Page 149 of The Trouble with Tigers
Zeke reached the mews, only to find his horse as yet un-saddled. He wanted to shake the groomsman. Instead he gritted his teeth and ordered the man to ready not only his mount, but Caden and Randall’s horses, as well.
They arrived a few minutes behind him.
“Thanks for waiting.” Caden slapped Zeke on the back a little harder than necessary.
“What took you so long?” Zeke asked, not taking his eyes from the barn door.
“We had to settle the bill. So tell us, where are we heading?”
“A little town called Aylesford.”
“Kitty’s there, I presume?”
Zeke met his brother’s eyes. “One way or another, we’re going to find her. But, yes, I suspect they’re all still in Aylesford.”
“Any reason in particular you think they haven’t set out for Maidstone yet?” Caden asked.
Zeke stepped back to make room as the stable lad led his horse from the stalls. “Just a feeling. Something to do with why they stopped in the first place. It’s a small village, not on the way to Maidstone. Kitty told me her brother claimed he’d made the detour for her, but…”
Randall came up on Zeke’s other side and gripped his shoulder. “But you find it hard to believe her brother would put her interests before his own in any circumstance?”
Zeke smiled grimly. “Precisely.”
The grooms led the horses out.
Zeke swung into his saddle, and waited while Caden and Randall followed suit. “Gentlemen, two words for you. Keep up.”
***
Kitty was spitting mad. She’d gotten Collin down the alley somehow, and now they stood on the storefront walkway in full view of any and all passersby while she scanned the cobbled streets for a hansom cab.
Bother. Collin was heavy. Her discomfort only fueled her anger.
“How could you do it, Collin? You lost a fortune. I had to sign a waiver personally guaranteeing to cover your losses. Me! And if that Mr Peters fellow told the truth, this wasn’t your first major loss. Not to mention, you lied to me. This was the real reason we stopped here in Aylesford, wasn’t it?”
Collin winced. “Kindly stop your caterwauling. My head feels as though it’s going to explode.”
“It would serve you right. Aylesford?” she prodded, tapping her foot.
“Yes, yes.” He put a hand to his temple. Their grandfather’s ring, which he wore on his pinkie sparkled in the sunlight.
Suddenly her anger gave way to unspeakable hurt. Had her brother, the man she thought she knew, ever existed? “I’m surprised you didn’t wager Grandfather’s ring.”
Collin held out his hand to study the gold band. “I would never part with it. It’s a reminder of what’s mine by birthright. Of what I nearly lost, thanks to the old man. But to answer yourquestion, yes, Peters let me know of a game he had going when we happened into each other two nights ago. I didn’t mention it because it wasn’t your concern.”
She laughed in disbelief. It was almost too much to take in. The fact she’d found Collin in a gaming den. The stunning sum of his loss. The fact she had to leverage their way out of the establishment by signing a promissory note.
How long had she been a fool? How long had her brother been a ne’er-do-well gambler? She frowned, replaying his last words.
“What did you mean you nearly lost your birthright thanks to the old man? You mean our Grandfather?”
“It was he who sent me away in the first place.”
A flood of understanding assaulted her senses. Her stomach dropped and for a moment she thought she might be ill. “You bloody bastard.”
“Excuse me?” he demanded, one brow arched over a red-rimmed eye.
She pointed at him, hand shaking, heedless of the stares she attracted. “You never went to America in search of our parents’ belongings. You were running. Running from your moneylender. From Mr Peters.”
