Page 44 of Temptress in Disguise
The lady left the room.
Aware his wife was about to feel the stab of betrayal, he drew her around to face him and captured her chin. “Whatever untruths we uncover, it has no bearing on your character. Your heart is open and whole. Don’t let someone’s selfish actions affect how you behave.”
He sounded like the worst hypocrite.
But it was too late for him. The damage was done.
His heart suffered the first blow when his mother was found dead at the bottom of the stairs. The punches kept coming until he grew numb to the pain.
She looked deeply into his eyes. “I don’t want to believe what I suspect is true. I don’t want to blame my sister for keeping secrets, but lies have a way of poisoning the past.”
He bent his head, his mouth an inch from hers. “Life brings its trials and tribulations. Every experience has led you to this moment.” He was always cynical, never philosophical. This woman messed with his mind. It was as if their paths were aligned, as if they were each other’s guides and teachers. “There’s no place I would rather be than here with you.” No detour he would have made en route.
Naomi came up on her tiptoes and kissed him. The slow melding of their mouths tightened every muscle. Her lips were soft and sensual, her reaction so natural she had him bewitched.
The patter of footsteps forced them apart. Mrs Boyle appeared, carrying a square of red velvet, which she laid gently on the counter. She peeled back the folds, revealing the red rubies she’d mentioned.
“I dinnae usually buy valuable items without provenance, but yer sister begged and pleaded, said she was desperate for funds.”
Naomi ran her finger over the gems and gave a wistful sigh. “My father bought these for my mother during a trip to London.” She held an earring up to the light. “They could be made of tin, and she would have loved them just the same.” She looked at Mrs Boyle, tears coating her lashes, but she kept them at bay. “That’s the mark of true love. How sad that things must change.”
“Life is an ever-evolving cycle,” the woman said, offering no further wisdom.
Aramis asked the most obvious question. “So your sister never mentioned taking the jewels from Hartford Hall?”
Naomi looked at him, her disappointment evident. “No.”
“Yer sister seemed loathe to sell them and asked if I could make sure they went to a good home. Sometimes, tough decisions must be made. Perhaps she feared ye didnae have the heart to part with them.”
Naomi returned the earring to the red velvet. “Would it be too much to ask you to keep them for a while longer? I’m due to claim my inheritance and?—”
“I shall purchase the jewels for my wife,” Aramis said. They were important to her, and it was a small price to pay to lessen the blow of betrayal.
She swung around to face him. “I can’t let you do that. It’s too much to ask of?—”
“What sort of man would I be if I let you leave without them?”
He’d be the man everyone believed him to be.
A devilish rogue with a heart of stone.
A dangerous brute without a conscience.
Titles he feared he could no longer claim.
ChapterTen
Fortune’s Den
Aldgate Street
Having been summoned to Fortune’s Den by Aaron Chance, Naomi joined her husband at the candlelit dining table and sat amongst his kin. With all eyes upon her, nerves should have left her shaking in her boots, but Aramis’ solid thigh rested against hers beneath the table.
Aaron Chance—whose gaze had the power to freeze one’s blood—stared at her over steepled fingers. He listened to Aramis explain what they had learned during their investigation.
“We’ve examined the journal. It contains nothing but derogatory comments about the actors’ performances and personal lives.”
Aaron’s snort dripped with mockery. “Kendrick sounds like a proud performer. If someone called me a preened peacock, I’d hold them to account. Men often have much to say when trying to hide their guilt.”
