To Love and Protect (48 page)

“How has everything been today?”

“Quiet.”

“Good.”

Together they walked up the stairs to be greeted by two burly guards sitting near the bedroom door.
 
He knew four guards were overkill, but he had to protect her.
 
She had become too precious to him.
 
Justin merely nodded to them before opening the door.
 
Clarissa lay sleeping in the middle of the bed, clearly exhausted.
 
Mikala sat there, watching her.
 
She looked up and saw the two men standing in the doorway and surprise lit her features.
 
She stood, shooing them into the hallway.

“What are you two doing here?
 
And together, I might add.”

“Well, I thought…” Gabe started sheepishly, no longer looking like a stern, forbidding duke.

“Darling, you have to quit being so jealous.
 
I have always loved only you,” she cupped his cheek tenderly, stood on tiptoes, and brushed his lips with hers.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” Justin chuckled.

“We were also worried,” Gabe said, trying to sound irritated.
 
“When you said hours, I was afraid maybe something had happened, or,” he stopped, embarrassed, not sure how to continue.

“Or now that Southerby is back in town, I had all of a sudden decided I wanted him?”
 
Gabe tried to hide how close her words were to the mark.
 
“
I.
 
Love.
 
You
,” she emphasized each word.
 
“And they have been home for over two weeks.
 
I just didn’t tell you because I knew this would happen.”

“You might have told me he had married.”

“Would you have believed me until you saw the evidence with your own eyes?”
 
Amazingly, the powerful Duke of Hawkescliffe looked sheepish before his spitfire wife.
 
“I thought so,” Kala said, a fine, raven brow arched, and her hands on her hips.
 
“We will discuss this further tonight, husband.”

Justin unashamedly watched the couple, and several things became clearer in regards to him and Clarissa.

“Right now, my concern is Clarissa,” Kala said.
 

The words startled Justin out of his reverie.
 
“What about Clare?”
 

“She and the baby are fine.
 
So far.”

“So far?” both men spoke at once.
 
Justin thought he saw a look of sadness flicker over the couple’s face, but it just as quickly disappeared.

“What do you mean, so far?” Justin asked Mikala.

“Clarissa is jumpy and nervous.
 
She’s lost weight and she’s not sleeping.
 
Nightmares plague her regardless of the time of day.
 
That is why I offered to stay and sit with her this afternoon, so that she could get some much needed rest.”

“But I sleep with her every night so that she can rest.
 
We leave the lights burning bright.”

“Do you sleep?”

“Well, yes.”

“She can’t sleep because she is looking after you.”

“That is ridiculous,” Justin scoffed.

“Men sleep, women worry,” Mikala stated.
 
“She is literally worrying herself sick, and it isn’t good for her or the baby.
 
I stayed this afternoon so she could sleep.
 
I promised her I would stay awake, and I have a gun ready in case anyone tries something.
 
She went straight to sleep.”

“I thank you for being such a good friend to her.
 
And I dread having to tell her the latest news.”

“What is that?”

“Lorraine is dead.”

“Has she already been brought to trial?”
 
Mikala asked.
 
Gabe merely stood back and listened to the words being said.
 
He would get his answers momentarily.

“No.
 
Murdered last night in Newgate.”

“Who?”

“Perhaps her husband had it done.
 
Could be he’s afraid she would talk more than what she had.”

“Oh, dear.”
 
Mikala stopped and looked at her husband.
 
“I’m going back in to sit with Clarissa.
 
I don’t want her waking to an empty room.
 
Let Justin tell you all about what is happening.
 
I’m sure you will feel some compassion towards him.”

“Would you two stay and have dinner with us?” Justin asked before Mikala walked back into the room.
 
“I realize you might think it awkward, but Clarissa has had very little companionship since we came back, or even before, come to think of it.”

“Justin, everyone ended up with the person right for them.
 
We were ever only just friends.
 
Clarissa saw Gabe as a protector, and he used her to keep his mother happy.
 
Nearly everyone is happy by the turn of events,” Kala said cheekily, vaguely referencing Gabe’s mother, who still despised her and probably always would.
 
“We would love to stay for dinner.”
 
She returned to the room and closed the door.

“Well, shall we drink to new friendships?” Justin asked.

“Yes.
 
And you tell me all about what is going on, and why Clarissa thought I could protect her.”

Once both men had settled into their seats in the small, but comfortable study, a glass of brandy in hand, Justin recounted Clarissa’s life over the last year, giving more details for the months he had been involved.

“That explains so much,” Gabe said, his tone deep and thoughtful.

“What do you mean?”

“When it was just Clarissa and I and a companion, she was demure to the extreme.
 
Almost too much, if you understand.”
 
Justin felt his jaw tighten convulsively as he listened to another man talk about his wife.
 
He knew he had to listen to Hawkescliffe’s observations.
 
“When her father joined us, which inevitably brought the new members of the family, she hated to leave my side and vice versa.
 
Her step-mother made more overtures towards me than any woman I have ever met.
 
Clarissa would cling to my arm around her family, but when we were with a companion she kept several feet between us.
 
She acted frightened.”

“She was.
 
I don’t know how she survived with them in the house.”

“Did she never tell her father of her concerns?
 
I know they are close.”

“Were.
 
His marriage almost destroyed their relationship.
 
I think the new wife had quite a bit to do with that, as well.”

“More than likely.
 
I had to extricate myself from her clutches on numerous occasions.”
 
There was a pregnant pause before Gabriel continued, soberly, “She is no longer a problem.”

“No.”
 
Both men were quiet.
 
Justin sipped his brandy, relishing the fiery burn.
 
“London is a big town,” Justin said.

“Too big at times.”

“He could be hiding anywhere.”

“True.”

“Perhaps I should take her to Gertie’s.”

“Who?”

“Gertrude.
 
Her aunt, my godmother.
 
Remember, I mentioned that Clare had gone to her for assistance after the attack in the park.”

“Ah, yes,” Gabe nodded, finally understanding the connection.
 
“Trouble will follow,” he sounded like the voice of experience.

“I could set up more protection.”

“You have plenty here.
 
Kala is truly concerned about her health.
 
I heard it in her voice.
 
Don’t move her unless necessary.”

“She doesn’t travel well.”

“You need a plan.”

“Any suggestions?”

“Perhaps.”
 
The two men spent the time until the meal discussing possible scenarios and ways to run Franklin to ground without having Clarissa harmed.

***

The four ate their meal accompanied by soft chatter and laughter.
 
When they first all sat down, there was some awkwardness, but Mikala quickly broke it.
 
Justin observed Clarissa carefully, and saw that even though she had slept most of the afternoon, dark smudges were located beneath her eyes, making them look bruised.
 
Her face appeared sunken and angular from the loss of weight.
 
And she looked fragile, as she never had before.
 
Why didn’t I notice before?
 
Because you have not been a very good husband.
 
You’ve been too wrapped up in your feelings and what you thought had been done wrong to you to care about your wife
, he chastised himself.

After finishing dessert, Gabe announced that they should be leaving.
 
Clarissa and Justin walked the other couple to the door.

“Do you think this means that our husbands are now friends?” Mikala whispered in Clarissa’s ear, laughter lurking in her voice.

“At least they’re not brawling,” Clarissa replied, a smile playing on her lips.
 
“And since we’re friends, it would be nice if they were as well.”

Gabe walked over and laced the fingers of one hand with Mikala’s.
 
“What are you ladies discussing?” he asked as he brought her knuckles to his lips for a kiss and then gently drew it to rest on his arm never letting her go.

“Just how glad we are you two can be gentlemen about the past,” Clarissa said, somewhat shyly.
 
She could put on a façade for people she didn’t care to impress, but these people meant a great deal to her.
 
She found herself unsure as to exactly how to proceed.

“In fact, I should probably thank you, Justin, for that visit you paid before leaving so abruptly,” Mikala announced to one and all.
 
“If it weren’t for that, I still might be fighting Gabriel.”

“Oh, we still fight, just not about the important things,” Hawkescliffe added.

Everyone but Clarissa laughed.
 
A spear of jealousy shot through her.
 
When he told her he had some business to attend in London before they left, he had stopped to see Mikala?
 
She should not be mad.
 
At that point, he had only agreed to help her find her father.
 
Mikala gave her a quick hug, giving her an odd look before she released her.
 

“You need to get out of this house.”

“I can’t.”
 
Clarissa pulled away, hugging herself.

“Justin, how many guards do you have?” Mikala queried.

“We have four stationed within the house.”

“Four is perfect to take shopping with us.”

“Mikala,” Gabe warned.
 

While at the same time, Justin said, “Absolutely not.”
 
Clarissa was shocked at the firmness in Justin’s tone towards Mikala.

“Why not?”
 
Mikala continued determinedly.
 

“No, and leave it at that.”

“Southerby, she will be protected just as well as she would be here.
 
Clarissa is wasting away here.
 
Her mind needs to be taken off what is happening, if only for an afternoon of shopping.”

“Mikala, drop it,” Gabe said.

The couples exchanged goodbyes, and Justin locked the door as the carriage rolled off into the night.
 
“Let’s have it.
 
What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Clarissa said as she turned and walked towards the stairs.
 
She felt a steely hand clasp her upper arm, turning her back to face her husband’s dour face.
 
Clarissa took a moment to study him.
 
His hair was tousled, the auburn streaks shining brightly in the flickering lamplight.
 
New lines etched his face, and where laughter had once lurked in his eyes, something else resided there.
 
He had aged since knowing her, and she hated knowing that she had done that to him.
 
She watched as if from far off as Justin bent down and scooped her up into his arms.
 
“What are you doing?”

“Taking you to bed.”

“Justin, I—“

“No,” he cut off her words.
 
“Sweetheart, I care about you.
 
I’m worried about
you
.”

Clarissa felt tears clogging the back of her throat, and she blinked hard to keep her eyes clear of them.
 
How she had come to hate that word.
 
He
cared
about her.
 
Like how most men
care
about their horses?
 
Making certain that they were groomed and looked pretty.
 
Making sure that when they were taken out, they would be commented on for their looks and bloodlines. Clarissa bit down on her lower lip as it began to tremble.
 
She wrapped her arms around Justin’s neck, burying her face in his shoulder, so he would not realize how difficult a time she had keeping her composure.

They entered their bedroom, and Justin set her on her feet before turning her around to tackle her buttons.
 
He went around lighting every candle in the waning evening light and stoked the fire in the hearth until it blazed.
 
Clarissa had slipped on a nightgown and stood looking bereft.
 
Justin walked over and helped her into bed before walking around, stripping, and crawling into bed himself.
 
He pulled her into his arms and could feel the hesitancy in her body.