by Jilian Rouge
“If I was being duplicitous, as you say, it was only to protect you,” Rafe defended.
“Hah! You were only protecting yourself and your own interests, you buffoon!” Georgie hissed. “Even when we were younger, the three of you sheltered me more than was necessary. Maybe if you hadn’t done so, I would have known of Nicholas’s nature that much sooner!”
Ernest interjected, “Come now, Georgie, putting the blame on us for protecting you? We all knew how you felt about Belhaven, but we couldn’t destroy your idyllic view of him without upsetting you terribly.”
“We all knew how you get when you obsess over something. There’s no changing your mind, but it’s my hope that I can change your mind about staying with me,” Rafe said imploringly. “Despite my plan to destroy Belhaven.”
“No! You don’t get to have both! Let the Naval Office do their jobs! There is no reason you have to intervene and make a mockery of the man!”
“Do you realize how childish you sound? I am trying to ensure justice is done, and you seek to prevent it just to ensure that your heart remains intact! That goes beyond reason!” Rafe’s hold on his temper was slipping faster the more stubbornly Georgie held to her stance.
Just as fiercely, but in a menacingly quiet voice, Georgie returned, “With all things considered, I don’t believe it’s unreasonable to ask that, just for once, I be chosen for myself, with no other ulterior motives. How can I trust what you say when this situation seems eerily similar to the one you had subjected me to in the past?”
Rafe had no response to give that would mollify her into trusting him. “You can’t, firecracker. That’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it?” he asked, deflated suddenly from his earlier burst of temper.
Georgie looked to her brother, hoping for a sign of support or reassurance, but he looked sadly back at her. Swinging her eyes back to Rafe, she glimpsed both sadness and determination in the depths of his green eyes. Eyes that had only earlier gleamed with lust meant for her, eyes that had even shone with love for her over the past two weeks.
In a small, quieter voice, Georgie stated, “Then, know this: to honor our agreement, I will continue my stay here until the end of the week, but not a day longer.”
Rafe’s stomach plummeted, having foolishly believed he had won her over fully in the past week. Throat gone dry, he said hoarsely, “No, firecracker. If you go, I follow.”
“Not if you’re busy playing at seeking your revenge,” she spat. “The way I see it, for this—us—to move forward, you can’t have your so-called revenge against Nicholas while I stand idly by. Since you’re so keen on your revenge at present, I think it’s best that I remove myself from the equation.”
“To what purpose? You can’t think that I would let you slip from my grasp again. And I can’t believe you would willingly let someone like Nicholas continue his criminal activities! There have been too many disappearances already, and if he isn’t stopped, there will be more to come!”
Once again, Rafe and Georgie were almost at each other’s throats, and it took Ernest to physically pry them apart. “Please comport yourselves!” he urged at a shout. To Rafe, he shouted, “Pull yourself together, man, and at least listen to what I am about to tell you.”
Rafe raked a hand through his hair, blowing out a breath as he attempted to bring himself around. Only, the thought of Georgie leaving him had him close to turning into a raving beast, determined to keep her with him at all costs.
Ernest surged on without further provocation, lest he be interrupted by another outburst. “I should also tell you that the magistrate, Sir Anthony Marquist, has confirmed that the Royal Guard has arrived to help in this matter. With your new status as the current duke of Lyonscar, it was your request that both the Naval and Military Offices are offering their resources to catch the slavers that have been preying upon our men and women. I had also offered my help and came here to tell you that they have been surveilling Belhaven’s recent activities as of three days ago.”
“Ah,” Rafe said tersely. The past three days had seen him preoccupied with Georgie, and he couldn’t deny that the both of them had enjoyed themselves thoroughly during that interim. But now, their marriage was in jeopardy once again, and all because of his inability to let go of his revenge, as Georgie put it.
Ernest went on. “It also turns out that the man you’ve been looking for has been seen recently in these parts. The one with the interesting scar? Naval Intelligence has a name for you: Tom Blackburn.”
Rafe blew out a ragged breath after finally being able to put a name to the face that had haunted him for years. “Blackburn can hang once I get my hands on him,” Rafe declared darkly.
Not ready to pass up his chances with either Georgie or the man responsible for his year as a slave, Rafe quickly asked, “Then what’s the plan? Can we somehow use Belhaven to lure Blackburn out of hiding?”
Georgie, who remained quiet all this time, asked dryly, “Can we assume that the blackguard Blackburn can be brought out with well-placed bait?”
Ernest immediately understood. “I think all that is required to draw him out is to have a vulnerable victim readily available. I volunteer for the position of inebriated victim.”
Georgie cried, “No! That’s too dangerous!” She flung herself at her brother, gripping tight at his biceps.
Rafe, quickly catching on to Ernest’s meaning, merely nodded. “I think that might work. We could have men stationed discreetly around the area and catch the man in the act before you are whisked away.”
Ernest turned to Georgie and gently eased, “We have a chance to turn this around, Georgie. Rafe went missing because of this blackguard, and in turn hurt you in ways that I think you still haven’t completely healed from. Now knowing of Belhaven’s involvement with Blackburn, I can’t believe I had encouraged your friendship with him. Besides, Rafe didn’t just leave you behind, dearest sister. He left behind his friends as well as his brother and father.”
Looking toward Rafe, Ernest said wistfully, “I missed you all those years, you bastard, even while I hated you for hurting Georgie. No one since Lionel or you had been able to understand me quite like the pair of you did. With you gone and then Lionel’s death, I thought I lost two of the best men I had ever known. But with you back and seeing for myself how earnest you are to win my sister back, I think we could return to our former friendship, provided that you allow me to help you find the men responsible for your disappearance.”
Rafe solemnly nodded and gravely added, “You are my brother in all the ways that count. I would be honored to have your friendship once again and would welcome any help you give.”
Helplessly, Georgie watched as the two men embraced in a brotherly hug. At the same time, she inwardly rejoiced to see that Rafe’s return had at least filled part of the void that was her brother’s lonely life. Deep down and in that moment, she was glad that Ernest and Rafe had broken down the walls between them that prevented them from resuming their old friendship.
However, she couldn’t say the same for herself. She knew she was erecting a wall between herself and Rafe; all in an effort to keep her heart safe from any damage that damnable man could inflict. She had loved Raphael Griffiths for as long as she had been alive, and she could finally admit to herself that she had fallen in love with him all over again. All in the short span of time that they had been closeted together in Lyonscar Castle.
She knew that he loved her and was sincere, and her hesitation had never been about her ability to love him back. She was deathly afraid that she would be utterly wrecked by the next time—and there would be a next time, knowing Rafe—that he hurt her beyond the limits of her forgiveness. It was cowardly of her, she knew, but she had no desire to return to the near-comatose state she had lived in after believing Rafe had deliberately stayed away. Making her believe she was unlovable and unwanted.
Now, she had a life she loved with a talent she put to good use. Her feelings for Rafe notwithstanding, she would continue on a
path of her own choosing, one that she had fashioned for herself before he came back.
17
The Next Evening, Outside the Silver Eagle
With a peer of the realm believed to be abducted, no time was lost making plans to recover Lord Manning—alive—and in the process, take both Belhaven and Blackburn into custody. Georgie had been left out of the planning, as two representatives each from the Naval and Military Offices had arrived at Lyonscar Castle to meet with Rafe and Ernest. Neither representative had seemed willing to be cooperative with a female present, so she had left the men to escape to her studio.
While she didn’t like the thought of Ernest posing as bait, it had been the plan that everyone else seemed to agree was the best way to catch both Tom Blackburn and Nicholas. As kind and sweet as Nicholas had been to her since they were children, it was still unbelievable to her that he had been responsible for Rafe’s kidnapping. What bothered her most about it was the question that begged: why? What motive could Nicholas possibly have that spurred him to do something so unlike his general disposition?
Perhaps she will never know, but she had a better chance of finding out as she followed both Rafe and Ernest without their knowing to the Silver Eagle Tavern. She had stolen away from Lyonscar not long after the men had left towards Plymouth Docks, and she had ridden alone astride one of Rafe’s horses, intent to keep her distance as she followed them in secret.
None save her lady’s maid--who had also helped her dress in tonight’s attire--would be able to recognize her, dressed as she was in one of the stable boy’s castoff clothing. She had used her paints to help dull her creamy skin and added realistic looking stubble to her jaw, upper lip, and chin. To anyone not looking too closely, she looked like an extremely youthful young man.
Careful not to give away her presence, she hid inside an old ramshackle covered wagon that was parked just across from the tavern. It was missing a wheel, and she assumed it had been left abandoned in its state of disrepair. Shadowed as it was, her hiding place allowed her a perfect view of the tavern’s entrance without giving away her location.
As she watched, Rafe and a band of men she didn’t recognize dispersed to various hiding spots outside the tavern. Some of them hid in the shadows of nearby alleyways, while others simply hid behind various shipping crates closest to the docks. Rafe stayed closest to the tavern entrance, affecting the lazy posture of someone idling at the door as he smoked a cheroot. Georgie was sure Rafe was on high alert, as he would glance every so often through the tavern windows. Ernest was nowhere to be seen, so she assumed he was already inside the tavern, playing his part.
People milled in and out of the tavern, the front entrance never quite emptying of people, so Rafe blended into the crowd out front without seeming out of place. Soon enough, a familiar figure swept past her hiding place and her eyes rounded in alarm, but she couldn’t warn Rafe without giving away that she was present.
Helplessly, she watched as Nicholas and the man she assumed to be Tom Blackburn, who possessed an ugly crescent-shaped scar, walk side by side towards the lamplit doors of the Silver Eagle. Panic almost stole her breath as she noticed that Rafe did nothing as the two men walked right by him and into the tavern. Wasn’t he supposed to alert the men the moment they arrived? And yet, Rafe remained where he was, his stance looking every bit unaffected by what had just transpired.
Ernest could be in danger that very second! Thinking fast, Georgie scrambled out of the wagon and was thankful she wasn’t wearing skirts to hamper her sprint towards the tavern. Rafe’s choked cry as she sped past him and into the tavern didn’t slow her pace; she was eager to reach Ernest before Nicholas or Blackburn could lay hands on him.
“Georgie! No!” Rafe hissed some distance behind her, but she paid him no heed. She was grateful he didn’t use her given name; if he did, she almost chuckled at the thought of how people would perceive a young man being called Georgina.
However, her amusement faded as she watched a limp Ernest supported on either side by Nicholas and Blackburn being carted off towards the back of the tavern. In high fury, she started after them, dodging the throngs of carousing, exuberant people to reach them. She followed them through to the end of the taproom and stepped into a hallway that led towards the storerooms.
Panic had her crying out loud enough for the crowd behind her to hear, “Nicholas!”
Just as the trio burst through a door at the end that opened into an alley, Nicholas turned at the last moment to look at her, aghast. Then, he curled his lip in fury at being caught as Blackburn angrily hissed something at him before they exited the tavern with Ernest still between them.
Georgie cried out, “No!” just as Rafe rushed up behind her. She disregarded his command to “stay put” and instead rushed ahead towards the back exit, fully intending to catch up to the men who had her brother. She left an exasperated Rafe in her dust as she heard him audibly groan in irritation.
What she was going to do when she caught up to them, she hadn’t quite thought it through, but she was a fast thinker and imagined she could improvise as she went along. Exiting into the alley behind the tavern, she found her eyes needed a few seconds to adjust to the darkness. Blinking away before she took another step, she was suddenly seized from behind and brought hard against a large male body.
She shrieked in surprise and fear, but it quickly faded into a weak whimper as she felt the flat of a blade being pressed into her throat. Above her head, she heard Nicholas warn, “Your sister will be fine as long as you keep still, Reddington.”
Alarmed, Georgie spotted an alert Ernest struggling against the hold of Tom Blackburn, who held in another hand a pistol aimed at her brother. Ernest held still at Nicholas’ threat, but called out, “You wouldn’t harm her. I know you wanted her for yourself for a long time. I don’t see you making good on your threat.”
Nicholas pressed the blade firmly against her throat, and Georgie’s breath hitched as she felt the sharp edge against her skin. “You think you know me, Reddington? Don’t be so sure! She’s soiled goods as far as I’m concerned. How could I want her now that Lyonscar has had her?”
Georgie pleaded, “Then let me go. Let Ernest go. If you had any affection for me, please don’t do this.”
Nicholas looked down at her then and sneered, “I wanted you when we were children. But Raphael Griffiths always got between us! Before I could make my intentions known concerning you, Raphael Griffiths had you good and compromised. More than once he has undermined me, always making me out to be second best! I never heard the end of it from my father!”
Georgie protested, “But you were engaged to be married before Rafe could—”
Nicholas interjected, “That didn’t matter as it was only a marriage of convenience. I wanted you for myself and hated that Griffiths got to you first. I would have made you my mistress.”
Shocked at his confession, Georgie’s quick mind suddenly aligned all the dots. “And your revenge against Rafe was to sell him to a slaver?”
Without admitting as much, Nicholas only said, “Then my path to you was made clear. Only you hid from Society for so many years until only recently. After my wife died, my father was pushing me to marry your cousin Bernadette for her fortune, but I still planned to have you. That is, until Griffiths stole you away for a second time.” Bitterness laced Nicholas’ every word. Where was Rafe? Why hadn’t he followed directly after her?
Ernest spoke up. “Then why the random abductions, Belhaven? It can’t be that lucrative a pastime.”
“To be quite honest, it is a good way to make a bit of blunt. But after my successful first attempt with Griffiths, I found it was an easy way to do away with those who lost favor with me.”
The thought of Ernest suffering in the same way Rafe had described in detail had her struggling against Nicholas’ iron grip. “You are mad!” she cried. “Everything I’ve suffered in the wake of Rafe’s disappearance can be laid at your door!”
Nicholas only held her
tighter against him in response. “Still panting after him like a bitch in heat, eh? What can Griffiths do for you that I can’t? If I had been given the chance, I could have shown you that I’m the better lover.”
Disgust and revulsion caused Georgie to shudder at his slimy words. “You disgust me,” she said narrowing her eyes at him in defiance. “There is no way I would have let you touch me.”
“Ah, but you would have if Griffiths hadn’t made his way back to England.” Grabbing her hair at the scalp, Georgie yelped as he yanked her head backwards to face him, his knife still at her throat. Leering down at her, Nicholas goaded, “Since I have you here, I might as well sample what I’ve been missing all of these years. I’ll even do your brother the courtesy of letting him watch.”
Georgie’s eyes widened in fear, fully understanding his intent. Nicholas’ mouth was suddenly on hers, forcing his tongue into her mouth, his kiss brutal and demanding. Georgie heard Ernest cry out her name, and a scuffle she couldn’t see between Ernest and Blackburn quickly followed. She tried to break away from Nicholas to locate Ernest, but Nicholas had his grip tight at the roots of her hair and the edge of his knife biting at her throat.