Midnight Masquerade (10 page)

Reaching down into the wet grass, he picked up his gleaming pistol
tucking in the back of his waistband
and walked
out of the garden.
Striding
out of the side gate
he
slammed it behind him
leaving
her
standing
in the pouring rain. His world had just been
completely and utterly rocked.

She was his Andromeda, he should have fucking known.

She fit the bill of the ethereal goddess perfectly.
It made so much sense now, why he felt such a connection with the wom
an weeks ago, it was Amelia,
and she was
someone he had always felt pulled to.
For years he felt their connection but brushed it off.
God
damnit
he should have known! He had royally fucked everything
up!

She was pregnant with his
child, the heir to his vast fortune and title
, an
d someone was trying to kill her. To top it all off
he
was engaged to the wrong woman.
Amelia, his Andromeda had been here the entire time and up until days ago he had overlooked her completely in his search for the woman.
She had been under his damn nose this entire time.

“Fuck!” He shouted, as he slammed his fist into the side of his carriage. Opening the door, he stomped in and dropped to the seat.

Walking into tonight’s ball was the last thing she wanted to be doing, yet, she was unable to find an excuse anyone would buy. Happy,
that her best friend Hero was with her tonight, she walked in arm in arm with her beautiful friend, determined to have a good night.

Alastair’s engagement was on the tip of everyone’s tongue, it was hard to go anywhere since the announcement was made public and not hear about it. Tonight she had confessed to Hero that she was the widow
Alastair had been seeking, but she had not told her best friend about the baby she carried, she just wasn’t ready.

Walking down the great stairs, the
first couple she saw was the new
ly
engaged couple.
Alastair and Porsche, circling the dance floor like the perfect
pair that
all of London saw them as. Tensing, she squeezed Hero’s arm as they passed the crowd
who was enthralled
watching the new couple
dance
.

“Easy sweetie, these things have a way of working themselves out.” Hero offered gently as they joined her sister Helena and Gideon.

Sighing,
Amelia
took her place and saw a familiar face walking towards her, Roland Caldwell, the
Marquess
of Riverstone.

“Good evening my dear, would you like to dance?” He offered, bowing to her and holding his hand out with a dazzling smile. Unable to deny him, or herself of a good dance, she took his hand and let him lead her out onto the floor.

“Amelia, I’m sorry if this is too brash, but you look amazing tonight. There’s something different about you tonight, I can’t put my finger on it.” Roland offered, holding her tight while they moved into a tight series of twists and turns.

Looking up, she saw Alastair over his shoulder, his eyes locked upon her
as he danced with Porsche. Stumbling as she looked at him, Roland caught her as she faltered.

“Whoa, I’ve got you.”

Looking up at her dance partner, she smiled at him in appreciation as he held her steady and finished her dance with the handsome man, “Thank you Roland, you are a savior.”
Dancing with him, she focused on her dance partner for the remainder of the song, she simply didn’t want to think or look at Alastair.

Leading her off the floor, she saw Luke and Gideon waiting for her on the side of the room, their wives were out mingling. Thankful to be returned to their side, and the fact that Alastair was not near, she bid goodbye to Roland until their next dance.

Taking a glass of champagne from the waiter, she shouldered up with her two brothers and watched the crowd.
She could tell they had questions; she had artfully avoided them since this morning as well as their interrogation. Smart enough to know she couldn’t hold off their curiosity much longer, she prepared herself for the onslaught of questions about the be slung her way.

“Would you care to tell me what your argument was with Alastair this morning Lia?” Gideon asked, nudging her gently.

Grabbing another glass of champagne, Luke handed it to her, “Please do tell Lia, you have all of us on baited breath wanting to hear what you two were arguing about. We could hear the two of you shouting inside the house.”

Stiffening at the mention of their fight, she drank the first glass and
finished
the second one in two gulps.
As soon as Alastair had left the garden
this morning
, she had ran upstairs to her room and locked hersel
f inside. She had gone over their fight numerous times in her mind, replaying every word he spoke.

Handing
her empty glasses
back to a passing waiter, she crossed her arms and looked to the sky, “I’d rather not talk about it at all actually.”

“Oh look, here
comes Alastair now
with his new fiancée, should we just ask him ourselves Gideon?” Luke asked, looking at her as if he wasn’t buying her answer.

“Splendid idea Luke, I’m sure his lovely young fiancée would love to hear he chased our little sist
er into the pouring rain and argued
with her
passionately
like
they
were husband and wife.”

Stomping on Gideon’s toe, she hissed, “You two will shut your blasted mouths and not say a damn thing.”

“
Ayeee
Jesus Lia,
we
wouldn’t have actually said it, we were only teasing.
” Gideon hissed as he put his arm around her and kissed her forehead, securing her to his side as Alastair walked up with Porsche on his arm.

“Evening Alastair, and congratulations Porsche, he’s a good catch.” Luke offered, slapping his friend on the back as he joined their circle.

Squee
zing Alastair’s arm tightly, Porsche
looked up at Alastair with stars in her eyes, “Thank you Luke, I know what a good man
I landed. Don’t think I’ll
let this one slip away
, I cannot wait to be his wife
.”

Feeling sick to her stomach, she looked at Alastair briefly before saying her dutiful words, “Congratulations Porsche
, you’ll make a breathtaking Duchess of Blackstone and wife for Alastair. If
you’ll excuse me I need t
o find Hero and Helena, I do believe Hero ripped the hem of her gown and needs help.
” Stepping out of Gideon’s arm, she exited the group as tears formed in her eyes, walking towards the balcony; she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Lady Amelia, you look like you could use a friend.”

Turning towards his warm voice, she smiled seeing Henry, the Earl of Divenroth standing behind her, holding out a fresh glass of champagne.

“Oh you have never been more correct my friend,” taking the glass from him she took a refreshing sip and gathered her emotions quickly as he held out his arm. Slipping her arm into his, she moved closer to the
man and took a breath of relief.
Although he
was a suitor, he had become a wonderful friend these past years, once she was very happy to see right at this moment.

“Where would you like to go my dear, outside for fresh air or on the flo
or and dance away our troubles to the music?”

“Outside, please.”

Nodding, he led her through the crowded floor to the grand balcony that had been opened up for the guest to come and go as they pleased. With large doors, one could walk outside without being out of sight from the elders, thus keeping ones reputation intact.

Drinking her glass of champagne, she sat the empty glass down and filled her lungs with the fresh night air as the cross over the
threshold
into the open sky. Behind them, a warm waltz played in the background. Around them dozens of people chatted and drank upon the large semicircle balcony that overlooked the gardens below.

Gritting his teeth as Porsche drawled on to yet another circle of people he wanted nothing to do with, he had lost sight of Amelia. He had seen her dance with Riverstone, then disappear out onto the balcony with Divenroth. He had yet to actually speak to her since their argument in the rainy garden.

All day he had wandered around in a daze. Amelia was pregnant his child and he was engaged to a shallow nineteen year old beau
ty
. He had no valid escape plan with Porsche, he was engaged to her and it would be hell to call off the marriage.

He had noticed how Amelia stiffened when Porsche told Luke there was
no way she was letting go of him.
Amelia had warned him of that this morning,
Porsche would never
allow him to break the engagement peacefully.

A way would be found; there was no other choice. He would not let Amelia bear his child without his name; he would not have her bear his bastard. He cared for her, s
hit, had fallen in love with her
. He wanted nothing more than to be at her side this very moment, checking on her, seeing if she was okay or needed anything. He wanted to pamper her, to hold her hand and smell her hair. To hear her laugh, to touch her skin to simply be near her, he noticed how quickly she fled when he brought Porsche into the circle.
He couldn’t blame her, he was engaged to the blonde nineteen year old and
even he didn’t
want to be at her side.

Hearing Luke’s voice, he focused on his friend as he approached.

“Ah, fair Porsche, I must dance with my best friend’s new fiancée! Please, do me the honor?” Luke offered, holding out his arm waiting for her to accept.

“How can a lady decline such an offer,” she teased, letting go of his arm she waved as Luke took her away.

Behind him he heard Gideon, “Go find her Alastair.”

Turning to see the eldest Somerset, he realized the brothers had just
effectively
freed him up to find their missing sister, something he was chomping on the bit to do anyway. Nodding, he walked around Gideon and directly outside to the balcony where he spotted
her immediately. Standing with her back to him, she and Divenroth were standing before the railing looking down at the gardens. Her laughter is what drew him to her.

Walking towards them he felt someone walk up beside him, looking over, he saw Helena’s
younger
sister, Hero. She also happened to be Amelia’s
dearest
friend.

“Good eve Hero.”

“Hello Alastair, so I’ll help you this one time because I love her too
much to see her hurt. I’m coming to collect Divenroth for our dance, and you’ll have until the end of this waltz before Luke is done dancing with Porsche. Make it count.”

Walking with her at his side, he smiled at her plan. She was just like her older sister
, confident and intelligent
. Approaching behind the couple, he thought what to say when Hero broke the ice for him.

“Oh Lia! What a beautiful night it is! Ah, hello Henry are you ready for our dance?” Hero exuded happiness, her voice lilting and carefree as she had both Amelia and Henry turning around to look at them. Standing beside Hero, he simply smiled down upon his dark-haired angel and waited for Hero to whisk Henry away as intended.

“Lady Hero, I am so sorry! I forgot all about our dance, my apologize most sincere, are you ready?” Henry offered extending his arm, “Blackstone, can I get you to promise to see Amelia back inside?”

Nodding, he grinned, “Of course,
enjoy your dance
.” Watching them walk away, he turned towards her and cast his eyes down upon her voluptuous body. She was all tits and ass, petite and stacked her steely grey eyes pierced his soul.

“You make a man want to rip that dress off you with his teeth,” He whispered, stepping closer to her. In stark contrast to her olive skin and dark hair, her gown was a shade of ivory he had never seen her in before.

“Alastair, don’t. Not here.” She whispered back, closing her eyes as if it hurt to talk to him. He hated acting with Porsche, knowing she was a liar angered him greatly. She was standing in the way of him being next to Amelia, preventing him from having a family with her.

“
Fine, we’ll talk tonight.
I’ll pick you up tonight in my carriage, we can go for a ride and we can talk Lia
, just talk
. Please
,
I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

“Okay.”

Snapping his head up at her answer,
he hadn’t expected her to agree so easily. After their fight this morning, he was sure the last thing she wanted to do was talk to him, or see him.
Grinning he
stepped closer as the music played in the large room behind them. “I’ll be there at two, I’ll come get you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll pick you up at your room, and escort you the entire way. Unless you forgot my sweet, there is someone trying to murder you.
I’m
certainly
not going to let you and my baby walk out into the night without my protection.
” Looking down at her face, he saw a
freckle peaking out from under the strap of her gown, reaching up, he moved the fabr
ic
over
to reveal the
constellation on her shoulder.
“Andromeda.” He purred as she looked up at him and bit her lip. He could feel the sexual tension between them well up as they stood alone in the night sky. Hearing the waltz come to an end, he knew his time with her was dwindling. As long as he was engaged to Porsche
, he
would have to be at her side like a dutiful fiancé.

Tipping up her chin, he ran his thumb over her
ruby
lip, “Two O’clock Lia, be ready.”

It was a bad idea; she knew it
,
ye
t she couldn’t talk herself out of it. Coming home tonight, Amelia
had changed out of her heavy ball gown and into a see-through black night rail made of expensive lace. Taking
down her hair
she
slipped in
to bed absolutely exhausted.