The Lady Plays Her Ace (The Langley Sisters) (26 page)

"I shall take your wife on a tour while you talk with Mr. Stevens, Oliver." Daniel took Thea's arm.

"All right, but keep her away from any building work being completed," Oliver said, which made Thea roll her eyes. His lips twitched at her gesture but he said nothing further.

"He has other housing developments, too," Daniel said as he led her to the finished houses.

"Good lord," Thea said twenty minutes later, because nothing else seemed to quite fit the moment.

Daniel took her arm as they moved around a pile of building supplies.

"He is a very successful businessman, Thea, with a great deal of varied enterprises that he overseas himself, with help from a few of his minions, namely me."

"I would like to help," Thea said slowly, looking at the buildings before her.

"Excellent. More hands would be welcome, I assure you," Daniel said, taking her back towards the carriage.

Thea stopped to look at him. "Do you really mean that? You would not mind if I assisted you or Oliver—if he lets me, that is."

Daniel's smile was far more ready than his brother's was.

"I am not my brother, Thea, I assure you. And while his interests were honest, I fear he greatly misjudged you. Of course, his family did not hesitate to point this out to him."

"As did I," Thea added.

"I have no doubts as to that, and would add that I think in you, my brother has found his perfect mate."

He meant it. She could see that in his eyes.

"Thank you, Daniel. That means a great deal to me."

"And my family feels the same, just for the record. In fact, my father believes you will save his son from himself."

They started walking once more. "How so?"

"Before you came into his life, my brother worked all day and often long into the night. He was a man possessed with a need to make money and a name for himself," Daniel said, opening the carriage door and ushering her inside. "He was driven, Thea, to provide for us and increase his wealth."

"Luke told me that once," Thea said. "He said Oliver Dillinger was the most driven man he'd ever known."

"Driven by what, I often wonder," Daniel said softly.

"His past," Thea whispered.

"Yes," Daniel nodded. "I had imagined that would be it, but know only the bits he has told me."

Thea looked out the window, searching for Oliver, but he was still discussing something with someone. She did not feel guilty talking with Daniel about Oliver. Anything she learned could only help her to understand the man she had married.

"He left at twelve years of age, but how long was it before you and your family saw him again, Daniel?

"He came back to us eight years later, and by then his money had helped our lives significantly. At his insistence, I and my other siblings were receiving schooling and we had moved into a bigger house."

"Eight years is a long time," Thea said softly.

Daniel looked down at his hands briefly. "I idolized him when I was a boy. He was everything I wanted to be. Big, strong, and never backed away from anything. Every day he would ask my father to let him go to work in the mines, and every day he refused, until one day Oliver simply left. He couldn't write at that stage, so he told our neighbor to tell us he had gone, and that he was bound for London to make his fortune."

"Your parents must have been distraught?"

Daniel nodded. "They were, but by that stage, Oliver was on a path bent towards destruction, and they had despaired of finding him dead in an alley one day with a knife in his back, so when he left it was almost a relief."

"But not to you?" Thea added.

"No." Daniel shook his head. "I was angry, and demanded that they went to find him and bring him home, but my father said he could not afford to lose his job to chase after Oliver. He was sure that his eldest son would soon return, hungry and repentant for the trouble he had caused his family…but he didn't."

"It must have been a surprise when he did arrive?" Thea wanted to see the sadness leave this young man's face that memories had put there.

"It was wonderful. A man had arrived the week before and told us we were moving to a house that Oliver had purchased for us. My father's pride was tweaked and for a while he would not accept Oliver's money or offers of help, but eventually my mother convinced him that his pride was hurting us, so he relented."

"I can understand pride," Thea laughed and was pleased when Daniel joined her.

"As can I," he said.

"Continue with your story," Thea prompted him, eager to hear more about the man she had married.

"It was the day before Christmas, and the snow was falling and someone knocked on our door. Kate went to answer it, and then I heard her shriek," he said, "and we all came running and there he was. This big man, dressed in a fine, wool overcoat, telling us that he was our Oliver."

"It must have been quite a moment?" Thea said.

"It was, and after a few days we all became a family again."

"When did you move to London?"

Daniel's smile was filled with memories. "Oliver told us his life was now in London and that he wanted us to come and live there. He said he would buy a house for us, and there would be work for whoever wanted it. My father said no, my mother yes. But it was Oliver talking about the education he could offer us, and tutors for my sisters, that won my father over."

Thea saw her husband through the carriage window; he was still a distance away, but making his way towards them. "Your brother approaches, Daniel, but before he does, thank you so much for sharing this story with me."

"Tis my pleasure," he said with a gentle smile.

The shot rang out when Oliver was just a few feet from the carriage. Screaming his name, she grabbed the door handle, throwing it wide.

"Stay inside, Thea!" He roared the words and before she could defy him, she felt Daniel lift her off her feet and lower her onto the seat as Oliver dived in through the doorway.

"Go!" Daniel yelled to the driver and seconds later they were moving.

She launched herself at him and his arms closed around her, pulling her hard into his chest.

"This has to stop!" Thea said into his chest. "I can't lose you, Oliver." Her words were desperate as she clutched his lapels.

"It's all right, love." One large hand cupped her head, the other banded around her back, securing her to him. "You won't lose me."

"Your arm, Oliver."

Thea heard Daniel's words and pushed herself upright. Her hands went to his sleeves, and her left glove came away red.

"Let me see." Thea reached for the buttons on his overcoat, her fingers unsteady as they tried to force them through the holes.

"It is just a graze, Thea. It can wait until we reach the house." Oliver tried to pull her back into his arms but she fought him.

"It will not wait! Now help me remove your coat and jacket." Thea gave him the look she had often used on her brothers when she wanted to bring them to heel and Oliver nodded, perhaps because he could see the desperation in her eyes. Her heart was thumping, her body filled with ice-cold fear, but she focused on her husband now, because she could not contemplate what could have happened, or she would fall apart.

Soon, between them they had him down to his shirt, and the sleeve was now soaked with blood.

"May I have your necktie, Daniel?"

"Of course, Thea."

"Let us hope that none of the women you are trying to impress see you gadding about in a half-dressed state, brother," Oliver said.

Thea let Oliver tease his brother as she rolled up his sleeve. She knew he was trying to calm both she and Daniel down with his words, as the carriage raced them towards home, but it was not helping her. She was terrified. He could have been taken from her today. This beautiful man, whom she now loved could have been killed, and the thought hurt so much she bit her lip to stop the sob that rose up inside her.

"It's all right, Thea." He put a hand on her neck, his warm fingers stroking her skin.

Nodding, Thea looked at his arm. The bullet had grazed the skin, but had it been in his chest he could have died.
Dear God, she would not allow this to happen again.

His fingers continued to touch her as she took the necktie Daniel gave her and wound it around his arm, tight enough to stop the blood. When she'd finished, Thea helped him pull his jacket back on, then his coat, and he allowed her to button them up.

Drawing in a deep, steadying breath, she was then able to look up at him. Anger burned steadily in his eyes, although he tried to hide it behind a gentle smile.

"Come here." He pulled her onto his lap."

"Your arm—" Thea tried to stop him but he held her still.

"—Is fine."

Daniel was pale, his eyes on Oliver, and she saw his anger, too, but like her, it was mingled with fear.

"What is to be done, brother?" He questioned Oliver.

"I will employ more men. Someone knows something, and we need to get them to talk," Oliver said. "Whoever shot at me has now fled, so there is little use in sending someone back there to check."

Thea leaned against Oliver as he and Daniel discussed what needed to be done. His heart beat steadily beneath her ear, and she vowed silently it would always do so.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Over the next two weeks, Thea got to know her husband better as she rarely left his side. He had decided that the best way to keep her safe was to have her with him, and as she felt the same, she was happy with this. He employed four more men to watch over them. Ted now traveled inside the carriage whenever they left the house. Beneath his jacket, he was armed, and they always had two men on horseback, one in front the other at the rear of their carriage and a driver with an armed man seated beside him.

His arm healed and the fear in Thea grew more with each day as no word came from the men Oliver had paid to find whoever was behind the attempts on his life.

He made love to her frequently, night and day, and she had long since lost her inhibitions as he exposed more and more of her sensual nature. Every day, Thea's need for her husband grew and that in itself was terrifying. She'd always loved her family, but it was different with Oliver. He just had to walk into the room and her heart started to thud hard inside her chest. It was most annoying, and she hoped over time it settled down.

He'd given her boxing lessons, and he was a hard master—much tougher then Ted—and would not let her leave the room until she had achieved what he wished her to, but she loved these times because it was just the two of them.

This morning she had woken to find her husband had already left the house, and the message Thea found on her pillow had confirmed he'd done so early, so she would not insist on accompanying him.

'I have gone to visit one of my factories, Thea, and as I wanted to do so without you, I left before you could raise hell about my decision. Knowing that you would want to inspect every piece of machinery and nuance of said factory, and my inability to deny you anything, I knew that had you accompanied me I would not have achieved the things I needed to. Forgive me, my sweet, for being evasive last night as to my activities today, and I promise one day to take you for a visit. However, not today. Not with so much going on around us. Please stay home until I return, and I shall be there in time for our evening meal and to listen to the lecture you will no doubt have waited all day to deliver.

Yours always, Oliver.
'

She tried to quell the terror inside her that he had left alone, without Ted and only two men to watch over him as she ate her morning meal, but visions of him injured or worse kept haunting her. The food tasted like dust in her mouth, so she gave up attempting to eat and instead began to pace the halls of the house.

The day passed on leaden feet as Thea picked up books and discarded them, then tracked down Elliott just to have someone to talk to. She walked up and down the steps, looked at pictures and was close to screaming when her feet once again carried her back to the front door just as Elliot placed a note on a tray beside the hall table.

"Who is that for, Elliott?"

"Mr. Dillinger, my lady."

Thea looked down at the writing on the paper.

"The word Dillinger is written there, Elliott, not Mr. Dillinger," she said, reaching for the missive.

"I-I recognized the writing, my lady, and it is for Mr. Dillinger, n-not..."

"Me?" Thea finished for the butler when he stuttered to a halt. She had never seen him like this before, which only increased Thea's determination to open the note. As she did so, the butler made a pained noise in his throat.

I have word on who is trying to dispose of you, come at once to Totting Lane
. It was signed Angelique.

Thea knew who Angelique was—the woman who had saved her husband's life.

"I need the carriage, Elliott, and please locate Ted to accompany me."

"But, my lady," Elliott looked as if he was in pain. His usually calm face was tense and color filled his cheeks.