Chapter Four

Adam overstepped himself. Every minute he stayed in London, every whisper of Lily’s name, pressed that fundamental fact deeper into his skin. And, knowing a great many people in London, he heard a great many whispers.

One of them from Lord Breeding at the club, expressing his pleasure that Adam’s wife had accepted an invitation to their dinner party. If the old lecher had not proceeded to ask a series of increasingly inappropriate questions about Adam’s rein on his wife and whether theirs was a happy and fulfilling marriage, Adam might not have given the soiree a second thought. However much she hated him, he would not abandon her to the disrespect of this reprobate. Lily deserved better. From the distasteful lord and from Adam.

Now, if only he lasted the night without upending his drink on Lord Breeding’s vile head. Despite his history in the navy, Adam was not a violent man. He’d witnessed enough carnage for one lifetime. However, if that cad touched his wife, he’d make an exception. Or he’d revert to his usual method of revenge when dealing with the rubbish who mistreated those under their care. A word in the right ears and Lord Breeding’s investments would fail overnight.

Adam didn’t do that sort of thing anymore. Before he’d offered for Lily, he’d squared away enough blunt to hold them for life—at least, until it had been claimed along with her dowry by her so-called friend Chatterley. However, for Lily, he’d resolved to retire and he’d held to that unspoken vow, working honest jobs over the four years it had taken to scrounge the money together to purchase the estate he would use to make amends to the only woman he had ever loved. He didn’t regret the menial labor, nor the backbreaking work to build Lily’s future. With her, he lacked for nothing.

“Mr. Adam Darling,” the butler announced.

The chatter of the two dozen occupants of Lord Breeding’s sitting room ceased abruptly. Adam feigned confidence as he swaggered into the room. He scanned the guests, his mouth as dry as chalk. Where is she?

There. Lily stood between two older women, the pair pressing her for information. Her complexion blanched, her freckles like pepper against her snow-white cheeks. Even from across the room, he was enraptured by the emerald of her eyes. She had always been unforgettable. And she looked near fainting. Their eyes locked for an impossibly long moment as the stirrings of conversation resumed. Her lips parted around his name. The sound didn’t reach his ears, but he felt it in his bones. Lily. He swallowed hard and turned away.

Lady Breeding laid her gloved hand on his sleeve. “Mr. Darling, how splendid of you to join us! I thought you were held up on business.”

Was that the excuse Lily had delivered on his behalf? He should be thankful she hadn’t pronounced him dead. He met Lady Breeding’s predatory curiosity with a practiced smile and bowed over her hand. “And miss one of your famed dinner parties, my lady? I could not possibly.”

Lady Breeding towed him away by the arm like an errant toddler. When he cast a glance over his shoulder toward Lily, betrayal burned in her eyes. That look promised retribution.

He should have warned her. Now, unless he wanted to cause a stir, it was far too late.

Turning his back on the woman he had vowed to protect tonight, he applied himself to charming the hosts—and keeping Lord Breeding far away from his wife. Nevertheless, despite the banal conversation he carried on with half an ear, he couldn’t push Lily far enough from his thoughts to focus on the people in front of him. What he wouldn’t give for a moment alone with her.

“Mr. Darling, are you listening?”

He blinked, returning to the moment and attending to the woman on the hostess’s far side. How had Lady Breeding introduced her? He’d been too preoccupied by the garish yellow of her dress and the plume extending proudly from the crest of her turban to take note.

“Forgive me, madam, I was woolgathering.”

The woman snapped her fan open and shut, clearly perturbed that her wardrobe alone wasn’t enough to hold his attention. “Don’t tell me business consumes you even now.”

He gave her his most devilish smile, the one that used to charm investors into lining his pockets. “’Tis an unfortunate reality, and why I haven’t had time of late to attend these delightful evenings.”

Lady Breeding tsked under her breath. “What a pity. I haven’t seen you in so long I was beginning to think you’d left poor Mrs. Darling a widow.”

He placed his hand over his heart, a convenient movement that pulled his arm out from her clutches. “I assure you, I would never leave my wife so bereft.”

A small, mousy-looking man with a balding pate and thick spectacles squinted at him. “Oh? What is it you do that keeps you so busy?”

“Ednam,” the woman chided. “He hasn’t given me an answer yet.”

Adam frowned. “An answer? Forgive me, I didn’t catch the question.”

The woman twittered delicately as she fanned herself. “I said my dear Ednam and I are having an unveiling the Tuesday after next. I’ve heard you’ve been to Egypt on business. Can we count on your attendance?”

Adam would rather wade through the muck of the Thames than subject himself to the scrutiny of a peer.

“It will be our pleasure.”

Adam had dreamed of that voice for far too many nights not to recognize it instantly. What was Lily playing at? As he fought to keep his expression neutral, the hairs on the back of his neck lifted. Don’t turn. She slid into place at his side as if tailored for him. He couldn’t resist sneaking a sideways glance. His wife was the fiercest, most capable woman in the room, evidenced by her posture. Despite the fact that those in the circle did their level best to skewer her with their eyes, she raised her chin and met the gaze of everyone present.

Such a bold introduction stirred the nest of vipers. Despite his mousy appearance, the little man chuckled. “My dear, I’m afraid it’s a closed event. Scholars only.”

Lily flushed scarlet—much the color, he imagined, that Lord Ednam’s blood would paint the drawing room. Her glare threatened violence. Fearful that she would darken the man’s daylights, Adam claimed her hand. He unfurled her fingers and laid them over his arm. Don’t do anything rash. Confidence was born of calm, not anger.

He couldn’t fathom why she’d accepted the invitation on their behalf, but he would support her through this mad scheme even if he didn’t know its end.

“I’ll have you know, I am a master at jewel identification.”

The confidence in her voice warmed him. The fact that she celebrated her achievements, when once she had regurgitated excuses and hidden in the shadows, made him proud. Had he played some small role in nurturing that air of competence? He would sleep easier knowing he’d brought her something other than anguish and regret.

The turbaned lady scoffed. “He said scholars, darling. Egyptologists. If we wish to purchase another trinket, we’ll let you know.”

Reflexively, Adam tightened his hand over Lily’s, pinning her at his side. Her anger boiled hot in the tension of her body. He tempered it with a cool lift of his eyebrow. “Apparently you don’t number yourself among them, or you might recognize my wife’s name. She contributes often to the popular scientific journals. Perhaps you don’t read them.”

Beneath his hand, Lily’s grip slackened. She opened her mouth, then shut it, her expression turning steely once more.

The pair squirmed. Even Lady Breeding, her mouth agape, looked uncomfortable. Not once did an apology fall from their lips. In a tight voice, the woman he presumed to be Lady Ednam—either the little man’s wife or his sister—said, “We hadn’t realized. It’s impossible to put a face to the name.”

The arrogant little lord flared his nostrils. “And so irregular for a woman’s opinion to be accepted to the journals.”

“And equally irregular for a woman to read them, wouldn’t you say?” Lily’s smile was cutting. She paused, letting the barb sink deeper before adding, “And I believe the journals accept only facts presented through research.”

Not the slightest tremor betrayed the lie, nor her expression. Adam had never been so proud.

He slipped his arm from beneath hers in order to plant his palm on the small of her back, preparing to steer her away. “You must have wondered what business I have in Egypt. I assure you, it’s all on my wife’s behalf. I trust she meets your exacting standards?”

The garish woman tripped over her tongue. Her husband leaped to her rescue. “Of course, you are both welcome. Where shall we send the invitation?”

Lily delivered her address on a crisp, if slightly faded, calling card.

The next few minutes, until a lull in the conversation provided them the excuse they needed to slip away, passed in agony. The warmth of Lily’s body beneath her dress drove him to the brink of madness. He hadn’t touched her in too long. But the middle of a peer’s parlor was not the ideal place for a reunion, even if it forced her to be civil. Adam didn’t want an empty marriage, picturesque from afar but a nightmare from within. He wanted Lily. Warm, playful, resilient Lily.

So the moment the opportunity presented itself, he herded her into a vacant room. Leaving the door open a crack to allow for light to filter through, he drew her into the private space and turned to face her. On another day, he might have pulled her into his arms and reintroduced himself to her the way he’d longed to do in the jeweler’s shop—pressed hip to hip, chest to chest. Mouth to mouth.

Was it a trick of the dim light, or was she swaying toward him?

“Why are you here, Adam?”

For you.

She sounded resigned. Words wouldn’t mend her poor opinion of him. Neither would passion, as loath as he was to admit it. “Perhaps you ought not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Now that I’ve saved your venture, tell me what mess I’ve stepped into. Why are you so interested in gaining access to Lord Ednam’s house?”

She staggered onto the hem of her gown in her haste to be rid of him. When he reached out to steady her, she batted away his help. After taking a healthy step away, she shook out her skirts, checking for damage. And, conveniently, avoiding his gaze.

Bereft, he flexed his hand and returned it to his side, but he didn’t let her leave the room. “I think I deserve an answer.”

She straightened like a whip. “Why?”

“I lied for you.”

“You lied to me, as well.”

Hell and damnation. Had she taken the step forward, or had he? Regardless, they’d closed the distance until her angry breaths tickled the underside of his jaw. He ached for her, to have and to hold.

“I’ve never lied to you.” Lily was, perhaps, the one woman to whom he had shown his true self. Even during his days in the navy, he’d hidden the grudge fed by his circumstances, the truth of his heritage, how much the violence had sickened him.

“You robbed me blind!”

The strangled words cut him deep. That, he couldn’t deny.

“I’m sorry. I’d like to make amends.”

How he choked out that much, he didn’t know. For four years, he’d practiced eloquent speeches of remorse, but now that the time had come, words failed him.

She turned on her heel, brushing against him as she departed. “Then do it by removing yourself from my company. Forever.”

He caught her by the arm, stalling her retreat. After he’d vowed to protect her, he couldn’t walk away without answers. Not even at her behest. She might be in danger from far more than a lecherous old man.

“Tell me, Lily. Or so help me I will show up at that mummy unveiling and find out for myself.”

She pulled away again, another step back into the shadows. “You c-can’t.”

Although her expression couldn’t betray her emotions, the stutter in her voice did. If she thought him the worst sort of scoundrel, he would use her poor opinion to his advantage. However, when he crowded her against the wall, he wasn’t prepared for how her nearness would affect him.

She smelled like home. A subtle, floral scent that teased him in the dark. The brush of her chest against his tempted him to press closer. In the past, if they’d found themselves in an empty room together, the conversation would have subsisted more of subtext than speech. His dominant position roused every carnal desire he’d buried for the past four years.

Not that Lily had ever acted submissive to him. No, she’d challenged him in and out of the bedchamber. He’d never met a woman more his equal, more a partner.

“I will.” He would do whatever it took to protect his partner—for better or for worse. Even if he was four years too late.

For a moment, nothing but hesitation and the quick pants of her breath filled the air between them. However, she must have sensed his resoluteness, because she whispered, “It’s complicated.”

“I’ve been called many names, but never an imbecile.”

As she squeezed between him and the wall, putting space between them, the length of her body brushed against his. Soft. Warm. Irresistible—and unattainable. When she wrapped her arms around herself, he bracketed her shoulders with his hands.

“What trouble have you found yourself in?”

“What makes you think I’m in trouble?”

“If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be nearly so secretive.”

His guess hit its mark, because she leaned forward. For one heart-stopping moment, he thought she would welcome his embrace. However, if he was to win her favor, it would not be in a moment of defeat. Not even the strongest woman could stand against the world without someone to support her.

“My…my friend, Reid…”

Adam dropped her shoulders as if scalded. “What about him?” He bit off the words. Four years ago, that man had cost him everything. If he ever crossed paths with that wretch again…

“He bought the shop and house. He holds my livelihood in his hands. He wants…”

Ice froze his veins solid. His future depended on her next words. If she told him that Reid Chatterley was blackmailing her for her favors…Adam would commit murder. No questions, no regrets, even if it led to the hangman’s noose.

She shoved at his chest. “He wants the artifact he would have had if you hadn’t stolen from his family. In fact, he’s demanding I turn thief and steal it.”

He’s stolen far more than that from me. To Lily, Adam was the blackguard. She wouldn’t believe his accusations, especially not when the man had bought up her family’s debts.

“You still call this man a friend?”

She flinched, pulling away. The light filtering in from the doorway lit her grimace. “You ruined his life. You ruined mine.”

“I never stole any artifact from him.”

“Perhaps not, but you stole from his family all the same.”

Swindled, perhaps. It wasn’t nearly the same as what Chatterley had done to Lily, an innocent. Clenching his fists, Adam blew out a long breath. “If I’ve wronged you both, then you won’t protest my help.”

She recoiled, her back hitting the door and slamming it shut. “Your help?”

“Yes.” He savored the word, his voice silky with promise. “If you’re bent on diving down the path to perdition, then I’m damn well going to help you.”

“Not if I have any say.”

He unfurled her clenched hand and tucked a card inside. “My address, in case you change your mind.”

Her eyes glinted. “Don’t hold your breath. I wouldn’t accept your help if you were the last man in London.”