Queen of Hearts: Lords of Scandal Read online

  Club’s jaw hardened further chest puffing out. “I know what happens to girls like that if no one takes care of them.”

  Arabella heard the raw hurt in his voice, hidden in the depths of his baritone. Any emotion from this man surprised her. “Do you?”

  He didn’t look at her, still staring straight ahead. “I had a friend. When her father was disgraced, she ended up auctioned off to pay his debts.”

  Arabella’s mouth opened and then closed again. She’d heard of such things, though she’d never worried about them. “Auctioned for marriage?” That’s when Arabella noticed his fists clenched under his folded arms, his knuckles nearly white with the force of it.

  “Something like that,” he answered, shifting. “Edgemere’s sister has that look of vulnerability. As though the world would trample her if someone didn’t protect her.”

  Arabella’s brows lifted. Clubs did not sound like a man set to do ill by Lizzie. In fact, he sounded downright protective. “She’s about as nice as a woman can be.”

  Clubs looked at her then, his brown eyes crinkled in question. “Really? I’ve not actually met her.”

  “I see,” she said wanting to comfort him in this moment. He seemed legitimately worried. “But you needn’t worry about the world trampling her. Chance’s wife has taken her under her wing and I—”

  She stopped as a knock sounded at the door. Then a second and finally a third. Rushing to the door, Arabella threw open the lock.

  Edge nearly fell into the room, his body stumbling into hers. She stepped back, planting her foot, to hold him up as she nearly collapsed under his weight. Her arms wrapped about him as she held him to her body, nearly crying out in relief.

  Just behind her, Clubs closed the door, clicking the lock in place again.

  He stayed in her arms, not straightening up. She attempted to look over at his face, as she held him in her arms.

  “Edge?” she asked, fear making her voice tight. The side of his face pressed to hers and she could feel the blood as she gripped him tighter. “Edge?” she asked again, even louder.

  “I’m all right,” he answered, his voice sounded flat and weak. “I got a good knock to the head and a decent cut, but I’m not hurt any worse than that.”

  “What happened?” she asked as she wrapped her arms tighter about him, guiding him toward a chair.

  He sat down, his weight landing heavily on the seat as he gingerly touched his injury. Standing next to him, she gently tilted her head to the side to inspect the wound herself. Pulling a kerchief from her pocket, she wiped away as much blood as she could, revealing the nasty bruise underneath.

  “I followed Sir Thomas until he must have realized, and then he doubled back and jumped me. I had him pinned, but then someone else gave me a good knock to the head.”

  “He had help,” Clubs said.

  Edge nodded, his gaze coming to hers. “I’m surprised they didn’t kill me. But when I finally woke up, I was alone, but I had the hack drive me all over London just to make certain I wasn’t followed. That’s why it’s taken so long.”

  Her breath caught. Even injured, he’d been trying to protect the club. Keep her safe. She reached for his hand, holding his fingers in hers. If Clubs weren’t there, she would have pressed his palm to her cheek.

  “Do you know where you were when they attacked you?”

  “Yes,” Edge answered. “My guess is that Sir Thomas was on his way to another late-night meeting that I happened upon.”

  That realization made Arabella’s stomach churn. When she and Edge had overheard the thieves, she’d feared that Sir Thomas wasn’t just a thief with a few associates but part of something much larger. The sort of organization that might crush a person like her. How could she man the club on her own if she and an entire group of lords couldn’t manage it? And what happened to her future if this venture failed?

  Somehow, the dress shop wasn’t enough to fill her life. Make it whole.

  “Mine too,” Clubs answered. “Get cleaned up and have a bit of rest and then we can go to the location and see if we can find anything. I’ll meet you back here at eight o’clock.”

  Edge gave a nod as he looked up to Arabella. “Normally I’d escort you home, but I’m worried about Lizzie too. I need to go home first.”

  “You think someone might hurt her?” Clubs stepped closer, his voice holding a menacing tone that had Arabella studying him again.

  “I don’t want to take any chances,” Edge said.

  She understood. And much as she appreciated his wish to protect her too, she didn’t need the help nearly as much as Lizzie. “I’m coming with you,” Arabella said, helping him to his feet.

  He shook his head as he stood, bracing himself against the chair. “You should go home and get some sleep.”

  “I will,” she said, slipping her arm about his waist. “But we’ve a few things to discuss first.”

  He didn’t argue as the three of them started for the back door.

  Arabella knew few things for certain. Until all of this was over, she and Edge were a team. And she’d protect him the way he’d been taking care of her. And Lizzie, she’d need Arabella’s help too.

  Edge slumped into Arabella’s carriage, breathing a sigh of relief as his back met the cushioned seat. Rather than sit across from him, Arabella pressed into his side as she reached up a hand and brushed back his hair. “Are you ready to talk?”

  He closed his eyes as he let out a long sigh. He just wanted to touch her. His head throbbed and his body ached, but she felt so good against him. “Any chance we can wait until tomorrow…or later today? Although, I suppose it’s tomorrow already.”

  “No chance,” she answered softly. “It’s about you, me, and Lizzie and it needs to all be said now.”

  His eyes popped open at that. “What about her and us?”

  She drew in a shuddering breath. “You asked me to care for her if something happened to you.”

  “I did.” A need to protect both of them made his head clear as he looked into Bella’s beautiful eyes.

  “And I heard those men, they think I’m the weak link that will allow them to rob the club.” She gave a small tremble against his side and his arm automatically tightened around her.

  He didn’t answer as he waited for her to finish.

  “That club is my future.” Her spine stiffened with each word.

  That statement puzzled him, or perhaps that was the blow to the head. With friends like Chance and Hart, she could have any business she cared to undertake, he was certain they’d stake her. “It’s a dangerous future.”

  She licked her lips and rested her hand on his chest. The intimacy of the embrace made his body clench in awareness and his hand came to cover hers. It wasn’t just about his physical reaction… Bella was the person he wanted next to him in a moment like this. “I’ve never told anyone this, not even Chance or East, but I was sold the club at a quarter of its value by my half-brothers.”

  The air left Edge’s lungs as he turned to her. “Brothers?”

  She gave a nod, a ghost a smile touching her lips. “I thought for sure you were going to comment on the value.”

  He leaned back, realizing that she had wildly undersold him. His share was worth four times what they’d agreed upon. And despite Lizzie’s stake in his share, he was proud of Arabella and the way she’d undercut him. The woman was smart as hell and had the fortitude to play a bluff all the way. “That can be another conversation. You have brothers? I had no idea.” What else didn’t he know about her?

  She chewed her lower lip. “I haven’t seen them since the sale; though they have written, I haven’t read the letters. I told them that I didn’t want to be part of their lives. In fact, I made them swear not to tell anyone of our connection. Even when East went to visit them, he didn’t know they are my relations.”

  “So Chance, Hart, and East know you bought the club from your lords, but they have no idea that those lords are your family?”

&nbsp
; “That’s right,” she said drawing in a deep breath as she shivered against him. “The fact is, they’re lords and…”

  “Lords?”

  “A duke and an earl,” she said.

  He didn’t ask how brothers could be both a duke and an earl. “And they came to you because?”

  “They didn’t want the club anymore and they wanted to help me in some way, knowing how our father had abandoned me. They’re trying to right his wrongs, I suppose.” Her fingers spread out on his chest, lightly massaging his skin. His body ached for more, but he held still.

  “So, that club is your birthright?”

  She looked down then, her eyes cast toward their laps. “It’s the only thing that wasn’t given to me by Chance and Hart. I’ve enough pride to wish to make the club my livelihood.”

  He wanted to protest.

  Bella was so strong, but she was in danger. Her blue eyes rose to meet his again. “My dream was to buy out everyone’s stake and own the club for myself. I didn’t have enough money in the beginning. Even at the reduced price, the sale from my dress shop would have never covered it.”

  She was so close…he wrapped his arms about her waist. “That was your dream?”

  “I know I can’t defeat a man like Sir Thomas on my own and I’m not sure how I’ll manage the next thief either. Even I can see that.”

  He understood her fears. He lifted a hand to cup her face. “I’m here to help you.” Not because of the money, he silently added. Or even Lizzie. Much as he loved his sister. He wanted to help Bella because she needed it and somewhere along the way, he needed her. She filled the void that had existed in his life for so long.

  “I’m here to help you too,” she answered, drifting even closer. “I can’t care for the club right now, not like you can. I know that. But I can help you with Lizzie.”

  He jolted under her touch. “Help me with Lizzie?”

  “You said that you wanted me to care of her if something happened to you?”

  He nodded, emotion welling in his chest that dulled even the ache in his temple.

  “While you’re investigating for me, you and Lizzie should live in my home. I’m going to stay away from the club as much as I can while you take care of Sir Thomas. That means I can protect her. We’ll help each other.”

  That offer made him ache with tender emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. He’d been alone for so long, making all the hard decisions without anyone else. Even when he’d been married, Mary had not been his partner. Not like this, not even close. In fact, she’d been one more person he failed. “Bella.”

  Her gaze searched his face. “Is that a yes?”

  He barely nodded before he captured her lips with his own. He’d promised himself after the last time that he’d not kiss her again but, in this moment, he never wanted to stop.

  A desire deep inside him cried out for a real partner. A woman who would not just provide financial stability, but emotionally ground him. Give support when he needed it. The past several years had been so difficult.

  As her lips moved against his, he lost himself in her touch, her embrace. She slid her hands up his chest, locking them about his neck and drawing him even closer.

  Parting her lips with his, he swept his tongue into her mouth, tasting the sweetness of her tongue, her lips until he was as drunk as he’d been on the brandy. With her body pressed to his, he slid his other hand down over her backside to cup a cheek and press her closer still.

  They both groaned.

  Edge wished his mind would work. He wanted to find a way to make Arabella his and keep her forever, but he was too lost in the embrace to think an intelligent thought. Instead, he just felt.

  The kiss went on and on until the carriage pulled to stop. Lifting her head, Arabella’s breath was shallow as she parted the curtain. “We’re at your house.”

  His house. He hated that place with its dilapidated walls and musty furniture. It stank of failure. His and the men who’d held the title before him.

  But Lizzie was inside and so gingerly, he eased Bella off his chest. “I need to check on my sister.”

  Arabella nodded, turning about and then reaching for the door. “I’ll come with you.”

  I’ll come with you.

  He held her in his arms a moment longer as he looked down into the depths of her blue eyes. Such simple words and yet they meant so much. As he stepped from the carriage, he took her hand and even after she’d exited, he didn’t let go.

  He didn’t see how he might ever let her go.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Arabella helped Lizzie fill her trunk, Daisy’s borrowed dresses being carefully packed even as they worked quickly to complete the job.

  Arabella had to smile as she loaded the beautiful garments into the trunk. Arabella loved clothes and while her gowns were expertly cut, they were also made of sturdy fabric and suited her choice of profession. They weren’t meant for socializing and crocheting, they were made for a woman who worked.

  On occasion, she wished to dress like a fine lady in silky fabrics meant more for decoration than anything else but that was not her life and never would be.

  Arabella placed a gauzy gown of muslin in the trunk and noted that the piece was old but fine with a rosewood inlay and a brass and leather exterior that spoke of quality. She ran her hand along the top, her fingers brushing the brass label that named the maker and the address. St. James St.

  “It was a gift to my mother from my father,” Lizzie murmured as she gently set her stockings and a chemise into the case. “From a time when we were lower on the social scale but so much richer in life.”

  Arabella swallowed down a lump. She remembered her first impressions of Edge. That he was a titled man who believed the world owed him. How wrong she’d been. In so many ways, she realized that many of her own decisions had been driven by her pride rather than necessity. Edge, however, had set his pride aside long ago to make sure the people he loved were provided for.

  Were her dreams for the club much the same?

  She brushed her fingers over the insignia once again. Helping Lizzie was her opportunity to give to someone else. The emptiness she’d felt of late. The fragile feeling that had filled her. They were gone in this moment as she realized, all of her goals had been to put people at a distance. But really, as she looked at Lizzie and thought about what Edge sacrificed for his sister, she felt…full. “Your brother is going to change that for you. I know it.”

  Lizzie reached for her hand. “I know it, too.” And then the other woman gave her the sort of warm smile that melted Arabella’s heart even more. It spoke of companionship and trust. In many ways, Lizzie was like Daisy. Both women gave freely in a way that Arabella had never allowed herself to.

  Not even to Chance or Hart. And most definitely not to her newly discovered brothers. But Edge…could she open herself fully to him?

  Lizzie asked very few questions as they worked, but her gaze kept straying to Arabella’s, her eyes filled with all the worries she didn’t say out loud.

  Arabella winced as she wondered how much Edge would wish for her to say to his sister.

  Finally, as Arabella closed the lid and straightened, Lizzie cleared her throat. “Are you and my brother getting married?”

  Arabella stumbled back, sucking in a large breath of air. “No. Why would you think that?”

  Lizzie’s brows lifted. “We’re moving into your house.”

  Arabella shook her head. “You should ask Edge. He’ll explain.”

  Lizzie shifted, her arms crossing as she lifter her chin. “Reginald still thinks I’m a child. At least, he attempts to protect me like one. But I’m not. I’m perfectly capable of understanding a great deal. Not the least of which is that he cares for you.”

  Arabella averted her gaze, butterflies beating in her stomach at the words. She liked them far too much. “I’ve no intention of marrying either.” She’d not discuss Edge’s motives with Lizzie, it wasn’t her place. But she could share h
er own. Though she was beginning to reexamine her reasons for why she’d not wed. She’d thought she was protecting herself but perhaps she was really just afraid of the rejection that might come when she opened herself to others. “And your brother needs to marry a dowry to provide—”

  “Pish,” Lizzie said, stopping Arabella. “My brother has been far too long without anything that makes him happy. All he does is give to other people, it’s time he thought of himself.”

  Arabella’s brows rose as her eyes met Lizzie’s again. She had a point. And apparently, selflessness was a family trait that he and his sister shared. “We should go.”

  Lizzie nodded but didn’t move. “Tell me, if this isn’t about you and him, what is it about?”

  Arabella winced as she waved Lizzie forward. “Let’s talk to…Reginald…together.”

  Lizzie smiled. “I usually call him Reggie. Edge sounds far more mysterious, I know, but to me he’ll always be Reggie.”

  Arabella and Lizzie dragged out the trunk together, and Edge met them in the hall to bring the case down the stairs and into the carriage. But the moment they all climbed in, he lay across the seat, and closed his eyes.

  Lizzie worried her lip as she watched her brother, his cut and bruises on full display.

  They reached her home without incident and Arabella had Edge shown to a room where he could rest. She squeezed Lizzie’s hand. “We’ll talk with him as soon as he’s able.” And then Lizzie was seen upstairs too.

  Arabella sat in a chair, next to the fire in her cozy sitting room, knowing she should retire as well. The sun was already rising and she’d yet to sleep, but as she stared into the flames, her mind wouldn’t quiet. Should she have opened herself to her brothers more? To a future marriage? Should she sell the club or keep it?

  And what about Edge? He’d been nothing but clear about what his future would hold, but there was a part of her that wanted to hope.

  Was Lizzie right? And if he would marry for happiness, would Arabella make him happy?