by Meghan Sloan
“You’re going to pull this contract away?”
“I didn’t say that. I still want to sell you Montgomery’s. But I’m not impressed about the way you went about getting out of the gate early.” Norman sighed, “You put yourself in this position because you were a fool. You got cocky and wanted everything immediately. Life doesn’t work like that. I would’ve been happy getting it in dribs and drabs for years to come because I knew you would be able to make it successful enough not to let it go to waste. However, you wanted more on the spot, and you were willing to find a way to get one over on your future business rivals so you could have a head start.”
Gabriel grimaced.
“Now you put it like that, I do sound like a cad.”
“You were looking to buy something on credit. It’s not as easy as buying something outright,” Norman snorted. “As you’ve probably experienced just now, life has a tendency to come back and bite you if you don’t use it wisely.”
Gabriel knew all about life coming back to bite him. He had been dealing with the fallout from being thrown out of the family. After everything he’d done, he knew he was extremely lucky to keep his valet and life on his father’s land. His plan to get back on his own feet to prove that he was fully capable on his own had looked good at the start, but now? Gabriel was beginning to realise that he was a fool to think a flimsy plan would work without getting someone hurt.
That someone would be Cassie once she realised what he had really been up to. And she would be furious. If she didn’t want to see him again, Gabriel would understand. But the thought of not having her in his life made him feel nauseous. He stood and began to pace.
“God, I don’t know what to do now.”
“Does this mean you’re not signing this agreement?” Norman asked.
“Oh, I’ll be signing it. I’m not about to turn this away now. Once we go inside, I’m putting my name on the dotted line. But will I be able to cope afterwards?”
Norman’s expression softened. If anything, he looked pained.
“You’re going to need to tell her the truth, Gabriel. Especially once you take ownership. She deserves to know from you, not from someone else.”
“But I’ll lose her when I do that.”
“You’ll lose her for certain if you lie to her any longer.”
“My feelings for her aren’t a lie!” Gabriel snapped.
“Cassie won’t see it like that, and you know it. She would prefer your honesty.” Norman sat forward, “Yes, she’ll be angry at what you did, but she’ll forgive you in time. Especially if you go to her first.”
His friend was right. Gabriel needed to go to her first. Once he laid it all out for her, then Gabriel would let Cassandra decide what she wanted to do. It was up to her.
He should have left well alone. Gabriel knew he had messed up, but his arrogance had got in the way. His previous attitude had made him think this would work. But real life never worked like that, and Gabriel was beginning to realise that too late.
“I need to tell her.” He ran his hands through his hair, “I can’t keep doing this.”
“Why not? You’ve been good at lying for years.”
Gabriel spun around. His heart sank. Percy was standing there, staring at Gabriel with an outrage he had never seen before on his brother. His hands were clenched at his sides. How long had he been standing there?
How much had he heard?
Norman’s eyes widened. Gabriel gulped.
“Percy. I wasn’t aware you had arrived.”
“Absolutely,” Percy snorted. “Allen said you were out here, so I came looking for you.”
This was not good. From the look on his face, he had heard more than enough to put the pieces together. Gabriel took a deep breath as he braced for impact.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was coming to talk to you. Cassandra broke off our courtship, and I found out something very interesting about how we came to be introduced.” Percy arched an eyebrow, his whole body shaking. “Something about you telling each of us that the other wanted to meet even though we had no idea the other existed?”
Norman winced and shifted in his chair. Gabriel had thought his brother and Cassandra would figure it out, but not this quickly. He started around the table.
“Percy, I can explain…”
Percy held up a hand and stepped away.
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear your pitiful explanation.”
“It’s the truth I’m about to tell you!”
“Somehow, I don’t believe that.” Percy glared at him, and Gabriel could see the hurt in his eyes. “I thought we were family, Gabe. Brothers. I thought you would never lie to me. Guess I was wrong. You would happily trade anyone as long as you get what you want. Even me.”
“It wasn’t my intention to do that to you, Percy.”
“Wasn’t it? Then what were you planning on doing?” Percy glanced at Norman, who was keeping his mouth shut, looking like he would rather be anywhere but there right then. “Actually, I don’t need you to tell me. You want to buy Montgomery’s, don’t you? Seton’s, however, is doing very well. You see it as competition. And you want to get rid of that. By steering their best commodity in another direction.”
Gabriel felt his face getting warm. Why did his brother have to make it sound even worse than it already was?
“Cassie is not a commodity.”
“She’s not. And she’s not a pawn you can move around whatever chessboard you’re using,” Percy shot back. He advanced on Gabriel and jabbed a finger into his chest. “You used her, Gabe. Were you also cavorting around with her while I was courting her as well?”
“No! I would never do that to you.”
“Why not? You’ve done it before.”
Gabriel felt two inches tall. He didn’t want to be reminded about the times he had taken to bed women who had been courting his younger brother when he was a younger man. That was a part of his life he certainly didn’t want to revisit.
“I don’t do that anymore.”
“How do I know that?” Percy demanded. “I don’t know if you’re telling the truth anymore.”
“Percy…”
“No, don’t bother, Gabe.” Percy shook his head and stepped away as he held up his hand. “You’ve screwed up badly now. I should’ve done what Mother and Father did and cut you out of my life. But I didn’t because I’m a sap and I thought you loved me enough not to mess me around.”
“I do love you,” Gabriel reached for him. “You’re my little brother. I’ve always loved you.”
He flinched as Percy knocked his arms away and shoved him in the chest, pushing Gabriel back a few steps.
“Clearly you don’t, if you’re willing to treat me in such a way.”
Gabriel could see his brother withdrawing. He had messed up more than he’d imagined. Not only was he in danger of losing Cassandra, he was rapidly losing Percy. His brother had allowed him to have a relationship even when their parents said Gabriel should be treated with nothing but contempt. That had hurt to hear that, and Gabriel had been relieved his little brother had allowed him to keep in contact. They were only half a mile apart, but it could have been a million miles as far as Gabriel was concerned.
Now it looked as though this gap was going to get even wider.
“Are you going to tell Cassie about this?” Percy demanded. “Or are you going to keep lying to her?”
“I will tell her,” Gabriel swallowed. “Don’t tell Cassie about this. Let me do that.”
Percy snorted and turned away.
“You got yourself into this mess, Gabe. I’m not getting you out of it.”
He stormed off across the lawn, disappearing around the front of the house. Gabriel watched him go, feeling very cold as his brother moved out of sight.
“What did he mean by that?” Norman asked.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“He’s going to tell Cassie what I did. He’s not going to wait for me to
get the courage.”
Once Cassandra found out, she was going to be on the warpath. And Gabriel was right in the firing line.
Chapter 20
“Excuse me, Miss Seton?”
Cassandra looked up. One of the maids was in the doorway to the morning room. Cassandra put aside her sewing.
“What is it, Celia?”
“There’s a Mr. Percy Tattershall at the door.” Celia looked nervous, “He doesn’t have an appointment to see you, but he’s insistent about having an audience with you immediately. He doesn’t look happy, Miss Seton.”
Cassandra frowned. Percy was here? From the sound of it, he was angry. Had he found out about her and Gabriel? Unlikely, as Gabriel didn’t seem the type to tell his brother about what he’d done. She was tempted to send him away, if that was the case. But from the sound of it, Percy wasn’t about to leave quietly. And with her father sleeping upstairs, finally giving in to doctor’s orders to rest, Cassandra didn’t want to wake him.
“Show him in, Celia.”
Celia disappeared and Cassandra rose to her feet with a wince. She was still very sore when she sat down, and the throbbing was more of a dull ache than anything else. Gabriel had warned her that this would be the case afterwards, right before he made her body sing again.
She couldn’t hold back a smile. When she had arranged to meet him, taking him to bed hadn’t been on her mind. But when Gabriel had made his admission and suddenly looked so vulnerable, Cassandra couldn’t help herself. Her desire for him was far too much.
Last night, Cassandra had no regrets. Once things were settled down, she and Gabriel would make people aware that they were together. Gabriel’s declaration was enough for her to know that this was it for him. She didn’t care about what happened in the past now, as long as she was there for his future.
Maybe she should head over to the cottage later. Surprise him there. Gabriel had talked about his new home, and Cassandra was interested to see it. Gabriel had promised one day that she would, but Cassandra wanted that a little earlier than one day.
There were still a few things she wanted to go over with him. All of them required privacy and a softer bed than the one they had used last night.
Now’s not the time to be thinking about that. Focus on why Gabriel’s brother is here, and hope you can smooth over whatever it is that has upset him.
Cassandra headed towards the door just as it swung open hard enough to bang against the wall. Percy strode in, and Cassandra found herself backing up. She had never seen Percy look this upset. The man was normally as placid as they came. Now he looked like he had been crying, his face contorted into an angry scowl and his eyes red and bloodshot. Cassandra felt a shiver of fear. Had he found out about her and Gabriel together last night?
“Percy? What...what’s the matter?”
“Forgive me for my sudden visit, Cassandra,” Percy was breathing heavily. He looked like he had run all the way to Ipswich. “I wanted to get to you before Gabriel did.”
“What, why? Why would Gabriel want to get hold of me? What’s the rush?”
“To give you more of his lies, no doubt.”
Now Cassandra was confused. What was he talking about? Gabriel had lied to her? When he had held her in his arms, he had certainly not been lying then. But Percy didn’t seem to be talking about that. Something else had happened.
“I...I don’t understand.”
“You didn’t know that he was the one who put us together in the hopes that we would marry?”
“Considering he spoke to both of us, I was sure of it. But it…” Cassandra knew her face was going red, “It slipped my mind the last time I saw him.”
“I’m sure.” Percy drawled. “I bet he got you very distracted.”
“Percy!”
Cassandra wanted to sink through the floor. He knew. From the way he was looking at her now, he knew what had happened. Percy’s face fell and he looked away.
“Forgive me, Cassie, that was crass of me. Although your reaction’s told me everything I need to know.” He swallowed. “How long?”
“What?”
“How long have you and he been...intimate?”
“Only last night.” Cassandra bit her lip. She was beginning to wish she had refused to see him now. “I wasn’t about to betray you by doing it during our courtship. That’s not fair on anyone. And it...it just sort of happened.”
“It always does with Gabriel. He’s good at that.” Percy paced past her, running his hands through his hair. He looked less angry and more miserable now. “You know that he wants to buy Montgomery’s?”
“I had an inkling about it, but how can he buy something when he hasn’t got any money?”
“From what I can gather from other people, Norman Montgomery’s giving it to him on credit. Gabriel becomes the owner and pays him back over time, providing he keeps the place in business. But Gabriel’s impatient and he wants to pay Montgomery back quicker, but to do that he has to make sure any other rival businesses can’t take his profits.” Percy looked at her. “There’s only one other gambling hall in Ipswich that’s even anywhere close to overtaking him.”
Seton’s. That was the only place in town that could rival Montgomery’s in terms of success. Cassandra felt her stomach drop.
“Is he trying to buy Seton’s as well?”
“No, but he is trying to take something away from it.” Percy grimaced. “You.”
“Me?”
“Come on, Cassie, you’re not a stupid woman. You’re the reason Seton’s is so successful. Your father is the owner and he keeps it going, but everyone knows that you’re the driving force. I’ve spoken to several people about it and they confirm the reason Seton’s is thriving is because of your machinations.”
Percy slumped onto the couch, resting his elbows on his knees as he hung his head. “I guess Gabriel didn’t like the fact a woman could make a business run so smoothly and he didn’t want to be overshadowed. He thought if he could get you distracted and put your focus elsewhere, then maybe he would have a chance to be more successful and pay Norman back faster than he planned.”
“And the way to do it was to distract me with a potential husband.” Cassandra felt like Percy had knocked her off her feet. “He directed me to you.”
“He played both of us.” Percy rubbed his hands over his face, “I didn’t know what was going on until I overheard him talking to Montgomery earlier today. He played us, and I thought you should know.”
He might as well have attacked her. Cassandra felt like she was falling and there was nothing to catch her. The room swayed around her and she grabbed at a nearby chair to stop herself from falling. She had been played for a fool. Gabriel hadn’t cared about her at all; he was only looking out for himself. But last night he had been so sweet, so gentle with her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear.
They had all been lies. Cassandra felt like she was going to be sick.
“I’m going to kill him.”
“Join the queue. It’s a pretty long one by now.”
Cassandra could feel the room tilting, but she wouldn’t fall. She was not going to collapse over this man. She had already fallen for him once, and it wasn’t happening again. Her anger began to flare up, her throat constricting until Cassandra was struggling to breathe. She didn’t know whether to burst into a fit of rage or burst into tears.