Desire Me More (17 page)

Her breath audibly caught. “That's not what I'm suggesting.” She shook her head in denial. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you are looking at me with the same trepidation and fear that you gazed at me shortly after you came to live in this house. You were wondering if I had broken your last employer's jaw or if he'd found some other man's fist.”

Amelia pressed her fingers against his mouth and tucked her head into his shoulder. “You dealt with Sir Ian the only way he could be dealt with. Any woman who'd just come out of the situation I had would have been wary. And while he deserved what he got, I didn't know you then. But I do now, and I trust you.”

“Then why are you questioning me? Don't deny it. I see nothing but accusations in your eyes.”

She pulled out of the circle of his arms and gave him a long, measured look. “Do you really think that? That I would think so little of you after everything you have done to help me?”

Nick lifted his hand and rubbed his thumb under her cheek. “It's my nature to assume the worst.”

“Don't you know me better than that?”

“I like to think so. But you stand before me with too many questions of doubt.” His hand curled around her hip and pulled her pelvis in tight to his.

“Then what do you know of my brother's death?”

“Nothing more than I've told you. I had eyes on your brother after he showed up to the house and tried to take you. Huxley set up a few trusted people to make sure he didn't come back for a second attempt. I thought he would try again; he didn't seem easily persuaded to a different course. Had he not met an unfortunate end, he may have still tried to take you away from me.”

“But I'm here now. My brother is dead. And I know I said I didn't want to properly mourn him or do the things I should have for his burial, but it still matters that there's someone out there who killed him in cold blood. What did the boy say when you questioned him about my brother last night?”

“He'd gone on his usual nightly bender. Visited a gambling hell; went to a whorehouse. At the end of the night, he'd had so much to drink he was slurring his words and staggered his way halfway home before passing out. He pissed himself in an alley, woke himself up, and then headed back to the rooms he kept. That's how all his nights were spent. And I've thought it over a hundred times and questioned Brian at least twice that many times to see if there was anything that struck him as odd or different.”

“Why didn't you tell the inspector that? Why leave him guessing when you are trying to work out the particulars on your own? What if you both have resources that can help solve the murder?”

Nick rubbed his thumb across her cheek, the motion soothing and speaking to the level of their familiarity with each other. “The inspector can't be trusted, Amelia. Word down at the docks is that he's easily bought.”

“How . . . ”

“Superintendent Jackson is a friend. I wasn't lying when I said I would talk to him about the inspector's behavior. The smug blighter is working with someone in the background. Perhaps the killer, or maybe he's working with Shauley. Either way, I promise that I will find out what happened.”

“So he's trying to make it look like you did it? He said he more or less suspected me and that the only way to clear me of the crime was to verify my appointments that day.”

Nick's hand tightened on her hip. “I'm going to keep Huxley back at the house when I can't be here.”

“That's unnecessary, Nick. I doubt he'll come back, and I won't take callers while I'm here. You can't pull Huxley from his duties every time you're worried about me. Had I known . . . ” She shook her head. She would have what?

“I won't argue about this,” he said, as if that ended the matter.

“You're the only person arguing.”

Nick gave her an exasperated sigh. “You should have stayed in bed with me.”

She pushed him away lightly and moved out of his reach. “What would you have done, had my brother come after me again?”

“I would have stopped him.”

“How?”

“I would never kill a man in cold blood, Amelia, but had your brother threatened your life, his would have been forfeited.”

She flattened her shaking hands against her stomach and felt queasy with that admission. Because she couldn't fault him for the determination and promise in his words. What kind of person did that make her?

She sat on the arm of the leather chair, her head spinning with the events of the day. It seemed as if she had a hundred things to do. One of those things was having a lengthy conversation with Huxley but not while Nick was home. “You have some appointments; it would look odd if you didn't keep them, especially if the inspector is looking for us to slip up in some way. Why don't you visit this friend Jackson and have Huxley keep me company.”

“A moment ago, you were eschewing the idea of his being here.”

“Now I see the merits.”

“What are you up to?” He eyed her suspiciously.

“Nothing. I have a lot to do today, and you've proven to be very distracting.”

He didn't look like he believed her, but he didn't say so. “I'm heading down to the kitchens for something to eat. I have a tea scheduled with Victoria midafternoon. Would you like to join us?”

She knew Victoria was on the books, and had Amelia been thinking clearly this morning, she might have asked that they stay in bed all day, just so he wouldn't see his ex-lover.

“I think I might do just that. Tea at her shop sounds like the perfect distraction.” Even if she was only present to keep that woman's claws out of Nick. They might be friends, but there was no mistaking the way that woman looked at Nick—she wanted him back in her life. And that was not something Amelia would allow.

Nick came at her, his intention to give her a kiss good-bye clear in his expression.

She shook her head. “You know where that will lead us?” She danced out of his reach.

“And I'll be in a foul mood if I can't taste you once more before I leave.”

“Well, they say distance makes the heart grow fonder. Perhaps you should hurry to complete your errands and pick me up before tea with Victoria.”

He tried once more to grab her, but she darted backward. “If I come home first, we won't be leaving again.”

As tempting as that offer was, Victoria would find another way to see Nick if he didn't show up today. She shook her head and feigned a smile. “I'll meet you there at quarter to two.”

He pointed at her. “I'll remember that you owe me a kiss.”

“And I won't let you forget.”

With a growl of frustration, he turned and strode from the room. Amelia took in a deep breath. She'd give Nick a half an hour to leave; then she'd hunt down Huxley.

H
uxley, as it turned out, knew even less than Nick. Or at least he made it seem that way. He was notoriously mum on any sort of gossip about the people living in the house. And while Amelia thought they'd become friends of sorts, she was annoyed for the whole twenty minutes she'd attempted to question him. She finally gave up, knowing it was futile the moment he crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at her with an unamused expression.

“You're only making it more difficult for me to help you,” she insisted.

“And why would we be needing your help, Miss Grant? It's man's business you're interfering with. And Mr. Riley isn't likely to be happy you're after so many answers I'm not able to give.”

“It was your contact, Brian, watching my brother.”

“What are you going on about now?”

“I want to speak with him.”

Huxley laughed. It was her turn to cross her arms over her chest, and she glared at him until he looked at her straight on, not a remnant of a smile on his pockmarked face.

“I'm very serious about the matter, Huxley. And if you don't arrange for me to meet this young man, I'll have no choice but to pester you day in and day out. I know and understand my brother better than any of you. If he did the slightest thing that was unlike him, I'll know.” She looked at her nails, letting that sink into Huxley's head.

Mrs. Coleman came into the room before Huxley could respond. “Your carriage is here, Miss Grant.”

She gazed at the ormolu clock over the fireplace. She'd be early if she left now, which meant she could talk to Victoria prior to Nick's arrival. The timing was perfect.

“Will you at least think about it, Huxley?”

He gave her one succinct nod and held out her pelisse. “I will accompany you to the tea shop. When you're in Miss Victoria's company, I'll be off to take care of a few things.”

As they walked out to the carriage, she asked, “Whatever happened to that wharfinger who was stealing wool?”

“That's what I need to take care of when I'm done with you.”

“Mr. Riley doesn't want to be present for that?”

“He'll see him lashed, but he doesn't need to be there for the man's arrest.”

Huxley opened the carriage door and gave her a hand up. When he rolled the stairs back up, she said, “I thought you were going to see me to the shop?”

“Oh, I will, miss. Just not in there where you can barrage a poor old man with endless questions.”

She bit down on her lip to hold back her laugh. “Are you sure? It's awfully cold out.”

“Never been surer.” He shut the door and climbed up the side of the carriage to sit with the driver.

A
melia was given a seat at a table by herself in a secondary room, separated from the rest of the patrons at Victoria's Tea Emporium—a room, it seemed, where Victoria conducted meetings that were more private in nature and where men were invited to join her. The young woman who oversaw the teahouse said she'd notify her mistress immediately of Amelia's early arrival. While the woman's demeanor was less than friendly, she'd at least had tea brought to the table while Amelia waited.

The teahouse was like a grand greenhouse without all the plants and flowers on display. The ceilings had to be twenty feet high, the vaulted white beams adding to the delicate way the room was laid out. There were thirty-odd tables, most filled with customers. Everything was white and cream in the decor. The only dash of color was in the orchids placed at the center of each round table and the potted palms at every pillar around the perimeter of the room.

The more lively addition of color was the massive red-and-yellow macaw caged near the entrance of the room that joined the teahouse to the department store. He whistled and purred, saying the odd silly thing that made patrons laugh.

A wall of windows that faced the street allowed patrons to watch the passers-by if they so wished. It was as grand a teahouse as she'd ever seen or been in.

She was saved from wondering if Victoria would delay her appearance until Nick arrived, when the very woman strolled into the room as if the world were at her fingertips and hadn't been really alive until she walked through it. Her dress was the most beautiful color Amelia had ever seen, a light blue that was an icy shade no less beautiful than an aquamarine. Her perfectly styled blonde hair was woven with pearl studs and pins, as though she was Venus fresh from the clamshell. There were so many frills and layers of lace that she looked like a Tissot painting come to life.

Amelia watched as Victoria stopped and talked to a few of the customers, laughing and chatting in a friendly way, before she arrived in the private room. They were closed off from the rest of the teahouse but surrounded in glass and white iron coated in gilt.

Amelia stood, flattening her hands nervously over her pink day dress, one that had been purchased from Victoria's department store and handpicked by this woman she disliked on principle alone. Amelia dipped her head in greeting. “Miss Newgate. A pleasure to see you again.”

“Spare me your small talk, Miss Grant. It's unfortunate that we are in the position we are in at all.”

“And what position is that?” She hadn't quite expected their meeting to start on a bad note. She'd hoped to at least come to like this woman, since Nick insisted he and she were friends and that status seemed unlikely to change. Not that they would start as friends; she only hoped to work her way up to that point . . . over a very lengthy time.

“The one where you're making a damnable effort to attract Nick and trap him in some sort of arrangement. I know your type, Miss Grant. You think your virginity is so precious and that offering it up will guarantee you a position as his wife. Nick is not the marrying type, and I dislike anyone taking advantage of the people I care about.”

“That couldn't be further from the truth,” Amelia said, her cheeks flaming with the assessment of her character, because she had indeed given her virginity to Nick but not to hold that over him and force him to stay with her.

When she didn't seem inclined to respond further, Victoria asked, “Speaking of the man of our lives, where is Nick?”

She wanted to correct her. Nick wasn't Victoria's anything. “He had last-minute errands and said he would meet us here.”

“Typical.”

“He's been incredibly busy.”

Victoria held up her hand to call one of the women on staff over to their private booth. “Aren't we all? I'm not sure if you noticed when you were here last, but there's not a day that I don't have two hundred people through my store and another eighty at the teahouse. I specifically asked that Nick join me for tea to discuss some private business. Your being here changes that.”

Amelia chose to ignore that last comment. “Then why did you ask Nick to come at all, if you're too busy to see a friend? You could have made arrangements to visit the house at any time.”

“I don't object to spending time with him, Miss Grant. It's only your company I disdain.”

“I have given you no reason to dislike me.”

What could she say to this woman so she would at least tolerate her presence? While she wished she'd stayed home and badgered Huxley all afternoon, she knew that the woman sitting in front of her would use all of her wiles to tempt Nick. That wasn't to say Amelia didn't trust him, she just couldn't say the same about Victoria. Amelia had never known she could be jealous of anyone.

“Are you sure about that?” Victoria said as another tea serving arrived. Dishes of cake and finger sandwiches were set out between them.

As soon as the server closed the door, Amelia said, “If you're truly a friend of Nick's, you'll let him live his life exactly as he sees fit.”

“I intend to, just as soon as I find a way to cut you out of the picture.” Victoria's green cat-like eyes flashed in challenge.

Why did this woman care to thwart Amelia's very new and very
secret
relationship with Nick? “I'd advise against it.” Amelia stood when she spotted Nick heading in their direction. He couldn't have come sooner and
too soon
at the same time. There were a lot of things she wanted to say to Victoria, and she wasn't sure she'd have another chance beyond today.

“I'm a determined woman, Miss Grant. And I have a tendency to get what I want.”

“He broke off with you. Doesn't that tell you everything you need to know?”

“I didn't say I wanted him back in my bed. No, I've found another to fill that role, though he's not nearly as rough as our Nick can get.”

Amelia felt her face flame. Not so much with embarrassment as with a rage unlike anything she'd ever felt in her entire life.

“I miss that about him,” Victoria continued, as casually as though they were discussing the weather. “But I certainly don't want the likes of you sinking your teeth in and biting off more than you deserve.”

“If you were really his friend, you wouldn't be saying any of this to me.”

Victoria chuckled and turned just as Nick opened the door. Victoria practically threw herself at him, kissing both his cheeks in greeting as if she were French.

Amelia wanted to haul the woman away by her perfect hair and push her down in the seat farthest from where Nick pulled his chair out. Victoria took his choice as an opportunity to sit next to him. Amelia could do nothing; their relationship had to remain a secret. Though why she bothered when this woman seemed to know exactly what was going on . . . had Nick told Victoria about them?

“I thought you were coming alone, Nicky. To catch up on old times since we haven't seen each other for an age.” Victoria pouted out her bottom lip and gave it a seductive lick before picking up an almond cookie and sucking it like she was sucking . . .

Amelia dropped her gaze and focused on the tea in front of her. She didn't think Victoria acted like that to draw Nick's attention but more to rile up Amelia. And she would not give Victoria the satisfaction of knowing just how much it affected her.

Taking a breath and raising her gaze only to Nick, Amelia smiled and said, “Victoria was just telling me how much she misses your company, but your schedules rarely allow you to spend time together.”

That came out more jealous-sounding than she'd intended. The words couldn't be taken back, and she refused to apologize for her tone.

Nick sat back in his chair, narrowing his eyes in her direction, his question clear. She'd have to tell him that she and Victoria would never be friends, and it was unlikely they'd ever get on amicably. The one burning question she had for him was why he had to remain friends with his old lover at all. She understood that the woman was a friend of his sister's, but that didn't make him obligated to see her again.

“What was your purpose in wanting to see Nick, Miss Newgate?” Amelia asked. “If it was merely to pass an hour, I'd be more than happy to wander around the store and let you have some time alone.” Amelia looked right at Nick, hoping he read her discomfort with this situation. That he would declare they needed to leave immediately and say he'd forgotten about a double-booked engagement—anything to get them out of here.

“So that's how it is,” Nick said. His steely gaze locked on Victoria. “I thought I was here to discuss Hart's upcoming birthday celebration.”

“You can't blame me for wanting to see you again. You haven't visited me in more than a month.” The first thread of discomfort filtered into Victoria's thin excuse of an explanation. Amelia would have smiled, were she not seething with resentment.

“Victoria, for the last time, we are friends. Nothing more.”

“I'm well aware of that. Don't be a ninny.” Victoria leaned forward, showing off her ample décolletage in the square cutout of her dress as she touched his arm. Her hand lingered there.

Amelia pushed out her chair. The sound of the feet skidding across the wood floor broke Victoria and Nick's moment, and she hated that it had taken something external to separate them. She couldn't witness another second of whatever was going on between them. They had unfinished business they needed to sort out, and all she could do was leave them to it.

Nick tried to grab Amelia's hand as she stormed past, but she slipped out the door and through the teahouse. She didn't skulk in the carriage as she wanted to; instead, she made her way into the department store and wandered around to look at all the beautiful wares available for purchase. Not that she would buy anything. She just needed space from that woman.

Victoria and Nick had shared a moment, as if Amelia weren't sitting in the same room with them. That might have been her overactive imagination making her see things that weren't real, but the feeling of jealousy grew in the pit of her stomach and gnawed on her from the inside, making her feel ill.

While her intention in joining Nick for tea was to ensure Victoria didn't try to win Nick back, she knew, after his comment, that she had nothing to worry about. Or at least she hoped she didn't have anything to regret in leaving them alone.

“W
hat in hell was that, Victoria?” Nick pushed out his chair, having every intention of following Amelia. She was hurt. He had seen that in her expression before he'd even sat down.

“Some women are unpredictable when their emotions are overwrought. She'll be well enough in time. I can send someone to follow her if you like.”

“You have one minute to give me a good reason to stay.”

“I'm trying to protect you.” She reached out to touch his arm in that familiar way of hers.

He pulled back, looking at her hand as though it were a stinger. She was not at liberty to touch him. “Don't. You have never had a reason to protect me from anything. What is it
you
, of all people, can guard me from?”

“I see what she's doing to you.” Victoria's eyes were clouded with genuine concern. She was one of the best actresses he knew. “I'm worried you'll fall into her carefully devised trap.”

Nick wanted to laugh at the assessment. Nick was the one trying to trap Amelia, not the other way around. “And how do you think that's possible? As you said, I haven't seen you in well over a month, Victoria. And I will not allow Miss Grant to be trifled with.”

Victoria fell back in her chair, a slight slouch hunching her shoulders forward. “I didn't want to believe it possible when we met at the Langtry for dinner.”

“You'll have to be more specific than that.”

“You've fallen in love with her. That's the only reason I can think why you've been avoiding me.”

“We go back too far for me to lie to you about something like this, Vic. So the truth is, you're right. But if you think for one minute I'll let you interfere, you are sadly mistaken.” He stood from the table, done with this conversation. Done with Victoria, if she didn't see the grave mistake she'd made today.

She wrapped her hand around his forearm. “Humor me, Nick. How long have we known each other?”

“A decade, give or take.”

“And in that time, I have never known you to fall for any woman. Whoever this Miss Grant is, she's trouble.”

Nick gave her a droll look. “You can't be serious.”

“I am. I talked to Sera. She said you'd brought your new mistress around to the school.”

Nick clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw cracked. “I'll be sure to correct her.”

Victoria nibbled on her lip and batted her lashes. She knew better than to try that kind of tactic on him. He crossed his arms over his chest, eager to leave but needing to know what his sister had said so he could correct her assumptions immediately.

“She might not have put it that way exactly.”

“Victoria, my patience is running thin . . . ”

“I let her know that I had met your lady friend.”

“Let us get one thing straight. Amelia is not a
lady friend
. And you will treat her with the respect she deserves.”

“You've lost your head with her.” Victoria's voice was slowly rising; her frustration in this argument was not endearing Nick to her cause.

“I know precisely where my head is. The only thing you risk is cutting off our friendship if you insist on treating her poorly.”

“We had a conversation, nothing more.”

“Don't come around, Victoria. Don't send notes. Don't talk to me until you can apologize to Amelia.”

“That's not fair.”