Seven Lovely Sins (The Northumberland Nine Book 7)

by Dayna Quince

  He returned to the bed and stroked a hand over her silky sable hair. “I’m sorry,” he said. He’d said it so many times now the words sounded pathetic.

  She reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. “Don’t go. We can face whatever happens next, just don’t go.”

  Pain lanced his heart. She cupped his hand to her face and kissed his palm.

  “I love you, Nic. This is not goodbye or forever. I will return to you.”

  “It feels like forever,” she said.

  “But it won’t be. I promise you. Do you believe in me?”

  She nodded her head.

  “Say it. Say the words.”

  She sniffed, sat up, and looked him in the eye. “I believe in you, and I love you.”

  He tried to smile reassuringly but it hurt. “Then I’ll see you when I return.” He put his hand over her hip. “I think we will have plenty to celebrate.” His hand moved to her stomach. “You will never be alone. Callen will take care of you and Luna, you know. She’ll be rather bothersome when she finds out.”

  “I know. She can be so annoying.”

  “Let her be annoying,” Theo bid, “and let her take care of you. Find us a house and decorate it however you want. We can live as close as you want to your family, just not under the same roof,” he teased.

  She let out a pained laugh. “How does one go about purchasing a house?”

  Theo shrugged. “I don’t know, but Callen will help you and look after you. I’ll leave him a letter with all the arrangements. You should not want for anything.”

  “I shall miss you every day.”

  “And I will miss you more.” He turned to leave, pivoted back, and swept her up in a kiss, lifting her from the bed and into his arms. He’d never felt more doubt than he did right now. How could leaving her be the right thing? But in the back of his mind, he knew it was just his selfishness talking, his old habit of avoiding pain. He prayed it was just that. Old habits dying hard.

  Nic couldn’t leave her room. She couldn’t compose herself. Odette came and tried to lure her out. The duchess wanted them all for a special tea. Tonight was the ball, and the idea of dancing, even music, sounded like pure torture. When she wasn’t crying, she was seething with anger, at Theo, at Judge Blackwood, even at Luna and Lord Densmore. And as if summoned from her thoughts, Luna barged into her room.

  “That was rather rude,” Nic mumbled.

  “If you really wanted to be alone, you would’ve locked the door,” Luna returned. “I know what’s bothering you.” She pulled the stool from Nic’s dressing table and sat before Nic.

  Nic folded her arms, her feet tucked up under her bottom in the wingback chair by her hearth. She marshaled her thoughts and tried to organize what she could and couldn’t say.

  “I’m sure you do,” Nic said. “He’s leaving and he needs to—I know he needs to. He told me about the duel and Judge Blackwood, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. He won’t take me with him.”

  Luna gasped. “How could you even think it? It isn’t as though you’re married or in love, are you?”

  Nic clamped her mouth shut and shook her head; she fisted her shaking hands. “I’m not supposed to tell you. He made me swear.”

  “Who? Theo?”

  “It doesn’t matter. A promise is a promise and I”—her voice broke—”I made him a promise, and if I hope to ever see him again I have to keep it, at least until he’s gone. He says it’s not safe.” And Nic had no choice but to believe that. She just didn’t know what she could do to help him other than believe in him.

  Luna regarded her. She was too perceptive. Nic was not going to be able to lie convincingly but she had to try.

  “Is there something you want to tell me?” Luna asked. “Is there some way I can help you?”

  Nic swallowed and bit down on her lower lip to stop it from trembling.

  “Nic, I’m so sorry you got caught up in his schemes.”

  Nic pushed out of her chair and strode away. “I didn’t get caught up in his schemes. I’m not a child. I am in love with him, as much as you hate to hear it, but I know he has to go to save his life. He has to leave England, but he won’t take me with him, and I will just be left behind.”

  “But hopefully not left behind with a child?” Luna asked.

  Nic faced Luna, her eyes welling up again. She truly hoped so. And Theo did too. They would be a family, but only if he could come back. Or she could go to wherever he was? She’d considered a thousand different scenarios but she’d only be happy by his side.

  “Bloody hell,” Luna murmured. “If it is true, you must tell me. If you know when your next courses are, let me know as soon as they start or if they don’t.”

  “It won’t matter either way.” Nic covered her face with her hands and sobbed. “I just want him.”

  “I know you do. I understand, Nic, I do. I truly do.”

  Nic turned and flopped onto her bed, her body racked with sobs. She couldn’t breathe, and she didn’t think she had any more tears in her body, but more always came. Luna rubbed her back, and after a moment, she fetched her a glass of water.

  “Drink this.”

  Nic peered up at her sister, reminded of the Seven Sins Inn when Theo had brought her a glass of water. She took a sip.

  “Thank you.” She laid her head down again, and Luna hummed a lullaby and stroked her hair. She didn’t think it possible, but her lids grew heavy until she couldn’t hold them open, and just for a moment, her head and her heart didn’t hurt. Sleep claimed her.

  Chapter 30

  Later, Luna returned to check on Nic, encouraging her to dress for the ball. Nic managed to hold herself together during the forced conversation about things other than her and Theo. It was almost working. She could breathe again, and even make a joke or two with Luna while they did their hair. Normally it was Odette who she was closest to, but right now, she and Luna had the most in common. They’d both fallen in love with Denham men, and Luna, in her own way, knew Theo just as much as Nic did. In time, Nic would tell her everything, and she’d need Luna more than ever.

  Her door burst open, and for a brief heart-stopping moment, Nic thought it was Theo, returning to her.

  “Callen? What are you doing here?” Luna asked.

  Her heart pounding, Nic’s eyes burned with tears.

  Callen focused on Nic. “I was looking for her, actually.”

  “Me?” Nic asked.

  “Do you know where Theo is?”

  Nic drew in a shaky breath. Surely enough time had passed, hadn’t it? “He’s gone. He left this morning.”

  Just like you wanted.

  “I don’t take your meaning,” Callen said.

  “You wanted him to leave so he left,” Nic accused. “That’s the end of it, isn’t it?”

  “No, it’s not,” Callen said. He dug through his coat pockets. “Sir Kirby lives, and Judge Blackwood has been reined in. Theo can stay.”

  Nic gasped, her knees giving out as all the energy left her body. She dropped to the stool. Luna put a hand on her shoulder.

  “What does that mean? Judge Blackwood has lost power?”

  “He is under investigation by other government offices. And it seems Sir Kirby has been reformed in his convalescence and has cut the purse strings. Judge Blackwood and his son James have no more influence over him, nor do they have the funds to keep up their lifestyle. I think Theo will be the last thing on their minds right now.”

  He can stay but… He’s already gone.

  “But you can’t be certain, can you?” Luna asked. “Shouldn’t he leave to be safe?”

  Nic sobbed into her hands. It was too late. It was exactly what she wanted, and it was too late.

  “She’s been upset all day. I think he seduced her,” Luna said.

  “No, you don’t know that.”

  Nic lifted her head. She didn’t want to hear them discussing her like some poor victim who’d been ravished. She was his wife. He loved her. “It�
�s too late. He left. He went to the ship this morning.”

  “Is that what he told you?” Callen asked. “He told me the same thing, but he was going to arrange his leaving, not actually leave.”

  “That’s what he wanted you to think,” Nic said. “He said he’d leave you a letter explaining everything, but he didn’t want you to find it until it was too late to stop him.”

  His brother’s expression froze in shock.

  “By that expression, I’m guessing you haven’t found any letter,” Luna said.

  Nic watched them bounce questions off each other, cocking her head to the side. They really were meant for each other, just as Theo was meant for Nic. She took a deep breath.

  “Coombs only just arrived. Theo doesn’t know any of this. He doesn’t know he doesn’t have to leave,” Callen said.

  “Where’s the ship?” Luna asked.

  “Down in the village harbor. But if it’s set sail already, there’s no way I can stop it.”

  “Perhaps he already made the arrangements, and it’s still there. Where would he put a letter to you that he didn’t want you to find until much later?”

  Callen focused on her and blinked. “My evening jacket.”

  Callen bolted from the room in a comical fashion. Nic and Luna shared an astonished glance.

  “You stay here and get ready for the ball. I’m going to see if I can help him.”

  Nic jumped to her feet. “But I want to help!” she called after Luna, but Luna was already through the door and gone. Nic couldn’t chase after her in a dressing gown, so she did as Luna said and got dressed.

  Chapter 31

  Theo sat in his cabin, watching Selbourne Castle get smaller and smaller. He gripped the round window with white knuckles and hoped it wouldn’t be very long before he was moving toward it.

  There was a commotion on the deck. He could hear everything, every step of the crew, muffled voices, but one voice sounded oddly like Callen, if he were hearing it through a wooden deck.

  Theo left his cabin and went up on deck. A small crowd had gathered around one man acting like an overbearing aristocrat.

  “What the devil, Callen? What are you doing?” Theo asked, stunned to see his brother on board, sweaty, disheveled, and out of breath.

  “Sir Kirby,” Callen panted, “is alive.”

  “Coombs is back?” Theo couldn’t believe it. Did Kirby live? Could he go home? His mind whirled with questions and hope.

  Callen nodded, still trying to catch his breath.

  “But what about Judge Blackwood?” Theo asked, stepping closer.

  “We have to get off the ship,” Callen demanded.

  “We can’t,” a crewman said.

  “You can,” Callen returned. “Name the amount of money that will make you turn the ship around.”

  Captain Marlowe appeared, stepping beside Theo. “What’s happening now? What’s this? You’re coming too?”

  “No, I’m trying to get my brother and I off,” Callen said with agitation. “His wife and my bride will be waiting for us.”

  His wife.

  Theo had never heard more beautiful words. And he didn’t have to leave. He could return to shore right now. His heart exploded with joy.

  “We can’t do that,” Captain Marlowe said. “We can’t just stop the ship. We can try, but we’ve got a good wind, and even if I close the sails, we’re in a swift current. This is a narrow inlet. You go out, you go in, but you don’t turn around in the middle of it.”

  “What are you telling me? I’m proposing to the woman I love tonight, at the ball that is starting very soon.”

  Captain Marlowe shrugged. “Propose tomorrow,” he said.

  Theo began to chuckle. It was just like his brother to make demands instead of taking action. “How much do you love her, Callen? Because I love Nicolette, and if there is even a slight chance I don’t have to leave her behind, heartbroken as I left her, I’m going back. Are you coming with me?”

  Callen nodded.

  Theo went to the railing and grabbed a rope, hoisting himself up to stand on the top. He turned back to his brother with a grin.

  “We don’t have control of our tomorrow.”

  But today was a different matter. A noose had stood between him and Nic, but now it was only a stretch of water.

  “Theo, don’t—”

  Theo swan dived into the ocean, his brother’s words dying on the surface of the water as he cleaved into the cold sea and swam up to the surface. He whipped his hair out of his eyes and drew breath. He left like a new man, stronger, faster, and he wasn’t going to wait. He glanced back to see his brother reluctantly following. Theo laughed and began to swim toward shore.

  They stood in the ballroom. Nic had Theo’s letter folded in her gloved hand for no other reason than it was the last thing he’d touched before leaving. His valet, Coombs, had brought it to her and told her what he’d learned of Sir Kirby. He’d shown her that letter too.

  Sir Kirby had survived, and he’d had a change of heart, apologizing for his card cheating, his actions during the duel, and promised he’d never bother them again.

  She wished the man well.

  “I cannot believe you married him,” Luna whispered to her, interrupting her thoughts.

  Nic shrugged. “I have no regrets.”

  “Really? You ought to.”

  Nic smiled. If Callen returned with Theo, she’d be spending the night with her husband. No more secrets. It was already a relief that Luna and Callen knew. It was more real.

  “How can you be smiling right now?” Luna argued.

  “If there is a single chance he will return to me, I’ll dance naked across the room,” Nic said. Across the King’s Hall, which was also the ball room, two dark-haired men entered from a side door. Every nerve ending in Nic’s body came alive. She could hardly breath.

  It was him. She just knew it. Every fiber of her sang with sheer joy.

  “I just hope you are aware of the kind of man you married. How long have you been—”

  Nic grabbed Luna’s hand and squeezed her into silence.

  He locked eyes with her across the room, and all the people in between them disappeared. He looked every inch a gentleman, dressed in his black-and-white evening attire, his hair slicked back, his eyes more gold than green right now and entirely focused on her.

  Nic let go of Luna and moved toward him, but she couldn’t feel her feet. She was floating, her happiness lifting her from her slippers. He took her hands, the glow of his eyes warming her from her curls to her toes.

  “Mrs. Denham, may I have this dance?”

  She swallowed, tears of joy threatening. She didn’t want them. She’d done enough crying. She wanted to smile and dance, laugh, even sing, and then make frantic wicked love with this man. But… There was time now. For all of that and more.

  “You may, Mr. Denham.”

  Music began, and all her sisters took to the floor with their partners.

  “Is this a waltz?” she asked. She’d never waltzed, not in front of people, only in practice.

  He nodded, never taking his gaze from hers. “You look beautiful.”

  “So do you.”

  They began to move, spinning in slow circles. “You came back?” she whispered.

  “I’ll never leave you again.”

  “But what about all your reasons for leaving, to reform, to appreciate what you have?”

  “I’m afraid you’ll have to help me reform my ways and repent for my sins.”

  Nic grinned. “But not all of your sins. Some of them are quite lovely.”

  He smiled slowly, heat spreading through her body as he pulled her closer, too close for the rules of propriety, but for Nic, not close enough.

  “Which sins do you suggest I keep?”

  “Oh, let’s see. Lust is my favorite, but greed and gluttony have their perks too.”

  He chuckled. “Are you feeling lustful, my new bride?”

  She nodded. “And greedy.
I can’t get enough of you.”

  “Hmm. That sounds like gluttony as well.” He spun her, leaving her breathless.

  She clung to him, going to her toes to whisper in his ear, “I think it means I love you.”

  “That’s not a sin,” he whispered back. “I love you too. That’s all the reforming I need.”

  Thank You

  Thank you for reading Seven Lovely Sins! Please take a moment to leave a review of this book. I sincerely hope you enjoyed Nic and Theo’s love story.

  We are now almost finished with this family saga with only two sisters left!

  Eight Rules For Engagement and The Nine Lives Of Lord Knightly will be released this fall. Join my newsletter and never miss a new release. Turn the page!

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  Contact Dayna at daynaquince.com

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  Acknowledgments

  There are three songs that Nicolette sings in Seven Lovely Sins. All three can be found in a book titled, The British Melodist Or National Song Book.

  Also by Dayna Quince

  The Fated for Love Series: Four Books

  Mine, All Mine

  Sweet Torture

  Storm on the Horizon

  To Love, Honor, and Obey

  Desperate and Daring Series: Ten Books

  Desperate for a Duke

  Belle of the Ball

  Just One Kiss

  Anything But Innocent

  An Unconventional Innocent

  Mad About You

  A Rogue Of Her Own

  Hero Of Her Heart

  An Undesirable Duke

  Dare To Love A Scot

  The Northumberland Nine Series: Nine books