The Runner's Enticement (Men of Circumstance Book 2)

by Addie Jo Ryleigh

  What terrified the hell out of him more, he wasn’t sure he could open himself to the possibility of not being enough for her.

  Even if by some small chance she felt the same, it wouldn’t be fair to tie her life to his and essentially close doors once open to her. He wanted more for her.

  She deserved more.

  No easy answer in sight, Nate ignored her imploring look and lowered himself to the sofa, brushing the forgotten letter with his hand. A reminder as to why he needed to keep his fanciful fantasies to himself. His life was filled with the kind of peril and uncertainty he never wanted her exposed to.

  He’d give his own life before he allowed The Viper to breathe the same air as her.

  Chapter 28

  Anna was being held captive and Nate was her jailer. She had no other way to explain it. It had been two days and she’d barely seen the light of day.

  Perhaps she was being a tad dramatic.

  She reached her bedchamber door and turned to retrace her steps to the window, the only freedom she seemed to be able to find. For the moment, anyway. She wouldn’t doubt Nate might snatch that liberty from her too.

  She shook her head to rid it of all thoughts of Nate invading her bedchamber. It would only lead to more problems she didn’t have the time to dwell on.

  As hopeless as it seemed, she had to keep her school from Mr. Rollins’ grubby hands. She refused to admit defeat. Not until she had no other choice. And not without retaining a remote chance she could return all the items she had taken from her father. How she’d manage the feat she hadn’t the foggiest idea.

  Reaching the window, she pivoted and resumed her pacing. Oh, how she wished she could take her worrying away from the four walls of her room. Since she wasn’t exactly a prisoner, she had the right. Though once she did, Nate would be at her side—as it had become his favorite place to be as of late, and she doubted it was because he’d become so entranced by her he couldn’t stay away.

  She halted in the middle of the room, imagining the possibility. She’d been honest when she’d told him she didn’t expect anything from him. Marriage was hardly what she’d envisioned for them. The simple truth didn’t stop the spark of hope hidden in the very depth of her heart. He might be maddening at times—very well, at most times—but then he’d dispense of his Runner exterior and his charming veneer. And she felt drawn to the man. In ways she’d never thought possible.

  How had her life become such a mess? She longed for the days when her only worry was how she’d amuse herself as her father immersed himself with his collection. Those days were gone. In their place was the probable loss of the school, a financial savior turned monster, and the yearning for a man who could most certainly transport her to prison in little over a week.

  Frustrated, she banged her head against the door. At the light thud she swore she heard the shuffling of heavy feet outside her chamber.

  No. It wasn’t possible. He wouldn’t. Nate couldn’t possibly be positioned outside. What danger did the man think he was protecting her from? Since she evidently was only a danger to herself, considering she was the thief he sought, the man was being utterly ridiculous. She nearly flung open the door and confessed all, just to prove how insane his constant vigil was.

  Instead, not ready to confront Nate or his brooding silence from the morning, she backed from the door and took her worrying with her. If she could manage to dispel thoughts of Nate for longer than a few minutes at a time, she might be able to work through her last effort to save the school—and herself.

  Mr. Rollins’ decision to call the debt early had taken away any chance of her latest changes at the school to reach fruition and produce the funds she needed. When he’d first appeared requesting a tour of the facilities, she’d welcomed the opportunity to show off her mother’s legacy and in doing so, had unthinkingly spoken of her vison.

  Before discovering his true nature, she’d judged Mr. Rollins to be a gentleman and because of that, took his interest as genuine. His offer to assist her endeavor had seemed like a natural progression.

  When he’d threatened to seize the school, she understood how badly she’d misjudged his benevolence. Once she’d fallen so far and borrowed the first of her father’s artifacts, she’d sealed her downfall.

  Tired of endlessly pacing, Anna stopped at the bed and flopped onto its softness. She could make this all easier on herself and simply go to her father. Confess her sins. Even hating her for all she’d done, he’d pay the debt. Solve all her problems with Mr. Rollins. She could even persuade him to use her dowry since she’d certainly have no need for it.

  Except then her secrets would be out. Her father would know everything and she would never have the chance to set things right with him. Return what she took.

  No, she would make one last effort to repair things herself. But she wouldn’t find needed answers hiding in her bedchamber. Besides, she had a few more details to discuss with her father regarding the plans for his gathering.

  Resolved, she rose from the bed and silently crept to the door, hoping to catch Nate loitering in the hall. She didn't doubt she’d heard him earlier.

  Silently, she yanked the door open and couldn’t suppress the grin at being proven right. Despite appearing as if he just happened to be passing her door, Nate was indeed exactly where she expected him.

  “My, what a surprise finding you here.” The irony surrounding her words as clear as the dimple dipping into his cheek.

  The very dimple attached to the smile that never failed to curl her toes. Blast him! Why did he have to be so handsome? At least he had the good sense not to claim he hadn’t been lingering outside her door.

  Instead, he fell in step behind her as she continued down the hall and descended the stairs.

  “Careful, you are reverting back to my trusty lap dog. I’m tempted to teach you to roll over and beg.”

  His warm chuckle fell along her shoulder. When his husky voice sounded in her ear his nearness became apparent. “Oh, without a doubt I’ll beg for it. Right before I have you panting for more.”

  Double blast him! Her cheeks flamed. How dare he use her word against her? Those four simple letters would never hold the same meaning for her. Not if he continued to say it with the honeyed softness of his voice dragging out the single syllable.

  She hadn’t meant for her comment to be construed lustfully. She’d wanted to goad him. To frustrate him as much as his constant company disturbed her.

  If she couldn’t annoy him, she’d do the next best thing. Bore him. A cunning smile returned to her face. She had the perfect person to help her. Her father. Instead of settling the remaining party details, now seemed like a good time to learn more about ancient Egypt.

  An extra bounce in her step, she continued to her father’s parlor.

  Two hours later Anna discovered the flaw in her genius plan. She’d mistakenly subjected herself to the same endless minutes of Egyptian history. A subject hardly interesting after hearing the same facts countless times.

  Stealing a glance at Nate, she recalled why she hadn’t called a halt to the entire thing. She found too much satisfaction in the fog that had settled over his eyes about fifteen minutes into her father’s history lesson. A look occasionally interrupted by an angry glare sent her way.

  She hid her smile behind the back of her hand. No need to let Nate see how much she enjoyed his discomfort. She could live without his retribution.

  Having endured about as much as she could, she had decided to interrupt her father when a man wearing a good layer of travel dust on his brown jacket and breeches entered the room behind Carson.

  “My lord, Mr. Thomas has arrived.”

  Before she could rise in greeting, her father dashed to the side of the most senior member of his dig team.

  “Walter, I wasn’t expecting you for
at least another week. Did something happen? Was there an accident?”

  “No. No. No such thing,” the studious man answered.

  Less than ten years her senior, Mr. Thomas was far younger than her father. Yet, omitting the age difference and overall looks, the men could be twins. Most noticeably their tendency to get lost in their thoughts. Especially in a room filled with Egyptian treasures.

  “No need to worry, Brodford. Everything is as it should be. Something spurred my early return to England.” The dark haired man’s nondescript eyes twinkled and she knew what it meant. She’d seen the same look from her father many times, and had witnessed it from Mr. Thomas before. Something had been unearthed. Something rare. Something exceptional enough to elevate her father and Mr. Thomas higher in their sphere of collectors.

  Her father evidently also interpreted its meaning, for with visible child-like excitement he asked, “Do you have it with you?”

  Mr. Thomas smiled. “Of course. I wouldn’t dare appear without it.”

  Anna stood but remained by her chair during the exchange. She’d been around the two men enough to know she’d become invisible the moment artifacts had entered the conversation.

  She might be familiar with the routine, but someone in the room certainly wasn’t. Given Nate’s furrowed brow and confused look, he had failed to grasp the importance of Mr. Thomas’ early appearance.

  Instead of clueing the man in, she returned her attention to the item Mr. Thomas was painstakingly unwrapping. And she couldn’t help but wonder where he’d been hiding the small treasure.

  As soon as the last fold of the protective cloth fell from the item, her father gave a sharp gasp.

  “It can’t be!” He beamed at Mr. Thomas. “How . . . how did you find it?”

  Her father losing the ability to speak said a lot. Whatever Mr. Thomas held might be the find Father had always hoped for. A twinge of sadness hit her. There had been a time, when she’d been younger and her grandmother had been alive to help care for Anna, that her father had been able to spearhead his digs in Egypt. His last expedition had ended the month before her grandmother had passed. Since then he’d remained in England.

  Allowing his team to discover all the hidden treasures.

  Never once had he complained about his decision or blamed her for keeping him on English soil. How had she repaid him? By betraying him. By taking the very items he’d sacrificed for.

  The honorable reasons behind her deceit were starting to lose significance for her, no longer having the ability to console her.

  Her father’s face came alive as he gently held the artifact in his hand.

  It was time she admitted it. She’d been fighting for the wrong person. Instead of striving to create a legacy for a woman no longer in her life, she should have treasured what she had. A kind father who’d given his world to her.

  “Why the sad eyes, princess?”

  Sometime during her musings Nate had shifted closer. Close enough to keep his question from carrying across the room.

  He stood by her side, waiting for an answer. Oh, how she wanted to give him one. Reveal the secret that would set her free. Instead, she balled her sad revelation with her mountain of guilt and pushed it low in her belly. If providence fell on her side, it would stay there.

  “I’m just thinking of all the adventures my father sacrificed on my behalf. He should have been there when the team discovered the artifact. Not only now but the last few years,” she answered as close to the truth as possible.

  She wanted to be done with the lies.

  He stood so silently that the light pressure of his hand on her lower back sent a surprised shiver through her body.

  “I think you’ve misunderstood his decision. He didn’t sacrifice his chance of unearthing historic treasures. He just refused to sacrifice something more priceless—a bigger treasure.”

  Her lungs seized on a stalled breath as she waited to see if he would continue. When he did, she strained to hear the soft word. “You.”

  How could she respond to that? She couldn’t. Instead, she gave a subtle shift in his direction and hugged her side into his before quickly stepping toward her father.

  “What did Mr. Thomas bring, Papa?”

  “Lady Annabel, forgive me. I should have greeted you when I’d arrived,” Mr. Thomas stammered as he fell into a bow exceptionally executed while lacking finesse. Something she’d grown to expect since, despite years of acquaintance, he’d never learned to be comfortable in her company. A detail she knew wasn’t because she specifically flustered him. Instead, it had everything to do with the fact that he felt more comfortable around mummified corpses than real life women.

  She took pity on him. “Mr. Thomas, I’m glad to see you are in good health and have returned home once again.”

  He blushed. To ease the situation, she returned her attentions to her father. “What did they find?”

  Pride boomed in his voice. “Look, Annabel. Isn’t it fantastic?”

  No choice but to look, since he all but thrust it under her nose, Anna studied the pale green, rather ugly looking, hemispherical shaped item.

  “Yes, but what is it?” Nate asked from over her shoulder, voicing her exact thought. A question she’d long learned never to ask. Nate was about to understand why.

  “At first we couldn’t be sure but after some study we’ve determined it to be a faience Bes bell,” Mr. Thomas inserted before her father could speak.

  “A what?”

  She gave a slight step back and hidden under her dress, stomped on Nate’s booted foot. She might not have done any bodily damage but it made her feel better. And perhaps contained enough pressure to instruct him to keep silent. The more he asked, the more unwanted details her father or Mr. Thomas would give. She quietly groaned. She’d once spent an entire afternoon listing to the two men explain the difference between very identical looking Shabti figures. To this day, she couldn’t see the difference.

  Since Nate had already let slip the only incentive her father needed to start his speech, she had no choice but to listen. God only knew when she’d be able to escape the room. She suspected it wouldn’t be any time soon. The possibility provoked her enough to lift her knee and connect her foot with Nate’s shin.

  A quick chuckle so light only she heard it, and a step moving him out of her kicking range, was Nate’s only response. Yet it definitely lifted her spirits.

  “There have been other Bes bells found, but those were bronze and more common. As far as we know, never a faience bell.” The wonder on her father’s face as he spoke explained more than his words could. It was indeed a great find. Possibly the great find he’d always hoped for.

  “Who is Bes and is he truly so ugly?”

  Obviously Nate still felt the need to ask questions. Though she suspected, if the laughter in his voice meant anything, he now did it to aggravate her.

  “Bes is a god believed to protect women and children. There have been bronze Bes bells, thought to scare off evil, discovered in graves of women and children.”

  “What makes this one so special?”

  Rather intrigued by what her father had said about the big-eyed god with his tongue sticking out, she let Nate’s latest question pass without violence to his person.

  “Being crafted from faience is the key. The material is made with silica and very delicate. The fact it survived countless years and is still relatively intact is amazing.” Her father turned his attention to Mr. Thomas. “How did you manage to excavate it without doing damage?”

  That was her cue to leave. While learning of an ancient god might be interesting, details of digging in the dirt weren’t.

  Before she could excuse herself, Nate opened his month yet again. She turned to glare at him but instead of a mocking grin, he stared quite determinedly at
the bell sitting in her father’s hand.

  “So, because of its rarity it will be quite coveted?”

  Her father and Mr. Thomas smiled in unison. “Without a doubt. Just wait until the Society of Antiquaries hears about this.”

  She nearly inquired as to Nate’s sudden interest when his features cleared and he gave the face of Bes on last quizzical look before turning to her.

  “Lady Annabel, if I’m not mistaken you had some party details to see to.”

  Finally! Her chance to escape. Surprisingly, she had Nate to thank for it.

  “Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Sorry, Papa, we’ll have to discuss the bell later.”

  Still waiting to hear how Mr. Thomas had unearthed the item, her father gave her a distracted farewell before essentially dismissing her. Which suited her since she couldn’t expel something Nate had inadvertently brought to her attention.

  If she’d learned anything from her father, the more something was coveted, the more value it held.

  Chapter 29

  Anna retreated to her room. An act Nate suspected was her not-so-subtle way to avoid his company. Little did she know, if he really wanted, the door to her bedchamber wouldn’t stand in his way.

  This time, allowing her to escape fit into his agenda. Leaving her without his relentless watch was a calculated risk he would have to take. He needed to speak with Grant, who had been assigned to the stables.

  As soon as Nate appeared at the stall door without Anna in tow, Grant was astute enough to ask, “What is it?”

  “I need for you to track down Foxmoore as fast as you can and have him return to the estate.”

  Not one to sit on his arse and do nothing, Grant set aside the fork he’d been putting to good use. “Shouldn’t be too difficult. I can’t imagine an earl can travel the countryside without someone taking notice.”