He was not going to leave his world behind to join hers.
She’d allowed the fairy tale to slip over her like a veil. But it was time to clear her vision.
Straightening her spine, she said, “I have one older girl, though she has become an assistant to me of sorts.” Clarissa was her everything. “And then I have three girls under the age of ten.” She cleared her throat. “Natalie, we like to call her Natty, was born without a birth record and sold to an innkeeper’s wife who had her cleaning their inn—”
Logan made a choking noise and she stopped looking at him. His jaw was locked, and his face had turned to granite.
“My goal,” she continued, “is to provide a home for girls specifically. But ideally I’d like to set up a brother facility that housed boys.”
The men around her nodded.
“Goldthwaite.” Darlington sat forward. “What did you contribute?”
Logan shifted, his muscles tensing against her. “Six thousand pounds.”
“I’ll give the same amount.” Devonhall gave a careless wave of his hand.
Penny’s breath caught in her throat. That was unbelievable. Both the ease with which these men parted with life-changing sums and her sudden change in fortune.
“As will I,” another man murmured. She believed he was the Baron of Blackwater. She glanced over at the man to see his brown eyes glittering with…animosity. She drew back a bit, once again glad Logan was next to her.
“Well, gentlemen, it seems we’ve set the buy-in contribution.” Darlington slapped his knee as he spoke.
Buy-in? For what? She tilted her head to the side, confused. But now was not the time to ask, she knew that. Whatever else was happening, her life and the life of her children was about to change.
Then the duchess turned to her husband. “And what will we give?”
He smiled at his wife. “We’ll match the total contribution.”
Penny nearly fell off the settee. Logan’s hand steadied her elbow. “Your Grace?”
Logan straightened as he let go again. “That is very generous.”
Darlington shrugged. “It’s my share of the club’s proceeds from the last few months. It means little to me.”
The club?
Penny shook her head. She couldn’t puzzle it out now. Because a fortune was about to land in her lap. Money beyond her wildest imaginings. Enough to make all her plans come true.
She should be happy, and she was…
But a niggle of doubt was clouding that feeling.
Logan was buying into a club of some sort. The kind that made a lot of money. And the rest of these men were going to contribute the same amount of money with barely a word from her.
Because they wished to buy the same club from the Duke of Darlington.
So Logan had never wanted to help her. Disappointment stabbed at her chest. She’d been a means to an end. No more. He didn’t care about her or the children. She held her hands tightly together on her lap, forming a tight ball. “Your generosity is stunning. Thank you. I’ve no words…”
The duchess gave Penny a glowing smile. “Your generosity is stunning. Ours is barely tolerable.”
“You are stunning,” Blackwater said, giving her a wink. “Truly.”
Her brow drew together as she blinked. What was that about? The man had looked so cold just a few minutes ago.
Logan stood, his chest thrusting out. “Enough.”
Blackwater stood too, lightly brushing one of his long blond hairs back from his face and tucking it behind his ear. “Enough of what exactly?”
“I saw you wink.” Logan’s finger came up. “Miss Walters is a woman of position and deserves your respect.”
“You mean, Penny.” Blackwater slowly grinned. “Don’t think I didn’t catch that, Goldthwaite.”
“Hold your tongue.”
Logan’s voice had grown louder, his fists clenched. Penny swallowed a gasp. She reached out a hand and lightly touched Logan’s sleeve. His temper was getting the better of him and somehow, she had the feeling everything was about to slip away.
“Gentlemen.” Darlington stood as well, his voice sharp. “There are ladies present.”
Logan rolled his neck, ignoring Penny’s touch. “We can take this outside.”
“Fine with me, Earl of Gold,” Blackwater sneered. “Everyone knows you only care about one thing. And we all know why you’re feigning interest in Miss Walter’s cause: money.”
Penny rose too, the words reverberating through her. They sounded so cold. As frigid as the man she’d first met. The words rang with a truth that made her ache. “Earl of Gold?”
Blackwater gave her a sympathetic glance. “He’s as cutthroat as they come.” He looked over at Darlington. “Cruel. Violent. Which is why he shouldn’t be here. He doesn’t belong here.”
Darlington took a step in front of his wife, and before he’d uttered a word, he had Blackwater by the collar, dragging him across the room toward a double set of doors. “Follow me, gentlemen. We’ve got some business to attend to before dinner.”
Penny covered her stomach with her hands. This should be the happiest moment of her life, but somehow it was all wrong.
Logan started after the duke without glancing back in her direction. She sat back on the settee with a hard thump. Did Logan get in fisticuffs often? This was the second time today.
She steepled her hands in front of her face. Had she been wrong about everything she thought she’d known about Logan.
Earl of Gold.
What sort of man had she allowed into her home and into the lives of her orphans? Would he hurt them? Because he’d already managed to damage her heart. She cared for him and he’d only ever wanted gold.
Chapter Eight
Logan’s fists itched, and he knew how to scratch that itch. Plant his hands in Blackwater’s face. He knew why Blackwater had singled him out. And it wasn’t because of Penny. These men still saw Logan as the outsider.
The one who didn’t belong.
It had been the same since he’d been sent to Eton as a youth. They’d jeered him, despite being the son of an earl.
His father was already in debtor’s prison at that point. So he’d been accepted on merit, having earned a scholarship rather than his family buying his spot.
His high marks on the entrance exam might have proven his worth, but he was treated like he was less. Without money, he was less in the other student’s eyes.
The instructors had been awful.
But after class had been the worst. Left in the care of older boys, they’d hated him for his ragged clothes and his thin purse. He’d been labelled an outsider and their punishment for such a crime had been merciless.
But Logan had grown hard and he’d grown strong. And his fists were anvils that waited to pummel Blackwater. Because he’d made Logan the outsider again.
They stopped in an open terrace and Logan shrugged off his coat, facing the ring of men. So that was how it was going to be. He could take it. He’d done it before. He’d gotten his revenge on the older Blackwater, Sirius, and he could teach the younger a few lessons as well.
He rolled his shoulders, then he spoke through his clenched teeth. “Say what we came out here to say, Blackwater, and then I can beat in your face.”
Blackwater’s lip curled as he stepped forward. “We can move straight to the fighting. There isn’t a thing I want to say to you. Besides, the state of your face tells me you haven’t changed a bit. Still fighting all the time.”
“That’s none of your damned business,” Logan pushed out between his clenched teeth, stepping toward the other man with a raised fist.
“Stop,” Daring’s voice through the thick air. “Both of you put your fists down.”
Blackwater stuck his finger out, jabbing it in Logan’s direction. “He ruined my brother’s life. The least I can do is hit him hard.”
Logan staggered back at that. He’d ruined the other Blackwater? If this wasn’t so serious, that would
be laughable. “Your brother made it his sole mission to torment me for most of my school life. And you think I ruined his life?”
Blackwater took a step toward him, giving him a hard shove that sent Logan back several steps. He only just managed to keep his feet under him. The anger in the other man’s body was palpable.
“Liar,” Blackwater growled. “You trounced him so badly, his mind was never the same. It was the beginning of the end.”
It was the Duke of Devonhall who moved in front of him. “You’re wrong Blackwater. I was sixteen when I left Eton, Goldthwaite was ten. I watched your brother do terrible, awful things to him.”
Logan blinked in surprise. What?
Of course he remembered Devonhall. But the fact that the other man remembered him, made his head pulse. “You saw…”
Devonhall looked back at him. “I did. And I should have stopped it then. I was young and weak.”
Those words hit him like a punch in the chest. Devonhall regretted not helping him? “It’s fine,” he said. “I grew strong in that time and I learned how to fight for myself.”
Daring gave a stiff nod from next to Blackwater. “But did you banish every ounce of softness?”
Logan scrubbed his face. Perhaps he had.
Blackwater spit on the ground. “I’m not here to debate what my brother did, God rest his soul. It doesn’t change the fact that a man can only take responsibility for his own actions. I won’t work with Goldthwaite because of his temper, aptly displayed this evening. He’s too independent, too volatile, too liable to involve his fists.”
Daring stood straighter. “Do you all feel that way? Because Goldthwaite is part of the deal.”
But it was Logan who hesitated.
Because several things came into focus as he stood there.
Daring had been attempting to look out for him. This duke who didn’t need to do anything had tried to find him friends among the peerage and he’d…
Logan’s heart twisted.
He’d delivered Penny right to Logan’s door.
Penny who’d been shunned by society too but instead of becoming completely self-possessed, she’d decided to live her life, helping those who needed it most.
He winced.
Penny was as poor as her name implied and yet she was…so much more admirable than himself. She glowed with the love that she allowed to fill her heart.
And suddenly, he didn’t need the ton, the club, these men. He needed Penny, or, at least, he wished to help her with her orphanage. Because what would it have meant to him as a boy to have a place that he could have been loved? Like Penny loved Natty.
Emotion thickened his throat. Blackwater was right. Logan was responsible for what he’d done to his older brother. He’d allowed the basest of motivations to shape his life.
“I’m out.” Blackwater spit again.
The other men stood silently. Would they side with Logan?
He wouldn’t make them decide.
“It’s all right, Blackwater. You stay in. I’ll leave.” And then he stepped around Devonhall and past Daring, coming to face the other men.
Blackwater’s surprise made his eyes wide and his chin whip back. “What?”
“You’ve every right to hate me. I allowed myself to explode in violent anger. And that same anger has shaped my entire adult life.”
Daring looked at him. “You don’t have to—”
“I do.” Logan shrugged. “It’s time I lived a different life. One that helps the weak rather than making money off of them. I don’t want the club anymore, but I would be most appreciative if you all saw fit to donate to Miss Walter’s cause.”
Absolute silence met his words.
It was Daring who finally spoke. “It happened, didn’t it? And rather quickly too.”
“What’s that?” he asked, his brow furrowing.
Daring only smiled as he began leading Logan back toward the doors. “You, my good man, have fallen in love.”
Penny sat across from the duchess, trying to decide what she might possibly ask to gain some sort of insight.
She cleared her throat. “Your Grace.”
The other woman smiled. “Call me Minnie.”
“Minnie?” Penny repeated, managing not to jolt in surprise. The duchess, tall, thin, and stunningly beautiful with flaming red hair, seemed as though she should be up on a pedestal, not nice and approachable. It seemed wrong to call this woman by her given name.
“Well, it’s Minerva, but all my sisters call me Minnie.”
“Thank you…Minnie.” Penny cleared her throat. “I am trying to discern what just happened. Can you tell me?”
Minnie gave her a warm smile. “I’m not entirely certain either. Blackwater clearly had an axe to grind, though the why of it eludes me.”
Penny nodded. “And the club?”
“The Den of Sins.” Minnie wrinkled her nose. “A gaming hell. I hate the place. My husband likely would have held onto it but I can’t abide it and I’ve convinced him to sell.”
“A gaming hell?” Dread churned in Penny’s gut. “He had to donate to my cause in order to buy a share in the club.” She’d mostly figured that part out. And it hurt deeply.
She’d begun to hope that he cared for her and her cause. But it had become clear that he didn’t give a whit for either. She should have known. Why would a man like him really care for a nobody like her and her girls? And the orphanage? She suppressed a groan.
A shudder passed over her and her chin dropped as she cast her gaze to the floor. “I am nothing but a means to an end.”
The dress, which she’d loved earlier, filled her with a disgust. She’d gained funds beyond her wildest imaginations, but Logan hadn’t bought it for her. He was going to make a king’s ransom on his gaming hell and that was the real reason she’d been brought here.
It had all become clear.
The Earl of Gold.
Apparently his heart was just as hard and shiny as she’d first imagined. He hadn’t cared about them at all. Her breath hitched. Why was she surprised? And why did that knowledge hurt so much?
“Penny,” the other woman spoke softly, reaching out to place a hand on top of hers. “Are you all right?”
Penny shook her head. “I am used to men not wanting a woman with a cause. But somehow, I thought he was different.”
Minnie squeezed her finger. “He might be. I saw the way he looked at Blackwater. I do believe the earl would lay down his life for yours.”
Penny’s head dropped even lower. He’d called her orphans urchins. He didn’t care about them. He’d been telling her that from the beginning. But she’d allowed her attraction to paint his actions with a rosy brush.
She’d known from the beginning that he was an earl and she was a no one. Why had she allowed hope to creep in? “It doesn’t much matter. He’s a member of the peerage.”
Minnie nodded. “True. But he’s also an outsider.”
Her head snapped up. “How so?” She knew he’d been teased at school, but as a man he was titled and successful. Both things she wasn’t.
But the door banged open and Logan came striding in, his powerful legs eating the distance to the settee where she sat. He looked…unharmed.
Relief washed through her, but she straightened her spine again. He didn’t get her worry. Especially considering what she’d just puzzled out.
“I’ve secured your donations.” He reached down his hand. “If you’re ready to leave, I am.”
She snapped her gaze up to him. Some of her bitter feelings returning. “Leave? Don’t you have a deal of your own to secure?”
She saw the flicker of doubt flit over his face. “No.”
No? She opened her mouth to ask but he slipped her fingers into his and pulled her to standing. “But I thought—”
“I’ll explain in the carriage.” Then he began escorting her toward the door.
“Don’t leave yet,” Minnie called, rising.
But Darlington appeared in the
door. “Let them go, love.” He leaned against the jamb. “We’ll see them again soon.”
Now Penny was more confused than ever. Where would she see them soon? At the orphanage? They had just agreed to donate thirty thousand pounds. “Come by the orphanage anytime,” she called as they passed by Darlington. “On second thought, you should wait until we’ve moved locations.”
“Why is that?” Daring asked, his brows drawing together.
“It’s bloody unsafe. Adderley Street.” Logan said through clenched teeth.
“Move her at once,” Darlington called after them. “Send word if you need help.”
“On it,” Logan called back, continuing to pull her along.
Penny realized that Darlington had been the driving force behind all her help all along. Logan was not the man she’d hoped he’d be. Hurt pierced her chest but she lifted her chin. He was no different than her soldier had been. Every time she loved a man, he disappeared from her life for one reason or another.
He wasn’t the only one who could take advantage of a situation. She’d not reject his donation or that of the other men, but she didn’t have to like Logan, either. This was business. Her heart needed to stay out of it.
Chapter Nine
Logan could sense the change in Penny.
She was always calm. Usually quiet, but in the dark of the carriage, the space had grown frigid between them. Damn.
“Darlington is right. We need to move you.”
She shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate your concern.”
“Those men might attack you.”
“Nonsense. They weren’t much trouble until you—”
“So it’s my fault?” He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.
“Trouble does seem to follow you. I’m sure once you cease to visit, life will return to normal, and I’ll be able to move us very soon. With the funds I secured today—”
“Cease to visit?” Those words cut into him. “You don’t want me to come to your home anymore?”
Earl of Gold: Lords of Scandal Page 7