Dark Deceptions: A Regency and Medieval Collection of Dark Romances(45)

Nervous laughter spilled from her like bubbling champagne. “Are you not violating some rules of propriety with your questioning, sir?”

He folded his arms across his chest. “I’m no simpleton. It hasn’t escaped my notice that you’ve not answered my earlier question. Do you believe I would hurt you?”

Apparently, she still hadn’t mastered the art of lying.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said quietly.

“You didn’t frighten me,” she said, though the assurance tumbled from her lips a little too quickly.

Tony’s brow scrunched up in what appeared to be deep contemplation. Several minutes passed before he again spoke. “I’d imagine Adam handled those responsible for your fears.”

In spite of his youth, Tony had quite aptly determined that there were certain individuals to blame for her skittishness. But no, Adam had not punished Father or Jamie for the pain and hurt they’d inflicted. Nor did she want him to. Georgina was content with her father and Jamie being consigned to whatever hell they’d scurried off to.

Tony held his elbow out. “Would you join me in the parlor while you wait for Adam?”

Georgina hesitated, but then placed her fingers on his coat sleeve. She needed all the friends she could get.

*

Adam stood at the doorway, staring at Nick. Seated behind Father’s great mahogany desk, scribbling away in some ledger, he looked more like an earl than the brother who’d wrought havoc on the same household throughout their boyhood.

Nick dipped his pen into the crystal inkwell.

“Are you going to ignore me for the rest of our lives?” Adam quipped.

Nick paused, pen frozen above the paper. The vein pulsing at his temple and the black ink making a splotch on the desktop were the only real indications that his brother was a hair’s breadth from losing control of his temper.

He threw the pen down. “Oh? I thought you’d said all there was to be said.”

Adam winced. For all his anger with Nick’s treatment of Georgina, he’d never wanted to hurt him. He loved him and, as much as he was loath to admit it, Nick’s approval meant a great deal to him. He could not be happy if his wife and any member of his family were at odds. “I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he said quietly.

Nick shoved back his seat. It scraped a grating path along the hardwood floor. “To which hurt do you refer? My broken nose? The embarrassing scene at the hospital? Your total disregard for our family?”

Adam dragged a hand through his hair. “Yes. I’m sorry for all of it—”

“Then you shouldn’t have married her!” Nick exploded. He cursed. “Christ, what possessed you to—”

Adam cut his brother off, not allowing him to say something he would regret and something Adam couldn’t forgive. “I am not sorry for marrying Georgina. And any time you disparage her, you widen the wedge between us.”

Nick’s lips tightened. “Then it would appear we are at an impasse.”

A sharp bite of regret lanced through him. He’d spent months as Fox and Hunter’s captive, longing for his family’s embrace. This frigid, unyielding tension between them hit Adam like a punch to the stomach. He forced himself to nod. “Very well.” He turned on his heel.

Nick cursed. “Would you rather I didn’t care about you? That I didn’t worry after your well-being? If that is the case, then many felicitations on your nuptials.”

Adam stared blankly at the ivory plastered walls. He’d endured hell at Fox and Hunter’s hands. Considering all they’d suffered, he and Georgina were deserving of whatever joy they could grab.

“I wish…” The words died on Adam’s tongue. What did he wish? That he’d never signed on as a member of The Brethren? Then he would’ve been living a carefree life, cavorting around town with his family’s approval. He would never have known the cruel torture exacted on his mind and body…nor the bitter hurt of losing Grace.

But then there would be no Georgina and he couldn’t fathom a life without her in it.

His brother rested a hand on his shoulder.

Adam stiffened.

“What do you wish?” Nick encouraged, his tone devoid of all the acrimony of these past days.

Adam swallowed past a ball of regret. “I wish you would be kind to her. She is a good woman.”

I wish I could tell you how she saved me.

Nick squeezed his shoulder awkwardly, in a manner more befitting two strangers. His hand fell back to his side. “I will be kind to her and I’ll encourage mother to be more…welcoming.” The swift surge of relief died at Nick’s next words. “But I need to say this. I don’t trust her, Adam, and I fear that in marrying her, you’ve done something you will only look back on with regret.”

A chill stole along Adam’s spine at Nick’s prophetic words. He shook his head. No, he had a lifetime of regrets, but marrying Georgina would never fall into those ranks.

“Adam?”

“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for being willing to try. I know you’ll find her to be good and kind.”

Nick inclined his head. “I certainly hope so, for your sake.”

Hardly congratulatory words, Adam thought wryly.

He started to turn when Nick held out his hand.