The Most to Lose (14 page)

Jonah stretched his long legs out in a relaxed manner and waited. There was obviously something on Hadleigh’s mind, but Jonah wasn’t going to beg to hear what it was.

The duke took another swallow, then set his glass down. “I want to know your intentions.”

“Intentions? Are you talking about Lady Cecelia?”

His gaze narrowed. “You know damn well that’s who I’m talking about. How long do you intend to let her believe you enjoy her company?”

Jonah let a broad smile cover his face. “Do you find it so impossible that I find it pleasurable to be with her?”

“Don’t play me for the fool, Haywood. The only reason you take pleasure in being with her is because you know I find your attentions to her disgusting. You wouldn’t give her a second glance if she weren’t my sister.”

“Oh, Hadleigh. What a low opinion you have of your sister.”

“The only person deserving my low opinion is you, Haywood. You have poisoned my sister’s mind the same as you poisoned Melisande’s. If I allow you to associate with Cecelia, you’ll destroy her the same as you destroy every woman with whom you associate.”

A bolt of rage shattered inside him. “What happened to Melisande has nothing to do with my association with your sister.”

Hadleigh’s glare turned more irate. “Everything you think, everything you touch, every action you make is connected to what happened to Melisande and will have the same fatal results.”

Jonah met Hadleigh’s glare and held it. He refused to be the first to look away. Refused to be the first to yield. He was tired of being blamed for what happened that night.

Except he knew Hadleigh would never believe the truth.

With his gaze still leveled with his enemy’s, he lifted his glass. “Why are you here?” he demanded, looking over the rim.

“Why do you think I’ve come?”

Jonah took a swallow, then lowered his glass. “My guess is that you are here to see me because you attempted to forbid your sister from seeing me and she refused.” Jonah pushed his glass on the table as if it were a chess piece. “What’s your next move, Hadleigh?”

Jonah felt the growing anger and bitterness build inside Hadleigh. Loathing and resentment swirled around him like a living, breathing monster. The hatred that had been a part of his life for so long was so intense Jonah doubted Hadleigh was able to think without animosity souring his thoughts.

Finally, Hadleigh loosened his tightly fisted hands and leveled Jonah with a narrowed glare. “I’ve already lost Melisande. I refuse to let you take Cecelia from me, too.”

“I took no one from you,” Jonah said through clenched teeth. “Melisande alone was responsible for what happened that night. And if you lose Lady Cecelia, it will be because of your own doing.”

Hadleigh pressed his lips together as if he didn’t trust what words might pass through them if he opened them. Jonah wondered what profanities would spew forth if he did. Enough time finally passed before he could speak.

“I have chosen to give Cecelia enough time to see your true colors for herself. I’ve chosen to let her discover your dark nature on her own. Like you said, she’s an intelligent individual. It won’t take her long to discover the wretch you are.”

Jonah evaluated Hadleigh’s words. He tried to accept them at face value, but that was difficult. Hatred had bound Hadleigh and him together for so long that Jonah found it inconceivable to think his archenemy was offering his sister such an open rein. That he was offering Jonah a truce of sorts. He hated him too much.

“If you lose your sister, it won’t be because of anything I do.”

“If I lose my sister, it will be because you have stolen her from me. It will be because you think so little of her that you will use her to exact your revenge upon me. Nothing is beyond what you will do. You’ve already proven that. But I am warning you…”

Hadleigh leaned forward. The fury written in his eyes would have caused a weaker man to stagger backward.

Jonah answered his glare with one of his own.

“If you so much as cause my sister one minute of heartache, there will be no lengths to which I won’t go to destroy you.”

Jonah clamped his teeth together so hard his jaw ached from the pressure. It was all he could do to keep from leaping across the table and knocking Hadleigh to the floor. It was all he could do to keep from pummeling his fist into Hadleigh’s smug, condescending expression. All he could do to keep from beating his archenemy to a bloody pulp.

“Don’t you dare threaten me, Hadleigh. You have no power over me.”

“No, but I do over Cecelia. Or at least what you can gain by pursuing her.”

Jonah studied the sadistic expression on Hadleigh’s face.

“You think my sister is the answer to your problems, but she isn’t. You are penniless, Haywood. Your father and brother spent every pound on which they could lay their hands. They left you without even a solid roof over your head.”

Jonah tried to keep the edge of fury from his voice but knew he’d failed. “My finances, or lack thereof, are my concern. Not yours.”

“They’re mine when you involve my sister in your misbegotten plan to save what your father nearly lost.” Hadleigh lowered his voice when he spoke. “You are destitute. All of London knows it. You have no choice but to marry a female who will come with a large enough dowry to cover your debts and repair your dilapidated Haywood Abbey.”

Jonah’s temper burned hotter. “Is that why you’re here? Do you think you can offer me enough money to cut my association with your sister?”

Hadleigh focused on the brandy in his glass for several long moments. With an unsteady hand, he picked it up and took a drink. “You have no idea how I wish that’s exactly what I could do,” he said when he’d lowered the glass. “But Cecelia would hate me forever when she discovered I paid you to abandon her. And she
would
find out. I’m not enough of a fool to think she wouldn’t. I have no choice but to pray that, in time, Cecelia will discover what kind of wretch you are for herself.”

Jonah leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Just how do you intend to do that?”

“By giving you exactly what you need.”

Jonah tried to look relaxed, but he wasn’t. His insides churned with confusion. Then with rage. “I don’t remember having asked for anything. And if I needed something, believe me, you would be the last person I would turn to.”

“I don’t doubt that is true, but in this, you have no choice. I refuse to allow the person with whom my sister is foolishly enamored to owe every merchant and gaming establishment in London massive amounts of money. I am tired of hearing the comments that my sister means nothing more to you than the means to pay your debts. I will, therefore, take care of any debts you owe so that particular belief discontinues to circulate.”

A tidal wave of rage raced through Jonah. “I won’t take money from you.”

The muscles twitched in Hadleigh’s jaw. “You will. Because if you don’t, it will only be a matter of hours before every creditor to whom you owe money is pounding on your door. I will see to it that they are. And that they continue to do so until you are so publicly humiliated that you can’t show your face.”

The rage inside Jonah intensified.

“You will also begin restoration on Haywood Abbey—immediately. If by some remote chance Cecelia does not realize what a poor excuse for a man you truly are, I refuse to think that she might be forced to live in a home as dilapidated and in need of repair as your country estate.”

Jonah felt such furor inside he wasn’t sure he could control the emotion. He wanted to tell Hadleigh to take his pompous self-assurance with him to the grave—but he couldn’t. He, too, had overheard the comments that the only reason he paid attention to Cecelia was because of the dowry that would come with her hand. He’d heard the rumors that suggested he didn’t find anything remarkable about her but had
settled
on her because of her worth. And because paying court to her infuriated Hadleigh more than anything he could do.

The first time he heard the rumors, he was filled with rage. How could anyone not realize what a unique female she was? Or that they could believe he would use her for revenge? It angered him that no one saw how special she was.

Because of his association with her, he was being handed a golden opportunity to save everything his father had almost lost. He’d be a fool to allow his pride to refuse Hadleigh’s offer.

But something stopped him from agreeing too readily. A little voice deep inside him warned him that Hadleigh’s offer was too good to be true. That although there didn’t seem to be a price tag associated with his offer, there was. And the cost would be more than he could pay. That, in the end, he would lose everything.

“Why are you doing this?”

Hadleigh laughed. “Don’t look to find anything noble in my offer. You won’t. Just the opposite. I am hoping my sister will come to her senses and realize what a poor choice you are. If that happens, any amount of money I throw in your direction will have been well spent. Until she does, however, I have no choice but to give you and your pursuit of her at least a small amount of credibility.”

Jonah thought of what he was being offered and wanted to jump at the chance to begin anew. Paying his creditors would be a huge weight off his back. Several of them had already sent their bills with threatening notes attached. If he didn’t accept Hadleigh’s offer, the threats and demands would only get worse.

Yet Hadleigh was the last person from whom he’d accept anything. Even food if he were starving.

Thankfully, when he opened his mouth, his pride controlled his words. “Take your money and go to hell, Hadleigh. I want no part of it—or of you.”

Jonah knew Hadleigh as well as anyone. He was prepared to hear Hadleigh rant at his foolishness, then watch him storm from the room. That’s what the friend he’d grown up with would have done. The man sitting across the table, however, simply leaned back in his chair and smiled.

“I have to admit you surprised me, Haywood. I expected you to jump at the chance to cover your debts.”

“Then you underestimate how badly I want to avoid being in your debt. I have no desire to have anything to do with you or with your money.”

Hadleigh’s malicious smile broadened. “I’m afraid you’re going to be very disappointed, then.” Hadleigh reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a stack of neatly folded papers. With deliberate care, he unfolded them and slid them across the table.

Jonah’s initial inclination was to ignore them, as if Hadleigh hadn’t so painstakingly placed them before him. But he’d never been one to turn away from oncoming danger. And no one was more dangerous than the Duke of Hadleigh.

Jonah picked up the papers and turned them in his hand. There were several of them, each sheet containing long lists of business names with an amount next to them. At first, he didn’t realize what they were, but upon closer scrutiny, he recognized them as the creditors to whom his father and brother owed money.

“You aren’t showing me anything I haven’t already seen, Hadleigh. I know who these men are and how much I owe them.”

“
Owed
, Haywood. These are the debts I have already covered for you. There are more, of course. Your father and brother were quite practiced at purchasing items for which they couldn’t pay. My man of business is in the process of collecting the remainder of your debts and will take care of those in the next few days.”

Jonah saw red. “You bloody bastard,” he growled, slapping the papers onto the table. “You had no right.”

Hadleigh leaned forward, the haughty disdain in his gaze enough to turn Jonah’s stomach. “I didn’t do this for you,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “I wouldn’t lift a finger to help you. I did this for Cecelia. I refuse to allow you to embarrass her or me with the string of debts you owe all over London.”

“I didn’t ask for your help, and I won’t accept it.”

Hadleigh’s gaze turned more livid. “Not only will you accept what I’ve already done, but you will accept more from me. My man of business has opened an account in your name. You will gather the supplies you need and begin work immediately to restore Haywood Abbey.”

Blood pounded in Jonah’s head, the thundering crash of his fury more intense than it had ever been. “Go to—”

Hadleigh slammed his fist against the table. “I’ve had enough of your disregard for my sister, Haywood. Now, I’m giving you a choice. If you respect her at all, you will accept my offer. Either that or you will give up your pursuit of Cecelia and never bother her again.”

Hadleigh leaned forward. “You may think my sister will solve your monetary problems, but she won’t. The amount everyone speculates my sister is worth will only come with her when she marries if
I
approve of her husband. If I don’t approve of the man she chooses to marry, she will bring with her very little in the way of a dowry. Not nearly what you need to pay your creditors.”

Jonah couldn’t find the words to say. He didn’t know what he should say. Nothing seemed adequate.

“My greatest fear is that she’ll be blind to the reprehensible creature you are and choose to marry you with or without my consent—with or without her dowry.”

He kept his focus leveled on Jonah. “Repairing the dilapidated condition of your estate will at least provide her with a decent home in which to live. Paying off your father’s and brother’s creditors will provide me the assurance that, in a year’s time, my sister will not be living on the street.”

Hadleigh’s hands tightened to fists. “If you care for my sister at all, you will accept my offer to cover your debts. Doing so will indicate that you are at least a small degree more responsible than your father and brother. However, if you find my gesture so revolting that you cannot accept it, then walk away from my sister and leave her alone. If you do, I’ll give you whatever time you need to repay the amount for the debts I covered.”

Jonah’s heart stuttered in his chest. Blood pounded against his ears. He considered everything Hadleigh was offering him. He thought of how desperately he wanted to save the estate that had been in his family for several generations, how long the tenants working the land had gone without because of his father’s gaming and poor management. But even those reasons weren’t the most important. What mattered most was the threat of never seeing Celie again. Of never enjoying her company. Of never holding her in his arms, or sitting next to her, or…kissing her.