Wicked Proposition (61 page)

Nicholas nodded and went up. He pushed open the
door and peeked inside. Gabriel lay on his bed, his chest bared and
bleeding from the bullet only a fraction above his heart. He was as
pale as death as the physician fought to control the bleeding.
Seeing the powerful earl humbled by an assassin’s bullet made
Nicholas seethe.

Nicholas entered the room and approached the
bed, willing his friend to open his eyes, to live. He did something
he had never done in his life until he met his wife. He prayed.

###

Gabriel lingered on the verge of death most of
the day. The surgeon retrieved the bullet. They stopped the
bleeding. The physician left him in capable hands as Maggie bustled
about the room, making her employer comfortable.

Gabriel was mumbling Catherine’s name again in a
ragged voice. Maggie looked over at Nicholas, seeing he didn’t
react to it at all.

Nicholas sat stone-faced at his bedside, stoic
and unmoving since he arrived hours before.

“Go home, Captain, I will look after him,”
Maggie promised, her blue eyes filled with compassion. “If there is
any change, I will send for you, I swear it.”

Nicholas didn’t want to leave. He gazed down at
the man who had saved his life years before with a tight-feeling in
his chest. It shouldn’t be like this between them, he thought in
fierce denial.

A choice should never have been made between his
wife and his best friend. But it had been made. Caspian could not
watch them both.

Nicholas left the manor with a hollow feeling in
his chest, refusing to believe Gabriel would die. He couldn’t think
of it. Gabriel had his whole life ahead of him. It was not right
this happen. It only reminded him of how much he wronged the man
for the woman they both loved.

He faced what he would tell his wife upon his
arrival home. She needed to know. Jaime and Cullen were very upset
and wanted her desperately.

Seeing them both crying outside Gabriel’s door
had been too much for him. They feared losing the man, even if they
acted as if they despised him of late.

He arrived home to find his wife helping the
maids polish the bannisters. She smoothed the old dress she wore,
frowning at the bleak look on his face.

“Nicholas, what is it?” she asked as she dropped
the polishing rag. “What is wrong?”

“It’s Gabriel, Catherine,” he said softly, a
look of pain in his eyes. “He’s been shot.”

Catherine paled and took a step backward, her
eyes filled with shock. Her heart plummeted in her chest. Waves of
sorrow filled her to see Nicholas’s grim expression.

“Is he---,” she trailed off, unable to
comprehend him dead, despite her anger at his treatment of her.

“No, he’s alive,” Nicholas reassured her as he
came forward and embraced her, feeling her trembling. “He is
holding on, but his condition is grave. Maggie is with him. She has
sent word to Lady Wythe by messenger. She is sending your brothers
here tonight, as well as your son.”

Catherine nodded, reassured her son and brothers
would be with her if anything happened to him. The thought of her
sister getting her hands upon her son made her flesh crawl.

“If anything happens to him, Nicholas,” she said
hoarsely, “I want your promise you will help me get my son and my
brothers away from here. I do not trust that bitch!”

“We leave for the island if that should happen,
have no worries,” he said as he looked into her tearful gaze. “I
have no intentions of leaving your son and brothers at Lilly’s
mercy, never fear.”

Catherine was consoled to know Gabriel had the
best care he could get. She still felt helpless to do no more than
wait for word of his condition.

“She will not come after them. She will have all
she wants then,” Catherine said harshly.

“Catherine, your sister will not be an issue
very soon, mark my words.”

Nicholas would not elaborate and she took him at
his word. He left her then. He and Tieghan were seeing off his
brother’s ship. They were stopping off to leave Tieghan to watch
over Gabriel in the event the assassin returned to finish the
job.

She didn’t know how to feel as she went about
her day. She was sitting upon pins and needles every time the door
opened and shut.

She rushed into the foyer, her heart in her
throat, only to be told by Hennessey it was a servant or one of the
guards coming and going.

Catherine was in turmoil. She longed to go to
him. She struggled with these emotions, knowing with every one that
crept in betrayed her husband.

This was not what she wanted. True, she wanted
her son and her brothers back with her where they belonged, but not
like this.

Pain filled her in such startling degrees that
she questioned her feelings for the man who lay dying.

She fretted as she returned to the nursery to
tend to her son, feeling desolate she could do nothing but wait.
Holding her son was some comfort to her. It was her only
comfort.

###

Caspian regarded the seven street urchins in
annoyance. He left Elise’s room after checking on her. They refused
to leave the woman’s bedside. Ezra regarded her as his guardian
angel of sorts.

Her fever had broken. She was sleeping now. He
was rewarded knowing she would live. He returned to his own
matters.

Caspian allowed the children to stay close to
Elise as he returned to his composing. He could not concentrate on
his one true passion, however.

He received word a rogue assassin tried to kill
Lord Iverleigh that day. The man was luckily still alive, but his
condition was grave.

Caspian winced to recall Nicholas warning him
what was happening now was outside his organization and control. He
hated it when Nicky was right.

The man had a way of always making him feel like
he was still that bully from White Chapel, not the leader of the
London underworld.

Caspian knew Lord Lyndon was now using resources
outside of his organization to facilitate matters to Lady
Iverleigh’s satisfaction.

When Caspian refused the contract on Catherine
Van Ryker for personal reasons, they went another route. He could
not foresee what would happen now.

He had successfully stopped three assassins
since. Nicholas’s wife had taken out the fourth on her own.

There would be more, he knew. He could not watch
over Lord Iverleigh and Nicholas’s wife at the same time.

A choice had been made. Nicholas insisted he
concentrate his efforts on watching over Catherine.

He could imagine how Nicky felt now that
Iverleigh was cut down. Lyndon was pulling strings very high up
indeed. No word on the street revealed who orchestrated the
shooting.

It was in broad daylight in the heart of
Mayfair, right in front of the man’s house. The shooter had gotten
away, without a credible description by any of the witnesses.

Caspian theorized the best course of action now
was to stay watchful over Mrs. Van Ryker. He stayed outside the
residence most of the evening each night and his associates took
over during the day.

Lady Iverleigh would think she got what she
wanted. She would be coming back to London soon, confidante her
husband was out of the way.

Caspian shoved those thoughts away. It was not
his concern. He was hired to keep Nicholas’s wife alive, a favor to
a longtime friend. He owed Nicholas more than he could ever repay
him.

He thought of the night Herbert got Nicholas
with fresh guilt once more. Nicholas had been so little then, his
malnourishment pronounced.

He and his crew had rolled Nicholas for the few
shillings he had managed to steal. They heartlessly beat upon him.
They left him in the alley crying. He was too afraid to go home
that night to his abusive mother empty-handed.

Caspian had not seen Herbert coming until the
man had him by the scruff of his neck. Caspian was no match for
Herbert’s brute strength. He was dragged away while his crew
scattered, leaving him to his fate.

If not for Nicky following the wagon that night
and unlocking the cage to let him out, Caspian shuddered to think
of what would have happened to him.

Caspian had been angry he now owed the younger
boy his life. He ceased to allow his crew to touch Nicky after that
night. He even gave him coins to give his mother if his night was
uneventful.

Then the unthinkable happened, his slattern of a
mother had sold him to Herbert for gin money. Caspian had wept to
know what had happened to him. He was miserable for having no coins
to give Nicky that night to pacify his drunk of a mother.

Nicholas survived whatever had happened to him,
and had been adopted by the rich sea captain. He had done well as a
smuggler, and his life appeared content.

Caspian knew better. Nicholas didn’t seek him
out to talk of old memories months before. Neither man wanted to
remember those days. He knew Nicky was waging some personal
vendetta now. He sighed as he forced his thoughts away.

He smiled when he thought of the lovely girl in
his bed. Elise would soon satisfy his curiosity of where she came
from.

It was a game he often played when he observed a
person of interest and was rarely wrong. He tried to figure a
person out before he knew the details of their lives.

Something told him whatever he thought would be
wrong in regard to Elise. Ezra assured him she was a fine lady with
manners and such. She spoke in a fine voice and even knew her
letters.

Ezra was outraged when Caspian suggested she was
a whore fallen on hard times to explain her camping in the alleys
with the pickpockets.

Soon he would know if he was right. He wondered
why he cared. She would no doubt drain the coin jar at the door and
be on her way like most of the women he knew.

Gabriel lay between life and death for several
days. He would worsen and all would fear he would die, and then he
showed signs of improvement.

Lady Wythe and her entourage showed up at the
end of the second week. Tieghan stayed at the house now, watching
over Gabriel night and day.

No word had been sent to the Countess yet. Lady
Wythe threatened the staff to silence over her son’s condition and
was firmly ensconced in his sickroom.

Arianne sat with her son while he lay
unconscious, her sorrowful gaze catching Tieghan’s grim
expression.

“I want her to pay,” Lady Wythe snarled in a
menacing voice. “If my son dies, you will promise me she will not
get away with what she has done! How many have to die until she
gets what she wants?”

“Nicholas has handled it already,” Tieghan said
wearily.

“Where was he when my son got shot?” Arianne
wailed in distress.

“Nicholas was protecting his wife from the same
people!” Tieghan snapped angrily finally. “He cannot be in both
places at once! Gabriel knew the risks! We warned him countless
times to take care. You know he is not one to listen to
reason.”

Lady Wythe looked contrite, tears filling her
eyes. “I’m sorry. I have no right laying the blame upon Nicholas. I
know who is to blame for all this! I knew she would be the death of
him one day!”

Tieghan said nothing more. He knew nothing he
could say would console Gabriel’s mother. She had always feared
this day, knowing Lilly meant her son harm.

Tieghan had sensed the same malignancy in Lilly
when she was seeing Nicholas, a sort of premonition his Captain was
involved with someone dangerous.

He had warned Nicholas to be wary of his mystery
lady, and he had been as right as Lady Wythe. It was little
consolation for them now.

“She will be back here when she learns of this,”
Arianne said with fresh tears in her eyes. “You must promise me you
will not let her near him or I will kill her myself!”

“You must let Nicholas handle this, Lady
Arianne,” he promised. “We will not let her near him now, you have
my word.”

“Where is my grandson?” she asked as she wiped
her tears.

“With his mother,” Tieghan replied tautly.

“Gabriel will not like that at all!” Arianne
said tightly, her dark eyes filled with displeasure. “The boy
belongs here.”

“Would you rather see the Countess get her hands
upon Giles while Gabriel is in this state?”

“She wouldn’t dare take him now!”

“She has absolute rights to the child, my lady,”
he said quietly. “I think you realize if it comes to it, you may
wish to be on better terms with Catherine.”

Arianne considered his words and nodded, her
dark eyes filled with grief. She looked down at her son, pain in
her face to see him struggling to live.

“If my son dies, Catherine is to take their son
as far away from here as she can get, Tieghan,” she said in a
wavering voice as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Gabriel would want
that. He did love her deeply. He told me of it in one of his
letters before she disappeared. He told me he wished to marry her
when he was free of Lillianne. He wanted my blessing. I did not
give it to him.”

Tieghan didn’t know what to say to that.

“I should have given him that freedom to choose
his heart,” Lady Wythe said as she wiped at her tears. “Perhaps if
I had, he would have gotten free of Lillianne.”

Tieghan felt Lady Wythe blamed herself unduly.
“He makes his own decisions, my lady. Something tells me he would
have done what he wished without your blessing. You mustn’t blame
yourself.”

Arianne smiled as she looked back at her son.
“You are right. He is so much like his father. He never listened to
me either.”

Tieghan was glad when Maggie returned. He felt
uncomfortable knowing Gabriel had meant to do the right thing by
Catherine from the start. He would keep such information to
himself. All it would do is make Nicholas feel even guiltier and
encourage Catherine’s feelings for Gabriel.