Amara (Carlton House Cartel Book 2)

by Wendy Soliman

  It was the first time that he had openly admired Amara’s singing voice. She had longed to receive praise from him, but now that it had come it seemed hollow and calculating.

  ‘I shall not be returning to Greece, Papa. I am almost of age, and I can do as I please. It does not please me to be used by you to enhance your own standing.’

  ‘Damn it, child, you will do as you are told!’ He towered over her, his hand raised ready to strike.

  ‘Hit me, Papa, and it will be the last time you ever touch me and the last you will ever see of me.’

  Her calm tone appeared to placate him, and he resumed his chair. ‘You have changed, and I no longer know you.’

  ‘You never took enough interest in me to know me at all. I have matured and my eyes have been opened.’ She leaned forward. ‘You did not tell me why you dislike the English so much.’

  He grunted and remained silent for so long that at first she thought he wouldn’t answer her. When he did so, his voice was quiet, distant, unlike any tone she had ever heard him employ before. ‘When I was not much older than you are now, my own father sent me to England to extend my education and find trading routes for his commodities. Spices mainly. I saw opportunities to expand—and I also fell in love.’

  ‘In love?’ Amara blinked. She thought her father incapable of any deep emotional attachment. ‘With an English lady?’

  ‘The most beautiful creature I had ever beheld,’ he replied, in a soft, distant voice, ‘but her connections laughed at my lowly origins. My father was a modest merchant and the lady’s people forbade her from seeing me again.’ Papa leaned back in his chair, his expression hardening. ‘I learned many lessons that day, which I have never forgotten.’

  ‘Which is why you decided, I assume, that honest trading was not for you.’ And why, she thought but did not add, that he had striven to rise to the most influential position he possibly could. The slight had scarred him, had turned him into a tough, emotionless individual. ‘You married Mama, but looking back I cannot think of a time when you seemed contented. She was a poor substitute for your true love, which hardly seems fair on her.’

  ‘Your mother came from an excellent family without funds. It was a business arrangement. Money talks, child. No one closes their doors in my face nowadays.’ He paused. ‘Do you love him?’

  She blinked. ‘I beg your pardon.’

  ‘The man who has persuaded you to rebel against your own father’s authority. Cora has written. I know all about him.’

  ‘I dare say she has, and the answer is yes. I love him with all my heart.’

  Amara made the admission without having to think about it and kept her gaze firmly focused on her father as she did so. He didn’t speak for a long time.

  ‘Stay then,’ he said eventually, ‘I am finished with you. You are dead to me and I no longer have a daughter.’

  Without another word, and without turning back or wishing her well, he left the room.

  ‘They’ve been in there for an awfully long time,’ Louis said, pacing up and down Sabine’s drawing room. ‘Perhaps I should—’

  ‘No.’ Sabine held up a hand. ‘She needs to do this on her own.’

  ‘If he harms so much as a hair on her head, I swear I shall not…’ Louis paused in his pacing and tilted his head. ‘Is that the sound of him finally leaving?’

  Sabine smiled. ‘I believe so, and he is going alone. Now would be a good time to ensure that Amara is unharmed.’

  Louis was out of the room before Sabine stopped speaking and without bothering to excuse himself.

  ‘I don’t think I have ever seen a man more in love,’ he heard Eva say as he closed the door. ‘I do hope he achieves his heart’s desire.’

  Louis paused outside the morning room door and then thrust it open. Amara was seated, but she stood when he walked in and smiled at him.

  ‘He’s gone,’ she said, looking lovely and relieved and supremely confident. ‘I am disgraced and disowned.’

  ‘How very trying for you,’ Louis replied, clearing his throat. ‘What shall you do now?’

  ‘Why, marry you of course.’

  Louis choked. ‘I beg your pardon.’

  She tilted her head and sent him a mischievous smile. ‘Don’t you want to marry me?’

  ‘More than anything in the world.’

  ‘Well then.’ She walked up to him and he took her in his arms. ‘That’s probably just as well, since I implied that I knew all about Papa’s illegal activities. I shouldn’t like to think that I had annoyed him for no good reason.’

  ‘Minx!’ He kissed the end of her nose. ‘I fell in love with you the first time I saw you. I haven’t been able to sleep or eat or think about anyone other than you since that day.’

  ‘You might have said.’

  ‘I thought it would be hopeless. I know how much your duty means to you and how much you love your country. I couldn’t ask you to decide.’

  ‘Just as well that I made the decision for us both, in that case.’

  Louis kissed her soundly, feeling like he was living in a dream. ‘You can be sure that I shall not clip your wings. It would be a travesty to keep such a wonderful voice from those who will appreciate hearing it.’

  ‘That is all to the good, since I am fast discovering that I rather enjoy exerting myself.’

  Louis smiled because he suddenly felt as though he had a great deal to smile about. ‘I must be careful not to upset you in that case, since I would not like to meet the same fate as Lykaios when he tried to abduct you at knife point. How did you know to…?’

  She chuckled. ‘We Greek girls might live sheltered lives, but even we are aware of the location of a man’s most sensitive areas.’ She wriggled in his arms when he tickled her ribs. ‘Papa told me that his first love was an English lady, whose family didn’t think him good enough, which is terribly sad. It drove him to be more ambitious, so that he would never be rejected again.’

  ‘At least he still has some compassion, since he let you go.’

  ‘Penniless,’ she said, peeping up at him.

  ‘As if I care about that.’ He closed his arms around her. ‘Your voice will ensure that we both live in style for the rest of our days.’

  ‘You beast!’ she protested. ‘You only want to marry me so that I can provide for you.’

  ‘Absolutely. I depend upon you to provide me with unconditional love for the rest of our lives.’ He kissed her firmly. ‘Do you suppose you could manage that?’

  ‘Hmm.’ She tilted her head in thoughtful contemplation. ‘You ask a lot.’

  ‘Ah, but I also give good value.’

  And he kissed her again to prove his point.

  ‘Well,’ Sabine said, as she snuggled against Chance in their bed much later that evening, having celebrated Amara and Louis’s good news in their own way. ‘I think you and I can take the lion’s share of the credit for bringing that match about.’

  ‘I think their love would have found a way.’

  ‘Not without your having pumped Drakos for information and then paying him from your own pocket to depart these shores.’

  ‘Not my pocket precisely. Those funds were donated by members of the aristocracy addicted to gambling, often beyond their means. At least some good has come of it.’

  ‘You have a soft heart, Jonas Dayton.’

  Chance kissed her. ‘Don’t tell anyone. My reputation will never recover.’

  Sabine smiled against his shoulder. ‘Eva is going to stay in England and remain with her niece until she marries. I rather think that Lord Robert might have had something to do with that decision.’

  ‘One successful match ought to satisfy your need to make yourself useful,’ Chance replied, playfully tapping her thigh. ‘Leave Robert and Mrs Costas to sort out their own affairs.’

  And look to your own, she thought. The implication hung between them for a moment. Sabine rested the side of her face against Chance’s chest, falling more in love with him with every day they spen
t in one another’s company, wondering if she dared to risk her heart again and commit to matrimony or whether it would spoil everything.

  She would decide tomorrow.

  The End

  About the Author

  Hi, I do hope you enjoyed Amara. If so, please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon. I’d love to hear what you thought of this particular novel – what you enjoyed most about it and what you didn’t like. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

  Reach me at wendysoliman@rocketmail.com

  I’m a British author, brought up on the Isle of Wight, but now live in Andorra. I share my life with my long-suffering husband and a rescued dog of indeterminate pedigree named Jake Bentley after the hero in one of my books. Both Jakes are handsome mongrels with independent spirits and wild streaks.

  I’ve had over sixty books published, ranging from Regency romance, (my first love), to contemporary women’s fiction and marine crime mysteries.

  When not writing I walk miles with my dog, make half-hearted visits to the gym, read other people’s tomes…oh, and I’m on a one woman mission to keep the wine trade profitable!

  Check out all of my books, and learn more about me from my website: http:www.wendysoliman.com

  Or on my Amazon author page author.to/wendys

  Follow me on twitter @wendyswriter or on Facebook: Wendy Soliman - Author

  Also available from this Author

  Historical Romance

  Stand Alone Regencies

  Lady Hartley’s Inheritance

  Duty’s Destiny

  A Reason to Rebel

  Forgotten Heiress

  For Want of a Reputation

  Christmas at Castleray

  Ava’s Passion

  Lady Mysterious

  Disinherited

  Divided Loyalties

  A Scandalous Proposition

  The Perfect Impostor

  Lady Impetuous

  Sacrificial Bride

  Dangerous Dukes Series

  To Defy a Duke

  The Duke’s Legacy

  A Duke by Default

  Of Dukes and Deceptions

  Game of Dukes

  Dukes and Indiscretions

  Never Dare a Duke

  To Desire a Duke

  Mrs. Darcy Entertains Series Boxset

  Miss Bingley’s Revenge / Colonel Fitzwilliam’s Dilemma / Miss Darcy’s Passion / Kitty Bennet’s Despair / Lydia Wickham’s Journal

  Pemberley – The Next Generation Series Vols 1 – 3 Boxset

  Emma Bingley’s Romantic Nature / Naomi Sanford’s Compassionate Nature / Bella Darcy’s Impetuous Nature

  Pemberley – The Next Generation Series Vols 4 – 6 Boxset

  Eleanor Bingley’s Rebellious Nature / Rosie Turner’s Contrary Nature / Susie Darcy’s Tenacious Nature

  Simon Bingley’s Resolve

  Ducal Encounters Series 1

  At the Duke’s Discretion

  With the Duke’s Approval

  Portrait of a Duke

  For the Duke’s Pleasure

  In the Duke’s Estimation

  Captivating the Duke

  Ducal Encounters Series 2

  Reunited with the Duke

  Christmas with the Duke

  Representing the Duke

  Safeguarding the Duke

  Acting for the Duke

  Emulating the Duke

  Ducal Encounters Series 3

  Conspiring with the Duke

  Dedicated to the Duke

  Impugning the Duke’s Honour

  By Order of the Duke

  Supporting the Duke

  Protecting the Duke’s Interests

  Ducal Encounters Series 4

  As the Duke’s Agent

  Masquerading with the Duke

  On the Duke’s Authority

  Carlton House Cartel

  Chance

  Amara

  The Forsters

  Compromising the Marquess

  Beguiling the Barrister

  Finessing the Contessa

  Romancing the Runaway

  Victorian Vigilante Series Boxset

  Saving Grace / Heirs and Graces / With Good Grace / Fall From Grace / Social Graces / Elegance and Grace

  Riley Rochester Investigates Series

  Death of a Debutante

  Death of a Courtesan

  Death of a Prosecutor

  Death of a Scoundrel

  Death of an Artist

  Death of a Recluse

  Death of a Matriarch

  Death of a Footman

  Perceptions Series

  A Sense of Belonging

  A Sense of Purpose

  A Sense of Misgiving

  A Sense of Injustice

  A Sense of Turmoil

  A Sense of Destiny

  Contemporary Titles

  English Contemporary Romance Boxset: Reinventing Radleigh/ Shalimar/Silver Lining

  English Contemporary Romance Boxset 2: Name of the Game / Downsizing / Topspin

  The Hunter Files Boxset: Unfinished Business /

  Risky Business/ Lethal Business