Page 103 of The Danger of Desire
“That’s what your brother claims.” She scowled at her husband. “But of course you would believe him over me.”
“I’d damned well believe him overyourbrother.” When she shot him a look of sheer betrayal, he cursed under his breath. “It’s Hart’s word against Reynold’s, and we can hardly question your brother. That’s all I meant to say.”
“I know exactly what you meant to say—that somehow this was entirely Reynold’s fault. Well, since he’s dead and can no longer defend his actions, I have to defend them for him.”
Warren’s eyes glittered at her. “And what does that mean, exactly? That you’ll brand Hart as a card cheat to one and all? Ruin his reputation solely because of your brother’s angry rants after losing a lot of money at the gaming tables?”
Her heart sank into her stomach. “Of course not.”
“That’s what you said you’d do if you ever found Reynold’s card cheat.”
“That was before I knew that the card cheat was yourbrother, for pity’s sake!”
“I’m not generally a card cheat,” Hart grumbled.
“Shut up!” she and Warren cried in unison.
“Listen to me,” Warren told her in that placating voice that rubbed her raw. “Let me go with you. Just me. We’ll talk to Brilliana together and figure out what really happened.”
“Iknowwhat really happened. Your brother cheated mine, and now he’s trying to put a good face on things. And you mean to overlook that because he’s family.”
“You’refamily,” Warren said hoarsely. “My family. Mywife. I will always support you. That’s why I want to be there.”
“No, you want to be there because you’re afraid I’ll expose your brother’s perfidy. You want to smooth everything over, give me no choice in the matter, protect your brother at all costs.”
His jaw hardened. “Look, I know how you get when it comes to Reynold and his actions. You tend not to think rationally. I can’t let you march in there demanding answers and making wild accusations, and to hell with the truth!”
“The truth? You may not have noticed, but your brother hasn’t yet explicitly denied cheating mine.”
Warren blinked, then whirled on his brother. “Did you cheat Reynold Trevor at cards?”
Hart blanched, his gaze darting between hers and Warren’s. “I... um... kind of didn’t have... a choice... exactly.”
Judging from the flush rising over her husband’s cheeks, Warren hadn’t expected that answer. “What the bloody hell does that mean?”
His brother jumped up. “Well... the wager was that if I won, he’d give me three thousand pounds, but ifhewon, I’d... sort of... tell him where Niall was.”
“Damn it all.” Warren scrubbed a hand over his face. “And youtookthat wager? Knowing that if you lost...”
“I didn’t expect to lose! And itwasthree thousand pounds, after all. But...” He cast a sheepish look at Delia. “As she said, he was really good at piquet. And when I realized he might win, I... got desperate.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “By that point I honestly thought, after the way he was going on and on about Niall, that he wanted to hunt him down and kill him.”
“Now you know why I want to speak to Brilliana,” Delia said softly. “Three thousand pounds is an awful lot of money to wager to find out where a man is.”
Visibly shaken, Warren nodded. “We’ll go talk to Brilliana.”
He started for the door, and Delia caught him by the arm. “No. I meant what I said: I want to go alone. You always insist on doing things your way. Mucking up my attempts to find Reynold’s card cheat. Marrying me to squelch scandal.” Her throat tightened, and with a furtive glance at Hart, she lowered her voice. “Handling certain... difficulties of yours the way you see fit, without considering other methods.”
His gaze bore into hers. “I’m trying to protect you.”
“I know! And your brother. And everyone in your whole blasted family.” She softened her voice. “And I realize that’s because no one was there to protectyouwhen you most needed it. It’s what has made you who you are. But you don’t see that in trying to protect the ones you care about, you’re telling them you don’t trust them to handle things themselves.”
She fought for the right words. “That you’re telling them you can’t trust them with your secrets. That you don’t believe them when they say... things like ‘I love you.’ You want to protect them from finding their own way. Even when your ways of handling things aren’t really working.”
He stared at her, stark, unmoving, seemingly unemotional. Until she saw hurt flicker in his eyes.
“So I’m going to talk to Brilliana alone, without you and Hart there to badger her or frighten her or make her close up, as she always does. And you are just going to have to trust, for once, that I love you too much to harm you.” She cast Hart a quick look. “Or your family.”
With that, she strode for the door. “I’ll be back before dark, if I can.”
