A Gentleman's Curse (Avenging Lords 4)

The tinkle of the shop’s doorbell forced Claudia to glance back over her shoulder.

The blood drained from her face as she locked gazes with Hudson Lockhart, whose broad shoulders blocked the doorway. He looked like he’d escaped a violent storm—flustered, breathless, scared. Fear quickly turned to barely contained rage. Indeed, he looked ready to throttle the first man foolish enough to raise a complaint.

Claudia turned back to the assistant. “Oh, it seems my brother has arrived.”

Why on earth had she said that?

Hudson Lockhart had the bronzed skin of Adonis, and while he looked furious, there was nothing grim about his alluring countenance.

The woman eyed her suspiciously. She leant over the counter and whispered, “Then you’ve no need to come here again. No need to come prying.”

Claudia swallowed past the lump in her throat.

Before the assistant skirted around the counter and chased her out of the door, Claudia turned on her heel and marched to meet the brooding devil waiting to rain fire and brimstone.

“I told you to wait in the carriage.” Hudson stepped back for her to pass. “Can you imagine what went through my mind when I returned to find you missing?”

He strode over to the carriage door, yanked it open and more or less ordered her inside.

Now was not the time to argue, or demand he treat her as a loving wife and not the hired help.

Claudia settled into the seat, pursed her lips and waited until the carriage was rumbling along the road before saying, “Forgive me. I did not mean to cause you distress.”

Dark, dangerous eyes stared back at her. “Perhaps you forgot that I’m a man who has been framed for murder. Perhaps you forgot that I promised to ensure your safety.”

“No,” she said, feeling the sudden urge to defend her position, “I did not forget.”

“Then what prompted you to leave the carriage?” he growled. “What prompted you to enter that shop knowing someone from Flamstead had left a few minutes earlier?” He threw his hands in the air. “Hell, you insisted on remaining in the carriage because you were afraid to be seen.”

What was she supposed to say? That she had been using Hudson so she didn?

?t have to marry a wicked devil? That she suspected the wicked devil was guilty of some form of deception, too?

“I realised I was mistaken.”

Hudson sat forward. “That’s a lie.”

The comment hurt even though it was the truth. Deflection seemed the only way out of this mess. “You would know about lies, Hudson. Why didn’t you tell me I was your second choice for a wife? Why didn’t you tell me I was the inferior model, the one used because you grew desperate?”

A deathly silence descended.

For a moment, he merely gaped.

The tension in the air dissipated, the atmosphere growing sombre.

“You’re far from the inferior model,” he said so quietly she had to strain to listen. “After what happened between us in the rotunda, I thought you knew that.”

Claudia swallowed down her guilt. “But I was the second choice?”

“Originally, I hired an actress to play the role, but Dariell insisted it was a sure road to failure.”

“You hired an actress?” Perhaps he’d wanted a professional to help him solve his problem, a professional to please him in bed. “Why? To avoid emotional complications?”

He sighed. Sadness swam in his brown eyes. “Because I didn’t know who else to ask, who to trust.”

Having learnt more about the situation, she wondered if his only reason for wanting a wife was to prove a point to Selina. By his own admission, he’d been struck from his father’s will. What need had he for pretending she was with child other than to annoy his brother? Other than to hurt the woman who’d left him alone on the docks. Where were the threats he warned her about, the attacks from his family?

Claudia’s heart ached to ease his pain. But she could not rid herself of the crippling doubts inside. “I don’t think you’ve come back for vengeance,” she said. “I think you want the truth. And I am not speaking about the murder. You want to know what motivated Selina to marry your brother. You want to prove no one is worthy of your trust.”