Page 95 of Wicked Rivals
“Make yourself useful, Lady Melbourne. Fetch some broth and bread from the kitchens. I need to speak to Ashton.Alone.”
“But—”
“It is League business and none of your affair,” Charles said.
Rather than bow to Charles’s insufferable attitude, Rosalind looked to Ashton. He met her gaze, his expression soft and understanding.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I should speak with him. I promise I won’t keep you out of my secrets forever.” He winced, then added, “Broth does sound rather good. Would you mind?” Ashton’s chagrined expression was the only reason she agreed to leave. League business or not, she would not have backed down to Charles unless Ashton asked her to.
Rosalind left the bedchamber but froze when she overheard Ashton speak.
“Why did you send her away, Charles?”
“Because she’s our enemy. I just received a letter from London from the men you had looking into Rosalind’s accounts. She and Waverly are more deeply connected than we suspected. They have more than one business venture together, and there were letters in her offices to him regarding reports of your interests in various investments and your companies. They were working together to spy on you, and throughyouto spy onus. I warned you that you weren’t thinking clearly when it came to her, and I was right.”
Waverly? They knew about him? He’d befriended her shortly before her husband had passed away. She’d been impressed with his knowledge of business and his keen eye for acquisitions. It had been he who had put her on the path to buying companies from under Ashton’s nose. They’d communicated frequently regarding various interests, but among them had been Ashton’s business strategies. They’d shared a laugh over sending him in circles and depriving him of companies he wanted to purchase.
A sick feeling turned Rosalind’s stomach. Waverly had never given any indication he’d had apersonalhistory with Ashton. It was just business…wasn’t it? But now that she looked back, she could see that Ashton always managed to come up in their conversations. By her own intentions, she’d assumed, but she realized now Hugo had said things to make her think of Ashton, and that had prompted the discussions nearly every time they met at her offices.
I’ve been played—on both sides.The nausea only grew inside her.
“What do you mean they’re working together?” Ashton demanded.
“Your future bride has been hiding things from you. This, and more,” Charles said.
Rosalind knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but they were talking about her. She pressed herself flat against the wall beside the door, ears straining to pick up the conversation.
“Explain.”
“This goes beyond her companies,” Charles said. “Her father and Waverly knew each other ten years ago in Scotland.”
“What on earth would Waverly be doing up there?” Ashton’s voice was soft but concerned.
“No idea, but it couldn’t have been anything good. And his claws have never left that family. YoursweetRosalind”—Charles sneered the word—“has been writing directly to Waverly for nearly six months. Did you know about that? For all we know she could be sharing his bed or telling him all our secrets. Ash, this is serious. You must send her back to London. Sever ties with her and rip up that blasted license. We must close ranks before she becomes privy to anything Hugo can use against us.”
“Bloody hell,” Ashton groaned. “Don’t you see? This is exactly why Imustmarry her. I can play the puppet master just as well as he can. She’s falling in love with me, assuming she hasn’t already. It won’t be hard to turn her against him. We can use her against Hugo just as easily as he is using her against us.”
An icy chill shot clear through Rosalind, leaving her unable to think beyond the cutting words.A puppet? That’s all I am to him?And Sir Hugo knew my father but never told me?That coincidence filled her with unease. She’d trusted Waverly, and yet it seemed he’d been manipulating her to act against Ashton. But why?
“You think she’s so enamored with you?”
Rosalind held her breath. Her blood pounded in her ears so hard it nearly drowned out their voices.
“Iknowshe is. She cannot resist me. You forget, I was seducing women years before you, pup. I still know a trick or two.”
An invisible blade pierced her heart. Ashton was playing her like a fiddle, and what made it hurt more was that he was right. Shewasfalling in love with him. She could not stay here, not when she was a pawn in this private game they were playing. She had warned him that was the one thing she would not stand for.
He’d stolen her heart and broken his promise.
Rosalind blinked away tears and hardened her heart. She would not be a victim. Not again.I will not stay here, not when I’m neither wanted nor loved.
She would need Claire to help her pack her things, and then she’d leave.
*****
Brock motioned for his brothers to stay close behind him as they snuck up to the terrace at the back of Lennox House. After three days of hard riding with barely any sleep, they’d managed to find the home of the man who held their sister captive.
Brock checked the pistol he held, hoping he wouldn’t have to use it, but if Lennox or his friends tried to stop them, he would. He glanced at his two younger brothers, both holding their own pistols, their faces grim as they studied the expansive country house. Thankfully there were a few lights by the windows, which helped conceal them in the darkness while they searched for a way in. Hugo’s man was supposed to leave a terrace door unlocked for them.
