A Terrible Misunderstanding (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 6)

“He is not my boyfriend,” Clara bit out.

“Are you sure?”

“I am positive. He is a pest,” Clara hissed. “If you are from the Star Elite, you should know what to do about him.”

Niall’s lips twitched. “Just what do you expect me to do with an overly persistent suitor? I can hardly arrest him – assuming I am with the Star Elite, of course. Being attracted to someone is not a crime.”

“I know that, but accosting young women in the street is,” Clara said.

“Not if that young woman is foolish enough to be out on the street alone.”

“Do you really think that now is the time to lecture me?” Clara squinted at him and heaved a sigh of disgust when Erasmus appeared over Niall’s shoulder.

When Clara looked over his shoulder there was such a worried look of vulnerability on her face that made Niall realise that he had to do something to help her. Without thinking about what he was doing he captured her chin and turned her face up to his. He didn’t even look at Erasmus when he drew alongside them. Niall was too busy capturing Clara’s soft gasp with his lips.

The kiss was nothing more than a brief brush of his lips against hers and was over the moment that Erasmus had passed by but left both Clara and Niall shaken and even more on edge. The only good thing to come from it was that Erasmus Boyle had seen enough to know that he had a fight on his hands if he wished to continue to pester Clara.

Without saying a word, Niall stepped back and captured Clara’s hand in his. Thankfully, she went willingly when he tugged her toward her front door. He stepped back while she unlocked it and nudged the door open. The interior of the house was still and quiet, and a little cold, but he didn’t venture inside. Instead, Niall nudged her through the door and stared at her through the darkness. When he glanced at Erasmus, it was to find the man had turned in his seat to watch Niall and Clara – until he had to turn out of the end of the street.

“He will be back, so close your shutters without putting a candle on. That way, he won’t know which room you are in. Then light all the candles and keep them on as long as you can. Let them burn down

if you can, so he doesn’t know where you are if he is watching the house.”

Clara nodded. She was now more convinced than ever that Niall was indeed one of the Star Elite. Only one of the Star Elite would ever think of such things as needing to hide and people watching houses. It was a large part of their work.

“Besides Erasmus, am I in any danger?” Clara asked quietly. “If my father has sent you, don’t you think I should know?”

Niall contemplated what to tell her. “Remember what happened to those women who were snatched in Leicestershire and Derbyshire. They were young women just like you. Don’t forget that. No woman is safe. Ever. Don’t go out without a chaperone, not least because he won’t stop just yet.”

Niall pointed a finger after Erasmus.

“Is that why you are here? Has someone threatened to snatch me like they did them?” she whispered, feeling slightly sick at the prospect.

“I have no idea what you keep going on about,” Niall snapped. “Wherever your father is, he should know how incredibly dangerous your situation is. If your relation isn’t agile enough to escort you anywhere then you are no better off living with her than you would be living alone. Don’t go out after dark again, and make sure that you lock all your doors and windows. Whatever happens, don’t answer your door without checking who is on your doorstep. It won’t do for you to give Erasmus the opportunity to get a foot over the threshold. A man like him will take every advantage of your weakness, especially if you are alone together in your house.”

With that, Niall stepped back and turned to leave. He only got half-way to the gate when he realised that Clara hadn’t closed the door. Rather than leave, he turned to glare at her.

“If I see you out again at this time of night, I shall have no hesitation in scaring you into going home,” he warned.

Clara, with a shiver, could do nothing more than stare after him. She was a little annoyed that he had the arrogance to try to tell her what to do. A part of her had to remind herself that he was doing so to prevent a repeat of the ugly scene with Erasmus earlier, but she was still galled that a man like Niall didn’t think she was capable of looking after herself.

When Niall realised that she wasn’t going to close the door while he was there, he left.

Clara watched until Niall was swallowed by the darkness. In that exact moment, she heard the return of the horses’ hooves again, and knew then that Erasmus had been watching them from the end of the street. As if on cue, he appeared at the same time Niall disappeared.

Without even bothering to look in Erasmus’s direction, Clara backed into her house and closed her front door before sliding the bolt across. She then turned and rested her back against the solid wood while she listened to those unrelenting clip-clops of the horses’ hooves. To her disgust, they stopped directly outside of her house. She waited, her heart thundering in her ears. Tension flooded through her as she listened to the steady ticking of the huge grandfather clock in the corner of the hallway. When nothing happened, she knew Erasmus was waiting for her to appear in the window and see him.

“Well, I am not going to give you the satisfaction, Erasmus Boyle. You are nothing but a pest.”

While she spoke, the mental image of Niall swam to the forefront of her mind, teasing and taunting her with the essence of what a suitor should be. Niall was, without doubt, the kind of suitor, the only kind of suitor, who would capture her interest and actually stand any chance of getting her to consider marriage. However, she now also knew who he was and it wasn’t just a handsome stranger.

“You are one of the Star Elite, and that is terrifying enough to warn me that we can never have a future together.”

What Clara knew of the Star Elite was that they were a secretive organisation hidden within the War Office, who mainly consisted of soldiers who had all served time in the army. They had formed a tight-knit unit of men who fought domestic crimes on a large scale like organised gangs, pick-pocketing gangs, fraudsters and the like. During the war, they had helped stop smugglers and had captured French spies. Now that the war was over, they had focused their attention on local criminals. Their exploits were legendary and, while most people had heard of them, nobody truly knew who any of them were.

“Now I do,” Clara whispered.

She touched her lips with curious fingers, well aware that they still tingled from that brief touch of his lips. It was odd that he had chosen to kiss her to try to worry her.