by Robyn DeHart
She wouldn’t be safe at Pollard’s. No one was there to keep an eye on her, not Boomer, not Justin. Roe only hoped he wouldn’t be too late. He’d chastise her later for her questionable judgment. For now he only wanted to make certain she was safe.
Chapter Sixteen
The difference between Pollard’s and Rodale’s was vast and unnerving. The clientele at Pollard’s was rougher and more sinister-looking than the men she’d played before. They also appeared twice the size than that of her usual opponents.
She was very aware, for the first time since she’d begun donning this disguise, that she was a woman trapped in man’s world, in a very physical way. She felt small and weak, and frankly terrified. She’d never felt in danger at Rodale’s. This was quite different. Not only were the stakes much higher in this game, but the bets were double that of Rodale’s. Her nerves were distracting her enough that she was not doing well with her count. She lost her current hand and heard Mr. Lamb clear his throat behind her. He sat on a stool, gun in his pocket. He’d assured her that if she did not cooperate he’d kill her and return to Lady Winguard’s to kill Gretchen and her sisters as well. But Caroline wasn’t trying to lose; she was simply terrified. Not so much for herself. If he shot her, she’d die and it would be over with. But to know that he would kill those poor children…She could not abide that thought.
She closed her eyes and took three deep breaths. It was time to focus on the cards, forget everything around her, and see only the numbers. She opened her eyes and found it was the perfect time to do so as it was time for a new deck. The dealer shuffled gracefully and the men around her chatted, but no one spoke to her and she paid no attention to them. Her eyes were trained on the table, on the dealer’s hands.
The first hand went around and she and two other men beat the dealer. She relaxed a measure, but kept her eyes on the cards. She won her next hand. And the next. This was working. All she had to do was continue to win, give Lamb his money, and then she could return to Roe. At the moment she didn’t even give a damn that he didn’t love her. She loved him and she desperately wanted to tell him.
There was a ruckus behind her, but she kept her eyes locked on the table, ignoring any would-be distractions. It would not do her any good to allow the goings on around her to cause her to lose count. She was finally ahead. Then suddenly Mr. Lamb was behind her, close enough she could feel the warmth from his body. “Don’t try anything,” he whispered close to her ear. “I’ve got my gun on you.”
She looked up, planning to tell him he was not helping her focus on the game, but she saw Roe walk toward the table. He caught her gaze and she shook her head, trying to warn him away, but he was not to be deterred. He stopped, standing on the opposite side of the table from them.
“A quick word with my cousin and then we shall be out of your way,” he said motioning to Caroline.
The other men at the table seemed uninterested, until Mr. Lamb raised the gun and settled it on her temple.
“Your cousin is otherwise engaged,” Mr. Lamb said.
“Step away, Roe. This will all be over soon. I need only to finish the game,” Caroline said.
Roe stood to his full height and looked at the man behind her. His features were set in an anger so fierce he nearly didn’t look like himself. “I’ll kill you if you so much as touch her.”
Caroline tried to shake her head, but the cold metal of the gun prevented the movement. “Roe, it’s not that simple. He has one of the girls, too. He says he’ll kill her if I don’t play, if I don’t win.” Caroline knew she was no longer disguising her voice, but it seemed a moot point now. No one would care that she was a female if her blood was spattered all over their cards.
Roe’s hands clenched into fists. “Where is the girl? Where is he keeping her?” Roe asked through his teeth.
“Lady Winguard has her at her townhome. She’s Lamb’s mother.”
Two men came from the crowd and stepped toward them. They both gestured to Mr. Lamb. Evidently Lady Winguard had sent reinforcements, more than likely because she didn’t trust Mr. Lamb and wanted to secure her investment. But no one told Caroline to be quiet, so she kept talking. “He owes her a large sum of money, and, Roe, she’s a nasty woman, I think utterly mad. Threatened to kill the girl herself if Lamb wasn’t back with the money by tomorrow morning.” She bumped up her chin, motioning to the other men that had stepped forward.
Roe looked around and nodded. “Lamb, give her to me. Whatever amount of money you need, I’ll give it to you.”
Mr. Lamb eyed Roe, then smiled. “I don’t think I’ll need that offer, but I won’t say no just yet.” He tapped the gun lightly on Caroline’s head. “Caroline, I want you to reach forward and gather all the monies on the table.”
The other men who had quietly observed until this point stirred.
“I’ll kill you all if you touch one single coin,” Mr. Lamb told the men. He waved the other men forward and both of them retrieved guns of their own.
Of course Caroline wouldn’t be surprised if the men at the table also had weapons, but so far none of them had reached for one.
“Caroline, collect the money,” Mr. Lamb said.
She looked up at Roe. He shook his head so she didn’t move.
“Mr. Lamb, consider this for a moment, these men at the table are not likely to allow you to simply walk out of here with their money. Why don’t you follow me to my townhome and I’ll issue you bank notes in whatever amount you deem appropriate?”
“No!” Mr. Lamb shook his head violently. “No, I struck a deal like that with Lady Winguard, and she will not let me out of her clutches. It’s never over with you people. You think you deserve everything and you’re all so bloody entitled to everything. No. We’ll take this money, now move, Caroline. Now or I’ll shoot you.”
Caroline ignored the tears in her eyes and reached for the money. She stretched forward to gather the money of the man across from her and he clamped his hand down on hers with a heavy slam.
“This is not my fight,” he said in a low gravelly voice, “and that is my coin.”
In a blur of movement, Roe charged at Mr. Lamb and the two other men jumped the other men at the table. Fists flew and slammed into faces and stomachs. Then there was a shot.
Pain shattered through her shoulder and she screamed.
Roe ran toward her, catching her before her head fell to the hard floor. “Caroline!” She saw his lips form her name, but the sounds in the room blended together. Cold surged through her body and she shivered against the chill. “I love you,” she tried to say, but she wasn’t sure if the words came out. She wasn’t even sure if her lips moved.
And then everything went black.
…
How could she be gone?
Roe looked up to see Mr. Lamb standing there, horror etched on his face. He stood and grabbed the man by the shirt. “What have you done?” he roared at him. Then he hit him so hard, the man crumpled to the floor. Roe wanted to kill him, knew he could with his bare hands, but that would solve nothing and it certainly wouldn’t bring Caroline back.
He’d failed her, failed every damn person he’d ever loved. The realization that he did, in fact, love Caroline, hit him hard, nearly knocking him to his knees. Why couldn’t he have seen it sooner, realized it this morning when he demanded she marry him? Had he proposed with words of love, she likely wouldn’t have left the house alone and then that bastard, Nigel Lamb, wouldn’t have gotten his hands on her.
The man lay in a heap on the floor.
Roe took a deep breath and knelt once again by Caroline. He smoothed his hand over her hair and gritted his teeth. “Oh Caroline, what have I done?”
“Roe?” Her voice came out in a harsh whisper.
Her eyes opened and stared up at him. He pulled her up, gathering her to him. She winced in pain. “I’m sorry, love, we’ll get you out of here, get you a doctor.” With that he scooped her up in his arms and stood cradling her against his body. He stepp
ed over Mr. Lamb’s body and headed for the door.
“Roe, wait, what about Mr. Lamb, is he dead?” she asked, glancing at the man on the floor.
“No, he’s not dead. I just hit him really hard. He’ll have a hell of a headache when he wakes up.” He looked down at the man and resisted the urge to go back and kick him. “I’ll send the police to collect what’s left of him.”
“You can’t leave him here with these men. He tried to rob them. I doubt they’re going to stand by and wait for the police to show up.”
“Yes, precisely.” And then they left.
Roe didn’t remember much of the carriage ride back to his house. He’d sent Boomer in a separate rig to retrieve the doctor. Once they arrived home, Roe carried Caroline directly to his bedchamber.
He placed her gently on the bed, and retrieved some brandy for her. He urged her to drink several sips while they waited for the doctor.
“I said everything all wrong this morning,” he said.
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Can we pretend this morning didn’t happen, that I didn’t demand you marry me?”
Her eyes widened. “You’re calling off the wedding?”
He put a finger to her lips. “Shh, let me talk for once. What I should have said this morning was that I’ve been an idiot. That I love you madly, and I can’t believe I ever considered marrying you off to someone else. I want you to be mine, only and forever mine. I can’t promise I’ll be a good husband, but I will do everything in my power to endeavor to do just that. I shall never even look at another woman, which shouldn’t be hard considering you’ve ruined me for them in any case. Caroline Jellico, will you do the honor of marrying me and becoming my duchess?”
She winced a little and he thought she might faint again, but then she gave him a small smile. “I’m not certain I’m up for the task to redeem you. It’s going to take plenty of work.”
“I have no doubts about that,” he said. “But if anyone can do it, it will be you. Because for you, I would do anything.”
“And you don’t mind that I’m only a baron’s daughter?”
“What? No, I never even considered it. I don’t care who your father was.”
“Roe, I love you madly. I fear I always have, and I know I always will. Of course I shall marry you.”
“It’s about damn time,” his mother said from the doorway.
Epilogue
Three months later
Caroline sat in the dining room with her mother-in-law, the dowager duchess of Chanceworth. “What do you think of this one?” she asked Millie, showing her yet another sample of upholstery.
“That one is lovely. I like that blue quite a bit,” Millie said.
“You don’t care though.”
Millie shook her head and smiled. “It’s your home now, my dear, so anything you choose will look perfect. Besides, I’m quite busy refurnishing the other house.”
“I still think that was such a perfect idea. I’m so pleased you suggested it. My old family home will make a perfect new Boys’ Asylum. Do you know when you’ll be ready to start accepting children?” Caroline asked. She was so happy that she feared her face would actually break from all the smiling she’d done lately. She finally had everything she wanted.
There was a loud commotion in the corridor and then trills of laughter.
“What the devil?” Caroline said. She and Millie stepped out in the hall in time to see Roe, on all fours, crawling through the corridor with a squealing Fiona and Beatrice riding on his back. Gretchen leaned against the wall doubled-over giggling.
“Go pony, go!” Fiona yelled.
Caroline’s eyes filled with tears. Roe had brought the girls home to be theirs only a day after the two of them married nearly two months ago. It had taken them several weeks before Fiona started talking, but now that she’d started again, she was quite verbose.
“You can’t let your daddy get all your giggles. Come with grandmother now and I shall read you some stories,” Millie said stepping into the hall.
Roe kissed each of the girls on their perspective heads, then they all scampered up the stairs on his mother’s heels. He pulled Caroline into his arms. “I am a disgrace of a duke crawling around on the floor like a common fool.”
She kissed him hard. “You are the most perfect of dukes.”
About the Author
A life-long lover of stories and adventure, it was either become a stuntwoman for the movies or live out those adventures from the safety of her PJ’s and computer. Award-winning author, Robyn DeHart chose the latter and couldn’t be happier for doing so. Known for her unique plotlines and authentic characters, Robyn is a favorite among readers and reviewers. Publishers’ Weekly claims her books as “sizzling romance” while the Chicago Tribune dubs her “wonderfully entertaining.” Robyn is an award-winning author as well as being a four-time RT Bookclub Reviewers’ Choice award nominee, and a three-time RomCon Reader’s Crown nominee. Look for Robyn’s new trilogy on forbidden love coming from Entangled: A Little Bit Wicked (fall 2012), A Little Bit Sinful (spring 2013) and A Little Bit Scandalous (summer 2013). Also in 2013, she’ll launch a new historical romantic suspense series with NAL, the first in the series is The Secrets of Mia Danvers (2013). Robyn lives in Texas with her brainy husband, two precocious little girls and two spoiled cats.
Also available from Entangled Scandalous…
A Little Bit Wicked by Robyn DeHart
Marcus Kincaid, Earl of Ashford, has returned to England after a ten-year absence to find his younger sister embroiled in a potential scandal that could ruin her chance at marriage. His aunt has already called in reinforcements—The Paragon.
Vivian March, known simply as The Paragon, moves through every circle within Society, smoothing out scandals and stopping gossip in its tracks. Everyone in London knows that if she aligns herself with you, Society will forgive your sins. What they don’t know is that she uses their secrets to cover her own jaded past.
But with every kiss and every touch that Marcus thrusts upon her, Vivian comes to believe life is infinitely more fun when you can be just a little bit wicked…
A Little Bit Sinful by Robyn DeHart
Justin Rodale is the wealthy bastard son of the Duke of Chanceworth. Educated with the rest of the aristocrats, he knows all the rules by which Society lives, but he is beholden to no one.
Clarissa Kincaid has been raised to be the perfect English lady…in need of the perfectly respectable English husband. She’s found her quarry, but the man won’t commit and she finds herself seeking assistance in the form of seduction lessons from someone the opposite of respectable…Justin.
This is a challenge the charismatic Justin cannot resist. She may think that he knows nothing about her needs, but he’s determined to show her that he knows plenty about her secret desires.
Once Upon a Wallflower by Wendy Lyn Watson
A Perennial Wallflower…
When Mira Fitzhenry’s guardian arranges her engagement to one of the most scandalous, yet devastatingly handsome lords to ever grace the peerage, all of society is abuzz. After all, the man has left a trio of dead young women in his wake, including his first fiancée.
A Gothic Villain…
Expecting to scare the chit away within five minutes of meeting him, scarred and brooding Nicholas, the Viscount Ashfield, is intrigued by the unfashionably lovely Mira, but his family’s dark secret means he must fight his attractions. No matter what his heart wants.
As the wedding approaches, Nicholas and Mira grow ever closer, yet so does the very real danger. Will the truth bring Nicholas and Mira together or tear their love apart?
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