by Bold, Diana
It was the first time he’d ever held her, and for a moment she let herself lean against him. She absorbed his warmth, trying to find the strength to get through this night and all the cold, lonely nights to come.
Daniel touched her chin, tipping her face until she was forced to meet his earnest gaze. “Do you think you’ll ever grow to love me, Kate? Even just a little bit?”
Her eyes widened as he moved closer. Surely, he didn’t mean to ... Oh, but he did. Daniel’s mouth descended on hers in an ardent kiss. For a moment, she was too stunned to react, but when he lifted his hand to her breast she gasped, shoving away from him with all her strength.
They stared at each other, both breathing heavily. Kate forced herself to resist the urge to wipe the taste of him from her lips. She couldn’t afford to anger him, not now when she was at his mercy as his wife in the eyes of the law.
“Don’t do this. Please, Daniel. I can’t bear it.”
Daniel got to his feet and slammed his hand against the wall, making the fragile crystal vase on the mantle shudder. “What can’t you bear? My touch? My kiss? My body lying next to yours in the dark?”
He advanced toward her as he spoke, his eyes a little wild. Kate cringed against the sofa, terrified of him and what he might do. Suddenly his entire posture changed, and he sank to his knees before her. “Give me a chance. God, just give me one chance.”
“I’m sorry.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, curling in on herself, praying he wouldn’t force himself on her. The thought of his hands on her body, the same hands that had touched Philip Carrington... Bile rose in her throat and she swallowed, tears stinging her eyes. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I can’t.”
His handsome face filled with despair. “I’ve been such a fool. I disgust you, don’t I? The mere thought of making love to me is abhorrent, and after what you witnessed that night you came up from the country... how can I possibly blame you?”
He was right, but she didn’t want to hurt him any more. They were both hurting enough already. “You don’t disgust me. This isn’t about you.” She touched her stomach, beseeching him with her eyes. “I’m going to have Talon’s baby. I love him more than my own life. I could never share myself with anyone but him. Can you understand that?”
Daniel laughed, a low, lost sound. “I’ve made a mess of everything, haven’t I?”
She nodded in heartfelt agreement, afraid to give too much away, afraid to trust the glimmer of hope his words provoked.
He smiled, and something in the tilt of his lips reminded her of his brother. “You know, you’re not my ideal lover either, Kate. No offense, but you’re just not my type.”
She burst into surprised laughter, glad for his flash of humor. It made everything much easier. “Tell me. Why this sudden urge to be my husband? You’ve never cared about hearth and home before.”
He shrugged and got to his feet, coming to sit beside her on the sofa. “It just seemed like it would be so much easier. Being with you. Starting a family. Perhaps my father wouldn’t hate me so much if I could do this one thing right.”
Kate took Daniel’s hand and squeezed it. “Do you really love Philip Carrington?”
Daniel sighed and closed his eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything any more.”
* * * * *
Daniel closed Kate’s door and leaned against it, trembling with emotion. Dear God, what had he done?
For the last month, all through the long voyage across the sea, he’d spun sparkling fantasies of a new life. He’d imagined donning an entirely different persona, becoming the kind of father to Kate’s child that Sutcliffe had never been to him. With the love of a good woman, he’d planned to put the past behind him, deny the sinful urges and destructive behavior that had ruled his life so far.
The love of a good woman. What a farce. Kate cared for him, but she would never look at him the way she looked at Talon. How could she? He’d never be able to love her the way his brother had.
He’d let his jealousy and anger over Talon’s betrayal blind him.
Now he knew that by taking Kate away from his brother, he’d ruined not just Talon’s life, but Kate and the baby’s as well.
All so he could have something he didn’t even want.
Closing his eyes, he let his head fall back against the door, a horrible image searing his eyelids. Memories of the punishments his father had subjected him to made him shudder in despair. How could he ever have considered allowing his nephew to suffer such a fate?
What if the poor boy started displaying signs of weakness? What if all Sutcliffe’s machinations produced an heir who was more like Daniel than Talon?
God help him, he would kill his father before he’d let the son of a bitch touch Talon’s son with his perverted, filthy hands.
Shoving away from the door, he strode toward the staircase with new determination. He couldn’t allow anyone else to suffer for his mistakes. All his life he’d lived in terror of his father. He’d cowered and worried and drowned his self‐disgust in liquor and drugs.
Well, no more.
It was time to stand up to Sutcliffe and undue all the wrongs. He was the only one with the power to set Kate and Talon free.
He made his way back downstairs, only to groan aloud when he saw his father standing in the hall waiting for him. Sutcliffe’s dark hair gleamed in the flickering candlelight, and Daniel was eerily reminded of Talon.
Daniel’s earlier resolve withered beneath his father’s icy stare. He wasn’t ready for this confrontation. Not now. He needed more time to think. He didn’t even have a plan.
“Well,” the old man snapped. “Did you talk some sense into her? I won’t allow her to destroy this, not after everything I’ve been through.”
“Everything you’ve been through?” Daniel ran his hand through his hair in agitation. “I’m glad Kate’s standing up to you. God knows it’s time someone did.”
Sutcliffe laughed, dismissing the thought of Kate’s anger as though she were a mosquito buzzing too close to his ear. “She’s a mere woman.
What could she possibly do to hurt me?”
“She’s strong, and she’s got more heart than both of us put together. If you want to keep her quiet, you’ll have to keep her under lock and key. She’ll never let you get away with this.”
“She could always die in childbirth,” Sutcliffe said. “No one would find that peculiar. It happens all the time.”
Daniel stared at his father in dawning realization. Kate was an obstacle, and Sutcliffe always got rid of any obstacle that stood in his way.
If Kate continued to stick up for her unborn child, kept declaring her love for Talon, Sutcliffe would arrange an accident.
Presto, the unwanted daughter‐in‐law would be gone.
“Keep away from her.” This was even worse than he’d feared. He’d known his father would make Kate miserable, but he’d never dreamed the bastard would snuff her beautiful life out completely. “We’ll go out to the country,” he vowed with a sinking sense of desperation. “I’ll keep her quiet.”
“Is this concern I’m hearing from you, Daniel? For a woman?” Sutcliffe gave a nasty laugh. “Are you finally going to start acting like a man? Now, when I no longer have any use for you?”
Daniel flushed, struggling to maintain a thin veneer of control. “She’s my wife. We’ve become friends. I won’t claim this baby as mine if you do anything to harm her.”
“Perhaps that time you spent with my true son did you some good.” Sutcliffe gave him an appraising glance. “Tell me, you little bastard, have you fallen in love with Talon? Is that what this is about? Because I know you don’t give a damn about that shrew, Kate.”
Daniel felt as though he’d been punched in the gut. He stared at Sutcliffe, filled with disgust and loathing. For the first time in his life, he was glad the Earl of Sutcliffe denied being his father.
“When Talon finds his men, he’ll be back,” he warned. “And God help you then.”
; Sutcliffe laughed. “He’ll search his entire life and never find them. How could he? I made sure they hanged before I ever let him out of prison.”
“They’re dead?” Daniel paled when he thought of the look on his brother’s face when he’d spoken of his men. He’d spoken of honor and trust, concepts as foreign as love to the monster who’d brought them both in to the world. Daniel couldn’t imagine what it would do to Talon when he discovered all his sacrifices had been in vain.
“I hate loose ends,” Sutcliffe explained. “There were too many of them to keep track of, so I decided to eliminate the problem.”
Eliminate the problem. Just as he planned to eliminate Kate. Hell, Daniel imagined he’d be eliminated, too, once the baby was born. After all, what use would he be once the world thought he’d begotten an heir?
“You certainly fooled him, didn’t you?” He tried to keep his face impassive. It was imperative not to let Sutcliffe know how much the death of Talon’s men disturbed him.
“I’ll expect you to be more discreet in your dealings with Philip Carrington now that you’re back. I want you to at least pretend you’ve been sleeping with your wife. I won’t have any hint of scandal right now. The timing is too crucial.”
Daniel nodded, realizing that if he renewed his relationship with Philip, it would only endanger them both. “Are you quite through?”
Sutcliffe laughed and turned back to his study. “I’m through with you for now,” he tossed back over his shoulder. “Run along. Go play with your little friend. You needn’t worry yourself with your wife any longer.”
Daniel clenched his fists at his sides, reining in the urge to attack the bastard and make him pay for every single time he’d hurt him.
Sutcliffe was insane. He had to be stopped.
And Daniel knew how to do it. It was time Talon learned the truth.
About everything.
Chapter Twenty‐Seven
Talon had been in Nassau for over two months. He’d questioned someone from every ship that came in about his missing crew, but had yet to turn up a single lead. It was as though his men had vanished off the face of the earth.
He sat with his back to the wall in a shady, seafront dive, drowning his troubles in the bottom of a bottle. It was hard to remain hopeful in the face of repeated failure.
He’d thought of writing his father and demanding his crew’s whereabouts. After all, he’d more than likely fulfilled his part of the bargain. Sutcliffe owed him.
But each time he tried to put pen to paper, something stopped him. The last vestiges of his pride, he supposed. Or maybe it was fear. He was afraid to receive confirmation that Kate had been pregnant when he left her.
Perhaps he was even more frightened by the possibility that she wasn’t. Was Sutcliffe searching for him, expecting him to finish the job?
“Talon Montgomery?”
The sound of his given name in a place where he’d taken pains to remain anonymous jarred him out of his anguished reverie.
“Who’s asking?” Talon warily regarded the stranger who’d come up behind him, wishing he hadn’t imbibed so much. He was in no shape for a fight.
“Jonathan Scott, sir. Your brother hired me. He asked me to give you this letter.” The young man grinned. “You’re a hard man to find.”
Talon stared at the letter as though it were a poisonous viper. “This is from Daniel?”
Jonathan Scott nodded and extended the envelope. “He said it was most urgent, sir.”
Talon accepted the letter and then sent the man away. He returned to his drink, staring pensively at his name scrawled in Daniel’s neat handwriting.
What the hell did Daniel want from him now? Hadn’t he already taken everything that mattered?
After a long while, he finished the bottle then stood and took the letter back to the barren hotel room where he’d been staying. He sat down on the edge of his narrow, filthy bed and opened it with trembling fingers, praying nothing had happened to Kate.
Talon,
Kate is wasting away for love of you. I thought in time she’d forget you or at least realize she must move on. But that hasn’t happened, and I know in my heart it never will.
My dreams of a family of my own are slipping away, but why should that surprise me? It wasn’t my family I’ve been dreaming of. It was yours.
All my life I’ve wanted to be half the man you are.
You accused me of never having loved anyone, never having sacrificed anything I wanted for the sake of someone else. You’re right, of course. If our situations were reversed, if I’d had to choose between Philip and the lives of seventy men, I’m sure I’d have chosen Philip with little regret.
Well, no more. For once I am going to do the right thing and sacrifice something I want for the sake of someone I love.
I give you Kate. And not only that, I give her to you with a clear conscience because our father has never had anything to threaten you with.
Your men are dead. They have been from the start.
Father admitted as much when I returned to London. After further investigation, I’ve discovered his crimes against you do not stop there. He was the one who sent the British Navy after you. If it weren’t for him, you never would have been imprisoned in the first place.
I hate the part I played in this unspeakable deception. I hope someday you can forgive me.
Come back for Kate and your child. Don’t let your hatred for Sutcliffe blind you to the fact that they need you.
Your brother, Daniel
Talon crumpled the letter into a ball and hurled it across the hotel room, watching as it settled in the dust against the wall. Then he sank to his knees, burying his face in his hands.
His men were dead. They’d been dead all along.
Big, gruff Smitty and young, trusting Garrett. Bones, O’Neal, Scott... The list went on and on, their faces marching in a relentless, accusing line through his mind. He realized he was crying, not just for their loss, but because of everything it meant.
He’d ruined Kate for nothing then let her go without a fight. Christ, he’d almost let his father and Daniel raise his child.
My child.
Had Kate known she was carrying his baby when he’d left her standing there beside Daniel in Charleston?
Of course, she’d known. He’d known it, too. He hadn’t let himself acknowledge it for fear he’d go stark raving mad, but the truth had been in his heart all along.
He’d known if he admitted it, even for a moment, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on saving his men. Fury rose in his chest, burning away the lesser emotions of guilt and regret.
His own father was to blame.
Sutcliffe had schemed and manipulated, murdering innocent men in cold blood, just to ensure Talon gave him an heir. The entire plan was diabolical, but he’d never even suspected it was Sutcliffe who’d had him arrested in the first place.
He had to kill the son of a bitch for what he’d done. It was the only way he could ever be certain Kate and his child would be safe.
* * * * *
Kate stood at her bedroom window, her cheek pressed against the cool glass, staring at the rose garden beneath her. The roses were dying. She hadn’t worked with them since she’d returned and had forbidden the gardener to go near them.
It seemed fitting somehow. The sight of them withering on their vines was strangely comforting.
She’d ended up exactly where she’d begun, banished to the country to await the birth of her child. It was as though those fiery months she’d spent with Talon had never happened.
Knowing Talon’s love, even for just a little while, had opened her eyes to all she’d missed. The silence of the Manor left her bereft. Dear God, how she missed him.
She missed the heat of his body lying beside her while she slept.
She missed his beautiful smile and his tender, knowing touch.
Perhaps she would feel better once she held his baby in her arms, but somehow, she doubted it. This ache
in her heart, in her very soul, would never go away, not even if she lived to be a hundred.
Surely by now Daniel’s letter had reached Talon. She still simmered with rage when she thought about what Sutcliffe had done to him, to all three of them. She was glad Daniel had decided to do the decent thing and put an end to Talon’s searching and suffering.
She would have given anything to be able to tell him herself. The news must have killed him. She wished she could have been there to hold him, comfort him, and try to convince him it hadn’t been his fault.
Without her, he would be so lost, so alone. Worse, there would be no one to tamp down his fury. Rage at his father’s injustice had always simmered just below the surface.
She shivered to imagine the lengths he’d go to, the risks he’d take, in order to gain revenge. Especially now since he didn’t think he had anything left to lose.
She pressed her palm against the large swell of her stomach. Tears stung her eyes. Didn’t he realize how much she still loved him? How much she and this child needed him? He had so much to live for if only he’d come back and claim it.
Daniel had assured her he’d grant her an annulment if Talon came back for her. But they’d both agreed that until he did, she was safer not to start the proceedings.
She was beginning to think Talon wasn’t ever going to come back.
As much as she fought against it, these months of loneliness were taking their toll. Every passing day made her doubt herself and Talon’s love.
If only he’d said the words just once.
But he hadn’t. He’d asked her to marry him, but he’d never, ever looked her in the eyes and said the words she’d longed to hear.
I love you, Kate.
It would have made all the difference in the world. She could have kept hoping forever on the strength of those four little words.
A sudden, sharp pain in the small of her back brought her self‐ pitying thoughts careening to a stop. She held her breath until the pain subsided then rubbed her hand nervously over her stomach once again.