One Penny Surprise (Saved By Desire 1)

by Rebecca King

  “But if he said you were to use it to sort yourself out then he most probably doesn’t expect you to pay it back.”

  “Five hundred pounds?” she said incredulously. “It is a heck of a lot of money to give to someone.”

  “I know,” Luke sighed. “I must admit it is a lot of money to ‘set someone up’. If you give me his direction, I will go and meet with him and find out what this Clarence has been up to, and why he loaned you such a large amount of money in the first place.”

  “I have just told you,” Poppy replied with a frown.

  “Yes, but as a woman in the family, and younger than them, you may not be aware of what Clarence has really been up to. It is odd, do you not think that Clarence has to come to London to repay the money? For debts he allegedly ran up in Cumbria? Really?” He shook his head. “Take it from me, Poppy, there is something else going on here. Until we can find out what, given what happened with the woman in the coaching yard, and the level of Clarence’s anger, I think you are better off staying here.” He sensed her instinctive protest and held a hand up to halt it. “There is also the matter of the body to consider.”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with that,” she protested vociferously.

  “Bodies just don’t appear by themselves.”

  “Yes, but I was the one who found it. Why would I draw attention to someone I had just killed? That man was twice the size of me,” she protested. “I have never heard anything so preposterous in my life. If that is the best theory you can come up with then I think it is time for me to leave. After all, you are a man walking all alone in the park at the crack of dawn. You are tall and strong -,” she lapsed into temporary silence when she nearly said ‘and handsome’, but eventually continued. “What is to say that you aren’t the killer?”

  “Well, if that is the case then you should worry because you have just come into the home of a murderer,” he retorted. He immediately knew he had made a colossal mistake by the way her face changed. She stared at him for several long moments, as though she had never seen him before, and then suddenly grabbed her bags and swept toward the door. Before she could open it though, he planted one heavy fist against it to stop her from storming out.

  “Look, I am sorry but there are dangers are out there, Poppy. In here, you have my protection.”

  “I need to go back to Cumbria?” she whispered.

  “Why? If you have no home there anymore, what is the point of going back? What are you going back to?” Luke replied, trying to ignore the delicate scent of her perfume that tickled his nose.

  “It is the only home I have ever known,” she replied tearfully. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “Do you have any family in Cumbria?” he replied. He turned her reluctant frame around to face him.

  She looked up at him so miserably that he drew her into his arms. “At least here you have your cousin, Peter. I think that you were right to keep the money out of Clarence’s clutches. It was given to you not your father, and is therefore yours to spend, or hand back to Peter if you wish. However, giving someone five hundred pounds, no matter what sob story they give you, is either an act of extreme benevolence, or has some other reason behind it that you just aren’t aware of yet. I think it is important that we get to the bottom of it.”

  “Pardon?” she asked, feeling slightly sick partly from the brandy and partly from the rapidly changing emotions swirling through her.

  “You need to find out what antagonism lies between Peter and Clarence. Then you need to arrange a more reasonable loan with Peter, or discuss with him whether he wants the money back or not. First of all, and more importantly, you need to find out why he is prepared to lend you that kind of money in the first place, especially when you are related to Clarence, and especially given you are woman who has very little in the way of means to repay him. If he can afford to live in a house in Mayfair, the man is no fool with his money. So why would he loan you that kind of money, Poppy? Ask yourself that. Until you can find a few more facts out I think you are in danger, particularly if you try to go back to Cumbria.”

  “Why?”

  Luke shook his head. “Clarence wants that money for one. He isn’t averse to accosting you in the street to get it.”

  She had to agree to that one and nodded slowly.

  “The woman in the coaching yard who stared at you was fixated on your bag; the bag that contained the money. She didn’t even glance at the bag containing your belongings; she knew what that bag looked like, and I strongly suspect knew exactly what is in it.”

  “How? I have never seen that woman before in my life,” Poppy whispered.

  “Clarence may have an accomplice.” He was positive he was right.

  Poppy’s instinctive reaction was to scoff at that but she couldn’t lose sight of the fact that the woman had left moments before Clarence had appeared in the street outside. Were they together?

  “You are going nowhere,” he assured her as gently as his raging emotions would allow. “You could so easily have been run over in that coaching yard earlier, and that woman would have been to blame.”

  Neither of them moved nor spoke for several moments. The small hairs stood up on the back of her neck and she shivered against the warm rush of breath that swept over the tender skin of her shoulder.

  “Poppy,” he growled huskily. His hand slid down the door and rested upon hers on the latch. He neither removed her hand or released her but merely stood there, giving her the time to get used to him being so close. She didn’t protest. He nearly groaned aloud when she leaned toward him. His coarse cheek chafed the tender skin of hers when his lips touched her ear. “Trust me Poppy. Stay here with me and let me help you with this.”

  “Why? Why would you help me with this? Who are you?” She eyed the fine cut of the material of his jacket. Unless she was sorely mistaken his clothes were a ruse; a disguise of some kind, but why? Why would someone like Luke need a disguise? He said he worked for some kind of government organisation but most of the ones she knew wore uniforms, like the army. None of them ever needed a disguise – did they?

  Luke slid his hand down her arm to capture her hand and nodded toward the doorway that led to the hall that ran straight through the centre of the house.

  “Let’s go and sit somewhere more comfortable. Then I will answer your questions.”

  “Where is this house?”

  “It is in the suburbs, and just like every other house in this street. Anyone who wanders past it are not likely to give it even a cursory glance so there is no reason to suspect that Clarence even considers it somewhere you might be. You are safe, but to remain that way you now have to be very careful. I can keep you safe, but to do that I need you to be aware of a few things.”

  Mesmerised by the intrigue, Poppy followed him into what appeared to be a front parlour. It really was rather nice, with a high ceiling and open fire. It was lavishly decorated with lush furnishings that were warm and welcoming. She settled down onto the chaise with a tired sigh and immediately felt at home. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to live in a place like this. It was wonderfully cosy, and a far cry from even the cold and somewhat austere house she had left back in Cumbria. It was odd to feel so at home so quickly. She had never felt anything like it and had to warn herself that this wasn’t home; she was a guest and needed to keep that in mind. Still, it was incredibly difficult not to lean against the plush cushions behind her and relax a little. Thankfully, Luke had brought the bag of money with them, and placed it beside the fireplace where they could see it before he took a seat beside her.

  “Right, well, I think you need to assure me that you will remain here while we get to the bottom of what your father is up to,” he began.

  “He isn’t my father really. Well, he is, but I don’t consider him to be my father. I call him Clarence.”

  “Then we shall call him Clarence.” Right now Luke would call the man anything just to get Poppy to work with him.
<
br />   “Well then given what you have told me I think the next port of call is to pay a visit to your cousin, Peter and ask him why he hates Clarence so much. I think we need to ask a few more questions about why he has given you such a large sum of money. For some, Poppy, this is an amount they could never earn over the course of a lifetime. It is odd that he has this kind of money readily at hand, especially after what has been going on in London of late.

  “What’s been going on in London of late?”

  “I forget that you have only been here a couple of weeks,” he sighed. “Have you read the broadsheets?”

  “I have,” she replied. “But the names of the people don’t really mean anything to me.”

  “Have you read about the spate of thefts that have occurred in some of the large houses belonging to aristocracy?” Luke asked softly.

  Poppy frowned while she tried to recall the details. “Well, I did read somewhere a couple of days ago that a Lord Hampton had his library broken into, and some valuable items were stolen, but I have no idea who Lord Hampton is.”

  “It isn’t really important. What is important is that Lord Hampton is one of many who have been robbed over the last eighteen months. We suspect that someone from within the ton, aristocracy, is the culprit, but so many people attend the social functions the rich throw for their acquaintances that it is impossible to find out who has been a frequent visitor to each of the victims.”

  “Was that dead man one of them – the ton?”

  Luke nodded. “His name was Joshua Samson. He was aristocracy, and one with a rather notorious gambling habit, and friends in rather dubious places.”

  “Is he likely to be the thief?” she frowned at that. “He cannot be if Lord Hampton was robbed four nights ago like the broadsheet said.”

  Luke nodded, pleased that she was starting to get her mind off the worrying events of the morning, and onto something else. “I know, but Samson may have passed information on to someone who carried out the thefts when the houses were quiet, and everyone was asleep.”

  “An insider?” She wondered just what on earth she had stumbled into and eyed Luke’s clothing warily.

  “It isn’t me,” he hastened to assure her with a smile. “As I said to you before, I work for the government. In particular, a branch of the War Office, in a covert organisation called the Star Elite. It is a group of men who were largely all ex-soldiers. A lot of the work we do is undercover, and involves us capturing not just the gangs of pick-pockets, but thieves and killers and the like. While the country was at war we protected the borders from smugglers. Now that the war is over we have turned our attention to more domestic matters; like the gangs of pick-pockets that seem to be growing in number with each passing day.”

  “And the thefts,” Poppy added.

  “And the thefts.”

  “The clothing?” she asked hesitantly, eyeing his suit cautiously. She was not sure if she should ask but was positively bursting with curiosity.

  “All part of my job. I needed to be a lure to capture a couple of the pick-pockets who accosted you in the park.”

  “Did you get them?” she gasped.

  Luke grinned. “Yep, and they were none too pleased about it. But it served its purpose.” He didn’t expand that she was one of the people they were meant to look out for.

  She frowned at that. While it was reassuring to note that the government had such an organisation to protect the innocent in the country, she couldn’t help but feel the might of the Star Elite could be just a little heavy handed for a small group of children the likes of which she had seen in the park the other week.

  “But what do the pick-pockets have to do with the house thefts? I just cannot see those children doing anything like that. Although they are scallywags, they are mischief makers, not hardened criminals likely to creep into someone’s house in the middle of the night. No, they cannot be linked, surely to goodness.”

  “I agree. The pick-pockets aren’t the burglars targeting the houses of the ton. We think the culprit for the thefts is a notorious gangster called Terrence Sayers. He likes to consider himself a cut above the gangsters who usually prowl London’s streets.”

  “Are they?”

  “Are they what?” Luke murmured. He saw the expectation in her eyes and wondered briefly if she was waiting for another kiss.

  “Do they work for this Sayers person?” she asked huskily, desperately trying to ignore the awareness that hung over them.

  “No,” he whispered, lost in the depths of her warm eyes. When he realised he was leaning closer to her he coughed and forced his attention back to the matter they were discussing.

  “Is that why you chased them so desperately in the park?”

  Luke nodded. “Yes, but then you screamed, so I came back to help you.”

  “I found a dead body. What else should I do?” she protested, unsure whether he was chiding her or not.

  “I want you to think back to that morning. Did you see anyone lurking in the shadows?”

  “No, and before you ask I have thought about that morning. Over and over again in fact.” She didn’t add that he had been the focus of her thoughts more than anything else. “I didn’t see anyone other than the pick-pockets, and you. I didn’t even see the person you chased out of the trees.”

  “So, how would you know who to hand the money over to then?” Luke asked smoothly, more fixated on her answer than she realised.

  Poppy frowned and thought about that. Now that she came to think about it, heading off into a park with a bag full of money to hand over to someone whose name she didn’t know, with no idea what he, or she, looked like did seem an incredibly foolish thing to do.

  “Well, who else was likely to be in the park that early in a morning?” she replied somewhat weakly.

  Luke snorted. “Me, for one. The gang of pick-pockets for another. The killer for another. Oh, and that man in the trees I tried to chase.”

  Poppy winced and lapsed into uncomfortable silence for a moment while she contemplated just how stupidly naive she had been. She hated to admit it but he was right.

  “I was told to meet him in the park by the river, so that is what I tried to do. How many other women were in the park holding a carpet bag? I was hoping the man would approach me and I could confirm it was him by asking for Clarence’s name, or something. I don’t know.” She had no idea why she felt the need to defend her actions but she did, although she wasn’t entirely sure who she was trying to defend her behaviour to, Luke or herself. Either way, the more she spoke the more she realised just how idiotic she had been, and how close she had come to losing her life.

  “You took a heck of a risk. Whoever you were supposed to hand the money over to now knows you still have it. Clarence does too now. He may have been contacted by the creditor demanding his money back, I don’t know. That isn’t important right now. I think we need to find out a bit more about the reality of Clarence’s debts.”

  “What do you mean ‘the reality of Clarence’s debts’?”

  “Whether they exist or not,” Luke replied honestly.

  Poppy stared at him. She had been so focused on their discussion that she hadn’t noticed he had sidled closer until his leg was pressing gently against hers, and she could feel his warmth against her side.

  “Do you think he is lying?” she whispered. She wanted to deny it but then thought about the woman in the yard.

  “I think that he isn’t being honest with you, Poppy. That money is yours and until you speak to Peter, needs to remain with you. Clarence has no claim upon it, so if he does take it, I can arrest him for theft. As long as you are honest with me and stay at this safe house then there is no threat to you or the money.”

  His gaze remained on her as he spoke. He waited until the silence became almost palpable. To his consternation, rather than make her uncomfortable, it settled over them both in a rather intimate way that drew them closer.

  “I will help you and keep you safe,” he promised. �
�Trust me.”

  “I am trying,” she replied.

  She had never trusted a complete stranger in her entire life and wasn’t entirely sure she could trust him but it was too late to back out now. She had told him too much already. The longer they sat together the more she became aware of the molten warmth that had started to grow deep in the pit of her belly. Her heart cried out for the safety and comfort of his arms, but her mind warned her she had to maintain some distance between them because she wasn’t sure where her future lay now. She wanted to remain with him, which was odd because she didn’t even know him, but then she still wanted to return to everything she was familiar with because it was safe – or at least she had thought it was safe in Cumbria. Now she wasn’t entirely sure of anything anymore.

  “I am not going to hurt you,” he promised her.

  Temptation was too much to resist, and he lowered his lips to her shoulder and placed a tender kiss there. He heard her swift intake of breath but she didn’t make any attempt to stop him. His lips slid upward, across her jaw, and hovered tantalisingly close to her lips for a moment. She turned toward him hungrily, yearning for him to close the distance between them and kiss her again. Before he could, they were interrupted by a rapid series of knocks on the back door.

  Luke mentally swore and placed a comforting hand on Poppy’s when she jumped nervously, but snatched it back again when a bolt of awareness shot up his arm. Their eyes met and held for a moment before another series of raps forced Luke to his feet.

  “I know who that is,” he said softly. “Wait here.”

  Poppy watched him go, her heart in her throat. She continued to stare at him until he vanished from sight. Then she stared absently into the fire while she thought about what he had just said. If he had been honest with her about working for the government, she needed his help to warn Clarence off the money. Not only that but she had a sneaking suspicion that Clarence had more secrets than debts. One thing she hadn’t lost sight of was that the note with the delivery orders for the money hadn’t specified who she was supposed to meet. Had it been the woman who had knocked her over? Had she missed seeing the woman in the park somewhere because she had been looking for a man?