Midnight Masquerade (9 page)

Sitting by the men, Alastair sat silently as the women
began to talk
about the evening’s events
, across from him
Amelia kissed on
baby Claire.

Clearing her throat, Helena asked Genevieve, “Vieve, what costume are you going to wear tonight at Riverdale’s
costume
party? I think I might wear my black satin dress that looks an awful lot like a lady pirate.”

“Oh I love that dress Helena!
I’ll probably wear that new rose colored one with the
crystal
flamingo mask, I like that color on me this season,” Genevieve, Luke’s wife
offered. Looking over at Amelia and little Claire, Genevieve passed the question onto her, “Lia,
my darling,
what are you going to wear tonight?” 

Alastair watched Amelia
like a hawk; his heart was tearing in two as he took in the sight of her holding a child. His engagement hadn’t excited him at all; his proposal to Porsche had been cold, just like a business transaction.

Today had been the first time he saw the brunette beauty in days, his reaction to her withdrawal told him much more than words could. He missed her, desperately. The past few nights he ran through every scenario to make it work with Amelia, he had not found a solution.

Sitting across from her he watched her look
up at
G
enevieve
,
and
before Amelia
could even speak
,
he heard Helena
pip
e
up excitedly
,
“
Oh
Lia, you should wear that white
satin and feathered creation you ordered at the beginning of the season, you know, the strapless one that looks breathtaking on you.
It was ridiculously expensive and you haven’t worn the thing at all!
”

Helena’s words stopped his heart.
That dress, he knew it far too intimately.

Helena’s
description
of the gown was exactly w
hat the widow had been wearing. L
ooking directly at
Amelia
, he saw her face turn white as she
locked eyes with him. It was as if there was no one else in the room, just them locked in a silent discussion, a revelation. In a blink of an eye Amelia
stood up and
handed baby Claire to Lu
ke and promptly
exited the room without a word to anyone. She fled
, quickly.

The s
udden realization that Amelia was his Andromeda
, the mysterious missing widow he had been searching for
roared through him. Closing his eyes he pictured her in the ethereal gown and every piece of the puzzle fell into place. Her hair, the shape of her body and by god her eyes, he should have known…how
had
he miss it?
How had he not put it
together?

Standing up,
he
walked out of the library wi
thout a word to her family as he followed her delicate rose scent.
His blood was boiling as he slammed the library
door behind him.
She had made a damn fool of him, lied to him and kept her identity a secret for over a blasted month!

Seeing
the edge of her riding gown as she fled outside into the dark garden he followed
.
She was running from him, she had been found out, and she was trying to escape.
So many emotions rolled through his body as everything fell into place, Amelia Elizabeth had indeed been his woman this entire time and the bloody beautiful woman kept it from him!
Why?

Bursting out the garden door after her
,
t
he storm
raged directly over the house
, the morning light was blocked out by dark clouds
.
It was as dark as night out as the ha
rd rain pelted h
im,
q
uickening his pace
he ignored the
cold rain
as he saw her disappear farther into her garden
,
behind tall hedges.

“Amelia!”
He shouted
, his fists clenched in anger.

Rounding the corner, he saw her stopped in the middle of the elaborate garden, facing away from him with her head bowed
with her back to him. Her arms wrapped around her small frame soaked to the bone.
She could run no further, she was trapped.

“It was
you
, this entire time it was you!” He accused, shouting at her above the heavy noise of the rain
he closed in on her. His heart pounding, his blood on fire
,
he ke
pt his eyes on her small frame as she kept her back to him.

Refusing to answer him, or look at him
,
his temper flared
, “Answer me!”

Spinning around, she looked up at him,
her chest heaving as she locked eyes with him. Drenched from the downpour
she stood before him unmoving
,
her eyes sparked with fire.

“Say it Lia
, I dare you to fucking lie to me
!”

“Yes.” Her voice but a whisper as his heart
was
pounding with
confirmation
that Amelia was Widow Claudette, his Andromeda.

“LOUDER!”

Clinching her
fists, she stepped closer to
and tilted her chin up as she screamed, “Yes
, is that what you want to hea
r you ass, that it was me? Fine.
YES it was me
!”

Remembering that she was pregnant, he pointed
at her stomach, “Jesus Christ Lia, do you carry MY HEIR?”

Stepping
back,
her eyes wide in shock
she
tried to run past him in the direction from where she came
.

Quicker than
her,
he grabbed her wrist and spun her into his arms, “Answer me Amelia, NOW!”
His blood pounded as he eyed the soaked brunette.
Looking up into his eyes as the rain soaked them
both
to the bone,
she closed her eyes.
She was shaking, he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold rain or fear.

“Tell me the answer I want to hear Lia…”

“What answer do you want Alastair?”
The lit
tle minx asked with irritation, trying to break his grip.

Tipping
up her chin,
he softened his tone,
“I want you to tell me that is my heir you carry, not some other man’s
baby
. That I do not have to watch you marry someone else when I care for you so much!
That I don’t have to watch you have another man’s child.
”

“You do not care for me Alastair…not like that.”

“Do not tell me what I feel Lia!”

Pushing his chest hard, she took a step back,
“Would you even believe me?”

“I would believe you Lia, only you.”

“Oh bollocks Alastair,
you believed that blonde bitch’s story easily enough. God knows
half of this town has declared they carried your child at one time just to get you to put a ring on their finger!”

Stepping back,
shouting
, “Is this what that was? A marriage trap?”

Quick as a viper, she slapped
him
hard across his face
.
“Fuck you! If I had wanted to ensnare you don’t you think I would have told you who I was
weeks ago
, that I would have used it to my benefit….to twist your righteous honor t
o my benefit? But alas, there was
someone smart and evil enough to do that, but she is not me!
And you asked that bloody bitch to be your wife!
”

His anger rose as he thought of how long she let him look for her while being under his nose the entire time,
“Did you let me get engaged knowing full well that I had been searching for her, for you, and I thought I found her and you knew I hadn’t?”

“Let you? I did not let you do anything regar
ding that twisted bitch Porsche!
It is not my fault you are engaged to a woman who lied to you, who preyed on you!
We all tried telling you she wasn’t the woman you sought!
”

“You didn’t tell me the truth!”

“Not confessing isn’t lying Alastair! Yo
u never asked me if I knew Andromeda
,
never….never once did you ask for my help! This is your fault, you did this! The moment you thought I was pregnant with another man’s child you got yourself engaged that same night!
Y
ou kissed me
the night
before and told me
I
was the one
you wanted as your duchess
and then as soon as you thought I had given myself to another man, you ran out and got engaged to that lying whore!
You did this
!
Helena even told you that things were not always as they seemed!
”
She tapped his chest with her finger as she yelled at him.

“You
will
marry me, that is my baby and you kn
ow it Amelia…even if you aren’t
brave enough to say it to my face…..I know, and I will not have you bear my bastard!”

“Brave enough? Do you know it has been like since we laid together? Watching you search all over London for a woman when it was me the entire time? Dancing with you and not having you recognize what was between us? Watching you run off with your countless mistresses while I lie alone every night?
Then, something changed, you kissed me and everything I thought I wanted started to happen.
I never wanted you to want me because I was Andromeda, I wanted you to want me…Amelia, not Andromeda.
Then you turned your back
on
me, thinking I carried another man’s child, you threw whatever it was we had going on away and asked a bloody whore to be your duchess!
You have toyed with my heart long enough, i
f I had a
gun right now I would shoot you myself
!”

Pulling his
golden
gun from his side, he cocked it and placed it in her hands, raising them to point directly at his head,
“Do it Lia, if you will not be mine….if you will not bear my child under the protection of my name, kill me now, I don’t want to live in a world I cannot be with you two.
There is nothing left in this world for me if you won’t marry me.
”

Jerking her head back, she sobbed
as the rain poured do
wn them.
Dropping his gun as if it burnt her hand
s
, she stepped back and glared at him,
“You are engaged to another woman who will ne
ver let you out of that promise
,
and
yo
u are too much a man of your
word
to call it off
, even if I carry your child. You do not want
me
, Lady Amelia…you
want
Andromeda
…I’m truly not the woman you seek, just the body. I was hoping you would feel what I did, that you would see with your own eyes and heart, day after day you proved to me that I’m not the one you want. I want you to leave, now.”

“
I’m not fucking leaving Lia!
I’ll tell Gideon and Luke, a
nd they won’t give you a choice, you
will
marry me.
”

“Leave now Alastair, if you tell my brothers
I promise you will never see me or your child ever again. I will disappear, and you will never find me, even with your intricate web of spies.”

“You won’t leave your family Amelia, you love them too much…your little ne
phews, your sweet little
niece
Claire.
Are you telling me
you’d run aw
ay and never be their Auntie Lili
again because I told your brothers the truth? I think not my dear, you are too loyal, and you love all of them with all your heart, even if you hate me, you will not hurt them by leaving them behind to elude me.”

“Please Alastair, if you ever cared anything about me, even as a one time beloved friend of mine, please leave….I can’t do this
right now, please.”

“Friend? Is that what you call the man who took your virginity? The man whose baby you carry? I am not your friend Lia, I am so much more and you’ve always known that! Do not think just because I didn’t claim you as mine the moment you came out to society that I didn’t want to. Do not
,
for one minute think that I have not watched you for years, yearning for you. Do not think that I have not been
affected
by you for years, because I have. I might have kept my distance in the past, but not anymore, this conversation is not over Lia, not even in the slightest.”