Wicked Deception (56 page)

Christian knew the man would kill him
without blinking an eye. “I convinced her to leave. I did as you
asked. She believes I hired a man to kill her sister on Saturday.
She will be on that ship tomorrow, trust me.”

“
I do not trust anyone who
owes me as much money as you do, Lord Lyndon,” the man replied in a
deceptively pleasant tone. “You delivering the countess now
relieves your debt to my lenders sufficiently. Should she fail to
arrive; you do know what that means, my lord?”

“
She will be delivered to
the ship tomorrow. I convinced her she needs to leave or she will
be caught. Lilly has no wish to go back to prison or have her neck
stretched. She will be there.” Christian smiled nervously then,
feeling fear to know he had only bought time to delay repayment of
his loans with this man. For some reason the man was taking Lilly
now instead of payment and interest. He claimed it was a debt he
owed another. “I wish to conclude this business between
us.”

“
Should you think to betray
me, Lord Lyndon; I need not tell you when we will meet next. It
will be quite unexpected.”

He met those cold eyes and knew the man
would make good his subtle threats. Poor Lil would have to
understand. Some debts precluded her need for vengeance. He would
kill him the next time they met. The message was clear.

“
If I have to bind and gag
her myself; she will be there.”

Amused laughter erupted from the man’s
lips, despite the cold look in his eyes. “That is not necessary,
Lord Lyndon. We do not want to warn her. I do so like surprises,
don’t you?”

Christian nodded. The coach stopped and
men opened the door, looking around for signs of a threat as their
employer stepped down. When the door closed, Christian finally
began to breathe normally; disgusted he’d broken out in a cold
sweat during the interview. He was sodden under his garments, his
fear of the man a sensible one.

His unexpected visitor was never one to
come looking for his own debt holders personally. That alone told
Christian he could do nothing for Lilly now. To warn her would be
to sign his own death warrant. In the end, he resolved to do what
the man told him.

~ ~ ~

“
Is everything ready to
leave, Ty?” his employer asked as he stared at his belongings being
crated up within the music room. A look of pain etched his handsome
face as he stared at his pianoforte, lost in whatever thoughts he
had.

Ty smiled as he came forward.
“Everything is ready for your departure. Catherine handled the
arrangements for the conservatory just as you wished. The rest of
the assets are now transferred to your account in America by Mr.
Winetraub. Everything is packed and ready to go. Are you sure very
you wish to do this?”

“
I wished to be on that ship
with her, Ty. That is what I wished for,” he remarked with a scowl.
“There is no help for it now. I have to say goodbye to my lovely
muse. She is safe and I’m out of this hellish business once and for
all. I was a most convincing dead man, don’t you think?”

“
You were quite
convincing.”

“
Yes, I should think of
taking to the stage when we get to America.”

“
Jacques Dumas bragged
before he went looking for you. His success might be questioned
when he didn’t return. It was a stroke of luck we caught
him.”

“
They all believe me dead
now. You were most convincing when you informed my eager
predecessor. Fear not, Ty. We are on our way to a new
life.”

Ty hesitated to speak of it. He knew
what pained his employer now. “You could not have known he was
still alive when you planned all of this to leave with her,
Caspian.”

“
No, and I wouldn’t further
complicate Catherine’s life,” Caspian replied glumly. “Nicky’s
deception has trumped mine, long before I even planned to go with
her to that blasted island of hers. Somehow I don’t see me content
to write music by the seashore and raise her adorable brats, Ty.
She will be happy to have her husband back with her to do that
domestic drudgery.”

Ty left him then. Caspian smiled as he
thought of his lovely muse, imagined her pleasure to have the man
she loved back in her arms again. He vowed he’d not be bitter to
have arranged his own demise to leave his world to be with her and
things went awry.

Too many dead men in her
life would only confuse her now
, he thought
with a sad smile.

Nicky turning up alive and paying a
call upon Ty recently curtailed all of that. Never to look a gift
of inspiration in the mouth, Caspian took his own opportunity now
to leave this all behind him. He went wherever the wind took him
now; secure to know none of his enemies would follow
him.

He smiled fondly, knowing his final
gift to his lovely minx was the peace of mind her sister could no
longer plague her or any other she loved. Knowing of Lyndon’s
financial woes was a stroke of genius, that and knowing Lilly had
no one else to turn to but her former lover for help.

Lyndon had much to lose if Lilly failed
to get on that ship tomorrow night. He had little doubt the man
would see the sense in following through with his claim to bind and
gag the woman if he had to. Fear had always been a good
motivator.

Still, in his heart there played a song
that he heard only when he dared listen. Allowing himself to love
Catherine opened the door to a floodgate of need within Caspian. He
could have never gone back to his world without her. To do so would
have replayed the scene at his castle with more reality than he
cared to relive.

The smile that touched his lips was
reluctant as he contemplated the future. News of his death was
circulating throughout London’s underworld. The grumbles of dissent
would soon become roars as those who wanted control fought to take
his place.

He returned to sit at the pianoforte,
knowing the melody by heart he wrote for Catherine as his long
fingers swept over the keys, playing the lilting music as his
household was packed and delivered to the ship that would take him
to his new life.

~ ~ ~

Lilly regarded Christian as he sat
across from her within the coach with a pleased smile. “You could
at least say you will visit, darling. Virginia might be a backwoods
primitive hellhole rife with savages, but you’re always welcome to
join me should things not work with little Gillian.”

Christian smiled smugly. “I do not see
me as a colonial, Lil. I thank you the offer, but I must
regretfully decline.”

“
All is in readiness then?”
she asked him again. “Your man waits for her at the docks? Tell me
again how it is to be done.”

Christian smiled and leaned back
against the seat as he regaled Lilly with the plan to kill her
sister on Saturday. She listened and looked satisfied as she sat
back against the seat.

“
I shall have to assume
everything goes as planned, Christian.”

“
He does not miss, Lil. He
is the same man who shot your husband, you recall?”

She smiled at the memory and then
frowned. “Yes, but he is very much alive still. Forgive me if I do
not point out the obvious.”

“
It will be taken care of,
Lilly. I do this as a parting gift to you. I would not wish for you
to be caught. You’re wise to go. The men who work for Van Ryker
circle like sharks. You go anywhere near his wife; he will have
you.”

Lilly was furious to know he was right.
When it came down to it; she wanted to live another day to torment
Catherine than die in a losing battle to get to her now. Retreat
didn’t come naturally to her. She balked to give into Christian,
but knew he had troubles of his own.

He very much needed Gillian’s marriage
to Gabriel to be a legal one. Her turning up alive would just spoil
things already set in motion.

“
When you kill my husband; I
want you to tell him I’m alive before he dies, Christian,” Lilly
whispered and her eyes darkened with hatred. “I want him to know I
have won. Will you do this for me?”

“
With much pleasure,” he
replied with an indulgent air.

Lilly looked out the window into the
darkness, relieved to know she went to the ship under the cover of
night. Christian would see her aboard The Orion for the crossing to
America. He was well aware Nicky and the others watched the docks.
They would not be looking for a couple, he assured her.

They arrived some time later. Christian
got down and helped her. She arranged her hood over her head,
keeping her eyes down as he guided her to the gangplank. She
watched out the corner of her eye for signs of pursuit.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he
walked her to the middle of the deck of the ship. Moonlight
revealed his tense expression. She felt alarm when she saw the
regret in his gaze. Then, strong arms grabbed her from behind. Her
eyes widened in stunned fury to know he betrayed her.

“
I’m sorry, dear Lil,” he
told her as he regarded the ones who held her grimly. “Every man
has his price and this one was too high for me to cover this time,
I fear.”

“
You bastard! You betrayed
me to them!” she railed and struggled wildly in Tieghan’s grasp,
eyes burning in hatred.

“
Goodbye, dear Lil,” the
Marquis of Lyndon replied and left the ship, hardly acknowledging
the men who joined the one who held her.

She cursed them all as she was bound
and gagged, trussed up on the planks of Nicholas’s ship. The name
of it should have jogged her memory, but failed to at the very
last. Soon, they surrounded her on the deck. Tieghan hefted a rope
hanging from the mast of the large clipper and smiled grimly down
at her cringing form as he approached.

“
You will never be able to
hurt my friends again, Lady Iverleigh,” Tieghan told her. His pale
eyes glowed with the fires of retribution in them. “We are all your
judges here. We have found you guilty and sentenced
you.”

Lilly was sobbing futilely under the
gag as he slipped the noose around her neck. Her eyes met his and
she knew her death was close at hand. She could see it by the grim
looks of the other five men. Tieghan used the other rope to pull
her off the deck until she dangled nearly ten feet over their
heads, her thrashing body jumping on the rope as she hung to her
death.

She took an amazing amount of time to
die as Tieghan held the rope while the others witnessed Lady
Iverleigh meet her death at last. The gagging and choking sounds
grew fainter, and her body twitched several times. Then, she was at
last still. Tieghan lowered her still form to the deck.

Thor checked her for signs of life and
stood up and nodded to Dane and Eric. They rolled the large barrel
over. With the help of Gareth and Thane, they stuffed the dead
woman’s body into it and nailed the lid over it.

All six stood at the railing as the
barrel was thrown over the side, watching until it sank to the
bottom of the harbor, each grateful it was at last over. They
turned away from the dark waters, relieved their brother and his
wife would have a new ending to their story, one where Lady
Iverleigh would not continue to threaten them.

Tieghan agreed to retrieve Nicholas
from his watch outside his wife’s home. It was over. The other
brothers went back to Gabriel’s residence, determined to explain
all they dare to their wives. They made a pact that the manner in
which Lilly died would be spared Nicholas.

~ ~ ~

Nicholas stood at the railing in the
wee hours of morning with an unreadable expression. Tieghan stood
at his side, silent as ever, refusing to disclose how Lilly met her
end. He decided it didn’t matter as he looked into the face of the
best friend he had ever known next to Gabriel.

He couldn’t deny the relief he felt to
know she was dead, silently saying a prayer over the churning
waters. He prayed Lilly was at last free of the demons that goaded
her to destroy everything in her path. They stepped away from the
railing and went and sought their beds.

Catherine’s household was being packed
into the hold on the morrow. Nicholas slept his first peaceful
night in many, no longer plagued with the night terrors that
besieged him for most of his life. His dreams were of him and his
wife now, their children, and their children’s children. He vowed
to live this next life he was given to the fullest.

~ ~ ~

Gabriel was somber as he stood on the
docks with Martha and Tulley that following Saturday. The couple
excused them to say their goodbyes as they crossed to the gangplank
to board the ship. He cursed the beauty of the day, wanting it to
rain and match his somber mood.

Emotion glittered in his eyes as he
watched the woman who owned his heart stand before him. Their son
stayed behind at his residence. She refused to have him here and
see her so out of sorts as she sailed away into her new
life.

The nanny and nurse were aboard with
her children. Tieghan waved from the deck. Gabriel lifted his hand
and knew by the giant’s expression whatever threat of Dartmouth’s
accomplice was dealt with. Finally she looked up at him, her green
eyes misting with tears. He reached down and offered her a
handkerchief from his pocket, a tender smile on his
face.