by Bold, Diana
He tensed and then withdrew his hand. “I’ve often asked myself that same question. What quirk of fate allows one man to have everything handed to him on a silver platter while another must struggle and claw his way through the dirt for every single scrap?” His gaze pierced hers through the dim light. “I would sell my soul for the things Daniel takes for granted.”
She didn’t like that. Not his tone, nor his inference that she was merely one of Daniel’s possessions. A plaything he didn’t appreciate. She looked away, unable to bear his scrutiny. “Life is seldom fair.”
He didn’t reply, and she felt the tension riddling his lean body. He was angry, but she wasn’t sure whether the emotion was directed at her, or at his father and the circumstances of his birth.
A familiar road sign appeared out of the fog in front of them, and she pointed at it, relieved for the distraction. “That way,” she murmured. “We’re almost there.”
* * * * *
Talon banged on the heavy oak front door of Thomas Hayden’s country estate for almost half an hour before he roused someone. When the prune‐faced, wizened old butler finally answered, he didn’t seem pleased to see his former mistress. Nor did Kate seem glad to be home, for all that she’d pushed so hard to get here.
The butler left them waiting in a dark, chilly parlor. He went to summon his sleeping master, mumbling under his breath about the unseemly hour of their visit. Talon was surprised Kate didn’t put him in his place.
Then again, with each passing moment, her tension and nervousness grew. He wondered what kind of man her father was to inspire such fear.
He wanted to take her hand again, remind her she wasn’t alone, but that didn’t seem proper, given the circumstances. He’d taken far too many liberties as it was.
She’d made her choice, and he was certain she had the strength to live with it. The last thing she needed was his help.
“Shall I leave?” The darkness made him feel as though he should whisper. “You’ll be safe here.”
She shook her head. “No. Please don’t go. Not yet.”
Before he could reply, there was a noise out in the hall. A small, bewhiskered man in a burgundy dressing gown swept into the room, followed by the lantern‐wielding butler.
“Kathryn.” The man’s loud, mean‐spirited voice belied his size. “What is the meaning of this?”
Thomas Hayden’s beady gaze fixed upon Talon. He sized him up, a frown of displeasure on his sour face. “Who are you? What are you doing with my daughter at this time of night? Where is her escort?”
“My name is Talon Montgomery,” Talon replied, managing to control his anger. “I am Kathryn’s escort.”
“He’s Daniel’s brother, Papa,” Kate interjected. “I asked him to bring me home.”
Hayden glanced back at Talon in surprise, obviously wondering about his relationship to the earl. Then he shook his head. “This is no longer your home, Kathryn. You should be in London with your husband, not gallivanting around the countryside in the middle of the night.”
Talon stood close enough to Kate to feel her cringe. “Let her tell you why she’s come.”
Hayden’s mouth snapped shut with an audible click, and he threw his daughter a bull‐headed glance. Talon’s stomach clenched because he suddenly knew the son of a bitch wasn’t going to listen to anything she said.
She took a deep breath. “I want to annul my marriage, Papa. I need you to help me.”
“No.” Hayden didn’t even pause to consider it. “It’s out of the question. The marriage with young Sinclair is a good one, far better than you deserve, being your mother’s daughter.”
Her breath caught. Talon sensed that if her father had meant to wound her, he couldn’t have chosen a better weapon.
“We haven’t consummated our vows,” she managed to tell Hayden in a soft, trembling voice. “Daniel prefers men, so there will never be an heir. Sutcliffe is furious and plans to banish us.”
“Watch your mouth, girl.” Hayden didn’t seem at all surprised to hear he’d married his daughter to a sodomite, merely shocked she’d dared to voice it out loud. “I won’t abide such talk.”
“You won’t abide it?” Talon put a reassuring hand on Kate’s shoulder, infuriated by her father’s callous attitude. “Sutcliffe intends to send your daughter to Carolina for something that isn’t her fault, and all you can do is chide her for daring to tell the truth?”
“Good riddance, I say. She’s been nothing but an inconvenience to me since the day she was born. I knew she’d grow up to be a faithless whore like her mother, and I see I was right.” Hayden’s gaze narrowed on Kate. “You’ll tell any lie to gain an annulment so you can be with your lover, won’t you?” He shook his head and backed away. “I won’t be a party to it. I wash my hands of you, Kathryn. Don’t ever come here again.” Then he turned his back on his only daughter in obvious dismissal.
Talon started after him, a growl of anger in his throat, but Kate placed her small, trembling hand on his forearm, stopping him. “Please, don’t make it any worse. Just let him go.”
Glancing down, he took in the bruised, haunted look in her eyes and the brittle stiffness with which she held her body. She looked on the verge of complete collapse. “Come with me,” he murmured for the second time that night. “It will be all right.”
She allowed him to put his arm around her and lead her through the darkened house and out to the waiting curricle. After helping her up, he settled beside her, taking up the reins once more.
Chapter Six
Kathryn had faced loss and despair many times during her brief life. Still, things had never seemed as dark and hopeless as they did when Talon turned the curricle back toward London.
She should have known her father wouldn’t help her. But she hadn’t expected him to viciously berate her or slander her mother before a total stranger.
She might be able to obtain an annulment on her own, but even if she did, where on earth would she go? There were no relatives to take her in, only an elderly aunt who would never stand against her father. Kathryn had no money of her own and no way to support herself.
It was over. All her little schemes to escape her fate had fallen apart. She couldn’t think of anything else to do, anyone else to turn to. She didn’t have any friends save Talon, a pathetic truth she’d just as soon keep to herself.
“Maybe I am like my mother,” she whispered. All her life she’d wondered if her mother had truly been the awful person her father portrayed. Maybe her mother had just been lonely, so starved for affection she’d turned to a stranger for comfort. Kathryn was starting to see how that could happen, how loneliness could turn you into someone you didn’t even recognize.
Talon went still beside her. “Don’t do this to yourself. I kissed you, Kate. The fault was entirely mine. I should never have taken advantage of you.”
She shook her head. He’d been the one to initiate the kiss, but she’d been dying for his touch since the moment they’d met. In fact, she wished he’d kiss her again. Right here. Right now.
The tension between them grew, and for a moment she thought he would kiss her again, but then he looked away and made a soft, encouraging noise to the horses. He seemed to be in a hurry, and she didn’t blame him. He’d undoubtedly had quite enough of her for one day.
“Do you think we’ll arrive back in London before your father?”
Talon nodded. He looked exhausted. She’d kept him out on this wild goose chase all night.
As for herself, she was too upset to be tired. All she cared about was cutting her losses. “I think it would be best if we didn’t mention this to him.”
“I agree.” He gave her a sympathetic glance. “What will you do now? Any more tricks up your sleeve?”
She blinked against the sting of tears. “No. No more tricks. I guess there’s nothing left to do but go to the Carolinas.”
“You won’t be alone.” He reached for her hand, and somehow it felt right to thread her fingers
within the elegant, lean strength of his. “I’ll be with you.”
She looked up at him, at his starkly chiseled features, and knew she’d never seen anyone quite so beautiful. “I don’t know what I would have done without you today. I hardly know you, yet you’ve gone out of your way for me time and again.”
“Think nothing of it.” His words were light, but she sensed she’d made him uncomfortable.
She dropped her gaze, trying to keep from mooning after him. He released her hand, and she almost cried out at the loss. But he only put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
“Lean on me, Kate. It’s been a long, difficult night. You don’t need to be strong anymore.”
His words brought a fresh sting of tears to her eyes, but she blinked them away. He pulled the heavy, wool lap blanket around them both, giving freely of his strength and warmth.
Never in her life had she been offered a shoulder to lean on.
Lean on me. His words echoed inside her tired brain. She drifted off.
to sleep, thinking perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad, after all, to spend a few weeks at sea with Talon Montgomery.
* * * * *
Talon awoke late in the afternoon, grumpy and disgruntled. It had been nearly dawn before he and Kate had returned. She’d slept on his shoulder most of way. The tenderness he’d felt when he’d carried her through the darkened house to her bedroom disturbed him.
In fact, the whole situation disturbed him.
He didn’t want to care about her, didn’t want to see gratitude in her lovely green eyes. Was she a fool to trust him?
He could have had his way with her last night. Her defenses had been decimated, first by Daniel’s betrayal, then by the stunning rejection she’d endured at her own father’s hands.
He should have taken advantage of her fragile state. What good could come of stretching this sordid affair out?
He groaned and covered his face with a pillow. There lay the crux of his problem. He didn’t want to have an affair with Kate. He liked her far too much to take her virginity, impregnate her, and cast her aside.
He’d had his share of women, but never one like his sister‐in‐law. Having been at sea most of his life, there had been little time to build a lasting relationship. His entire sexual experience consisted of whores and widows, women with willing bodies who never expected anything but a few coins in return.
Kate was the kind of woman who still believed in love. She wouldn’t give herself cheaply. She’d expect sweet words and gentle wooing. And when she discovered how he’d schemed and lied to get into her bed, she’d hate him.
It shouldn’t bother him so. Better Kate’s animosity than the lives of his crew. With a sigh, he tossed away the pillow and slipped out of bed.
He dressed, pausing only once to grimace at himself in the mirror. Sutcliffe’s mirror. Sutcliffe’s home. Bloody hell, it burned to know he had nothing of his own. Not even the clothes on his back.
Stepping out into the hall, he halted when he saw Daniel waiting for him. The younger man was dressed impeccably, but his fine clothing couldn’t obscure the tired lines beneath his pale blue eyes. Daniel looked like hell. If Talon didn’t know better, he’d think his brother actually cared about what had happened with Kathryn.
Cursing beneath his breath, Talon squared his shoulders and turned in the opposite direction. He wanted nothing to do with this.
“Talon. Wait.”
He stiffened, but didn’t turn around. Damn it all, what did he want?
Daniel caught him in a few steps. “I think we should talk about what happened last night.”
Talon paused and raised one brow. “There’s nothing I want to discuss with you. If you want to talk to someone, talk to your wife.”
Daniel flushed and dropped his gaze. “I never meant for Kathryn to see that. You must believe me.”
“Must I?” Talon gave his brother a challenging stare, knowing there was something else behind this conversation. Daniel didn’t give a damn what Talon thought of him, and they both knew it.
Daniel shook his head and took an involuntary step back. “Christ. You look just like him.”
The jab cut deeply as Daniel had no doubt known it would. “Go to hell.”
To his surprise, Daniel laughed. “He’s got us both spinning, doesn’t he? Bloody old ass.” Then he sobered. “I only sought you out to ask if you’d had any luck at seducing Kathryn.”
His words caught Talon off guard. “You know then? You know why I’m here?” Despite his intense dislike for his brother, he felt a surge of guilt and pity.
“Of course, I know. Do you think he could resist the opportunity to rub my nose in it?” Daniel sighed and gave a careless shrug. “I just wanted you to know it’s all right with me. In fact, I’d like you to get the job done as soon as possible.”
Talon could only stare at his brother in stunned disbelief. “Good God, man. Don’t you have any pride?”
A quick stab of pain lit Daniel’s blue eyes, but it disappeared so quickly Talon wondered if he’d imagined it. “No,” he said, turning away. “I suppose I don’t.”
Chapter Seven
Kathryn dressed carefully for dinner, choosing her loveliest gown in an attempt to bolster her courage. She’d need every possible advantage to get through a meal with Sutcliffe, Daniel and Talon.
The earl had returned nearly an hour ago, and Kathryn had been on pins and needles ever since. Even though there had been very few members of the staff on duty last night, Kathryn was terrified one of her father‐in‐law’s lackeys had witnessed her late-night journey. If Sutcliff found out she’d gone to her father for help, or that Talon had gone with her…
Well, hopefully he’d never find out.
Unfortunately, the earl was only the tip of her troubles. She didn’t know how she was going to look her husband in the eyes after what she’d witnessed last night. Her stomach turned at the very thought. But even worse was the memory of falling apart in Talon’s arms.
She shuddered to imagine what her brother‐in‐law must think of her. Somehow his opinion had become very important. She couldn’t bear to lose his kind regard. Not now. Not on top of everything else.
“You look lovely, milady.” Betsy fastened a heavy emerald necklace around Kathryn’s neck and stood back to admire her work. “Your husband will be most pleased.”
“I doubt it.” Kathryn gave her reflection a wry glance. She did look her best. The emeralds complemented her eyes and the forest-green gown accentuated her figure in a very pleasing way, but the effect would be lost on Daniel.
Betsy sniffed and handed over Kathryn’s favorite bottle of perfume. “Well, then, beggin’ your pardon, miss, but he’s a fool.”
Kathryn laughed at her maid’s impertinence. “Oh, Betsy. I’ll miss you when I’m gone.”
Betsy frowned as Kathryn applied the scent of roses to her wrists. “I wish I could go with you. I would, if not for my poor ailin’ mother. America sounds like a grand place.”
“Yes,” Kathryn mused, turning away from the mirror. “That’s what my new brother‐in‐law says.”
“Ah.” Betsy somehow managed to put a wealth of meaning into the simple word. “And what else did the handsome bloke have to say during that long, unchaperoned ride?”
Kathryn blushed. “He’s been very kind.”
Betsy shook her head and patted Kathryn on the shoulder. “I know what you’re thinkin’, sweet. And mark my words, it will only bring heartache.”
Heartache. Kathryn closed her eyes, letting herself imagine, just for a second, how wonderful the events leading up to that heartache might be. Images of Talon flooded her memory. His warmth, his lean strength, his beautiful, haunted eyes…
She blinked, dispelling the dangerous thoughts. “I’m not a fool, Betsy. Daniel is my lot in life. I’ll not look elsewhere.”
Betsy nodded. “A woman’s life is seldom easy, sweetheart.”
Kathryn gave her maid an impulsive hug and then h
urried out of the room before more foolish tears could fall. She’d allowed herself to shed far too many in the last twenty‐four hours.
By the time she entered the dining room, the men were already there. She stood in the doorway for a moment, staring. All three were breathtaking, yet her brother‐in‐law still managed to stand out.
Talon stood before the fire, idly swirling his drink as he stared into the flames. His beautiful face was turned in profile, and she thought his mother had named him well. He was as graceful and wild as the gyrfalcon her father kept for his hunts.
“You’re late.” Sutcliffe glared at her over the rim of his brandy glass.
“She looks ravishing, so it was well worth the wait.” Daniel hurried forward and took her arm, guiding her toward the table. Kathryn tensed at his touch and gave him a suspicious glance. It was the first time he’d ever stood up to his father on her behalf.
“I agree.” Talon’s deep voice chased away any further contemplation of Daniel’s motives.
She let Daniel pull out her chair, but all her senses were attuned to the man who stood across from her. He wore a black dinner jacket with a snowy white cravat, and his blue eyes glittered with appreciation as he returned her stare.
“Good evening, Talon.”
“Lady Kate.” His reassuring smile gave her courage.
Lean on me. The words he’d spoken last night came rushing back, and she clung to them with a sense of wonder. How had this man sprung from such tainted seed?
The three men took their places, Sutcliffe at the head of the table, with Daniel to his right and Talon to his left. She sat next to Daniel, which gave her an unobstructed view of her brother‐in‐law. Flushing, she dropped her gaze and took a sip of wine. This had to stop. No matter how Daniel had wronged her, she was still a married woman.