Wicked Deception (15 page)

She nodded and grimaced. “You don’t
know the half of it Uncle.”

“
What’s the problem with
your husband?” Devlin demanded, tossing down a shot of whiskey, his
eyes boring into hers. “Why is he not here with his wife and
children as he should be? Is he a bounder?”

“
No!” she was quick to
reassure him when she saw his anger flare once more. “We’ve had
problems; that’s all.”

“
Would that problem be Lord
Iverleigh?” he asked perceptively and she looked away from his
knowing expression.

“
Is it that
obvious?”

“
For all eyes to see, lass,”
he told her and sighed. “Which one do you want?”

She didn’t answer; couldn’t answer. Her
Uncle snorted in disgust and poured another shot and tossed it back
in a flourish. “No wonder yer husband is actin’ the fool. Ye want
them both!”

“
I love my husband,” she
insisted and wrung her hands. “I have feelings for Lord Iverleigh
as well. I can’t tell you how difficult this has been.”

“
For you or for them?”
Devlin asked and laughed at her angry expression.

“
For all of us,
Uncle.”

“
Cat, I know yer grown and
don’t need me to tell ye what to do, but the choice is
obvious.”

She expected this. He might have run
away and left his former life as an Irish Lord but he was a
gentleman at heart. “I know what I must do.”

“
I’ll help ye if I can, but
ye have to quit playin’ with both these men,” he counseled and she
cringed at the guilt she felt. “Ye have to put Iverleigh out of yer
life, once and for all. I know ye feel like you were meant to be
but it didn’t end up that way for you both, lass.”

“
I love him too, Uncle!” she
cried resentfully and felt tears stinging in the back of her eyes.
“Do you think I want to be in love with two men, always forced to
chose, and never being able to?”

Devlin sipped his whiskey. His look was
sad. “Ye might lose them both, Cat. Yer husband is already out the
door and Iverleigh expects you to run into his arms. Ye have to
make a choice and stick to it, once and for all.”

Catherine looked miserable. Her Uncle
was right. A choice had to be made for all of them and she had to
do it. “When will it ever stop hurting? I think of not being with
Gabriel and I can’t bear it. The thought of losing Nicholas makes
me feel that way too.”

Devlin patted her hand. “I wish I could
tell ye what to do, lass. Ye been through too much in yer life. I
think that bullet jingled somethin’ loose if ye think the way
you’re livin’ is good for ye.”

It was time she put the past behind
her. “I can’t make anyone happy with this choice, Uncle. Someone
will be hurt, either way I go.”

“
Listen to yer heart,
Cat.”

“
My heart has led me down
too many rabbit holes, Uncle,” she allowed with a sniff of
despair.

Devlin raised an eyebrow. “Then use yer
head. Which of these men loves ye the most? Which one accepts ye
the most? Ye have the answer in front of ye.”

Catherine thought of her Uncle’s words
long after she retired. After Jenny helped her undress and she
washed her makeup off, she sat in front of the fireplace, her hand
unconsciously going to her diamond heart pendant. Tears filled her
eyes as she thought of the outcome.

~ ~ ~

Devlin swore from the pain. His hands
paid for the bout he endured earlier. Though he might have won, it
cost him. The hands that were his livelihood were failing him. His
career was soon to be over. He faced it with a good natured grin as
he took another shot of whiskey. It was a good run. It was time to
get back home and set his brother’s house to rights. His nephews
needed him. By the looks of it, his niece did too.

Devlin hurt to know how Catherine’s
life was turned up down by Lilly these last years. A part of him
felt guilty to know he’d run rather than expose her for what she
was to his brother. He had not trusted his eldest brother James
would believe his angelically beautiful daughter capable to
proposition her own Uncle.

Lilly did the same to Aidan. He learned
of it when his younger brother arrived in New York on his heels the
following summer. He reflected she’d done it to get rid of them
both. Lilly always hated them. They saw through her as their
brother didn’t.

Devlin thought of the nobles
who circled his niece and her husband now. His expression grew
dark.
There was only one way to skin an
Englishman,
he thought with a cold smile.
He wanted in on whatever Van Ryker and Iveleigh planned. He owed it
to his niece to see her safe.

She had to do her part and put both men
out of their misery. He didn’t envy her the choice she made this
night. He grinned, knowing what that would be. Iverleigh would have
been the obvious choice with his breeding and background and the
fact he was Catherine’s legal betrothed before all this mess
occurred.

The smuggler made him uneasy. He
couldn’t argue the reverent look in his eyes when he looked at
Catherine. He would forgive his niece anything, unlike the nobleman
who had her heart first. Nicholas would have been James last choice
for his daughter. What did his saintly older brother know? He
wasn’t here to see the obvious fact the sea captain worshiped
Catherine more than his own life.

He had his own problems. He frowned to
think of the price on his head should he return to Dublin. The
years had not forgiven his debt. The men he cheated long ago would
seek him, he feared.

He remembered how he’d snuck back to
his rooms in Dublin long ago and pried up the floorboard. The money
he retrieved was all he had in the world. He booked passage on the
first ship bound for America after he healed from the beating that
night.

A grimace crossed his handsome, bruised
features. He threw the fight for money. The pugilist battered him
until he was bloody and he allowed it. He staggered out of the ring
when he woke in the dust to collect his payment from Mr. Grimes,
the man who paid him to throw the fight.

He sold his integrity for a thousand
pounds. His older brother James would have shook his head in
disgust to know that was cheap. His lips twisted
bitterly.

Devlin was twenty-two then and full of
his own piss. He’d been on his own for two years. Working on the
docks gave him a brawny leanness. Then he met Corby, who saw him as
a fighter and became his trainer.

The fights made more in one night than
he made as a dock worker in a year. How he wished he’d never run
away as he cringed from what happened next. He should have appealed
to Lady Brionne on his behalf then. She had always known Lilly was
evil. The girl’s father was the last to see it.

James was fifteen years older, always
acting more like a father than a brother. He felt stifled then. His
older brother ran him and Aidan in those days. He was a Viscount in
his own right but it came with nothing. His brother was heir to
all. His destiny was being told what to do by James.

Devlin’s eyes darkened when he
remembered his eighteen-year old niece Lilly cornering him in the
barn that night, throwing herself at him boldly. He was disgusted
by it and pushed her away. She threatened to tell her father he
forced her if he didn’t go to her bed. He packed up that night and
left rather than endure her twisted machinations. Soon the girl
turned her wiles upon Aidan. He ran rather than deal with it
too.

Devlin thought of how he’d fallen in
love with Doreen Flaherty at first glance. He was making a name for
himself in Dublin with his fights then. When he saw her, he was
lost, not seeing the treachery in her beautiful violet eyes. She
tormented him with her lush body and ripe innocence. He was so
besotted he hadn’t seen the gleam of triumph in her gaze when he
declared his feelings for her.

He believed all her pretty lies, taken
in by her father and brother as well. He threw the fight to buy her
father’s debt from the same money lenders. Once they had his purse,
they fled. He was left behind to pay for what he did for her.
Doreen used him to get the money, nothing more.

He glared at the bottle as he soaked
his hand, remembering how he staggered to their rented rooms after
the bout to find them gone. He was caught leaving by the men who
financed the fight. Just remembering being tied to the chair in
that abandoned warehouse made him cringe.

He remembered them throwing water in
his face to revive him. He was beaten far worse than his opponent
had beaten him that night. When he thought them done with him, they
retrieved the large hammer and broke both his hands. He blacked out
then.

Devlin woke and used a shard of glass
nearby to saw through the ropes to free himself. He could barely
see through his swollen eyes as he staggered away, knowing they
would come back. They had and chased him through the city. He went
to Corby then.

Corbin O’Connell was disgusted with him
for what he’d done for the treacherous brunette. He almost turned
him away. The old man took him in, pitying him for being taken in
by the girl and her family. He hid him while he healed, declaring
he would never fight again. They learned the money lenders put a
price on his head.

Learning that, Devlin took his chances
on a ship bound for America. His eyes grew cold when he thought of
the lies he wrote to his family of what a success he was in
America. He found nothing but disdain for his Irish heritage. Work
was scarce as well.

Fighting was his only way out of
poverty. He fought his way back, saving every bit of money he won,
knowing his career would end when his hands finally gave out. He
believed it was tonight, when he spied his niece and sent the last
punch to drop the towering Grant.

He felt his hand snap. Now it swelled
to such a degree, he knew he would never fight again. The money he
made in the last ten years was all he had to his name and an empty
title of gentleman which was worthless in itself. James’ heir, his
son Jaime, inherited all. His estate was a dilapidated manor on the
property next to Dunleavy.

It was always James wish to restore the
small manor to its original state for him and his family one day.
Thanks to Lilly, it was never to be. He took some measure of
satisfaction knowing Brionne was right about Lilly all along. His
brother had never seen her deceit, only the angelic face of his
first wife, Mary.

~ ~ ~

The Duke smiled as he tossed the
damning evidence into the hearth. He was free of Van Ryker’s
threats. His brown eyes narrowed when he considered Dartmouth’s
erratic behavior of late. The man was sure to be caught. His lips
tightened when he thought of his boldness in snatching women off
the street to ease his sadistic lusts.

Francis was relieved his beloved little
sister Eunice fled her husband for Wales. It tormented him to think
of anything befalling her. He just returned from Dartmouth’s
townhouse during one of his little parties. His eyes filled with
disgust when he found the others in their little group there as
well.

Lord Weldon and Lord Billingsley were
there enjoying their own amusements with the children they brought
with them. Dartmouth dragged the frightened girl he abducted
upstairs to his rooms. He found the scene repugnant and realized
that if he was to keep his own secrets, he must take care of the
others.

A series of accidents would alert
Dartmouth to his plans, he knew. His lips drew into a sneer as he
contemplated the fates of Weldon, Farwell, and Billingsley. The
outcry over their deaths and inevitable inquiry would raise too
many questions. He knew the moment Seaton confessed to telling
Iverleigh of Nan’s murder that all was set in motion. Dartmouth was
furious and killed Seaton, dumping him into the Thames.

His brown eyes grew thoughtful.
Iverleigh denied any knowledge of Nan. He was satisfied Seaton
lied, thinking it would keep him alive a bit longer. He knew
Gabriel was just like his father, Giles St. Armand. The man was
honorable to a fault. Gabriel had no fondness for either Seaton or
Dartmouth as well. He would have gone to the authorities if he had
known of the murder as Seaton claimed.

Now that Van Ryker’s wife was free of
her husband, he needn’t worry about Iverleigh looking any further.
His eyes narrowed when he thought of Nicholas’s threats. He already
hired the man who would kill him. The whole matter would be
resolved.

He set up a plausible explanation for
Weldon and Billingsley’s absence. Dartmouth would not be alerted
when the pair disappeared. They would be believed to have gone to a
weekend party in the country.

Weldon and Billingsley would be set
upon when they left Dartmouth’s this night. He would deal with
Dartmouth and the Countess. It was Dartmouth’s idea to take the
Countess out of prison at the last minute. He was responsible for
keeping her hidden now.

He smiled as he sat in the leather
chair in front of the fireplace, eyes glittering with triumph. Soon
none would know about the graveyard of secrets at Dartmouth’s
country estate, and he would be free to continue his
pursuits.

He’d been denied too long. The
restlessness within him was strong. He need only wait. Dartmouth
was a complication he’d not foreseen. The man was retiring to the
country after this night to spend time with Lady
Iverleigh.