Midnight Masquerade (7 page)

“What did I call you?” He asked,
her lying
began to sicken him.

“Claudette, I was, I am,
Widow
Claudette.”

“Agreed, but what else did I call you my pet?” He whispered in her ear, trying to get her to either answer correctly so he’d know or fail his test.

“I can’t remember Alastair, I drank too much that night.”

Her answer
did
hold weight, they were well into their cups that night, far more than he normally allowed himself.
He was astounded at the amount of information she had, especially since he was positive she was not the woman he deflowered that night.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of dark hair and red float past him. Watching her, his eyes narro
wed as he looked at the vision who was slowly taking over his heart, Amelia.

She
was dancing with another one of her blasted
suitors
,
Roland Caldwell, the
Marquees
of Riverstone. Dressed in a sensational red gown of silk and lace, her dark hair set off her look in
every way
as she rotated the room in the skilled arms of Lord Riverstone.
Dripping in precious diamonds, the woman was a breath of fresh air in a room full
counterfeit
people.

Checking his jealousy, he turned his attention back to Porsche and pulled her closer, “
It is okay
, it doesn’t matter
anymore
Porsche.” Too bothered by Amelia dancing with Riverstone, he had no want or need to keep use
less chatter going with Porsche, nor did he want her to catch on.
It honestly didn’t matter what the pretty blonde said, his mind was made up,
Amelia Elizabeth Somerset would be his wife…one
way or another. 

Amelia
had truthfully told him he had competition, he should have known she wasn’t jesting. The woman was a stunner, young, outrageously wealthy with a heart of gold. It was easy to se
e she had a crowd to pick from, what bothered him most is that they were all fine men.
In the past he had given his opinion
of a few of her suitors throughout the years, but these men were solid good men, he had nothing bad to say about either, which irked him greatly.

As the dance ended, he took Porsche back to her mother’s side and stood at her side for several songs, drinking heavily the entire time as his eyes were upon Amelia every blasted moment.
He pondered how her day had went after he left her house, she had just witnessed a murder that very morning and here she was, waltzing about London as if she hadn’t a car
e
in the world.

She had danced with Caldwell, followed by Hollington and finally she was on the floor with her brother Luke. He could see London’s intere
st in her, she was breathtaking and one of the most genuine women he had ever met. He had the organic
ability
to see her in her natural habitat without a veil of falseness around her that so many women presented to him every night. He had seen her during the worst times in her life after her
parents had perished. He had watched her mature into the stunning beauty that was captivating all the e
ligible men in London.
He
still wasn’t sure how he had gone this long without kissing her.

Since the moment he kissed her in the garden
last night
, he refused to stop thinking about her. He needed to dance with her, to feel her in his arms again while he held her tight. Seeing other men’s hands upon her bothered him. He wanted her at his side, he just needed to convince her of his seriousness.

Leaving Porsche’s side, he went in search of Gideon and Helena, knowing that Luke would return Amelia to them at the end of their dance. He needed to get his hands on he
r, to look into her haunting gre
y eyes and hear her angelic voice.

“Good evening Alastair!” Helena welcomed him into their circle with a bright smiled. Gideon shook his hand and found
him a spot to stand beside him as he approached.

“Evening Helena, lovely as always. Gideon, any word on the man she saw murdered this morning?” He went straight into questioning his friend.

“No, he is an unknown. The runners are looking for any information on him. All we can do is pray whomever did it, did not get a clear view of Lia.
Luke and I have talked about additional security until we can be certain, we’ve also asked a few of our lesser known friends to look arou
nd to see what they could find.
”

“
If you need any assistance please let me know, you know I have a handful of men at my disposal who would be happy to help, my spies are getting bored since things have calmed down
.” He offered, standing shoulder to shoulder with Gideon watching as Luke and Amelia exited the floor, walking straight for him. Catching her eyes across the floor, he saw her smile brightly at him, waving at him as she closed in. Walking directly up
to him she slid in next to him
and Gideon, so close her red silk shirts
brushed his legs.

Unable to help himself, he reached down and
entwined his fingers with hers and brought them to his lips,
not giving a damn who saw him.
Kissing her hand, “Lia, dance with me.” Not waiting
for
her to answer, he pulled her to his side and away from her family before she could speak. Refusing to let go of her hand, he walked hand in hand with her to the dance floor, not caring w
ho insinuated what. He wanted the
woman, more sure than ever that she was the one he wanted as his duchess, his focus was entirely upon her as he spun her into his arms.

“Alastair, what are you doing?” She whispered, unaccustomed to his directness.

“Wooing you I suppose, I thought that was obvious Lia.” Running his hand down her hip, he squeezed as she opened her eyes large with understanding.

Waking up a desperate
pounding on this bedroom door, his majordomo called his name. Slipping out of bed he crossed the room and opened the door with a scowl, “What the blasted hell do you want this early Raleigh?”

“There was an attack on Lady Amelia l
ast night Your Grace
, someone trie
d
to shoot
her
in the Somerset
garden
very late last night
My Lord
.
His Grace
sent
just sent word
, the entire household is in high alert
!
The Somerset brothers
are
waiting for you at the duke’s home,
shall I call a carriage
up
?
”

“Shit
e
! Is she okay?
Yes, of course,
but just saddle me up a horse, I’ll get there faster
!
” He asked, turning and running to his bathroom.

“She is alive
,
the bullet grazed her head Sir
,
an few centimeters and our dear Lady Amelia would no longer be with us
.
I’ll get
your stallion
brought about immediately
, go on and change young man, quickly now
.”
He older, smart mouthed, witty majordomo stated as he closed the door and went downstairs to call wake up the stable hands.

Tossing on a fresh shirt and pants, he slid his boots on and buttoned his shirt as his heart pounded,
“Someone must have seen her yesterday
morning, the killer knows who s
he is!
Bloody hell, she’s got an assassin after her.
”
He gritted out as he dressed himself as quickly as possible. She had to be shaken up, yes she grew up with brothers who taught her to shoot, to fence and throw a damn good punch, but she had never came close to what they had. Having an attempt on your life was earth shattering, especially for an innocent chit like Amelia.

Running
out the door he
mounted his massive horse and clicked his heels hard into the flank of his horse, galloping down the brick streets
of London towards Amelia’s house.
Arriving at
the Somerset
house
within ten minutes
, he ran up the stairs two at a time and straight through the door, not even both
er
ing to k
nock. R
unning
directly to
the library
, bursting into the door
,
his dramatic entrance had both brothers reaching for their pistols.

“Where is she? Is she okay?
What the fuck happened?
” He asked,
standing in the doorway. The brothers released their hands off the handle of their pistols and sat back in their chairs seeing it was just
him, both of the brothers were on high alert. Both utterly relieved to see him, he could tell by the change in their posture.

“
Alastair, bloody hell
I’m glad to see you. She was in our garden last night on one of her late night walks and someone shot at her from the bushes.
How they got a
round our security is beside me!
I’ve had ten extra men added since she witnessed the murder
yesterday morning, our place is crawling with security!” Gideon offered, dropping his head into his hands, “As far as her condition, she’s injured, but just a graze across her beautiful face, it’ll leave a scar but it could have been a different story by the merest
movement.” Pointing to the back of the house,
Gideon
offered, “
She’s in the back of the house in Helena’s solar, g
o, see her, I would imagine she’ll be happy to see you.
”

Both brothers looked like they hadn’t slept all night, the stress on their faces were evident.
Taking in the quick rundown of what had happened last night Alastair nodded to the brothers and went in search of Amelia.
He needed to see her with his own eyes.

Upstairs, before his arrival, Amelia woke
up from a restless night of sleep, Amelia
rolled
out of bed as
nausea hit her hard.
Running
to her bathro
om with her hand over her mouth, she threw up.
Last night had scared the hell out of her, she couldn’t keep anything down all night
after the attack
.
She had to drink two glasses of Gideon’s best scotch just to fall asleep last night.
Kneeling before her chamber pot, she emptied her stomach once again as the sun crept into her room.

After a long night of her brothers interrogating her, the doctor checking her wound
, Amelia
had returned to her room in a sad attempt to try to sleep. Every time she shut her eyes she heard the gunshot.
She had come so close to death last night, it was clear to all that the murderer had somehow recognized her
, who else would try shooting the sister of a duke?
Her life was in
danger
,
as
was the people she lived with. The killer now wanted to snuff out her life, and
he
came damn close last night.

Gathering enough strength, she bathed and got dressed slowly as her stomach continued to flop on her. Dressing in a plain blue
day gown
, she left her hair down and sat at her desk.
She was exhausted and queasy, something she hadn’t ever had to deal with
before in her life, except when she came down with an illness
. She had a great love of food, but recently she had been dealing with so many blows to her heart, she hadn’t eaten much and thrown up even more.

Suddenly, a shiver ran down her spine as she thought back on the last time she had her
monthly
flux. Pulling out her calendar in a panic, she counted the weeks, slamming it shut, “
No…no…
.no, it can’t be, please god no
!” Raising a hand to her mouth, she put her othe
r hand on her belly as tears rolled down her face
. She hadn’t b
le
d since she made love to Alastair
under the disguise that night.

Standing up, she felt lightheaded as the realization of reality settled in. She was pregnant with
Alastair’s
child, his heir to his dukedom and fortune.
Panicking, she slipped on her shoes and ran for the door.
She needed to talk to
Helena;
her brother’s wife was wise and always helpful. She had birthed little Tedd
y and would have advice for her, physically and mentally.
Amelia trusted Helena completely, they had been friends since they were little girls,
she
knew Helena wouldn’t tell Gideon or Luke about her predicament
.

Leaving her room, Amelia
slipped down the back hall
in an attempt to avoid her brothers. The last thing she wanted to do was breakdown in front of them, she was not one from keeping secrets from them. They were two of the greatest spies in
England;
keeping anything from them was damn near impossible.
They both had wives, they knew the signs of pregnancy, and it wouldn’t be long before they figured it out.

Right now all she needed
was the c
omfort of her friend and sister-in-l
aw, Helena had become like a second mother to her since she lost hers
, but she was also like the older sister she never had
.

Heading towards
the solar that Helena always
occupied
in the
morning
s
, entering the room, she was not disappointed. Sitting in the bright sunshine,
her beautiful blonde sister-in-
law
sat with a s
teaming pot of tea and two cups.

“I’ve been waiting for you my dear, join me Lia and hav
e some of this special tea. It used to calm my
stomach when I carried Theodore, it’ll help love.
”
Helena offered with a knowing smile.

Sitting down, she bowed her head, “You know?”

“My
dreams my darling
, yes, I know you are pregnant with Alastair’s child.
I know, and have known t
hat you are the woman he seeks, but what I do not understand is why you haven’t stepped up and claimed him. You let Porsche as
sume a roll that belongs to you, and now you carry his child.
You have to tell him darling.
”

“I don’t know what to do Helena, how could this happen? Everything is such a mess.” She whispered, covering her face with her hands.

Reaching across the small tea table, Helena pulled
Amelia’s hands
off her face and smiled at her, “My dear, you are a woman. I think you
know
exactly how this happened. What I still do not understand is why you haven’t stepped forward, you know Alastair has been looking for the widow- you are she. You now carry his heir, the world works in mysterious ways my dear, you two have always been destined for each other sweetheart, even if you’ve both been pretending you are simply friends.
There is something between you, I have seen it as have others.
”

Sipping the tea, “I can’t believe this Helena.”

“
You need to tell him Amelia Eliz
abeth,
soon
.”

“I cannot believe that I am pregnant
with his child
.
”

It was those words Alastair heard as he approached the solar.
Amelia’s
vocal
realization
was like a dagger to his hear
t as he walked in the doorway.
I can
not believe that I am pregnant
with his child
.

Throwing the door open with force, he stood in the door way and seethed,
“Who the bloody hell is the father Lia? I’ll
kill the
fucking rat
bastard
!”

Jumping at the sound of his voice, Amelia looked at him like she had seen a ghost.
All of the color drained from her face as she
closed
her eyes and cover
ed
h
er face with her hands.
Leaning
forward
, the woman he had wanted to marry
started to cry.
The shock in her face made him cringe, his heart pounded viciously in his chest.

Everything was falling apart, the woman he had decided would be his wife had a murderer after her,
now
he found out she was pregnant. Marrying her was not an option
now, his heart fell into his stomach at the thought of losing her.
It didn’t matter how much he cared for her, he couldn’t
pass on his title to a bastard. I
t just wasn’t done.

Across the room Helena stood up so powerfully she knocked her chair over
. Pointing at him, Helena’s voice lowered into a threating tone as she warned him, “You will
not yell at my sister Alastair!
She doesn’t have to tell you a damn thing, and you will remember that it is her
right
to inform her
brothers
on her own accord,
is that
understood?”

He knew exactly what
Gideon’s duchess
meant, she did
n’t want him tattling on Amelia. “Understood,” looking around the angry blonde
, he pleaded, “I’m sorry for shouting, please, just let me talk to you Amelia,
please
.”
He knew Helena was fiercely loyal to the family she had married in
to
, Helena wasn’t to be trifled with.

Stepping out of his way, Helena walked towards the door and offered very calmly, “I’ll leave you two chat.
Alastair, do
not
upset her any further. She
just
realized she’s with child, and
let’s remember that
someone tried to kill her last n
ight, please be gentle with her or
you
shall deal with
me
. Remember, not everything is as it appears my friend.
”

Waiting until Helena shut the door, he knelt before Amelia who had her head buried in her hands, crying
, refusing to look at him as she sobbed
. The cut on her face kissed her cheek all the way to the top of her ear. Another
finger width over
and she would have been killed instantly.
Her rich brunette h
air fell around her like a veil, h
is heart was twisting in pain as he watched her.