Wicked Deception (26 page)

He chuckled under his breath at how
easy it was to get to her. With Nicholas gone and the Earl paying
little attention these days, she was delightfully vulnerable to
him. He decided he would kill the servants off one by one before he
went to her.

When they were all dead, he would have
her to himself at last. He was determined to enjoy his time with
her. He wanted her for years, dreamed of this moment. Now with it
only hours away, he was determined to savor it fully.

~ ~ ~

“
This is ridiculous!”
Catherine protested as men poured into her foyer and searched the
house. “There is no Lord Dartmouth lurking here. I have no
intention of leaving my house to stay at Gabriel’s. It’s unseemly
and unnecessary.”

“
Catherine, either you come
willingly or I’m prepared to carry you!” Tieghan shot back harshly.
“He has fled for parts unknown. With him a threat, we take no
chances, or is it your desire to wind up like Mrs.
Hart?”

“
No one even knows if she is
even dead! Going missing is not quite the same thing!” Catherine
argued and shook her head in resignation as she called to Jenny to
pack her bags and gather the children’s things at once. “I will not
stay there.”

“
Where will you
go?”

“
I will stay at a
hotel.”

“
Then you would be more
vulnerable,” he scoffed.

“
This is not your problem,
Tieghan,” she argued. “Last I heard you were chasing my maid and
now you’re underfoot every time I turn around.”

“
Elise is with me,” he
allowed and looked troubled. “We have had our differences of
late.”

“
Ah, I see she has the sense
to not let you boss her around.”

“
She is smart enough to know
when she is in danger and listens, unlike you!”

“
How is she?” Catherine
asked and put Tieghan off guard.

“
She is fine. She sent
thanks for your kindness for the new plaque in your family crypt
with her sister’s name.”

“
You have been there?”
Catherine demanded. No one could have known. She insisted upon it
when she was at Dunleavy.

“
Elise demanded I take her
to her sister’s grave. I could do no less.”

“
What are your
plans?”

Tieghan frowned. “I planned to marry
her. She has another plan that does not include me. I mean to
change her mind.”

“
I believe you will,”
Catherine said and was pleased to know her dear maid found
happiness at last.

“
Now let us get back to your
safety Catherine,” he began again and she cut him off.

“
I’ll go to a hotel tonight
while the house is secured. You were a good friend to Nicholas but
you have your own life, Tieghan. This is completely
unnecessary.”

“
I do this for Nicholas,
Catherine,” he growled,” but I do it for you too!”

She stared up at him and saw his
concern. “You have been good to us both, Tieghan, but you neglect
Elise to see to me. Go back to her. What happens to me now is not
your concern or Gabriel’s for that matter. I’m well aware Lord Rudd
sees me as a threat. I’m also aware his time of threats and killing
are near an end.”

Tieghan could see he was losing his
argument with her. He gnashed his teeth to know she was going to be
difficult. “I’m no longer asking, Catherine. Do not make me carry
you out of here in front of your servants.”

She glared at him. “Do not make me go
to Lord Iverleigh’s. Find some other place. That is the only way I
leave here willingly.”

Tieghan towered over her, his pale eyes
narrowed and she never backed down. “Fine, get your things. Let us
get you and the children away from here, but I will choose the
place.”

Catherine opened her mouth and then
clamped it shut. She glared at him and stomped away. The servants
packed enough for an overnight and she carried Aidan as the nanny’s
followed with Devlin and Brionne. Her brothers looked confused as
they came down the stairs. Her Uncle had not returned.

“
Cat, why can’t we stay and
wait for Uncle Devlin?” Jaime whined petulantly. “He said he would
return with presents.”

“
We go only for the night,
Jaime,” she assured him. “The servants will tell him where we have
gone.”

“
But why can’t we stay? He
promised another story,” Cullen piped in, his bottom lip out. “I
don’t want to go to a hotel.”

“
Just do as your sister says
and be quick about it,” Tieghan said to the boy and Cullen backed
down, looking up at the giant with wide blue eyes.

She regarded him gratefully as her
children and servants were loaded into coaches. She handed off
Aidan to Jenny and stood with Tieghan out of earshot. “I do not
want them frightened, Tieghan. All these guards are not
necessary.”

He conceded she was right and sent the
men back to the ship when they returned. He took the driver aside
and whispered in his ear. The man nodded and jumped up on his
perch. He returned to Catherine’s side. “I feel better knowing none
will know where you’re but me and the man driving the team. Where I
send you, you will be safe.”

Catherine nodded and he handed her up
into the coach. She could see the worry in the Norwegian’s gaze.
Tieghan was visibly shook up. That alone should have alarmed her
enough to listen to him. She felt foolish now, considering a madman
stalked her. She shivered as the coach moved away from the
house.

~ ~ ~

Dartmouth hid behind the boxes when the
door opened and shut again. He breathed a sigh of relief but was
angered his quarry was being denied him. He broiled in fury as he
heard her maid arrive, cracked the door to see Catherine and her
children escorted from the house.

He watched darkly as the seaman soon
left the residence and knew he was alone in the house now. He was
snarling in fury to be denied when he was so close to satisfying
his dark desires. He peeked out the door of the room and smiled as
he saw the upstairs maid come down.

She would have to do for what he
wished. He smiled evilly as he thought of what he would do to her
in Catherine’s bed. He would be patient. She wouldn’t be protected
forever. They would slip up, and he would have her. He was humming
as he slid out of the door and went up the stairs in search of the
maid.

~ ~ ~

Nicholas was relieved and mildly
angered to discover where Tieghan had taken his wife and children
when he returned to the ship. He found Nicholas in his
cabin.

A tick formed in Nicholas’s cheek at
the thought of where Catherine was, but he sighed and looked away.
He had no choice. There was no room at the other residence where
his family stayed. She would be safe from Dartmouth
there.

He slept little that night, his
imagination running rampant at his thoughts. He was disgusted with
his own jealousy in light of the fact he was thought to be dead by
her. If she went to Gabriel, he had only his own blasted ruse to
blame for it, he knew. Desperation heightened his awareness they
ran out of time. Until Dartmouth was brought down, he would have to
live with the images of his wife with Gabriel.

He thought of Lilly’s clever warnings
and paused. Why had she tipped her hand? She hated Catherine. She
could have kept Dartmouth’s plans for Catherine to herself but she
had told him ahead of time. Was it some way to atone for what she
had done to her sister at last?

Knowing Lilly as he did, he doubted it.
She did everything for a purpose. She obviously wanted Dartmouth
caught knowing he and Rudd planned to kill her, realizing her worth
to them dwindled. No, she had a motive for warning him. He would
find out. He rose and walked to the warehouse, pulling the cap low
over his head, avoiding passersby on the docks.

He knocked at the door to the basement.
The guard arrived, relieved to see it was him. He entered and went
down below where her cell was. She smiled as he approached with a
pleased look on her face. She was glowing from drinking the wine.
He glared at her as he stood before the bars of the cell. His blue
eyes were cold as they met hers.

“
Why did you tell me of
Dartmouth’s plans, Lilly?” Nicholas asked sharply.”And do not lie!
He is out there and we run out of time now! Why does he not run?
Why does he stay here when he is being hunted like an animal? Do
not say it is because of my wife. Charming as she is, we both know
that is not what keeps him in London.”

“
Nicky, you really can be so
dense at times, my love,” she taunted as she approached the bars,
appreciating his handsomeness with a dramatic sigh. “Dartmouth
knows all those who were privy to Lord Rudd’s crimes are dead,
except for me. He is looking for me now. He is close to being
destitute, you realize? Without Rudd’s money, he has no means. He
really botched matters when he killed little Eunice and has been a
drain on Rudd for years. He went through her money and has had his
hand out every since. My belief is he seeks to extort Rudd for all
it is worth now, using me to do it.”

“
So, he wants to use you to
blackmail Rudd into keeping him alive?”Nicholas questioned with a
bark of laughter. “You might have been more forthcoming of this
when I first brought you here, Lilly, and you might have gotten
your petty privileges from the start.”

“
You were hardly nice to me
at all then, Nicky. Surely you understand why I kept it from you?”
she demurred sweetly, giggling at his outraged expression. “I take
it you saw Catherine safely tucked away?”She smiled as his glower
deepened. “It will only make him more reckless. Dartmouth acts
rather irrational when he doesn’t get what he wants. You may count
on him doing something really nasty now.”

“
You better hope he doesn’t
get his hands upon my wife, Lilly, or there will be no second
chance for you. Make no mistake. You’re only alive because I wish
to cause Dartmouth no small amount of discomfort. Do not forget
that Rudd seeks you as well? I could give them you, if you seek to
betray me here.”

“
And here I thought we were
in love, Nicky darling,” she breathed, delighted in the way his
expression darkened at her words. “Keeping me alive now is all you
have over them both. It must be distressing to know that should I
escape you have nothing to bargain with. Tick tock, Nicky. Time
runs out for little Catherine too.”

“
You go nowhere, Lilly,” he
told her, enjoying the way her lips tightened at his words. “Have
no fear, my love; I have every intention of keeping you alive. Your
lover Dartmouth cannot hide forever. My brothers will find him
before Rudd does.”

“
It may help for them to
consider looking for a fence,” she offered with an impish smile.
“He is no doubt running light in the pockets by now. It is a small
chance he seeks to sell off some things to keep him afloat. There.
Now do not say I haven’t been helpful, Nicky. That is all you get
for now. Perhaps if you’re nicer to me in the future; I shall tell
you how this whole drama ends. It is rather amusing.”

He said nothing as he walked away, all
too aware Lilly was spoon-feeding him this information. She was
delaying telling him all now for a purpose. He was angry, but he
knew she would hold her hand to her chest very tightly. She was
waiting to see which way the wind blew to offer him more answers.
He was determined to steer his course.

~ ~ ~

Catherine watched as they drew up to an
enormous building that appeared deserted. The driver opened the
door and helped her down. The footmen jumped down to help her
servants and the children. The largest man she had ever seen
arrived. His shoulders were as wide as Tieghan’s. He had a shining
bald head and his eyes were chilling. He was dressed all in black
as well, making her liken him to a demon from the pits of
hell.

“
Mr. Roth bids you welcome,
Mrs. Van Ryker. You and your children will be safe
here.”

Catherine nearly gasped to know where
Tieghan had sent them. She remembered the man who saved her life
the year before, killing the assassins her sister sent after her
one by one. He also played a very vivid role in her fantasies there
for a time, disturbingly so.

Roth was an underworld crime lord, in
his spare time an avid composer and pianist. He was also a
childhood friend of her husband’s, though even Nicholas didn’t
altogether trust him. She shivered as she followed the large man up
the stone steps.

Jaime and Cullen looked excited as they
commented on the building, talking of exploring. She glared them
into silence as Ty as he was named, opened the door and let them
inside.

Catherine’s eyes widened at the
opulence within. She was tempted to step back out and then back in
again. The outside gave little impression of what hid behind it.
The foyer was huge with marble tile. A huge crystal chandelier hung
suspended overhead. A winding oak circular staircase led to the
upper level. She saw works of art on the walls and knew them to be
originals, stolen no doubt. Everywhere she looked reminded her of
the contradictions of the man who lived here. Potted plants lined
the foyer and bouquets of fresh flowers sat upon tables. She heard
strains from a piano somewhere in the rear of the house and knew he
was here.