Wicked Deception (27 page)

The large man cleared his throat, his
dark eyes almost amused as he saw her dumbfounded expression. “Mrs.
Van Ryker, I will show you to your rooms now. You must be
tired.”

“
Thank you it has been a
tiresome day. Where is Mr. Roth?”

“
He is working. Nobody
disturbs him when he is working.”

Catherine assumed his ‘work’ was the
notes from the pianoforte she heard echoing beyond. She nodded a
response, trying to deny a certain bit of excitement to see Caspian
Roth again. He was dangerous and uncouth but she did seem to like
men cut from that sort of cloth. Who was she fooling? She found him
utterly fascinating from the moment she met him. Who would not? He
led a remarkable life.

“
I knew your husband. I was
sorry to hear about your loss,” the guard said, going up the stairs
and forcing her and her small entourage to follow.

“
Yes, it was very sudden. I
thank you for that,” she commented appropriately, wondering how
well Ty knew Nicholas. She was dying to ask.

They arrived to a suite of rooms. Ty
opened doors and showed them where they would stay. She appreciated
the fact her brother’s room adjoined hers. Roth found baby
furniture and a nursery was hastily assembled in the sitting room
attached.

The room was huge and inviting, colored
in lilac and pink silk bed hangings. It was a feminine room and the
bed was a confection of the same colors. Fresh flowers sat upon a
bureau and the heavy oak furnishings reeked with opulence and
taste.

A fireplace lined the wall, surrounded
by thick comfortable cream colored chairs. She was too in awe of
all of it and could only nod stupidly as Ty moved on to find
accommodations for her servants. Cullen and Jaime were
rough-housing in the next room, jumping on the beds from the sound
of it. She called out to them to settle down. Silence greeted her
at once.

Brionne was running up and down the
halls giggling. Jenny and the nanny chased her. Devlin sat bemused
in the middle of the bed, his green eyes looking around in wonder.
His finger went to his mouth. She laid Aidan on the bed, grateful
he slept through the transition to Roth’s household without
waking.

Catherine explored the room and was
delighted to find a bathing chamber beyond the sitting room. A bath
sounded delightful after the day she had. The threat of Dartmouth
coming after her finally hit home. She sat on the edge of the
marble enclosed tub and fought a wave of fear.

Each day reminded her she was without
the protection of her husband. With Nicholas she felt safe. Now
that she was alone, she realized how vulnerable she was. Her
responsibilities were enormous and overwhelmed her now. She was
soon to celebrate her twenty-third birthday in a matter of days and
felt decades older than her years.

How was she to make it without him? She
fought the despair. What did she do now? For the first time since
Nicholas died, she realized how alone she was. Nicholas left her
quite wealthy and at least they were not paupers, but the thought
of raising their children alone now brought tears to her eyes.
Their children would never remember their father and for that she
felt sorrow.

Jenny returned and smiled shyly. “We
have rooms at the end of the hall, Mrs. Van Ryker. Can I get you
anything?”

“
Tea would be lovely and I
would like a bath, Jenny.”

“
Can you believe this
place?” her maid whispered and looked stunned. “Who would have
thought it looked like this from the outside?”

Catherine knew Jenny couldn’t have
known who Caspian Roth was and she was relieved. Her maid and
nannies wouldn’t sleep a wink to know they slept under the crime
lord’s roof this night, though in theory, they were the safest
place they could ever be.

Jenny and several male servants toted
water until she had a bath of steaming water. She sunk under the
water as Jenny pressed her dress for dinner. It was a black silk
gown, prettier than the others she had. She knew she chose it for
that reason.

She knew she was infatuated with Roth
as well and felt like a ninny as Jenny did her hair later. When she
dressed she had to admit the black silk complimented her better
than the others. The sleeves were caped and ended at her elbows.
The gown hugged her petite figure and she was relieved Jenny had no
trouble cinching her into her corset. She had disdained them since
Aidan was born and groaned as the maid pulled the laces
tight.

Jenny assured her she looked lovely and
the girl left to see to her children’s dinner. They were excited to
meet Caspian Roth and she refused to allow them to attend dinner
with her. They had grown quite belligerent since living with
Gabriel. She had never had to speak to them twice before. Now they
tested her. Cullen stomped away, mumbling.

Jaime sulked, glaring at her. “I’m not
a baby, Cat.”

“
Just take your dinner with
Jenny and Cullen and don’t sass me Jaime,” she ordered him and
smiled. “I’m very aware you’re not a baby.”

She was grateful when Jaime left
without another argument. Devlin said they needed a strong hand
now, not another servant. It was obvious they were losing respect
and manners living with Gabriel. He was too busy to devote himself
to their needs.

Gabriel agreed to let the boys spend
the next holiday in Ireland with Devlin. Her uncle was gone to
oversea his nephew’s estate. He said if the boys wished to stay on;
it was up to them. For the first time he acknowledged Devlin had
more rights to the boys than he did. Truth be told; his barrister
no doubt informed him of that when Devlin came back into the
picture.

Devlin was relieved Gabriel didn’t
force the issue. He left it up to Jaime and Cullen who they wanted
to live with. That was yet to be decided. Catherine knew they would
be fine regardless who they lived with.

A knock at the door made her jump with
a start. It was Ty, there to escort her to the dining room. She was
obviously disappointed Caspian had not come to collect her and it
showed. Ty’s expression revealed nothing as he led her down the
staircase.

They arrived at an expansive dining
room that could have seated thirty easily. She saw a service set
for only one and frowned as Ty seated her. “Will Mr. Roth be
joining me, Ty?”

“
He is working, Mrs. Van
Ryker,” was the cryptic reply. The hulk then left her bemused as a
small procession of servants entered and served.

After the first course, she was
slightly miffed. They hovered over her, saw to her every need and
the food was exquisite. Ty stood in the doorway with his arms
folded over his massive chest. A pin could have dropped in the
dining room.

When the delicious-looking raspberry
sorbet arrived, she tossed her napkin on the table and pushed back
her chair. Ty regarded her in concern and approached, frowning.
“You do not want the sorbet?” he inquired in surprise. It was the
most emotion she had seen since her arrival. She shook her
head.

“
No, I will skip dessert.
Tell Mr. Roth dinner was lovely,” she replied stiffly and was sure
her irritation was obvious in her tone.

“
You do not like sorbet?”
the man persisted and looked annoyed. “Mr. Roth had it brought in
especially for you. He will not like that you haven’t tried the
dessert.”

Catherine was more than a little
outraged now. For a man who went to such trouble to see to a
fabulous dinner, he was most rude to not have joined her. Now his
servant acted incensed for her not eating the dessert. A gleam of
amusement entered her gaze as she thought of something sure to
annoy her benefactor and offend his servant.

“
Then by all means, let us
all enjoy the sorbet, Ty. I wouldn’t want to disappoint your
employer.” Catherine turned to the maid. “I would like my family
and servants sent for to enjoy dessert.”

“
Mr. Roth had the sorbet
brought in just for you,” Ty interjected as the maid
left.

“
Lovely, you can tell him we
will all appreciate it then,” she replied and sent the guard a
challenging look. “Would you like some of the sorbet as well,
Ty?”

Ty appeared irritated as he left the
dining room. Several minutes later her children and brothers,
servants and nannies were all seated at the dining room table as
Roth’s servants served dessert. Not to be outdone, Catherine
insisted they all sit to enjoy the dessert as well.

She ordered one of the maids to get the
rest of the reluctant household servants. The girl smiled in
delight as she went to do her bidding. By the time Ty returned,
every seat in the dining room was full, sorbet served all
around.

She gazed at the guard with an amused
look. “You can tell Mr. Roth the sorbet was fabulous. Wasn’t it
fabulous everyone?” she asked all those seated and they nodded and
mumbled agreement as they all ate their dessert.

Ty stomped away, disapproval in his
gaze. Catherine felt much better by the time they finished. She
could see the servants all thought her rather odd and realized they
was prepared to serve a queen not a mere sea captain’s widow. She
set her water glass down aware Roth must know her father was an
Earl. He must have thought she expected such treatment.

She had never given off such airs. Her
mother was a commoner. While it touched her that he would be so
thoughtful, she was still bristling at his rudeness for not joining
her. She retired with a vague sense of disappointment. She felt
silly for looking forward to his company now.

“
How did she enjoy the
raspberry sorbet?” Caspian rasped in distraction, never looking up
from his sheet music, his long elegant fingers smudged with
ink.

“
She enjoyed it as did the
rest of the household,” Ty informed him with indignation in his
tone.

Caspian looked up then and frowned.
“She shared it with the servants?”

“
She shared it with
everyone.”

“
Did you have some, Ty?”
Caspian asked in surprise.

“
No, I didn’t.”

“
A pity, you might have told
me how good it was. It cost a bloody fortune to have that made,”
his employer said and shrugged dismissively.

“
I think she was upset you
didn’t join her for dinner,” his guard told him. “She invited
everyone in the house to have dessert with her when I informed her
you were working.”

Caspian chuckled and shook his head.
“What a delightful little minx she is. I suppose she thinks me rude
now?”

“
I wouldn’t
know.”

“
Did she tell you her
opinion of the braised duckling with orange sauce?”

Ty looked incensed. “Why do you care so
much what Mrs. Van Ryker thinks? Since when do you go to so much
trouble for a dinner you don’t even eat?”

“
Since you can’t give me an
assessment of the duckling; I can also assume she never mentioned
the brandied pears? Pity, the cook counted on her approval to get
out of his debt with me. Tell the man he can run. I will give him a
head start before the collectors find him.”

Ty glared at him and stalked from the
room, knowing his employer played with him now.

Caspian wondered at his own behavior
all day when he was informed by Tieghan he was keeping Nicholas’s
family for the night. He ignored the surge of excitement within
him, or how he had snapped his fingers all day to make sure
everything was perfect for her stay.

Catherine refused to stay with
Iverleigh. Tieghan glared at him in dislike before he left. He was
obviously jealous of the time Elise spent with him and it showed.
Only if Catherine’s life was in dire danger would the man have ever
come back here.

The two of them had little to say to
one another after Elise left him. Tieghan expected to fight to get
Elise back. To the contrary, Caspian had her packed and ready when
her former lover arrived to collect her.

Why did he try so hard to impress
Catherine Van Ryker? He refused to admit it but he was infatuated
with Nicky’s wife from the moment he met her, felt vaguely dazed by
her beauty. His glib tongue seemed to stumble when he was in her
presence.

Watching over her the last months had
made it worse. Knowing she was coming here tonight, he pulled the
detail watching her house and paced like a love-sick bridegroom
until her arrival.

He compulsively ordered the dinner from
a renowned chef indebt to his money-lenders up to his meaty pits,
painstakingly made everything ready for her and her children. When
she arrived he could not bring himself to join her. He knew she
thought him rude.

Now he realized why she shared her
dessert with his household. He felt like an idiot to not think
dining alone might have been a problem for a woman who just lost
her husband.

Caspian swore softly and wished he
could go and apologize for his rudeness now. He didn’t think at
all. All he knew was that he could not face her tonight. He could
not look upon her and pretend to not want to toss her on the dining
room table and have his way with her while grieving for Nicky
too.