Enticing Eve: Scandalous Secrets, Book 2 (17 page)

“Will I see you tomorrow, or will you abscond at first light?”

Tristan shrugged though his intentions were quite clear.

“That’s what I suspected.” Victoria hugged him. Her scent, one of lavender mixed with a hint of vanilla felt familiar and comforting. He tightened his grip around her waist, in desperate need of a lifeline.

“Please remember our conversation before you do something that can’t be undone,” she whispered in his ear.

Unable to speak, Tristan managed to nod.

“I know you wish for solitude, so I shall leave you to your thoughts,” Victoria said as she pulled away from him and headed for the exit. She then added in a teasing tone. “Just mind the candles. I would never forgive you if you burned down my chalet.”

Her attempt at lightening the mood was noted with a faint smile as Tristan nodded in acknowledgment, still unable to trust his voice.
 

Victoria had left him with much to consider.

Chapter 7

Colin managed to fall asleep sometime before dawn. He awoke a few hours later, as he’d grown accustomed. Although he’d never been prone to insomnia, such had been his nightly routine since his last conversation with Lachlan.
 

Lachlan.
 

He ceased calling him “Father” years ago – long before learning the truth. Hell, since the horrible day of reckoning, Colin had stopped referring to him altogether until returning to England, where constant reminders of the man who raised him continually bombarded him.
 

Such were Colin’s thoughts as his valet dressed him with haste in the master suite, the same rooms that had once belonged to the deceased MacAlistair.

Once alone, Colin studied his reflection in the mirror. None the worse for wear.
 

How is Eve?
he wondered.
 

Of course, he would know soon enough since he planned to call on her once visiting hours began.
 

Would she agree to see him?

Colin hurried down the carpeted staircase and into his office, what was formerly Lachlan’s office. Although Colin could remember very few times that his father actually worked in the room, his presence was palpable nevertheless.
 

He yearned to rid himself of all memories of the man who raised him. He had already hired tradesmen to refinish his estate in Scotland. The renovations were near completion and, once finished, he would do the same with this manor. Colin planned to methodically remove all proof that Lachlan MacAlistair ever existed.
 

It was the only way he would take control of his inheritance for he refused to accept the estates otherwise.
 

Having amassed a fortune on his own, Colin had offered the properties to Tristan, Lachlan’s legitimate son though Tristan wanted nothing to do with the MacAlistair properties either. As the eldest son, at least legally, Colin had no choice but to inherit Lachlan’s legacy.

A knock on the door stirred him, and he responded with a curt “Enter.”

“Sir,” Norris began as he opened the door. “Lady Victoria Montgomery is here to see you.”

“And she will not take
no
for an answer,” Victoria added from behind him.
 

Norris all but jumped.

“Good morning, Lady Montgomery,” Colin began in a tone that all but said,
Let yourself in why don’t you
?

“Good morning,” Victoria’s smile lit up the room. She then assessed Colin before adding, “I should rephrase that. It might have been a good morning if the events of last evening hadn’t marred it. Dare I add that you look dreadful?”
 

She turned, surveying the small, wood-paneled room. “I hope you don’t mind, but I followed your butler. The wonderful man did nothing to encourage me, I assure you,” Victoria asserted as she tugged at her cornflower blue gloves, one finger at a time.

“I apologize for my rudeness, Norris. Please give Mary my warm regards,” she added with a wink. “Oh!” she held her forefinger in the air and returned her attention to Colin, “Your gardener, Mr. Deeds, has quite a cough. I gave him the name of our family physician and told him I would take it as a personal affront if he didn’t see Dr. Danbury posthaste. So, how are you, Colin? Did you sleep at all last night?”

Colin straightened. He was uncertain exactly how many topics Victoria had covered during her entrance. It was a number somewhere between five and fifty.

“Thank you, Norris, that will be all,” Colin instructed his butler. After the door closed, he then studied his sister in silence before answering “No, I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“I understand why. Last night was quite eventful.” Victoria quipped. “Dare I ask what you have in mind for the second act?”

Colin glared at her. “First, Sebastian said almost the same thing to me last night so you should work on your timing. Secondly, I didn’t do it on purpose, Tori.”

“I didn’t say you did, but it is haunting you all the same.”

“I’ll have you know this is your fault,” Colin pointed at her.

“Me? I didn’t tell you to kiss her!” Victoria retorted, her azure eyes flashing with anger, her chin held high. She wore a cream-colored gown with a cornflower blue fitted jacket, accentuating her hourglass figure. Her jacket added to the blue of her eyes, he noted, as did the matching hat with a gauzy veil that ended at her forehead. How had no one noticed that his eyes were so similar to Tori’s and Sebastian’s?

Colin pointed towards her, “You may not have encouraged me to kiss her, but you offered me hope that she still loves me.”

“Let me get this straight, if you please,” she placed her hand on her hip. “I found you and Eve in our brother’s garden about to kiss each other and you needed me to advise you there was hope that she still loves you?”

It sounded ridiculous, even to Colin’s own ears. “I concede your point,” he muttered.

“Pardon?” She held her hand to her ear, her cadence cloying. “Would you mind repeating that?”

He cleared his throat. “I concede your point.”

A smug grin swept across her face. “I love it when my brothers admit that I’m in the right. So, may we cease our sibling bickering now?”

He nodded, unable to conceal his own grin.

“How are you, really?” she asked again, concern etched in tiny frown lines around her eyes.

“I feel like the biggest cad,” he slumped back in his chair. “It’s entirely my fault.”

Victoria tossed her gloves and reticule onto the table before crossing the room. She then placed her hands on his shoulders. “You’re not the sole person to blame. Both you and Eve succumbed to temptation last night. I dare say you share the blame equally although it was Eve who concealed your relationship from Tristan, so perhaps the scales are tilted a little more in her direction.”

“You must go easier on Eve,” Colin warned. “She loves him. I believe she does.”

“I believe Eve thought she loved Tristan,” Victoria paused, leaning against Colin’s mahogany desk, crossing her arms over her chest, “until your return. Eve still loves you, a fact that she failed to share with your brother before she agreed to marry him.”

A faint knock tapped against the door.

“Aren’t you a popular man today?” Tori teased, slapping his shoulder. “Visiting hours haven’t yet begun.”

“And you are here why?” Colin arched his brow.

“Family,” Victoria whispered, her grin contagious.

“Enter,” Colin called, trying to hide the amusement in his tone and failing miserably.

His aging family butler entered carrying a small calling card. “You have another guest, Mister MacAlistair. She is waiting for you in the morning room,” he said as he handed it to Colin then stood rod-straight, waiting for orders.

Norris cleared his throat and for the first time since Colin had known the man, failed to make eye contact. Victoria must have noticed Norris’s discomfort for she stood upright.

“Oh, my,” she said as she shrugged into her gloves. “I – well, I – failed to consider what my barging in would look like to those unfamiliar with our situation.”

Norris coughed louder this time.

“I should go. Good day, Mr. MacAlistair,” she nodded to Colin before turning to Norris. “Gwen’s brother. My brother’s brother-in-law.”

She pointed to Colin. “Well then, good day.”

“Tori, wait,” Colin called after her.
 

Victoria swung her reticule over her shoulder, “You owe me no explanation, I understand completely.”

“No,” Colin took her hand. “Norris is family as are you. Norris, much has changed since I last resided in England. I have since gained a sister, albeit unconventionally. Victoria and I share the same father and let’s just say he’s not Lachlan.”

If Norris were at all surprised, he didn’t show it. “It’s a pleasure, my Lady.” Nor did Victoria show surprise at Colin referring to his butler as family, a scandalous act if ever there was one.

Tori winked at the butler. “Norris and I are old friends. He is acquainted with my lack of formality.” She then turned to her brother, “I know how difficult that was for you to admit—”

“That such a rambunctious young woman is related to me?”

“That’s not precisely how I would have worded it, but yes.” She leaned forward and kissed Colin on the cheek. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You are a good man. Try not to forget that. Good day, Norris.”

Norris and Colin stood still for a moment, listening to the rustling of Victoria’s skirts as she proceeded down the hallway. Colin studied the familiar man noting that Norris appeared to be thinner than he remembered and in addition to his gray hair and many wrinkles, he also exhibited a somewhat frail stature.

“You still have another visitor, Mr. MacAlistair,” the stoic man said.

“Norris,” Colin spoke, his tone gentle. “I’ve told you that you don’t need to stand on formalities with me.”

“It is my place, sir,” the butler intoned, standing steadfast.
 

Having already discussed this with him and predicting that the man wouldn’t budge, Colin tried a different tact. “Norris, for God’s sake call me Colin. You’ve seen me in my nappies, after all.”
 

He paused, waiting for his words to sink in before continuing, “You are more like a father to me than Lachlan ever was, and I won’t have you standing on formalities with me.”

The butler’s pale cheeks began to glow the bright hue of a beet, his embarrassment visible. However, he remained silent.
 

“It is the truth,” Colin insisted.
 

Although it was inappropriate to bond with your servants, Colin had done so at an early age. The kindness of both Norris and his wife, one of the MacAlistair maids named Mary, had always been a constant in his life. It followed Colin throughout his travels, and the longer he was away the more he appreciated them.
 

Colin had secretly vowed that, upon returning home, he would make their lives easier, but without wounding their pride. The fact that Victoria had already treated them like family filled his heart with joy and made Colin appreciate his newfound sister even more.

“You and Mary were always kind to me,” he continued. “I remember coming into your room at night for tea while you listened to stories about my day.”
 

Norris smiled. “Your ‘grand adventures,’ we used to call them. Mary and I missed those stories when you left.”

Regret thumped within Colin’s chest. He never thought of how his disappearance would affect Norris and Mary. True, he missed them as much as he missed his siblings, possibly more because while Tristan and Gwen always had each other, Colin had only Norris and Mary.
 

Determined to right past wrongs, Colin remained steadfast. “I insist you not hold to formalities with me, Norris. Like my half-sister, I will not take
no
for an answer.”

“Very well, sir,” the kind man relented, “but only when we are alone. If in front of guests or other servants, I shall refer to you as
Mister MacAlistair
.”

“Damn, you are a skilled negotiator,” Colin winked at the man. “Very well, then, it’s settled. You may return to your duties.”

Norris nodded then turned to exit the room.
 

“Norris, you haven’t said goodbye to me,” Colin declared, enjoying testing the man.
 

The butler straightened his posture even more so than before, a feat Colin previously thought to be impossible. He then paused, pursing his lips as if he were about to say something distasteful before responding, “Good day, Colin.”

“Well said, man!” Colin couldn’t help but smile. “Now, be sure to issue my edict to Mary and insist she begin posthaste.”

“Very well,” Norris paused, then added, “Young sir.”

The butler’s raucous laughter echoed throughout the room as Norris exited.
 

This would be quite amusing, Colin decided as he read the card Norris had handed him. The elegant script announced
The Dowager Viscountess Lady Weston.