Page 40 of One Dangerous Desire
What good was her million-dollar dowry if it couldn’t even secure her a future of her own choosing?
REX WAS GETTINGused to the dull gray walls in the Duke of Ashworth’s library, but familiarity didn’t make being in the man’s house any more comfortable. Especially when he’d come with every intention of disappointing the powerful aristocrat.
Agreeing to the duke’s wager had been rash. In commercial dealings, competitiveness had become second nature, and he’d been blinded by the prospect of winning before considering any of the consequences. From the start, wedding Lady Emily, even if that was the quickest route to Ashworth’s patronage, had been out of the question. Now nothing in him could fathom marriage to Lady Caroline either.
May had changed that, even if she hadn’t intended to. Even if she regretted the moments she’d let him hold and kiss her. Those moments had solidified his resolve, and he sure as hell wouldn’t allow her to marry the Earl of Devenham to win a ridiculous wager.
He hated that after telling Ashworth as much, he wasn’t certain of his next step. Since coming to London, his life had been carefully plotted, every goal focused in his crosshairs, every step based on strategy. Now he knew only what he wanted. Achieving it was another matter altogether.
May.Sullivan, with his damnably accurate insight, might have been right. Every success, every additional column in his bank ledger, only mattered if he could have her. Hell, he’d even designed the Pinnacle with her in mind, envisioning the walls in colors she admired. Planning a ballroom in shades of blue that reminded him of her eyes.
“You’re unexpected, Leighton, but welcome. What brings you to my door today?”
In his flighty, jittery way, Ashworth sidestepped into the room, almost as if he’d just exited a ballroom and was still completing the steps of a dance. The duke’s flushed face and perspiration dotting his forehead added to the impression that he’d just exerted himself. Something certainly had the man on edge.
“I’ve come about the wager, Your Grace.”
Ashworth actually was doing a little jig, feet moving back and forth in a repetitive pattern. “Excellent! You must have the powers of a psychic medium, Mr. Leighton. I wish to speak to you on precisely the same matter.” He flicked his hands out in front of him as if shaking off water. “Please, sir, precede me. Tell me what you’ve come to say, and then I’ll share my news.”
The duke had struck Rex as strange from their very first encounter, but Ashworth had never been quite this jumpy.
“I decline the wager, Your Grace. I should never have accepted. Perhaps I enjoy competition too much.” He did. Far too much, and it bit at his pride to admit it. “My choice of a bride is my own, as is the timing of a proposal.” He cleared his throat before delving into the heart of it. “Most of all, I do not wish to exert any undue pressure on Miss Sedgwick to marry.”
Ashworth began to snicker and lifted a hand to cover his mouth. Then he dropped his other hand to his belly and pealed with laughter.
“Forgive me, Leighton.”
The man seemed to be on the verge of hysteria. A flash of memory struck Rex of the way orphanage staff had dealt with children given to fits of laughter or tears. Though he didn’t think a bucket of iced water over the head would be acceptable for a duke.
“Are you well, Your Grace?”
The man’s laughter had waned to a few wheezy chortles. “I’m well, young man.” He waved a hand toward Rex again. “It was merely the coincidence that struck me as amusing.” He broke into a momentary fit of laughter again and then patted his chest as if to tame the impulse. “You come here out of concern for Miss Sedgwick, and yet I have just had a most intriguing visit regarding that young lady this morning. And then you show up to withdraw from our wager. I wonder, have you heard a rumor?”
“I’ve heard no rumors regarding Miss Sedgwick.” The news of Sedgwick’s financial difficulties had been glossed over in the London papers. Beyond her public outings with Devenham, May wasn’t a magnet for the London scandal rags. Yet Ashworth knew something, and judging by his flushed cheeks and twitching grin, he was bursting to tell it.
“You’ll be concerned about your hotel if she wins the wager. Let me reassure you, Mr. Leighton. I’ve been intrigued by you from the start, and Iwillinvest in the Pinnacle. Your figures are sound, and your success since arriving in London has been nothing short of astounding.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.” Rex nodded and relief unfurled in his chest like a constraint finally unbound. He could see the Pinnacle in his mind’s eye, ablaze with light and activity. Then a sickly queasiness built in his gut.
“You mentioned Miss Sedgwick winning the wager, Your Grace?”
Ashworth took a rare moment to pause, perching at the edge of his desk. “You see, the humor of it is that just an hour before you arrived to forfeit, I had a visit from the Earl of Devenham.” His smile revealed two slightly crooked front teeth, larger than all the others. “The man plans to ask May Sedgwick to marry him, Leighton.”
“No.”
“Oh yes. Devenham called little more than an hour ago and asked for a ring that has been in the family for centuries.” Ashworth pointed at the portrait of the amber-eyed beauty on the wall. “Considered giving it to my own wife once, but she preferred another bauble.”
Like the flip of a switch, Rex was that wild boy he’d been the day they deposited him at the orphanage. All anger and instinct and fear, wishing only to snarl. To bite the nearest bystander and lash out at his fate. Except now his ire was for a man whose money could bring his goals to fruition. And the man’s horse-loving relative. So he stood still, every muscle in his body coiled, listening to Ashworth and his abominable talk of May marrying into his family and bearing the Devenham earldom’s heir. The duke spoke of it as one might discuss the practically of choosing a well-fitted carriage. As if Devenham hadn’t chosen a bride but a particularly fertile mare at market.
Rex curled his fingers into his palms and resisted the urge to strike Ashworth. Tried not to imagine how much he’d enjoy wrapping his hands around the duke’s throat to shut him up.
May is mine.He couldn’t hold his urges at bay and construct fancy words at the same time. He’d never be capable of sweet, tamed gentlemanly emotions where May was concerned. One drumbeat repeated in his mind, telegraphing to every nerve in his body.May is mine.She was meant for him and he for her, and the Earl of bloody Devenham could go to the devil.
“I can see you doubting, Mr. Leighton. Yet surely you’ve seen the interest Devenham has taken in her.” He wagged his finger at Rex with no notion how close he came to losing the digit. “She’s certainly encouraged the boy. He has every reason to expect her to accept his offer.”
“May won’t marry him.”
“Such a match would prove advantageous to both of them. He can give her a title, and the Devenham estate will benefit from her dowry. She came to London for no other purpose. Her father is a practical man. I suspect he’s raised a practical daughter. She will accept him.”
