Wicked Proposition (57 page)

She let out a sob of fear as her eyes met the
flat reptilian eyes of the man who was sent to kill her. He dropped
the knife and slid to the floor, a pool of blood already forming
around his body.

She could see he was dead. She covered her mouth
as she backed away, shock filling her gaze.

Catherine stepped carefully around the door and
staggered down the hallway, shouting for anyone to help her. Pains
in her lower abdomen grew fierce as she arrived at the bannister,
screaming now.

Tieghan came running and drew up short at the
sight of her, taking in her pale, frightened features.

“Where is Nicholas?” she cried as he ran up the
stairs. “It is time! Oh God, you have to send for Doctor Wilkes.
But first, you have to get that man out of my room.”

“What man?” Tieghan demanded as he swung her up
into his arms and carried her back to her bedroom.

“The man sent here to kill me!” she sobbed and
buried her face into his massive chest. “I think I killed him!”

Tieghan’s face was grim as he carried her over
the threshold and saw the assassin lying on the floor. He grinned
to see her cutlass there too. Relief filled him to insist on
training her now. It had undoubtedly saved her life.

“I will send one of the men for Nicholas and the
doctor, Catherine,” he said gently as he carried her to the bed. “I
will take care of the man, have no worry of it. Pretend he is not
there. You did well.”

“Thanks to you,” she said as the pains gripped
her once more, grimacing. “I never imagined I would have to use the
thing!”

Tieghan grinned and shook his head in
admiration. “You used it well. Even my sister would be
impressed.”

“Do you think so?” Catherine asked hopefully
between ragged gasps, clearly pleased Natalia would find anything
she did impressive besides making Nicholas’s life miserable.

“Oh, I guarantee my sister would look at you
differently were she here,” he continued, glad their conversation
took her mind off her pain.

The maids and Hennessey arrived then, drawing up
short at the sight of the dead man on their mistress’s floor.

“Send a messenger down to the docks for Captain
Van Ryker!” Tieghan yelled at Hennessey. “Send for the doctor as
well. It’s time!”

Catherine smiled to see Tieghan losing his
granite-like composure. Then the pains began anew. The maids all
abandoned them at the sight of the dead man. Hennessey was his
usual unruffled self, eyeing the body as though it was merely a
nuisance.

“What about the body, Mr. Tieghan? Do we get rid
of it now, or wait for the Captain?” the butler asked dourly.

Tieghan grinned at the man’s words. “Go below
and send up the guards. I think they need to earn their wages and
see what they missed.”

Catherine gripped his hand, crying out. Tieghan
paled and looked terrified to see her writhing in pain then.

“What do I do, Catherine?” he asked urgently,
looking out of sorts, his pale eyes wild.

“Tell me again what an expert swordswoman I am
again,” she gasped and smiled through her pains, her brow beading
with perspiration now.

“You are by far the best swordswoman in all of
London, all of England,” he vowed staunchly and she grinned, biting
back another cry. “The whole world even, I’m sure of it!”

“You lie, but pray do continue, Tieghan,” she
rasped and listened as her teacher heaped praise upon as she
struggled to control the pain of the contractions.

Tieghan was still listing her admirable
qualities at swordplay when the guards arrived. They were
grim-faced to see the assassin and dragged the dead man away. They
shook their heads to realize their mistress had done away with the
man.

Nicholas arrived, looking furious and terrified
as he came to her side. His eyes were filled with concern as they
met hers.

“Doctor Wilkes is on his way, love,” he said and
smiled proudly. “I heard you defended yourself admirably.”

Tieghan rushed to heap more adequate praise upon
her. Nicholas glared at him, seeing he was turning quite into a
raving mess now.

“Tieghan, I can take it from here. I think you
need a drink, my friend.”

He nodded and all but ran from the room.

Nicholas smiled and held her hand, his blue eyes
filled with concern. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you,
Catherine.”

She smiled between her contractions. “You are
quite stuck with me, my love.”

Nicholas sat with her until Doctor Wilkes
arrived, then he was summarily kicked out of the room. A sheet had
been tossed over the blood on the floor, so not to alarm the
man.

Eric shoved a drink in his hand when he arrived
at his study. Tieghan was on his way to getting completely
inebriated. Dane grinned to see his younger brother’s pale
face.

“I have done this three times, brother,” Dane
said and smiled in compassion. “It is always worse with the first
child.”

Nicholas heard Catherine’s cries from above and
went several shades paler. He drained his glass and it was hastily
refilled by Eric.

“Is it true an assassin broke in while we were
out?” Dane asked in concern.

“The man came from the roof. He broke into the
attic, and Catherine killed him when he got into our room,”
Nicholas said, paling even more to realize how nearly his wife and
child had been killed today, under the guards and Tieghan’s
noses.

Dane whistled appreciatively. “She is turning
out to be quite resourceful.”

“Yes, it would appear my wife’s lessons
helped.”

Tieghan grinned in a lopsided fashion and held
up his drink. “You can thank me when I can no longer stand, my
friend.”

Eric chuckled at his brother-in-law’s condition,
seeing Tieghan was clearly rattled by the whole experience.

“Sullivan is dead. I think it is fair to say
this is the work of Lady Iverleigh?” Dane asked grimly.

Nicholas downed his drink and his eyes turned
menacing. “She won’t stop until my wife is dead, that much is
obvious.”

“What does the Earl say?”

“Who bloody cares anymore?” Nicholas snapped
harshly. “He thinks Catherine knowingly signed away her rights to
the child and tried to kill herself! He is so bloody determined to
find fault with her, I no longer care what he thinks.”

“Iverleigh will realize when he learns of this
that she is telling the truth!” Eric replied roughly. “Sullivan is
dead and yet an assassin comes after her?”

Nicholas refused to think of any of that now.
Caspian had obviously missed this one as he waited for the
assassin’s to come. The man had intercepted two such attempts this
last month on his wife’s life. This third attempt had gotten by the
elite assassin, reminding him how much danger surrounded his wife
still.

“We take no more chances with my wife’s safety!”
he said coldly as he met every gaze in the room. “She is not to be
left alone again! I hope you got your carousing out of your system,
brothers, because she is to be under guard every minute of the
day.”

Dane and Eric had the grace to look apologetic.
They realized had they taken the task of guarding their
sister-in-law more seriously, Catherine wouldn’t have had to defend
herself at all.

At nearly three o’clock in the morning, Devlin
James Van Ryker came screaming into the world, alerting the whole
household of his arrival. Nicholas was bleary-eyed as he rose
unsteadily from the sofa and stumbled out of the study. Tieghan was
passed out on the floor, as well as Eric and Dane.

Hennessey tripped over bodies when he came to
get him to let him know it was over. He gazed at the three
drunkards with a disgusted expression as he shut the door, deciding
they could sleep it off on the floor.

Doctor Wilkes assured him Catherine was fine and
resting before he left. Nicholas walked to the bed, feeling choked
with emotion to see his son nursing avidly at his wife’s
breast.

His hand trembled as it touched the soft, dark
head. She gazed at him with a sleepy smile.

“Isn’t he beautiful?”

“You are beautiful, love,” he replied with a
lazy smile. “My son is handsome!”

She got a whiff of him then and shook her head
in disgust. “You are drunk!”

“Drunk with happiness, love,” he corrected her
unsteadily and climbed into the bed next to them. She smiled as he
rested his head on her shoulder, watching his son until he passed
out.

###

Caspian Roth was a hard man to find, and even
harder to get in to see. Eric and Dane were forced to remain in the
coach when they were directed to his current residence.

Caspian wasn’t expecting them.

Tieghan glowered at the hulking doorman who met
him at eye level. The guard was the first to blink and Nicholas
grinned.

“Ty tell Caspian I need to talk to him at
once.”

“The master doesn’t see anyone,” Ty replied
darkly, glowering at Tieghan.

Tieghan winked at the man, and Ty fairly
growled.

“Ty, ignore my friend, I do,” Nicholas said
smoothly.

The doorman left them on the porch as he
retreated into the residence. Nicholas regarded Tieghan with a dark
frown.

“Caspian isn’t a man to anger, Tieghan,” he
warned. “He is definitely someone you want on your side.”

“A hired killer is no friend to anyone,
Nicholas,” he said harshly.

“Don’t judge the man,” Nicholas said tautly.
“He’s saved my neck enough to earn my respect. We need him,
Tieghan.”

Ty returned and allowed them inside. The
residence had a gothic, dark feel to it. Tieghan tensed, expecting
ghouls to jump out at them.

They followed the doorman down a long winding
hallway to the rear of the house. They were ushered into a music
room. A man with short, dark auburn hair sat shirtless at a
pianoforte. He was scribbling on sheet music and didn’t look up as
they arrived. He wore a frown of intense displeasure as he looked
up and saw them enter his domain.

Tieghan felt uneasy as Caspian’s cryptic green
gaze flicked over them. He seemed annoyed they interrupted his
composing. He tossed his quill aside and swung his long legs off
his bench. He stood and reached for his shirt. His body was lean
and hard, tight and compact. He was not as tall as Nicholas, but
his very presence spoke of power.

“Nicky, why are you here?” he asked as he
buttoned up his shirt, his voice low and gravelly. He ignored
Tieghan as though he wasn’t there.

“One got by you yesterday,” Nicholas snapped.
“My wife dispatched the man, but I sense more will come.”

Caspian raised a brow. “That enchanting wife of
yours killed an assassin? How extraordinary! I’m in love.”

“She got lucky,” Nicholas said harshly. “This
one wasn’t especially bright. He came in through the damned attic
at midday.”

“You don’t need intelligence to kill someone,
Nicky,” Caspian replied tightly, “just opportunity and nerve.”

An undercurrent passed between both men. Caspian
retreated to a sideboard and poured a glass of wine. He offered
them both a glass and they declined.

Caspian sipped his wine thoughtfully as he
plucked at the strings of a large harp he came to stand by.

“Whoever it was, they were not contracted, or I
would have known of it,” Caspian informed Nicholas with a small
smile.

“The man could have been hired from outside your
organization,” Nicholas suggested.

Caspian seemed annoyed at that, and plucked
angrily on the strings before he walked away from the harp.

“Lady Iverleigh came to one of my recitals
before she left. You didn’t do her justice, Nicky. She is as
naughty as they come, with the looks of an angel, no less.”

Nicholas glowered at him. “You don’t have to
regale me with the woman’s talents in bed, Caspian.”

“I was referring to her talents on the top of my
pianoforte, Nicky.”

“I didn’t come here to talk about Lilly.”

“A pity, she came to talk about you,” Caspian
replied, his green eyes simmering with amusement.

“What did she want?” Nicholas tensed.

“She wanted me to kill you too,” Caspian replied
and smiled pleasantly. “I took what she offered me quite naturally,
and promised she would be hearing from me very soon.”

Nicholas was wary of Caspian, always had been.
They had been on opposite sides all their lives, even on the
streets where they both grew up in White Chapel.

Caspian’s gang of pickpockets had always knocked
him down and stole what little he could garner for him and his
mother. He had to be very fast to outrun Caspian and his gang then.
He had to be faster now.

Despite their petty rivalry, Caspian cried like
a girl when he learned the flesh peddlers got Nicholas. He stood
before him now, trying to determine whether he could trust the man.
Lilly was intoxicating enough to wear down any loyalty that might
exist between them.

“Where do you stand in this, Caspian?”

“Never fear, Nicky, I never let a taste of quim,
even as prime as hers, come before friendship,” Caspian replied
mockingly. “It would amuse you to know who sent her to me.”

“Who is that?”

“I believe you know of Lord Lyndon?”

Nicholas looked startled to hear this.

“The man has taken quite an interest in Lady
Iverleigh’s happiness,” Caspian said quietly and smiled. “Some of
us just give flowers, chocolates, or trinkets. This one gives
assassins.”

“He is financing this?” Nicholas appeared
thoughtful. He wondered how Lilly could afford it. She had run
through the fifty thousand pounds she got from Gabriel’s father’s
estate rather quickly.

Caspian grimaced and looked disgusted. “He is
quite wealthy, I have learned. He spends it like water,
however.”

Nicholas hid a smile. Caspian’s White Chapel
frugality made him despise men like Lyndon. It was a sure sign he
was on his side still.