room, where she had set up a makeshift work table. “If we could get that, then we could leave with enough to make this all worth it.”

  “Is it done?” Juliet asked, turning around, still unsure just what she should wear.

  “Nearly,” Annabelle replied. “If I keep working while you are at dinner, I’m sure I could finish it.”

  “Do what you can,” Juliet said. “Who knows what’s going on in the baron’s mind? One moment he can barely lift his head off the pillow, the next, he is back ordering everyone around. It’s perplexing.”

  “You may get to wear the most beautiful jewels I have ever seen — and I have seen many,” Annabelle said with a wry grin as she looked up. “But at this moment I am most certainly glad not to be you.”

  Juliet snorted as she reached in and picked out a dress, uncaring which one it was.

  “And how are things with the erstwhile lover?”

  “Do you mean Xander?”

  “Is there anyone else?”

  “No,” Juliet said, her smile slightly fading. “There will never be anyone else. You know that as well as I do.”

  Annabelle put down the pinchback for a moment to really study Juliet. “Can you trust him? After everything you’ve been through with him?”

  Juliet hugged the gown to herself as she stared at her friend.

  “I don’t know what to think. When I’m with him, everything feels right. It’s as though I’m taken back five years ago. And then I remember everything that happened. When he explains to me why he did what he did — that he thought he was protecting me — it’s hard not to forgive him.”

  She paused, rubbing the beautiful silk of the gown between her fingers before looking up at Annabelle.

  “He said he left his entire savings for me. It would have been as much as we are hoping to earn from these jewels.”

  “He what?” Annabelle’s blue eyes went wide.

  “He says he left them with Mary. He didn’t tell her what was within the letter, but it explained where I should go to access them. He thought it would be enough for me to take care of myself.”

  “But you never received it.”

  “No.”

  “So who’s lying — Xander or Mary?”

  Juliet sighed as she began to remove her day dress. “I have seen Xander lie many a time, of course — but never to me. Whereas Mary… everything about that woman was deceitful. Besides, why would he even raise the subject with me if there was no truth to it?”

  “Hard to know why that family does anything they do.”

  “I suppose you are right.”

  “So what are you going to do now?”

  “Now, I’m going to go to dinner and try to actually eat something despite the fact that I continually l
ose my appetite whenever I’m with Lord Wilington and Mr. Shiplack.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Juliet called “Just a moment!” as she tried to allow Annabelle some time to hide everything she was working on. Once Annabelle had it tucked underneath one of the blankets, she crossed to the door and opened it a crack.

  “Yes?” she asked before there was indecipherable murmuring from the other side. “Thank you.”

  She shut the door, turning around with a regretful grin as she held up a bracelet. “There is good news and bad news.”

  Juliet returned the wry smile. “At least they believe that the bracelet is still a real piece of jewellery.”

  “Yes, that’s the good news. Do you think you can ask him for the necklace?”

  “Perhaps tomorrow,” Juliet said with a sigh. “As for tonight… he’s in a strange mood. I shouldn’t like to push things.”

  “Here,” Annabelle said, “let me help you.”

  She crossed over to Juliet and, despite her protestations, began to help her finish dressing. Juliet felt as though she was tightening her battle armour.

  And as it turned out, it wasn’t that far from the truth.

  Chapter 12

  Her greatest weapon was her smile, Juliet considered as she descended the stairs not long afterward. Her relationship with Lord Wilington was a strange one. He was apparently considering her as his wife, yet he never made any overtures besides his few sloppy attempts at pawing at her, as he had that day in the carriage.

  She knew how fortunate she actually was, but she was beginning to worry that soon enough he would want more.

  He never came to collect her from her room nor provided her any other reason to think that he might actually be interested in her. As far as she was aware, she was some showpiece for him — or a model for his pieces, if nothing else.

  “Miss Simpson,” Mrs. Shiplack said with a warm though somewhat empty smile as Juliet approached. Juliet didn’t know whether she was reading too much into it, but she wondered if that was worry hiding behind her eyes. “You look lovely this evening.”

  “As do you, Mrs. Shiplack,” Juliet returned, grateful that the woman was here and she wasn’t alone with the two other men. She wondered if Mrs. Shiplack felt the same.

  “Miss Simpson,” Mr. Shiplack crossed over to her, standing next to his wife yet leaning toward Juliet and she had to resist from leaning back away from him. “Your bracelet… is captivating.”

  “One of the prizes in my collection,” the baron said as he joined them, practically preening, as he seemed to completely ignore Juliet besides for what she wore. “The emeralds are dazzling, are they not?”

  “They are,” Mr. Shiplack said, as he tilted his head in an attempt to better see them. Juliet swallowed hard. She had no idea how much Mr. Shiplack knew about jewels, but she had an uneasy feeling that she should not allow him too close.

  “I have been most fortunate that the baron has so generously allowed me to wear a different piece every night,” Juliet said, twisting the bracelet around her wrist so as to try to prevent Mr. Shiplack from taking a good look at it. “Thank you, my lord.”

  “Of course,” the baron said, looking up at her for the first time since she had joined them. “They look well on you.”

  With that, he waved Mr. Shiplack over to the sideboard for a drink, but not before Shiplack looked back at Juliet, running his eyes over her in a way that made her shiver.

  She turned a forced smile to Mrs. Shiplack, who was wringing her hands together.

  “I must apologize,” she said. “I know my husband is a most charming man, but I hope he doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable. He simply believes that you are a beautiful woman.”

  “That is very… kind of him.”

  “Yes,” Mrs. Shiplack said, nodding.

  The awkward exchange was just a prelude of the remainder of the dinner. The baron was in an odd mood, but Juliet didn’t find out why until near the end, when he stood and lifted his glass in a toast.

  “Tonight is cause for celebration,” he said, and Juliet swallowed hard. He wasn’t going to announce anything about their marriage — was he? “You know that I value my prized jewels. However, there are many that I find I no longer have need for. I am pleased to tell you all that, thanks to Mr. Shiplack, I have found a buyer for most of them.”

  Juliet’s stomach flipped over as she wondered just what that would mean once this buyer inspected all of the jewels. If Lord Wilington were to discover the duplicity, would he possibly blame her?

  “How lovely,” she said, swallowing her chagrin. “And when is this sale to take place?”

  “In just a couple of days,” he said. “We shall make the sale, return to London to announce our engagement, and then we shall be going to the Continent shortly thereafter.”

  Juliet felt the blood drain out of her face at the news.

  “O-our engagement? To the Continent?”

  She could practically sense Xander stiffen behind her, where he stood sentinel at the door as he waited to serve the table.

  “Yes,” the baron said, waving a hand in the air. “It is why you are still here, aren’t you? Or are you just enjoying all of the baubles that have been decorating your neck and wrists? Or perhaps living in luxury suits you, hmm? If you don’t want to be married, we can find another arrangement. One that could start immediately.”

  His eyes took on a hard glint as he stared at her, and it took everything within Juliet not to tell him just exactly what she thought. She knew, however, deep within her, that she was using him as much as he was using her, so she really could blame him for nothing.

  “I appreciate everything you have done for me, my lord, of course,” she said demurely, lowering her eyes, just as she felt something brush against her knee under the table. She jumped only to find Mr. Shiplack grinning at her smugly.

  Suddenly it all seemed too much to bear, and despite the surprised faces at her reaction, she pushed away from the table almost violently, muttering an excuse as she did. She needed a moment. Perhaps she wasn’t cut out for this after all.

  Juliet practically fled out of the room before actually breaking into a run until she pushed open the door of an empty parlor and sat down, her head within her hands as she took deep breaths. It wasn’t long before the door opened behind her and she flew to her feet, her hand coming to her heart when she saw who it was.

  “Xander,” she said, and took a breath. “You scared me. I thought perhaps you were—”

  “Shiplack?” he finished grimly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yes, I can understand your fear. I know the baron has threatened action before, Juliet, but I think Shiplack is far more dangerous. I don’t like the way he looks at you. And if he ever touched you…”

  Juliet didn’t think she should mention just what Shiplack had been trying to do under the table. She had a feeling it would cause Xander to fly in there and take off his head.

  “Xander, we need to work much more quickly. I can’t do this much longer, I honestly can’t.” She held up a hand as he began to open his mouth. “I know what you’re going to say — that I should leave. But I can’t do that either. I’ve worked far too hard on this. It’s just taken too long now. The duplicity has been too much. I know I’ve tried to be like you, like your family, but this … it’s getting to me. I don’t feel right about it, not anymore, as awful as Lord Wilington is. And I can only avoid Shiplack for so long.”

  “You’re right,” he said, his features hardening. “I would feel much better if you left. But if you’re worried as to whether or not you can do this, then I will tell you this. I know you, Juliet, and I am well aware that you can do anything you put your mind to. I also agree that we must work quickly. I have no idea who the baron’s buyer could be, but I’m worried—”

  He was interrupted by a knock on the door, and they exchanged a glance.

  “Don’t answer that,” Xander said, holding up a finger.

  “I have to,” she said. �
�It is likely just Mrs. Shiplack or perhaps the housekeeper, ensuring my well-being.”

  “True. Or it could also be—”

  The door began to be pushed open, so it didn’t seem to matter anymore whether or not Juliet decided to allow whoever it was entrance. Juliet frantically waved Xander backward, for all would be lost if she was discovered alone in the parlor with one of the footmen. Xander stepped back into the shadows of the room, and despite her concern that they would be found and her knowledge that she could, in fact, take care of herself, she was still grateful that he was there with her — just in case.

  Especially when Mr. Shiplack stepped in.

  “Mr. Shiplack,” Juliet said, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart, knowing that there was no good way for this to end. “Please don’t mind me and my womanly hysterics. I shall return to the dining room in moments. I just needed a minute to compose myself.”

  “Actually, Miss Simpson, I was happy to have the opportunity to catch you alone.”

  “Oh?”

  This couldn’t be good.

  “Yes,” he said, advancing toward her, although Juliet wondered if the fact he had left the door open behind him was a good sign. She would have to hope so.

  “It isn’t exactly proper, though, is it?”

  Mr. Shiplack chuckled lowly. “Is anything about your arrangement here at Lord Wilington’s house appropriate, Miss Simpson? You are an unmarried woman, basically unchaperoned. You have no true connections besides a few distant relations you claim, people who are nowhere close to London to provide any validity for you. You are aware that you are known throughout the ton as the baron’s mistress?”

  “I am nothing of the sort!” she said indignantly, her emotions true now as her hands formed fists at her side.

  “I may know that and you may know that, but you can say whatever you want. That is the truth of it,” he said, stopping in front of her, far too close. “If you are looking for such a position, Miss Simpson, I can assure you that I could provide a far better situation for you.”