Midnight Masquerade (14 page)

“You two play nice.” Luke offered, giving her another kiss on the forehead before looking at Alastair and giving him
the look
before walking away.

Standing before him, her heart began to pound. She had been rehearsing what to say since this afternoon, every line she had rehearsed flew out of the window as she looked into his
sea blue
eyes.

Holding out his hand, “Shall we?”

“If you’re allowed.” She countered.

Snarling, he took her hand and entwined her fingers and led her out, spinning her around his strong hand slipped around her hip and brought her entirely too close as he looked down at her.

“Are you intentionally trying to make me jealous Lia? I don’t think I’ve seen you smile or laugh so much in a very long time.”

“That is because I had a man fucking with my heart for weeks, I still do.”

Looking down at her
instantly
,
she could tell
her strong words shocked him.

“Lia….”

Shaking her head, she looked away and prepared herself for his reaction, “I’m leaving for Scotland in the morning with Gideon and Helena. My mind is made up, I cannot stay in this town right now.”

“No.”

Looking up at him, “You do not have a say in what I do, or where I go.” Feeling his fingers dig into her hip, she knew he was trying to control his anger.

“You told me you would sleep on it.”

“I did, and this afternoon I knew my answer. You have things to take care of here in town, and I need away from you
…
and London.” She whispered, trying to control her emotions so she wouldn’t start crying in the middle of the dance.

“You seemed to be enjoying London and its men a little while ago when you danced with Roland and Henry.”

Pinching his arm, “I’m sorry that I
was
enjoying myself for the first time in weeks, they are my friends, even if they do want more than that.
They
make me laugh and smile, not cry like you!”

“Of course they want you, look at you. You are dressed in a revealing gown that shows off your tits to the entire ballroom, you are shamelessly flirting with them and avoiding me. Your aim is clear Lia, but your delivery is wrong.”

“I can
,
and will flirt with whomever I fancy, I am not engaged, I am single and I will not having you shaming me for it. You will remember that
you
are engaged
.
I am not yours, you do not own me.”

Pulling her against him hard, he whispered into her ear,
“We will get married Amelia, you and I. You will be the mother of our brood and my only duchess. Flirt with whoever you need to make yourself feel better about the situation we’re in, if you would have only spoken up all those weeks ago you’d be married, properly bedded and my duchess long ago. Instead, I’m engaged to a lying whore, and the woman who should be my fiancée is dancing with every eligible man who is drooling at her feet
while she carries my child
. Instead of fighting for me, you’re running away…is that how you handle things? By running away?”

“I did not have to tell you my plans Alastair, I only tell you out of the respect I still have left for you.
Continue
with words like that, and this conversation will be the last we ever have.”

“Do not make threats you will not follow through with
Amelia
.”

Pushing away from him in the middle of the dancefloor, the two stared at each
other;
her heart was pounding as she whispered, “Goodbye Alastair.” Turning on her heel she walked off the dancefloor and le
f
t him standing there. Uncaring of the hundreds of eyes that witnessed it, she walked off the floor with her head held high.

Grabbing a glass of champagne as she walked past the waiter, she made her way to the ladies power room, knowing he couldn’t follow her there. Walking out of the brightly lit ballroom, she entered the long carpeted corridor where women were walking in and out of.

Sensing no one following her, she darted in a different
direction;
looking for somewhere she could be alone for a few moments to collect herself. Taking a left, she walked towards
the back of the house and slid
off into an adjoining room closing the door behind her.

A breeze of fresh air hit her face as she looked up. Against the wall, large doors were opened up to the private balcony. The sheer curtains floated with the breeze that smelled of roses and lavender.
Far away she could hear the orchestra’s music
as he willed her heart to stop pounding so loudly.
Taking a deep breath she took a long drink and walked towards the fresh air. She knew her conversation with Alastair was going to be difficult, what she didn’t expect was for it to be
a dramatic event for the guests to watch.

Stepping out onto the marble balcony she saw she was towards the back of the house, the open gardens were far away. No one could see her, she finally had some peace. Placing her hands on the cold bannister she closed her e
yes and let her emotions take over
.

Tears fel
l down her face as she knew what she had to do, she needed to get away from London and Alastair, and she needed to be up in Scotland at her family’s estate surrounded by rolling hills and fresh air.
This was all too much. She loved Alastair, loved him with all of her heart and she felt like the
other
woman, not
the
woman in his life.

The music of the band floated through the
house;
even in a room far away from the ballroom she could hear the beautiful grace of the violin and cello.
Letting the soothing music clam her soul, she stood at the bannister and let tears fall down her face. She was just one woman, one small woman in a world that seemed to keep dealing her blow after blow. Freedom lay in Scotland, away from the noise and heartache; it was where she most longed to be.
It would hurt to be away from him, it hurt now to see the panic in his eyes as she told him she was leaving. Hurting him was never in her plan, she just needed a break from the city. She could only pray that things would sort themselves out, but right
now she needed to make herself happy, and that meant retiring to her family’s Scottish estate for the time being.

Hearing
a faint sound
behind her, she turned around to see a
tall
man in a dark trench coat standing
motionless behind her. The room she had occupied was dark, no candles or lamps lit she was unable to see his face.

“Who are you? What do you want?” She asked, fear creeping into her as she stepped back
, the railing right behind her as he glided closer.

Reaching out, he grabbed her arms, his face completely concealed and said, “I am death.” Pushing her hard over the
side off the two story balcony, her scream tore through the night.

“I don’t give a fuck what you two think, she would never kill herself!” Luke screamed, slamming his hand into the wood panel of the library wall.

“Jesus Luke, we aren’t saying that. We don’t know what happened to her, until she wakes up we are clueless!
We can only surmise what happened, we know she was upset, we know she told Alastair she was leaving for Scotland, that is it!
” Gideon bellowed back.

Tension h
ad been high for the past week
,
they
had
found Amelia lying on the
ground of Habersham’s garden
after someone mentioned hearing a scream from the far garden
. It was a miracle she was alive at all, she had missed hitting her head on a marble statue by mere
centimeters
.
Had she landed on that, they were all positive she would have been in the grave for days.

It was a sobering thought for all of them
,
the three of them
had argued for days over what
they thought could have happened to Amelia
,
but like Gideon stated,
none of them knew the truth. Either the woman tried jumping to her death, or the murderer had
tried to take Amelia’s life
again
and none of them were there to protect her.
There was no way Amelia fel
l over seven meters on accident, she was graceful and carrying his child. She just wouldn’t have been so careless, nor did Alastair believe she would have jumped.
He agreed wholeheartedly with Luke.

Sitting in the chair, with his head in his hands
he closed his eyes as his head pounded with a raging headache. T
his week had been a
goddamn
nightmare.
Amelia had been in a coma, alive but not awake
.
He was positive that had he acted like a gentleman and support her decision to flee,
she would have been safe in Scotland by now, away from him and
uninjured.

All she wanted was to be free in the foothills of Scotland, away from the noise and drama of London. He had been so selfish, had he simply let her go she would be safe right now. The blame lay on his sh
oulders for Amelia’s condition, every damn minute since the accident that blaring thought had crossed through his mind. Guilt and shame had consumed him in the days passing her fall.

Amelia’s family had brought in a
slew of doctors, all saying the same thing- maybe she would wake up, maybe she would be like this forever.

Unable to contain London’s gossip
due to the fall happening at a public event
, it was
widely
rumored that Amelia had been so distraug
ht by his
engagement to Porsche and their subsequent
fight
on the ballroom floor
moments before her fall
,
that she had thrown herself over the balcony unable to live.

He didn’t know what to believe.
Had he been too cruel? Had she jumped off the balcony trying to end her own life?
Everything in his heart told him
no
, she wouldn’t do that. She had a zest for life, a fight between them wouldn’t make her claim her own life
, nor the life of their child
.

Luke took a long drink and
added, “I trained her to shoot
,
she’s deadly. If she wanted to end her life she wouldn’t have jumped off a balcony Gideon, she would have shot herself. I know in my heart that someone pushed her.”

Rubbing his head, “We have to look at all options Luke
, regardless of how ugly they are Luke
.” Gideon added as he looked up, the pain in his voice was very real.

Luke pointed at Gideon, “You’ve been away for five years fighting that damn war,
and while
you were gone I was here. I know who she is, I know she wouldn’t do that! I would bet my life on it.”

Standing up from his desk so abruptly his chair fell over Gideon
yelled,
“Don’t you fucking
dare insinuate I do not know my own
sister!
”

Groaning, Alastair leaned back in the chair. The Somerset brothers had been having this same argument for a week now, they all had. Blame and speculation had ran rampant between the three of them.
They had all slept for shit this past week,
they were stressed out and fighting amongst themselves on a daily basis.

Luke and Genevieve and the twins had moved into the house so t
hey could be here at all times. Helena’s mother and sister, Lady Juliet and Hero had
also
moved in temporarily
to provide support
.

It was a fucking disaster.
The ladies fretted over Amelia while the men argued and had gotten no
further
in their investigation on what happened that night on the balcony.
Everything he loved was crumbling to dust in his hands. Never in his life had he felt more helpless, more guilt ridden and heartbroken.
All he wanted to do was look into her eyes and hear her beautiful voice one more time.

Upstairs in the large Somerset home, she woke
to t
he searing pain in her side, Amelia
groaned as she
rubbed
her legs together
in agony. Instantly putting her hands to her right ribcage, she hissed as she moved, pain rolled through her entire body.

“Amelia? Oh my sweet Sister, please come back to us…”

Hearing Helena’s ange
lic voice, Amelia
opened her eyes to see her sister-in-law
standing over her bed
with tears in her eyes
.

“Why can’t I breathe?” She whispered, even talking hurt.
Confused, in pain and desperately hungry she tried to make sense of what was going on.

“Sweetheart, oh my lord I am so happy to hear your voice love,” Helena said,
as she
slipped in beside her and cradled her softly, “you were found at
the bottom of the balcony love, you fell from the second story of Habersham’s home.
The doctors said you have several broken ribs. You have been asleep for over a week, we’ve all been so worried about you.”

Feeling Helena’s tears
drop on her face, Amelia
looked up slowly, “
A week? My
baby?”
She asked slowly as she saw the sadness in Helena’s eyes.

Shaking her head, Helena
closed her eyes and dropped her head
, “You
bled so profusely, the doctors couldn’t stop the miscarriage my
love,
the fall was
too
great for such a li
ttle life to sustain the trauma.
I am so sorry
my dearest
.”

Squeezing her eyes closed, she ran a hand over her stomach and nestled her head into Helena’s lap
and held on tight as the grief swept over her.
Raw sobs escaped her throat as she came to terms with losing Alastair’s heir.

“Lia
my love
,
I hate to ask you this right now, but
your brothers have been trying to find out what happened that night. Rumors are swirling around town that you jumped, that you tried to take your own life. We do not believe that my sweet, tell me that I’m right.”

Looking up, she tried to sit up, “
What? No!
I was pushed Helena. I ran away into that room for a moment of peace and I was standing alone on the balcony when a masked man dressed in a large trench coat came up behind me. I turned around and asked him who he was and what he wanted, he grabbed me and told me he was death and pushed me over the side!
He tried to kill me, and he took my baby from me. He killed my baby Helena…
”

Wrapping her arms around
her, “Oh my love. I am so thankful you are still with us little one,
I knew you would never try to kill yourself.
You know your brothers and Alastair will find this man, and they will extract the revenge you so rightly deserve.”

“All I wanted to do was get away from this town, to have a few weeks of peace alone and then this happened, I lost my baby, my only hope for happiness…now what do I do Helena?”

Helena
hugged her and kissed her forehead, “My love, women lose children every single day. Miscarriages are a sadness that is all
around
the world
;
women lose babies in
their wombs for no reason on a daily basis, there is no rhyme or reason my dear. You
will have other children my love
,
I know that doesn’t ease your pain, or heal your heart…but life is an uncharted path we must endure together.
We all have suffered the loss of family, we have known great pain, and you will rise from these ashes Amelia.
Your brothers will find the man who did this to you, and you will find happiness little one, I know this in my heart.”

“I don’t want any more children, I wanted
that
one.” She said, fresh tears spilling out of her face as she thought about the child she would never meet.

Tipping up Amelia’s
chin, Helena shook her head,
“You were born to be a mother Amel
ia
Elizabeth Somerset
, you need to grieve for your loss and face the world, we will take care of the rumors,
and you
need to heal those ribs.
Time, time will fix
both my darling, we’ve experienced loss before, we can get through this together.
”

“Do
my brothers
know about the baby?”

Shaking her head, “No my love, only Alastair and I know.”

Groaning, she thought of him.

“He’s been here every moment of the day he could Lia, he’s spent every night in that chair watching over you. His heart breaks for your loss as well. It has been hard to watch him grieve in silence, unable to talk to
your brothers
about it. He suffers my dear, he and I were the only ones who knew about the baby, and the only two who knew about the loss of the baby.
”

“He’s free now, he can marry Porsche and I can go on with my life.”

“That wi
ll not happen, I can assure you
,
as he is no longer engaged to that trollop.”

“What?”

“This week, while he was here
, Porsche was found in a very compromising
position
with a married man.
All
of London knows about it, and Alastair was able to break the engagement with ease. She has been painted a whore, and your love is now free to marry you.
I have a nagging suspicion that
Porsche
is the culprit
who started the
vile rumor that you had jumped
to your death.
She wanted to paint your name black, but it was she that came out looking like a bloody whore.
”

Rubbing her tears off her face, she closed her eyes, “I still can’t marry him Helena, the only reason he wanted me is because he thought I was some other woman,
or because I carried his child.”

“I don’t think those are the
true
reasons at all my love, but you must do what you feel is right in your heart.”
Helena said in her most warm and loving tone, like a mother who knew better than argue with a wayward emotional child.

“Did you have a
dream
that I married Alastair Helena?”

“I will not tell you that love, you have to decide your future, not my
dreams
. I do want to
remind you
Alastair has been here since the accident my love. He has sat countless hours at your side, prayed for you. He’s only left a handful of hours throughout
the entire week.
A man wouldn’t do that if he didn’t love you, y
our brothers have noticed dear, they see what I see.”

“What is that?” She asked, her heart and body in pain.

“
The
man is in love with you, that you have captured his heart and we all know you care for him in return. Your brothers have been giving him hell for the past week, all three of them have been locked in the library arguing for days upon days over you. Alastair blames himself for what happened to you sweetheart, as do your brothers.
Yet they know he loves you unconditionally.
”

“It is not
his
fault I was pushed over
the edge of that balcony Helena! I will not have them blame him for my actions that led to someone trying to kill me again!
”