A Spring Deception (Seasons Book 2) (20 page)

Aiden’s face was still indecipherable. He revealed nothing, but he never looked away from her. Like he was judging every nuance, every word, every motion.

“But you said you made a bargain with your grandfather. What does that mean?” he asked.

“This leads to my third…well, it isn’t a lie exactly, but a betrayal.” She turned away from his focused attention and tried to keep the terror and guilt from her voice as best she could. “My sister and I grew up believing our mother and father had died together. But when I came of age, my grandfather told me the truth. My father
didn’t
die in an accident. My mother died birthing me, but my father lives still.”

Aiden stepped toward her. “What? Then why would he let such a bastard take you?”

She spun on him. “I don’t know. He was a servant with no resources and two daughters he hadn’t married to claim. My grandfather was rich and powerful and cruel. I have to hope that Fitzgilbert simply swept in and took us, leaving our father little choice but to let us go. Either way,
that
is what truly happened. My father is alive and the only person in this world that knows his true identity is my grandfather. Long ago, he promised to reveal that identity only after I…after I…”

“What, Celia, what did he require you do?” Aiden asked.

She squeezed her eyes shut to calm herself before she opened them and looked him in the eye. “After I married a title. Hence, my engagement to Stenfax. He needed my grandfather’s money, I needed his title for access to the truth. And he is a good man, but I never felt anything for him.”

For the first time since she began pouring her heart out to him, Aiden smiled slightly. “And the broken engagement?”

“Another fiction,” Celia sighed, realizing perhaps for the first time, just how filled with lies her life was. “Rosalinde and Gray truly
did
fall madly in love.”

“Anyone with eyes can see that.”

“But Stenfax and I
didn’t
step aside to appease my grandfather. Exactly the opposite, actually. Rosalinde tried to stop our marriage because she could see I didn’t love him, nor him me, and she wanted me to have a chance at happiness,
true
happiness. When she did, our grandfather viciously attacked her.”

Aiden jolted. “He attacked her? Physically?”

Celia began to shake as she remembered that horrible day just a few months before. “Yes,” she whispered. “He tried to choke her to death in a rage. Gray’s swift action is the only reason he didn’t succeed. The claim of our stepping aside for the love of Rosalinde and Gray was made to reduce the scandal caused by the spectacle.”

“Because people saw the physical altercation between Danford and Fitzgilbert,” Aiden mused. “I wondered what would cause such a thing. But if your grandfather threatened your sister…”

“Yes.
That
is poking a lion. Gray would die to protect her. And I can’t be sorry it all happened, for it allowed my sister great happiness. Besides, the breaking of my engagement was for the best. After all, I met
you
. But I…I…still want to know who my father is.”

Aiden nodded immediately, although she couldn’t believe for a moment that he actually understood that drive. Not when he had been raised with family and privilege.

“Of course you do,” he said. “I assume Danford has looked into that for you since you came here.”

“Far and wide. Stenfax has even helped.”

He stiffened, and she took a step toward him. “I assure you, we are only friends. Better friends now that we aren’t to marry. But neither of them has found out anything. My grandfather wove his lies and secrets so tightly that they seem impossible to pick apart.”

“You need a different instrument to do so,” he murmured, almost more to himself than to her.

“What?” she asked, cocking her head.

He moved forward. “You went to him because of me,” he said. “Our courtship was enough to make you think you might have new leverage with a man so greedy for a title.”

Her lips parted. He said those words and they sounded even worse coming in his voice. She covered her face with both hands.

“Yes,” she admitted on a broken whisper. “That is exactly what I did, Aiden. I made promises that he would have access through you, that if you and I wed that it would mean he’d have
more
power than even if I’d married Stenfax. But the moment I did it, I know how wrong it was. He said…”

She trailed off with a sob that seemed to tear at her heart it was so painful.

“What did he say?” Aiden pressed.

She swallowed past the lump of emotion in her throat. “He said I was like him, and it was true. In that moment, I was willing to trade you for Fitzgilbert’s secrets, and that was unfair. Cruel. I can’t do it, Aiden. So I had to tell you everything,
everything
, even though I know it will likely change your opinion of me.”

She dared to look at him. His face was a mask of pain and frustration, and her stomach flipped. He
did
judge her for this, just as he should. It was evident he was shocked and horrified by everything she’d said.

“Celia,” he said after what seemed like an eternity. “I’m glad you felt like you could reveal everything to me, for it helps me understand your pain. Perhaps it will even help me ease it. But as for my opinion of you, this changes nothing.”

Her eyes went wide and she couldn’t help but take a staggering step toward him. “It doesn’t?”

“Of course not.” He reached out and touched her face, tracing the line of her jaw with a fingertip. “Don’t you know how much I—” He cut himself off and his body tensed. “—care for you?”

She smiled, but the fact that he’d cut himself off stung. She’d hoped he would admit he loved her, as she loved him. But care was good. Care was something. Perhaps she could love enough for both of them.

“And you don’t hate me for offering you up to him?” she asked.

“Of course not.” Now he cupped her face in his palm, drawing her closer. He bent his head and his lips feathered across hers.

She wrapped her arms around him, drawing him closer, letting his warmth flow around her and comfort her. His reassurance and acceptance made her so happy that she thought she could burst.

He drew back at last and tilted her face up so she was forced to look at him. His expression was intense. “Listen to me, Celia. I will use all my resources to help you.”

“But Gray—”

“I’m sure Danford did his best, but he hasn’t the connections I do. But you must
never
go to Fitzgilbert again, do you understand? If he was willing to physically harm your sister, I must assume you’ll also be in great danger if you are alone with him. So
promise
me, Celia. Please.”

She nodded slowly. “I won’t. I promise.”

“Good.” He dropped another kiss to her lips before he drew away, leaving her cold in his wake. “Now I must go. There are things for me to do and arrange now that I fully understand the situation at hand. I’ll see you again soon, though.”

Celia followed him into the foyer, and they watched as Greene went to call for his horse. In the brief moment they were alone, she sidled up to him and slid her hands through his.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He looked down at her. “For what?”

“For understanding. And for taking such good care of me, though I don’t deserve it.”

His lips pressed together, and he whispered, “Celia, you deserve so much better than me, I assure you. Good day.”

He slid his hands from hers and hurried out to his carriage, leaving her alone in the foyer. But as she watched him thunder off into the street, she felt uncertain. He had reassured her, yes, but there was something in his demeanor that made her wonder if the future she’d dared to hope for was truly out of reach.

Clairemont swung down off his horse and climbed the stairs two by two. It took everything in him not to rip the door before him off its hinges. Instead, he knocked, though it was not gently.

A man with a black eye opened the door and he looked Clairemont up and down. “May I help you?”

“I’m here to see Mr. Fitzgilbert,” he managed through clenched teeth as he handed over his card. “Tell him the Duke of Clairemont is here and that I will
not
be kept waiting.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” the servant said, opening the door wide. “Will you adjourn to the parlor?”

He motioned to a room to the side. Clairemont strode inside and looked around. It was a cold room, both physically and due to its lack of trinkets or portraits. Oh, there was expensive furniture, of course, but nothing to reveal the character of its owner.

Not that Clairemont needed that extra information. He already knew what a bastard his host was.

“Your Grace.”

Clairemont spun to face the voice at the door, and stared. “Mr. Fitzgilbert, I presume?” he asked, surprised to find such a slight, white-haired old man awaiting him. He’d built Fitzgilbert up to be a monster in his head.

In that moment, he realized he’d actually pictured him as the man who’d raised him. But this person was
nothing
like that brute. At least not on the outside.

“The very one.” There was a joviality to his tone, but it was false. Clairemont saw the greedy glitter in his eyes, the needy longing he’d sometimes seen in men on the streets who would steal or even kill to get what they want.

Of course, those men were trying to survive. This man had that look merely because he wanted to advance in Society. Which made him a monster of a different sort.

“I wasn’t expecting company,” Fitzgilbert said, motioning to a chair before the fire. “Especially a duke to whom I have not been officially introduced. But I welcome you here. Would you like tea? Or perhaps brandy?”

“Nothing,” Clairemont said, remaining standing. He had come here with the intention to use his skills and parry with this man, but now that he was here, his emotions were taking over. He was angry, he was vengeful, he was protective in a way he’d never experienced before. He clenched his fists at his sides and fought for control as he snapped, “And you needn’t pretend as though you don’t know exactly why I’m here. And on whose behalf.”

Fitzgilbert’s face pinched, and suddenly he looked very rat-like. “If you are referring to your courtship of my granddaughter Celia, yes, I am aware of that fact. If you came to seek my approval, I give it wholeheartedly. With provisions, of course.”

Clairemont folded his arms. “Oh yes, Celia told me all about your provisions.”

Fitzgilbert’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “Stupid,
stupid
girl. She had just one duty. One duty on this earth, and she cannot even manage that.”

Clairemont reached out and, without preamble, caught Fitzgilbert by the throat. Lifting him off the ground, he growled, “Disparage Celia’s intelligence again and there will be nothing left of you but a stain on your rug. Do I make myself clear?”

Fitzgilbert clawed at his hands as he wheezed out, “Yes.”

Slowly Clairemont set him down and then wiped his hand on his jacket. Fitzgilbert bent over, coughing and choking for breath.

“You’re as violent as Rosalinde’s husband,” he said, his voice strained.

Clairemont shrugged. “You should know. I’ve done nothing more to you than you already did to your own granddaughter.”

Fitzgilbert straightened, and he seemed to have regained some composure. “Celia told you all of it, did she?”

“Every. Single. Bit,” Clairemont said, moving toward him a step and enjoying how Fitzgilbert flinched back. “If
I
had been in Danford’s position that day, I would have killed you where you stood for daring to lay a hand on the woman I loved. If you ever think to touch Celia,
I
will not be stopped. Is
that
clear?”

Fitzgilbert nodded. “It is. But if you’ve gotten all that out of your system, we are still left with an interesting quandary.”

“Yes. You have information that Celia and her sister need.” Clairemont shook his head. “You’re going to give it to me now.”

“Or what?” Fitzgilbert laughed, and it grated on Clairemont’s spine. “You’ll kill me? Do that and you’ll never know the truth. You
need
me, Your Grace. And if you want to obtain what I have, then the deal I made with Celia is the only way to do it.”

Clairemont pinched his lips. “Once we wed, you’ll tell her the truth.”

“And not a moment before.”

He turned away. What this bastard couldn’t know, what no one could know, was that he had no intention of marrying Celia. He was only masquerading as duke. The crown was giving him leeway for the investigation, but no one in the War Department would
ever
agree to let him truly wed her in the guise of Duke of Clairemont. That would leave her as duchess in the eyes of the world.

A complication that would never be accepted, even as the vision of Celia as his wife burned a hole in his chest.

“If we were engaged, why would that not be enough?” Clairemont asked, turning back. “I would make sure you had the access you require, that you would be invited and included in whatever you wished in the future.”

Both of Fitzgilbert’s eyebrows lifted. “And risk that the marriage won’t go through? Look at Stenfax. She had him caught. Was only days away from becoming a countess, and she failed. I don’t trust this will go any differently until you slip a ring on her finger. Though your moonfaced devotion to her certainly makes me think she has a better chance at success this time around.”