Wicked Proposition (56 page)

Gabriel wanted to kill her. He got up and stared
at her with disgust evident in his expression. “You will prepare to
leave for Amberley today, madam. I have no wish to ever see you
again. Any of your needs will be handled by Hines from now on.”

Lilly smiled and pouted slightly. “Ah, it is a
pity you can’t hold onto your unspoiled image of my little sister.
It is only fair you know the truth about her too.”

Gabriel stalked out of Iverleigh Manor without a
word. He informed his driver they went to Treadwell’s offices. He
arrived there and pulled the man out of a meeting to demand to see
the papers Lilly referred to.

He read them and grew livid, seeing Catherine’s
signature on each one, agreeing to every one of Lillianne’s terms.
Treadwell was only too happy to give him the copies. He left the
office, feeling his heart was about to rupture to know Catherine
sold Lillianne their child.

He went to the inn where Catherine rented rooms
years before. The innkeeper was persuaded for coin to admit that
she stayed there during her pregnancy. The innkeeper’s wife claimed
to have delivered the child. They both said she attempted to take
her own life after the child was sent on to Iverleigh Manor.

“Why did you not report this?” Gabriel demanded
of Thaddeus Dench and his wife.

The man looked aggrieved. “Oi’ knew it, I did! I
told Alice here, we should ‘av reported it. She was worried it
would affect me business, m’lord.”

Gabriel could say nothing else and left the inn,
feeling deflated and furious with Catherine. All along she had
agreed to sell his son to his wife. She had forgotten that part of
her bargain with Lillianne. He would not. He was disgusted with her
for what she did. He vowed she would never see their son again. He
wanted nothing more to do with the matter. Nicholas obviously
believed every lying word that came out of Catherine’s mouth, but
he knew differently. His heart ached to know she could have been so
callous. He vowed Giles would never learn of it.

Gabriel returned home with a heavy heart, in a
black mood to see Penelope planning on departing to Nicholas’s
residence.

“The visits are cancelled, Penelope,” he
informed the girl tautly. “You may return my son to his
nursery.”

Penelope nodded and took Giles back
upstairs.

###

Catherine looked crestfallen when the nanny
never arrived with her son. She found her husband in their room, a
worried expression in her eyes.

“What does this mean, Nicholas?” she asked
worriedly as she paced before him, chewing pensively upon her lower
lip. “He promised!”

Nicholas’s expression darkened. He would get to
the bottom of Gabriel’s change of heart.

He left her and went to Gabriel’s residence
without delay. He was given admittance by Higgins and awaited
Gabriel in his study, furious he was punishing Catherine by denying
her seeing her son.

Gabriel arrived looking unrepentant. His dark
eyes were filled with such an unforgiving look, Nicholas knew
something was amiss.

“Why do you do this?” Nicholas demanded. “She
needs to see her child.”

“You need to read this, Nicholas,” Gabriel
replied and handed him the papers he retrieved from Treadwell, “I
think this clears up the mystery of what happened to your wife
those months she disappeared.”

Nicholas sat at his desk and snatched up the
papers. He read them, his heart clenching to see what they
entailed. His wife’s signature on each of them made him cringe
inwardly.

“This proves nothing!” he said and tossed them
down. “They are clever lies to cover your wife’s actions! Explain
how my wife wound up shot and dumped in the harbor, Gabriel!”

“I spoke with the innkeeper and his wife where
she stayed, Nicholas,” Gabriel said furiously. “They say she
attempted to take her own life when the child was given to my wife.
She was distraught at the bargain she made. They thought her dead
and feared reprisal. They had the body dumped, thinking her
dead.”

“It’s a lie!”

Gabriel glared at him. “When do you stop
defending her, Nicholas? This proves she sold her child to my wife!
You wish to blame Lillianne for all of this, think of looking to
Catherine as well. It appears she was in on this from the very
beginning.”

Nicholas refused to believe it, despite all that
it appeared. He stood and regarded Gabriel with a frown.

“When do you stop vilifying her, Gabriel? You
are so eager to believe the worst of her! Your wife planned all
from the very beginning to the last detail! These papers only prove
how naïve my wife was in trusting her sister!”

“Be that as it may, she will never see my son
again,” Gabriel retorted with a heartless look in his eyes. “Do not
come here again. Our business is done. I am satisfied Sullivan got
his just desserts. My wife appears to have gotten her way in
things, with help from yours. Now get out!”

“What of Jaime and Cullen? Would you deny her
them now as well, out of your spite?”

“My wards are another matter entirely,” Gabriel
replied coldly. “They will be returned here posthaste. I do not
think it appropriate they remain with her under these
circumstances.”

“You can’t do this to her, Gabriel!”

“I can, and I will!” Gabriel growled angrily,
his eyes filled with scorn. “Do not make me send the authorities,
Nicholas. The law is on my side in this.”

Nicholas left without another word. He arrived
back to find Catherine waiting in the foyer. He took her into the
study. She sat and he took her hands in his, a deep frown on his
face. He explained in very clear terms what she had agreed to.

Catherine shook her head in denial as he told
her of the papers she signed. She sobbed and covered her mouth as
she saw the regret in Nicholas’s eyes.

“It isn’t true! I would have never done such a
thing, Nicholas! You have to believe me!” she cried, tears filling
her gaze.

“Catherine, he has proof! He has papers you
signed, as well as the innkeeper and his wife who say you did
this,” Nicholas said wearily. “What I believe no longer
matters.”

Catherine regarded him in dread. “He won’t let
me see my son again, will he?”

“No, he has made that very clear,” Nicholas said
in a pained voice. “He asks that Jaime and Cullen be returned as
well.”

“No! They are my brothers! He cannot do
this!”

“He is their guardian, Catherine! I can do
nothing!” Nicholas said angrily as he rose and regarded her sadly.
“They have to go back. He will not bend on this.”

###

Catherine watched as her brothers were made
ready to return to Gabriel’s residence. Nicholas encouraged her to
say nothing to them of why they went back. He hoped Gabriel would
relent. She felt bitter tears burn in her eyes as she waved goodbye
to her brothers from the stoop as the Iverleigh coach drew away
from the curb, tormented to know Gabriel would not soften in his
anger at her.

“She has thought of everything, it seems,”
Catherine said bitterly through a veil of tears.

Nicholas stood at her side and his arm slid
around her protectively. “Do not lose faith, Catherine. She has not
won yet.”

Catherine returned to her room to lay down, too
heartsick to think of not seeing her brothers and her son
again.

Tieghan glared at Nicholas when he saw the boys
leaving. “Has she not suffered enough? What is Lord Iverleigh
thinking?”

Nicholas glowered as he turned to his friend.
“He is not thinking at all, as usual! He is the first to believe
the worst of Catherine, all because she is now my wife! We have to
find the Gates woman, Teighan, now more than ever. She is the only
one who can prove Catherine’s story.”

Tieghan nodded sadly. He had his own troubles as
well. Elise had disappeared without a trace. His contacts on the
docks had seen no person of her description pass through to seek
passage leaving London.

“We will find her, Nicholas,” Tieghan vowed
darkly.

“I’m going to pay Lilly a visit,” Nicholas said
harshly. “She will not get away with this!”

“Do you think it wise to tip your hand so
soon?”

“She has tipped hers, Tieghan!” Nicholas
snapped. “If we find Mrs. Gates, she can prove Lilly shot
Catherine.”

“Sullivan is dead, how do you propose to prove
she had a hand in the murders?”

“Sullivan will no doubt be blamed for all of
that,” Nicholas said darkly. “I will see her in Hell for what she
did to my wife!”

###

Lilly was writing out her correspondence when
Nicholas shoved past Dunstan, a furious look on his face. She
chuckled as she waved Dunstan away. Her blue eyes were amused as
they met his.

“How good it is to see you again, Nicky. Why
don’t you come right in?” she said gaily and raised an eyebrow.
“What do owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“Gabriel claims you and my wife had some sort of
pact, Lilly,” he said coldly. “Catherine doesn’t seem to see it
that way.”

“Well, you can believe her if you wish, Nicky,”
Lilly offered. “She did agree. I did not force her to become my
husband’s mistress, nor provide him with his heir. She signed off
on her rights to the child. I trust you realize this is all quite
legal? She insisted upon it. She wanted no confusion between us,
she said.”

“I think we both know you lie, Lilly,” Nicholas
snarled as he advanced. “Gabriel might believe whatever is put in
front of him, but I do not.”

“As I said, it is all quite legal,” Lilly
replied. “My husband isn’t likely to bastardize his own son,
whether I birthed him or not. Catherine is quite a skilled little
liar, Nicky. She received twenty thousand pounds for giving Gabriel
his heir. The transfer was never completed when we thought her
dead. I took liberty of putting it in trust for our brother.”

“We shall see,” Nicholas said coldly, his eyes
filled with disdain. “It is her word against yours, it seems.”

“It would appear mine holds more water with my
husband than hers.”

“You think because Sullivan is dead, you are
completely free now, don’t you?” Nicholas asked with a smile
playing about his lips. “Continue to think that, Lilly. I will be
at your hanging.”

With that he turned on his heel and left Lilly
reeling at his words. She paced furiously, wondering what he meant
by his cryptic statement.

She realized Nicholas must have her mother’s
diary. She seethed to know he had the means to destroy her now. She
needed Christian now more than ever. The Marquis would know what
needed to be done.

###

The assassin moved with speed and agility as he
jumped from rooftop to rooftop, skirting the guards who loitered
below.

His flat empty stare took in the large blond man
below who had undermined every one of his efforts to get his quarry
from the street.

He cursed under his breath as he pressed on,
jumping upon the Van Ryker roof and almost losing his footing. The
woman was an easy target. As heavy with child as she was, she was
bound to be slow-footed. He had few qualms about killing a woman,
even one pregnant. The money far outweighed his conscience.

He found the attic window and smiled as he broke
it open. It was a small opening and he had to wedge himself inside.
He reasoned he would have to exit it in the same manner, leaving
before the men below realized the house had been infiltrated.

Listening at the door proved the upper level was
devoid of servants. He opened the door and peered into the darkened
hallway. It was early evening. The servants were taking their meals
in the kitchens. The woman’s husband had left earlier on an
errand.

The blond giant was out front with the guards
and not likely to impede his efforts to get to the woman. He
reasoned shooting her would bring the guards running. He withdrew
the knife from his vest and smiled darkly.

###

Catherine was napping when she heard the noise,
going instantly alert to hear the footfalls above her. It sounded
like it was coming from the roof.

Her eyes widened as she listened and heard the
sound of glass breaking. Panic filled her to realize someone was
breaking into the house. She got up awkwardly and went to the
window, seeing the guards and Tieghan below. She tried to lift the
window pane, but upon inspection, it had been nailed shut. Her
husband was taking no chances.

Fear filled her as she realized someone was
coming into the house. Her only option was to hide, as the hallway
was the only means of getting below stairs.

Her heart beat out of control as she whipped
open the armoire, deciding she could no longer fit inside with her
advanced pregnancy. Pains had started in her lower back, making her
gasp. She prayed her labor wasn’t coming on as her eyes lit upon
her cutlass. She snatched it up and withdrew the guarded tip.

She backed up to the door slowly, hearing the
creaking noises of someone walking down the hall. She heard doors
opening and closing quietly. She trembled violently as she listened
to the intruder moving ever nearer. It was then her water
broke.

Catherine bit her lip in anguish as the puddle
formed at her feet. Her screams would not reach the guards. She
listened to the movement within the hallway in terror. She watched
as the knob to the door was turned.

She stayed behind the door as it opened. She
gripped the hilt of her cutlass, listening to every bit of guidance
Tieghan had ever given her. Those lessons were all she had left to
her now as a dark clad man stepped into her bedroom. He was holding
a wicked-looking knife as he crept farther into the room, looking
about for her.

Catherine didn’t think of what she was doing,
she just reacted. She must have made a noise, for the assailant
turned. Their eyes met briefly before she lunged, driving her
cutlass deeply into his chest.