Aaron nodded and moved in the direction that William suspected he would.
Slipping out the door, William made sure Aaron had the axes before he snuck away.
He needed to go upstairs, but doing such a thing would expose him, so he moved down the hall and peeked around the corner.
He watched as Calvin and Frank came out of the room. Both uninjured.
William stood and readied himself to throw a blade at the man who'd entered the hall from a room beyond the Lockwood brothers, but Calvin got to him first.
The shot hit him squarely in the chest and the intruder was down instantly.
They all moved and crouched by the body.
“It’s not Mr. James,” William said, taking the man’s gun and checking to see if his bullet remained. It did. He’d not shot yet, which meant the other gun that had rung through the house hadn’t belonged to him.
“How many are there?” Frank asked.
William shook his head. “Don’t know. Go find Clara. Get her with the others in the sitting room.”
Calvin was simply staring at the dead man and then he looked up. “I never thought I’d do that again.”
William grabbed his shoulder but didn’t have time to give him words of comfort. “I must find my family.”
He left Frank to deal with his sibling. After all, he was probably the most qualified at the end of the day.
William used the servants’ staircase and from the landing and could hear voices on the next floor. It was Naomi.
“I don’t know where she is.” The fear and tears he could hear coming from her filled William with rage.
He silently climbed the stairs and listened.
“You’re of little use to me then, love.”
William stood and shot with only a second to spare. Two more shots rang out from downstairs and far too close together for them not to have come from the same place.
Mr. James went down, and Naomi screamed as his blood splashed her face and gown.
It was his one shot.
He went to her immediately. “Is there anyone else up here?”
She was weeping but managed to get out, “I don’t know.”
William pocketed the gun and reached for the blade he kept in his boots. “Where is everyone?”
“In the sitting room.” Naomi took a deep breath. “I came out to find—”
There was movement.
William turned and readied his blade.
It was his father with a shotgun. Edmund lowered his weapon. “We’re in here.”
William took Naomi and went into the family sitting room. His grandmother and mother were there. Regina took one look at her daughter and looked ready to faint. Yet she found the strength to cross the room and take hold of her.
Edmund asked William. “Are the others all right?”
“Mostly, but we’re still looking for Clara.”
“Go,” his father said. “I’ll protect the family.”
William nodded, having no doubt his father would do exactly that. It took a strong man to take a Roma for a wife… and mother-in-law.
William made his way back to Natalia and Julius and found yet another body by Julius’ feet. He’d been the first shot.
Tally came to him. “Where’s Clara?”
“Here.” Frank and Calvin came into the dining room at that moment and pushed a weeping Clara inside.
“Clara.” Tally started toward her, but William kept her back.
“How did your husband find you?” William asked, though he suspected he already knew.
Clara was weeping. “I thought that if I told him I was leaving…” She cried louder and then said, “I’m so sorry.”
Natalia jerked, fighting to go to the woman, and William let her go.
Tally wrapped Clara in her arms. “It’s all right—”
“No, it’s not,” Julius said without mercy. “She put you in danger.”
His cousin looked at him. “But she—”
“No excuses,” William said. “She didn’t know the men had come. She put all the Spinsters in danger.”
Tally frowned and asked, “Where’s Zed?”
William turned to Frank and Calvin.
Calvin, who still looked slightly shocked, said, “In the kitchen with your cook. It was where we found Clara being taken out with another man. Zed shot him, but not before the man could shoot him. Frank took the final shot.”
Tally gasped. “My brother...”
William went to her and pulled her away from Clara to give her some needed comfort.
“He’s all right. It hit him in the shoulder,” Frank didn’t look pleased and then he looked confused. “Brother?”
Julius echoed that thought. “Brother? Zed is Lorenzo?”
That seemed to wake Calvin up. “What?”
William nodded. “Zedock Sudworth is Lorenzo Hext.”
Julius nodded. “My cousin has been right under my nose all this time?” His gaze moved to Clara. “And you almost got him killed.”
Clara winced. “I’m so sorry.”
“Take me to him,” Natalia demanded.
Julius started out the door. “This way.”
“We don’t know if we got them all,” Calvin said. “There could be others.”
Clara looked at the two bodies in the group. “Jasper only had five friends who’d have risked themselves this way.”
“How many are dead?” Julius asked.
“Five,” William said. “That leaves possibly one more.”
“What?” Clara’s eyes widened. “Where’s my husband?”
“Dead,” William told her mercilessly.
Clara crumbled to the ground and wept with great anguish for the man who’d taken no issue to lift his hand to her.
“I’m not waiting here,” Julius said. “I need to see Lorenzo.”
Yes,” Natalia agreed, though she looked as though part of her still wanted to comfort Clara.
William ushered her through the back door that led straight to the kitchen. “I’ll see about the last man.” To Julius, he said, “Protect her.”
Julius nodded and then took Natalia over to where Zed sat in a chair with a bleeding shoulder.
Zed’s eyes lifted and met William’s and he knew at that moment that Zed… Lorenzo… would be all right.
He found the last body in the front of the sitting room. The door was closed, blocking his view of the anyone inside. Morris stood guarding both the door and the body. “Aaron killed him with the axes. That’s why you didn’t hear him go down.”
“Then it’s done,” William said.
“Is it?” Morris lowered his voice. “The wives are scared. I don’t like the thought of Sophia fearing me.”
William didn’t want Tally fearing him either, but what could he say? “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Perhaps seeing what we’re willing to do to protect them will make them more cautious of their activities.” There had been far too many scandalous adventures and kidnappings amongst the Spinsters
Morris’ shoulders relaxed. “One could only hope.” Then he said, “I’ll get the others and we’ll move the bodies. I don’t want Sophia seeing any of this.”
William nodded. Tally had come to prevent bloodshed, yet it was exactly what she’d received at the end of the day, but William had been left without a choice. He’d kill a thousand men if he needed to.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
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Natalia pulled in a breath and watched as the needle pricked Zed’s shoulder and the thread was pulled through. She tightened her hands into a ball and tried to remain as motionless as her brother.
Her brother barely winced as the needle was pulled through again. Natalia, on the other hand, did a full body cringe. When she relaxed, he looked over at her and said, “You don’t have to watch.
”
She reached out and grabbed his hand that rested on his thigh. “Of course, I’ll stay.” Then she turned to Taygete, who was silently mending Zed’s skin with the attitude of a woman who saw nothing more than cotton and not flesh and blood.
“How did you learn to do this?” Natalia asked her.
Taygete’s gray eyes remained on Zed. Her voice raspy and attractive. “I worked as a nurse at a hospital in Southampton for nearly a decade. I knew almost as much as a doctor by the time I left.”
Julius stood against the wall with his arms crossed. “Tell your husband I thank him for lending you to us.”
Taygete smiled. “Thank him yourself if you dare.” She was pregnant and even now Tally could picture Hugh pacing just beyond the door. He’d tried to come into the kitchen, but Taygete had forbidden it, saying she didn’t need his tension in the air.
Zed kept his eyes fixed on his skin. He’d only looked at Julius once since they’d entered the room an hour ago and hadn’t said anything to him.
Taygete hadn’t wanted tension in the room, but Natalia could feel it like an itchy blanket.
The door opened again, and William entered. He came to stand behind Natalia’s chair, and she felt her hair being swept to the side before he placed a kiss on her neck.
“How are you?” he asked.
She lowered her lashes at the touch of his lips but fought to open them again as she remembered they had company. She found both Julius and Lorenzo watching her. Taygete wore a soft smile.
“I’m fine,” she whispered without looking at him.
He ran his hand down her back and then up, gripping the back of her neck. “How are you feeling?” His question was posed to Lorenzo, though he continued to touch her.
“I’ll live,” her brother said. She noticed then just how relaxed he seemed. Usually, when he was playing butler, he was stiffer with his posture. No more. The truth was out.
William’s thumb slid down her spine and then his hands were in her hair. He was still speaking to Lorenzo. “We’ll have to discuss the wedding soon.”
Natalia froze and turned to him. He shifted his hand further down her hair to allow her to meet his pleased green gaze. “I didn’t say yes yet.”
“You’re only fooling yourself if you think for a moment I’d allow you out of my sight after all this.”
Her cheeks warmed.
Julius spoke then to Lorenzo. “I’ll return your money to you. That way you can pay her dowry.”
Lorenzo turned to his cousin then. “There’s no need—”
“There’s every need,” Julius said. “It’s not mine to begin with. It’s yours so you’ll take it.”
“I’m not a servant. You don’t tell me what to do anymore,” Lorenzo said. “Or has that fact slipped your mind?”
Taygete pushed Lorenzo back when he began to lean forward. She said nothing though, neither did her expression change. She was clearly used to men bickering.
“It’s your money.” Julius pushed off the wall and came to stand by the group. “Why won’t you take it?”
“Because it was his,” Lorenzo said evenly, though Natalia noticed his breathing change. “I don’t want anything to do with him. Keep the money. Keep the land. You deserve it.”
“No.” Julius leaned forward. “I’ve held it all these years anticipating your return. I also invested it, so it’s a rather great sum now, though I hardly need it since I’ve my own. You’ll take this money, cousin.”
“Or what?” Lorenzo asked.
“Or I’ll get Uncle Perry involved, and you’ll damn well do whatever he says.”
Lorenzo narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t. He’s not seen me in years. I don’t want the first thing he says to me to be at an ear-shattering octave.”
Natalia winced.
Uncle Perry was not only very authoritative, but he was also quite loud. He said being the youngest of the brothers had made it so he'd learned to shout to be heard, but Natalia thought he’d simply gone deaf from shooting his guns far too often.
Julius had been right to say madness grew in the family.
“That’s your choice,” Julius hissed. “I’ve already planned to send a messenger to his house post haste to inform him that you both have been found.”
“Don’t.” Lorenzo started to move.
“Don’t move.” Taygete pushed him back again. Her expression was still plain.
Her brother settled. “I don’t want him to see me like this.”
Julius straightened and crossed his arms. “He’d be livid to know you’d deny your sister a dowry. And just wait until he hears how you missed your shot against an intruder.”
Lorenzo narrowed his eyes and turned away. “Fine.”
“Good.” Then Julius kissed Natalia’s head and left the room.
And that was that.
“Done.” Taygete leaned away. The wound was cleaned and bandaged a moment later. “Don’t use the shoulder for a few days if you don’t need to. Then after that start using it, but slowly. Don’t strain yourself.” She washed her hands and left the room.
Lorenzo stood without moving the shoulder and turned to William. “I suppose I don’t need to tell you to keep her safe? She was clearly born to be a Spinster. She’s likely to attract danger.” He wore an expression of irritation, but Natalia smiled, thinking his words a compliment.
William’s arm went around her waist. “I’ve got her.”
Lorenzo nodded, touched Natalia’s cheek, and departed.
Natalia turned in William’s embrace. “I’ll try to stay out of trouble.”
He touched her jaw and lifted her chin. “Are you not disturbed by what took place tonight?”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer. “Yes, but not the way you mean. You had no choice, and all of this was my fault. I knew Clara was writing her husband, I simply didn’t know she’d do it while we were out here. I thought the country would be good for her.”
He gave her a gentle squeeze and she fell silent. “This is not your fault.” And then he looked away. “I don’t know where the blame rests. Jasper James should have protected his wife if he truly loved her. Not brought her pain.”
“And not sought you for revenge,” she added. A prickling sensation settled in her heart. “I’m so sorry, William.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s an honor to protect you, Natalia.” He leaned forward and rested his head against hers. “I vowed to do it eighteen years ago. All I’m doing is fulfilling my promise.”
She smiled. “I’ve always loved you, William.”
“I know.” The arrogance returned, shining through with life in his eyes.
“Oh, was it your Roma blood that gave you the gift of hindsight or were you born this conceited?”
He laughed and reached out for her hand. Backing away, he flipped her palm up and trailed his thumb down its center. “I was told once that I was very good at reading palms.”
Natalia giggled. “What does mine say?”
He looked down at her hand. “Let us see, shall we? Ah, yes. It says you shall marry a very handsome man.”
“Who could that be?” she teased. “Levander perhaps?”
His eyes narrowed. “I’ll crush him if you even think to—”
She laughed again and kissed him. Taking her hand back, she ran it through his hair. It was wet. He’d showered. “Why so angry, my Roma vagabond? You know the future, don’t you?” She kissed him again and this time did so very slowly before releasing him. “So, tell me. What am I about to do to you?”
William stiffened. “I’ll lock the doors.”
“Hurry.” The purred word barely left her lips before he was doing as she’d instructed. As need rose inside her, she thought of all the places she wanted to kiss William and thought perhaps she should tell him, whisper it into his ear, and watch him react.
But then she changed her mind and decided to keep it as her own little secret… At least until she showed him.
&nb
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EPILOGUE
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Natalia had lived next door for almost a year, and though she’d heard rumors about the Valdeston Mansion’s grandeur, she’d been quite unprepared to see it. It was a labyrinth with no room or hall leading to where she thought it would. The grand staircase split on the first landing and then after another flight split again. Straight ahead was a painting on the ceiling that looked to have been done by El Greco himself. The home was stunning and well decorated, though it was hard to see it all with so many people about. The glittering gowns paled in comparison to the house. She felt a heavy hand press into her lower back and turned to smile at her husband.
William reached for a glass of champagne from a passing server and handed it to her. “You look nervous.” His green eyes held a light of humor that never ceased at reminding her of their shared history.
“Do I?” Her fingers trembled as she grabbed the glass. He was right. How strange that her husband of only a fortnight knew her so well. They’d married by special license with only their friends and family around them.
It had been good to see her Uncle Perry. He’d wept at the sight of her and she had wept as well.
She was growing used to being Natalia once more. When the papers had announced her and Lorenzo’s return to Society, their presence had been requested at every party, and they had attended most of them.
Yet still, people stared at her as though she’d risen from the dead. And perhaps, in a way, she had.
William bent over and whispered in her ear, “Would you like to retire for a moment?”
She smiled, and her face grew tight as she tried to control her laughter. They’d ‘retired’ at nearly every party they’d made an appearance at, yet not once had Natalia found rest during any of those sessions. Behind closed doors, William became her wild Roma once more, his hands wandering and roaming where they wished, taking what he wanted from her, stripping her bare.
Natalia’s Secret Spinster’s Society (The Spinster’s Society) (A Regency Romance Book) Page 22