by Wolf, Bree
Moving quickly, Pierce stepped into her path, blocking her way back inside. “I promised I would not breathe a word of this to anyone,” he told her, holding her gaze and imploring her to believe him, “and I meant what I said. Your secret is safe with me.”
The hint of a smile teased her lips. “Will you share yours in return? For it is as clear as day that there is one, dark and menacing, looming in the shadows.”
Pierce chuckled. “Very observant of you, Miss Hawkins.” For a moment, he was truly tempted to reveal all the moments they’d shared with one another. Still, here and now was neither the time nor place to do so. The moment she’d realize who he was Pierce wanted to be theirs alone…and not shared with half of London. “I’m certain you’ll figure it out on your own in due time.”
Disappointment sneaked into her eyes. “Pity!” she replied. “I admit I would’ve liked to know.”
“You will,” he assured her.
At the certainty in his voice, her eyes narrowed. “Is that so?”
Pierce nodded.
For a long moment, she merely looked at him over the rim of her spectacles like a scientist inspecting a new specimen, one that might prove to surpass his wildest dreams.
Pierce felt his heart slam against his ribcage at the look of utter yearning in her eyes. His arms moved, his hands longing to feel her, to hold her close.
“Well, good night then,” his little mouse said all of a sudden, freezing his limbs before he could do something unwise. Casting him a small smile, she stepped past him into the ballroom.
“I will be there,” Pierce blurted out, his words making her turn back to look at him. “I will be there,” he repeated, his gaze locked on hers, “should you ever need me. I promise.”
For a moment, she remained still, her wide, blue eyes lingering on his, before a teasing smile drew up the corners of her lips and she took a step closer. “And should you ever need my help, I will not hesitate to offer it, either.”
Pierce couldn’t help but grin. “That is most appreciated.”
“I thought it might be,” she whispered. Then his little mouse turned on her heel and walked away, leaving him with an aching yearning in his heart that grew with each step she took. If only he knew what to do about it!
Chapter Twenty
A Promise
He was a dangerous man, and despite not yet having unearthed his secret, Caroline felt absolutely certain that the moniker Black Baron was well deserved. Indeed, there was something dark about him, something threatening. Not that she thought he would harm her, but Caroline could not deny the weakness that had come to her heart, her mind, her body the moment those brown eyes had settled on hers. Somehow, he knew her. He knew what lived in her heart. He knew the thoughts that burned in her mind. He knew what she feared, what she desired, what she fought to accomplish.
Somehow, he knew.
And yet, he had promised not to say a word.
Without thought for her surroundings, Caroline strode down the pavement and would have almost rushed out into the street had Sarah not reached out and pulled her back. Stumbling back onto the footpath, Caroline drew in a deep breath as she watched a phaeton speed past, barely missing her.
“Are you all right?” Sarah asked, her eyes wide and full of concern as she looked Caroline up and down. “Did you not see it?”
Caroline swallowed. “I’m sorry. I was woolgathering.” She righted her bonnet and cast Sarah a grateful smile. “It shall not happen again.” Then she glanced up and down the street before setting one foot in front of the other once more in order to cross it.
Sarah followed, and Caroline could feel her friend’s eyes on her, suspicion in them as though Sarah could see with a single glance that there was more than Caroline was willing to admit. Still, she remained quiet, her eyes watchful nonetheless.
Forcing her thoughts to settle on more important matters, Caroline breathed a sigh of relief when she stepped into the orphanage a few minutes later.
Ever since Albert had taken over, a sense of peacefulness had settled over the place. He was a quiet man, easily overlooked. But the way he watched over the children’s home was heartwarming. Caroline knew how dedicated he was to take care of everyone, how diligent he was in his responsibilities. He would never take money away from the children, never place his own needs above theirs. He was a man she could trust for he reminded her of herself in many ways.
“I demand you leave immediately,” came Albert’s soft voice as the two women walked down the corridor toward his office.
At the slight quiver in the man’s voice, Caroline felt the little hairs in the back of her neck rise. A moment later, another man’s voice cut through the peacefulness she’d savored only seconds before. “Rubbish! Get out of my way!”
Caroline gritted her teeth. Mr. Wolsey!
“What is he doing here?” Sarah whispered as they pulled up short a few steps outside the office.
“Looking for trouble, no doubt,” Caroline whispered back as her mind spun, considering her options.
From experience, Caroline knew that Mr. Wolsey only ever thought of himself, which suggested that the reason he had somehow found his way back to the orphanage was probably because he needed money or was looking for a stack of liquor he’d hidden somewhere. Caroline’s thoughts drifted to Lord Markham’s donation in her reticule, a donation that was to ensure the children’s home’s future. She could not risk it falling into that man’s hands. No, he needed to be persuaded to leave and not return.
Ever.
But how to accomplish that?
While Caroline could be quite intimidating when she wanted to, she doubted that Mr. Wolsey would be impressed. After all, all Caroline could do was threaten to inform the authorities. Since she herself preferred to remain anonymous that would not be the best idea.
And Mr. Wolsey knew that.
Or at least suspected it.
Albert with his good heart and trembling hands could not remove a fly from the premises if it was steadfast in its intention to stay.
Then who?
Oddly enough, Caroline found herself remembering a pair of brown eyes as they’d looked into hers full of sincerity. I will be there should you ever need me. Had he truly meant it? Or was she a fool to believe him?
Did she have a choice?
As much as Caroline hated to admit it, right here and now, she needed help. And he had offered. Was that not enough?
As foolish as it might be, was he not a man she was beginning to trust? At the very least, he was a man more dangerous than Mr. Wolsey.
Not hesitating a moment longer, Caroline spun around and grabbed Sarah’s hands. “Go and fetch Lord Markham. Tell him…tell him I need him. Go!”
“What?” Sarah’s eyes went wide. “Why would you—?”
“Simply go and do as I say. Now!”
With a frown on her face and a look in her eyes promising that the last word concerning this matter had not yet been spoken, Sarah hurried back out onto the street.
Caroline could only hope that Markham was home, that he was a man true to his word and that she could stall Mr. Wolsey until he arrived!
This needed to end today.
Once and for all.
Chapter Twenty-One
A Rather Unexpected Call for Aid
If looks could kill, Pierce would’ve been dead the moment Caroline’s lady’s maid had stepped across his threshold!
The young woman had been adamant in her insistence to see him and then relayed the message she’d been entrusted with with quick and efficient words, her bright green eyes glaring at him the whole time.
Pierce had immediately shot to his feet and called for his carriage. However, the young woman had pointed out that her hired hackney coach was still waiting by the curb. Congratulating her on her quickness of mind—to which she’d reacted as though he’d insulted her—they rushed outside and been on their way only moments later.
Now, they sat in silence as the coach sped along th
e streets toward their destination.
“You dislike me,” Pierce commented as she continued to glare at him.
Her shoulders went up and down. “You do not deserve her trust.”
Pierce scoffed. “I doubt I have it.” He leaned forward, his gaze settling on the woman on the other side of the coach. “She had no choice, did she?” His pulse sped up at the thought of Caroline alone with the man who’d stolen from the orphanage. Clearly, the man was lacking in morals of any kind, and Pierce feared that Caroline’s rather direct and unyielding manner might tempt him to behave in the worst way.
The young woman shook her head.
“Do you have a name?” Pierce asked, annoyed with the way she kept regarding him as though he were dirt under her boot.
Her brows rose, but she did not say a word.
Slumping back into his seat, Pierce drummed his fingers on his legs, nervously awaiting the end of their journey. When the orphanage finally came in sight, he all but jumped from the moving vehicle, not bothering to assist his companion as there were more pressing matters on his mind than placating Caroline’s maid.
Indeed, her mistrust and watchfulness proved her a valuable friend and the depth of her loyalty made her priceless. Caroline had indeed chosen well, and Pierce knew that the only way to gain the young woman’s approval was by proving himself as loyal and trustworthy as she was.
Focusing his thoughts, Pierce raced up the steps to the front door, then threw it open and proceeded down the corridor, his steps guided by the loud voices echoing toward him. With relief, he took note of Caroline’s strong reply to a downright insulting remark from a man he presumed to be Mr. Wolsey while Albert’s feeble attempts to appease them both were completely ignored.
“You have no right to send me away!” Mr. Wolsey snarled at Caroline as Pierce stepped across the threshold. While Albert all but sagged in relief at the sight of him, the other two had yet to take note of his appearance.
Caroline stood with her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed in anger as she glared at the man who’d taken Albert’s seat behind the large desk. His eyes looked unfocused and mildly bloodshot. His greying hair was unkempt and his attire disheveled. Even from across the room, Pierce could detect the faint scent of spirits that wafted into the air every time the man opened his mouth to hurl another insult.
“You’re a drunkard and a profligate,” Caroline growled as she stalked toward the desk, “and I will not have you near the children! Do you hear?”
In that moment, Caroline’s lady’s maid appeared beside Pierce, her breath coming fast and her eyes narrowing as she looked at him. “Will you not assist her?”
Pierce chuckled. “It does not seem as though the lady needs any assistance,” he told her before his gaze returned to Mr. Wolsey.
Clearly offended, his eyes murderous and his mouth contorted into a snarl, Mr. Wolsey shot to his feet, his hands braced on top of the desk as he leaned forward. “Your arrogant and high-handed ways have no effect on me. I know your kind. I know how you treat those you deem inferior. I—”
“If you truly believe this has anything to do with rank or station or status,” Caroline interrupted, “then you’re an even greater fool than I’d thought. This is about doing the job that was entrusted to you, about not shirking one’s responsibilities, about looking after others before oneself. You’re a disgrace, Mr. Wolsey. You’re not fit to look after these children, to ensure their well-being, and I will not have you risk their futures!”
All but mesmerized, Pierce stood in the doorway, delighting in each spark that lit up her blue eyes and savoring each flare of anger that strengthen her voice. She was magnificent in the way she fought without regard for herself! Indeed, he would be proud to call her an ally, to see her stand up for him like that one day.
Should he ever manage to gain her trust.
And her affection.
Debating whether or not to interfere, Pierce had his decision made for him when Mr. Wolsey made to climb onto the desk in order to launch himself at Caroline, his face contorted into an almost animalistic sneer.
“Stop!” Pierce ordered in the same kind of voice that made lords quake in their boots when faced with his masked self in darkened alleys. While Caroline merely cast him a curious look, Mr. Wolsey craned his neck to locate the origin of the command and thus lost his balance, all but crashing face-first into the desk.
A howl of pain escaped him a moment before Pierce grabbed him by the shoulders and jerked him back onto his feet. Then he spun the man around, seizing him by the front of his stained shirt. “Look at me!” Pierce commanded as Mr. Wolsey gasped, clutching a hand to his bleeding nose. “You will leave this place,” Pierce snarled in a menacing whisper that had the other man’s eyes going as round as plates. “You will leave and you will never come back. Is that clear?”
Mr. Wolsey swallowed hard, his jaw trembling as he bobbed his head up and down in a rather agitated manner.
Pierce leaned closer, forcing himself to ignore the stench that emanated from the man. “If I ever lay eyes on you again,” he whispered in the same menacing tone before he paused for impact, his eyes trained on the man shaking in his grasp. Then he merely lifted his brows, leaving the threat unspoken and up to Mr. Wolsey’s imagination, a powerful tool if ever Pierce had known one.
As expected, Mr. Wolsey went paler than a sheet, horror darkening his eyes, before Pierce all but dropped him, then watched as the man scrambled to his feet and fled the room in a near panic.
“It seems you do have a way with words,” his little mouse remarked, a curious look in her eyes as she watched him, a hint of amusement tinging her voice.
Pierce chuckled as he walked around the desk toward her. “We all have our talents.” Then his gaze veered to Albert, all but cowering in a corner, his breath coming fast with a slightly wheezing quality to it. “Does your lady’s maid have a name?” he asked Caroline with a sideways glance at the young woman in question.
His little mouse frowned. “Her name is Sarah. Why?”
Turning to meet Sarah’s rather thunderous green eyes, Pierce asked, “Sarah, would you be so kind as to accompany Albert outside? I believe he could do with a bit of fresh air to calm his nerves.”
Inhaling an unnecessarily deep breath—one that no doubt betrayed her annoyance with him—Sarah cast him a disapproving look before turning to assist a shaking Albert to his feet, who mumbled his deepest gratitude as they proceeded out the door and down the hall.
With Albert and Sarah elsewhere, Pierce’s attention returned to Caroline.
With her arms crossed in front of her, she still stood on the other side of the desk, her nose slightly scrunched as she regarded him. A lock of her hair had come loose and tumbled down the side of her left temple, softening her features. Still, most of her dark brown tresses were still pulled back, complementing the stern look brought about by those hideous spectacles as well as that colorless gown she wore.
At first glance, she did look like a little, grey mouse, and since most would not grant her another look, they quickly dismissed her as someone insignificant and utterly boring. Oh, how wrong they were!
Pierce couldn’t help but smile as his gaze swept over her face for he knew well what to look for. His eyes sought that teasing curl of her lips, the slender column of her neck, her chin raised in resistance, before moving to those deep blue eyes that sparked with a strength he’d rarely encountered. Despite her disguise, Miss Caroline Hawkins knew who she was and what she wanted.
And so did Pierce.
Now more than ever.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked, her blue gaze narrowing in suspicion as she watched him move closer, a hint of alarm coming to her posture.
Pierce grinned. “Are you all right?”
“I am perfectly fine.”
“He did not hurt you?” Another step brought him closer still.
She exhaled sharply, exasperation coming to her eyes, and her arms dropped to her sides.
“Of course not. I can take care of myself, you know?” A hint of accusation, a challenge clung to her voice, but Pierce refused to allow her to distract him.
“You’re well then?” he pressed, his gaze locked on hers as he stalked closer.
“Did I not just say that?” his little mouse demanded sharply, feigning annoyance when, in truth, he could see the pulse hammering in her neck. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as he moved closer, his steps not slowing even as he drew near. He could see the desire to retreat spark in her eyes as uncertainty and suspicion swirled in her mind.
“You’re not dizzy or somehow unsteady on your feet?”
A shuddering breath went past her lips. “Not…not particularly,” she all but whispered as no more than an arm’s length separated them. “Why?”