The Price of Temptation

by Williams, Harmony

  Sensing her change in mood, his voice took on a briskness. “Is it possible? If you can create it, we’ll switch the two artifacts and no one will be the wiser.”

  She pulled a face but tried to think of the logistics of creating such an item. “I have some materials here that I might be able to use, particularly if I’m willing to melt down the metals from the jewelry I have yet to sell. But it might take more finesse than I possess.” She met his gaze, lost. “I’ve never done this before.”

  He touched her cheek, his fingers gentle. “Darling, I will do everything I can to ensure you never have to do it again. But I haven’t found a way out from under Chatterley’s thumb. We must pretend to keep busy or he’ll move forward with his threats.”

  Weak, she leaned into his touch. She pressed a kiss to the heel of his hand. “I’ll try. That’s all I can promise. I don’t know how long Reid will wait.”

  “He’s agreed to a month. I don’t think we’ll get much more than that. We’ll have to work quickly.”

  She stepped back, squaring her shoulders and looking into his eyes. He didn’t realize the dangers he asked her to face, but she had faced them before. “I know a man who can help us gather the rest of the materials. I’ll send a message to him.”

  …

  If Adam had known that in order to recreate the relic they would have to meet with the criminal underbelly of London, he would have found another way. As the knock sounded on the shop door, punctuating the stillness of the evening, Adam touched Lily’s elbow. She seemed to sense his reserve, a notion he had expressed copiously and been overruled.

  “Let me handle this.”

  She pulled away from him. “I’ve dealt with the Hand before. I’ll speak with him.”

  “Who calls himself the Hand?”

  She ignored Adam’s muttered complaint. Her gaze cut like steel as she turned away. “He has quick fingers. Watch your pockets.” She left him to cross to the door and opened it, beckoning the man inside.

  He didn’t come alone. A great bear of a man stepped in after him, a foot taller and twice as broad as the man who fixed Lily with a wide smile.

  “Miss Bancroft, it’s been some time. I feared I would not hear from you again.”

  He took hold of her hand in his left, the right arm hanging limply beneath his cloak, in shadow. When he raised her hand to his lips, a growl worked its way from Adam’s throat. Involuntarily, he found himself taking a step forward to guard her back.

  “Mrs. Darling.”

  The Hand let go of her and raised his eyebrows, undaunted. He glanced toward Adam briefly, immediately dismissing him from his mind as he focused on Lily. A mistake.

  “Have you hired new help? I hadn’t realized the shop was doing so well.”

  “Please ignore my associate. I have a proposal for you.”

  The man gave her a crooked smile, pressing his left hand over his chest. “Be still my heart. Don’t tell me you’re finally going to cast off this mad claim of marriage and accept another. I’d be so much better than your absent husband, and you know it.”

  Adam bristled. He reached forward, intending to lay his hand on Lily’s back, but she danced out of his grip. He fought not to scowl. He didn’t like this conversation at all, and he particularly didn’t care for the Hand.

  “I’m afraid this is a business proposal. If you’ll come in?”

  The man gave a theatrical sigh but followed her into the storeroom, where they had set up a table and two chairs. Lily took one.

  “Someday, you will change your mind…”

  Not in this lifetime.

  The Hand took the vacant seat and pulled it nearer to Lily before he sat.

  “What can I do for you? I have a few good pieces looking for new homes…”

  Lily sat primly on the edge of her chair, her hands clasped in her lap. “I’m afraid I have something more specific to propose.” She slipped her hand into her bodice and pulled out a folded slip of paper. She slid it across the tabletop toward him. “I’m looking for these items. And if you can find them for me, the price I’ll pay is listed at the bottom.”

  The man gave her a rakish smile. “I can find anything, you know that. But…” He trailed his fingers over the still folded piece of paper in small circles. “If it takes a little time to discover, we may have to renegotiate the price.”

  Adam would renegotiate. He would renegotiate by slamming the man’s head against the wall. When he cracked his knuckles, the Hand jumped and turned. As clever as he seemed to think himself, he hadn’t been paying attention to Adam’s location. Adam, on the other hand, was viscerally aware of the muscle the man had brought into Lily’s shop. He’d already calculated the precise set of moves he would use to incapacitate the two men if matters turned awry.

  Lily said quickly, “Within reason.”

  Again, the man offered her a smile. To Adam’s satisfaction, it was far more brittle than the one he’d offered earlier. “Within reason.” He lifted her hand again, holding it halfway to his lips. “Of course, I might be persuaded to lower my price for the right incentive…”

  Adam stormed forward. He refused to stand here and watch this man slobber over his wife. As he reached out to grab the man’s collar, his bodyguard intercepted, grabbing hold of Adam’s wrist. He broke the hold easily, pushing the bigger man back against the wall with a rattle that shook the storeroom.

  The Hand jumped to his feet, looking at Adam with renewed respect and perhaps a healthy dose of fear. Adam used the fear to his advantage, speaking without releasing the bigger man.

  “You’ll do it for the price listed. And you’ll do it quickly.”

  “Adam,” Lily snapped. She stepped between him and the Hand, donning a diplomatic and cold expression. “I would like those items as soon as you’re able. Perhaps I’ll give you a couple days to look into them before you give me a better estimate?”

  He glanced from her to Adam and back. “I’ll see what I can do.” The Hand gave her a jaunty little bow but didn’t reach for her again.

  It was just as well. If Adam watched him touch her again, he would break the man’s “quick fingers.”

  The moment they were gone, Lily rounded on him. “What was that?”

  Adam curled his lip. “He doesn’t respect you.”

  “I know that. I’ve worked with him before.”

  “Has he ever brought a bodyguard before?”

  She shrugged. “A time or two. This fellow is new. They don’t tend to last long.”

  The fact that he had brought so intimidating a man, coupled with the way the weasel had acted toward Lily, making no secret of the fact that he wanted to warm her bed, made Adam wonder if the Hand had hoped to overpower her. I’d kill him. He trembled in the grip of a rage so potent, it raised phantoms from the past. Injustices he had witnessed and been unable to stop. Helpless.

  “Adam?”

  Lily’s light touch on his arm made him shudder. She stepped closer, firming her touch.

  “Is this like the nightmares?”

  Her voice was soft. Still trembling, he stepped back and leaned against the door to the street. A strong barrier between him and anyone who meant to do Lily harm. “No,” he said, his voice as rough as gravel. “I fear for your safety.”

  She stiffened, her hands flexing as if she wanted to reach for him again. The look in her eyes cut him. He couldn’t face her disappointment.

  “I’ve taken care of myself this long.”

  Yes, she had. “I know. I still worry.”

  He hadn’t been able to stop his brother from bleeding out in his arms. What if he couldn’t protect Lily, either? He shuddered at the thought. He couldn’t leave her to the mercy of men like the Hand. He couldn’t walk away.

  I have to. I have no choice.

  The doorframe dug against his shoulder. He used the pain to ground h
imself. The pain, the sweat clinging to his palms, the stale air of the shop, neglected these past weeks. Feigning nonchalance, he changed the subject. “It sounds as though we’ll have some time before we receive the materials we need. How do you feel about learning how to use a blade?”

  There’d been a time when she would have told him not to be absurd. But when she opened her mouth, she hesitated and shut it again. “You mean a sword?”

  “No. Too difficult to conceal. I was thinking more along the lines of a boot knife.”

  She looked down at her feet, as if contemplating it. “That sounds like a useful skill.”

  For her to accept so easily meant she felt the danger of dealing with men like the Hand, too. His heart twisted painfully. Take her away, far from here.

  She wouldn’t come willingly. She’d made that abundantly clear. At least, this way, he was doing something to see to her protection.

  His brother had been able to defend himself. It hadn’t helped.

  Adam tried not to dwell on that agonizing truth.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Making good on his word, Adam was teaching Lily how to defend herself. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck. The line of her dress soaked up the drops before they trailed down her spine. The damp cloth at her back and underneath her breasts clung to her skin, but she narrowed her eyes and endeavored to ignore it. The breadth of her attention belonged to Adam, his shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows and his feet planted wide. He, like she, held a wooden dagger no bigger than the length of her hand.

  In her head, she planned a series of maneuvers. Three strikes, then darting back to reconsider, hopefully without being hit herself. In the week and a half since she had begun these lessons, they had practiced enough for her to develop a collection of mild bruises and a fading ache in her arm from the use of new muscles. However, Lily was able to block Adam’s thrusts seven times out of ten now, and he’d admitted he was no longer holding back.

  Striking him was another matter entirely. He was as quick as a cat and seemed to read her thoughts before she moved. Trying her best to calm her mind and shake out the tension in her arm, she readied herself to step within range. Three strikes. The first, near his left ear, he deflected easily, but she used the momentum of their blades hitting to propel her arm the other way and aimed for his right bicep.

  She struck. The cloth of his shirt remained intact, but she felt the soft impact of flesh beneath the dull wooden blade. The hit ricocheted up her arm, sending ripples of awareness through her as she realized what she’d done. She dropped the blade and stepped back, holding her hand to her mouth.

  “You didn’t stop me!”

  Adam grimaced as he rotated his arm, checking his range of motion after her blow. Absently, he answered, “That’s a good thing. It means you’re improving.”

  His voice was warm, but her eyes stung nevertheless. Her mind replayed those last few moments, this time replacing the dull wooden blade with a sharp one. “What if I’d hurt you?”

  Her voice trembled. She pressed her hand harder to her mouth, trying to hold in the tears welling in the back of her throat.

  Adam turned his full attention to her, his expression turning solemn. He dropped his arm, not seeming injured in the least. “You are aiming to hurt your attacker. These lessons are to keep you safe if something bad should happen.”

  She lifted her death grip on her mouth only long enough to add, “But not you. You’re supposed to stop me. If I’d hurt you…”

  The dam inside her broke, tears spilling over and flooding her cheeks. She couldn’t hold them back, despite seizing gulps of air. They burned her throat. She wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to hold herself together. Over and over again, her mind returned to that one moment, when her blade had struck Adam’s flesh.

  Wood clattered on wood between her sobs. Then Adam’s warm arms encircled her and tucked her closer to his chest. He smelled of salt and sweat, his shirt damp beneath her nose, but she buried her face in it nevertheless. He crooned to her as he held her tight.

  “Hush, darling. It’s all right. This is why we’re using wooden weapons, remember? So we won’t hurt each other. I will never let you get hurt.”

  He didn’t understand. She wasn’t afraid for herself. She had taken the taps when her guard was thin without tears or flinching. She was afraid for him.

  “You…” Her voice broke she buried her nose deeper in the damp linen of his shirt. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  His muscles shifted against her as he shrugged. “It’s no more than a bruise, if that. You didn’t hurt me.”

  He was right. Of course he was right. They had planned for this. Still, Lily sobbed. She couldn’t seem to stop. Hiccupping as the moisture continued to leak from her eyes, she whispered, “I’m s-sorry. I d-don’t know why I’m c-crying. It’s silly.”

  His hand brushed over her back in soothing strokes. “You are stressed. We all are. I don’t think any less of you for crying now and again.”

  Perhaps he didn’t, but she did.

  A sharp knock on the shop door made her flinch. Lily pulled away, wiping at her cheeks. “That will be our materials. A note said the Hand would deliver them today.”

  That note was the reason they were practicing the lesson in the cramped shop instead of using one of the empty rooms of Lily’s townhouse. They’d had to pass the time while waiting somehow.

  She patted at her cheeks, but she couldn’t seem to dry them. “Stop it,” she said to herself, her voice cracking. “I must look presentable.”

  Adam squeezed her shoulder and stepped away. “I’ll take possession of the materials. You stay here.”

  It was her responsibility. She wanted to argue, but nothing seemed to stem her tears. Not logic, not seeing the way he moved whole and unharmed—nothing. Her skin tingled as he pressed a kiss onto her forehead before he left. She tightened her arms around herself, trembling.

  Why was she such a watering pot? This wasn’t like her at all.

  Shuddering, she focused on taking deep, staggered breaths until her tears subsided. By the time Adam returned with a sack containing the material they had requested, her eyes were dry. Her shoulders still quivered and her gasps caught in her throat at intervals, but at least she’d stopped crying. She thrust her shoulders back, trying to don enough armor to look him in the eye without shame.

  In the end, she blindly held out her hand. “Give that here. I must begin.” After all, she had a great deal of work to do and not much time in which to do it. Could she forge that armband based solely on a moment’s observation and one measly sketch?

  Doubts would get her nowhere. She had to try.

  Adam laid the sack on the workbench and turned to retrieve their discarded wooden daggers. As he set them aside where they would do no harm, Lily averted her gaze. She opened the sack, feeling more like herself with every passing breath. She removed the scattered metal she would need to melt down in order to make the thick armband, as well as the three small jewels she had requested. The rest she had already extracted from the unsold pieces in the shop. Once she had laid everything neatly within reach, Adam stepped behind her. His presence was warm and solid as he laid his hands gently on her shoulders.

  “I know nothing of metalworking.”

  No, she had to do this part herself. Now that he had nothing to contribute, she expected him to make his excuses and leave.

  Instead, he asked, “Will you advise me? I’d like to help, not hinder.”

  Frowning, she turned to look over her shoulder. “You want to learn how to work metal?”

  “Of course. In whatever way I can help.”

  He sounded genuine. However, most young men who asked to help with the metalworking didn’t realize how much of a chore it was. She’d dealt with a few of those when Papa had been alive. Since then, it had been easier and more economically feasibl
e to work on her own.

  She warned him, “You don’t have the expertise to handle the more exciting tasks. I’ll have you working the bellows to keep the fire at a constant heat.”

  He pressed his lips to the top of her head, gentle. “Show me what to do.”

  …

  After three days of working the bellows, Adam’s arms ached. As weary as Lily, he opened the door to her townhouse for her to precede him inside. His stomach growled. However, before he found them a cold meal in the kitchen—Lily had worked so long, they had missed supper—he needed to wash his hands and face. The smoke of the coals clung to his skin, though Lily didn’t seem to mind.

  As he entered the house behind her, Lily’s sister bustled from the sitting room. Her expression pinched, Sophie crumpled a piece of paper in her fist as she stormed down the corridor. She stopped short as she saw them. Adam gave her a small wave as he shut the door, too weary to muster the strength for idle conversation.

  Sophie’s frustrated expression faded to one of curiosity. “You’ve been gone a long while.”

  Lily shrugged. Despite the week’s hard labor, she didn’t seem wearier than usual. Perhaps because when shaping metal and gemstones, she was in her element. The joy in her expression as she flattened and curved the gold was a treasure to behold. He had never seen her at work before, though he’d known she’d helped her father to create his pieces. Crafting jewelry required a staggering amount of finesse and strength. Sometimes, when the fire was hot enough, he watched her while she worked. Holding her in his arms was one of the few times he was ever truly at ease. Watching her work metal was another.

  Dismissively, Lily hitched one shoulder and turned toward the staircase. “I had work to do at the shop today.”

  Sophie turned her attention to Adam. “And you?”

  He offered her a chagrined smile. “I am her apprentice.”

  Her lips parted. “She’s teaching you?”

  “She is.”

  “But…” Sophie’s pale eyebrows hooked together over eyes that looked helpless. Perhaps even hurt. She turned to her sister, banishing the expression Adam had glimpsed. “You haven’t asked for help since Papa died.”