“Why do you think he would kill him?”Then Matthew sighed.“No, he offered, but I told him no.”
“Good.I want him to be stopped, but he is still our brother.”
Brother?!Elizabeth gasped.Both Stella and Matthew swiveled to stare at her.She shoved the door all the way open.Shock raced through her, and she started to shake.No, it didn’t make sense.Matthew grew up on the streets.He owned a gaming hell, and his sister was an actress on the stage.“Viscount Griffen is your brother?”
Stella nodded.“Yes, he is our older brother.”
“Stella,” Matthew hissed.
“What?”
“You can’t just tell anyone who you are.Especially not a newspaper reporter.”
His comment felt like a slap in the face.Anger swelled up to replace her initial shock.“Bloody hell, Matthew!After all that I shared with you last night about my past, you were just going to keep to yourself the fact that you are the son of the man who ruined my life?To a man who got away with murder?I trusted you!”
Matthew ran his hand through his hair and then sighed again.“I can explain.But not out here.There are reasons I could not tell you.”
“Like what?That I am a reporter?”she spit out.His lies hurt.His distrust hurt.Pain seared through her chest.She’d given herself over to a man who she didn’t even know.Oh God, he was a Perrin.Part of a despicable family of entitled murderers.What had she done?Allowed herself to be pulled in by falsehoods and false charm.
“Partially,” he said.He held out a hand.“Let me explain.”
“No.”Taking a step back, she glanced down the hallway.She needed to get out of here.Slapping away his hand, she rushed down the corridor.At the corner, she blindly turned left.Then, at the end of a long carpet runner, she pulled open a door, and to her relief, she emerged into the large gaming room.Taking a shaky breath, she pushed forward through the crowd of people, which seemed to have multiplied twofold since she arrived.Frantically, she looked around for the exit to the front hall.
A hand gripped her elbow.“This way,” a gravelly voice instructed.Mr.Seaton guided her through the throng of gamblers and opened a large door to escort her out to the front hall.
“I have to leave.”Her voice came out shaky, and she breathed in to steady her racing emotions.“I want to go home.”
“Stay here.I will get your wrap.”He was only gone a matter of minutes before returning with the silk wrap.“I will take you home.”
“You don’t hav—” She had arrived in Matthew’s carriage.“Thank you.”
As they walked to the front door, Seaton looked back over his shoulder and Elizabeth followed his gaze.Matthew stood on the balcony that overlooked the hall.His hands gripped the railing.The anguish on his face caused her to stumble.Should she have stayed and listened to his explanation?No, he was a Perrin.How could she trust anything he said?She cut her eyes away.“Take me home, please.”
Seaton nodded.They walked out into the balmy night air.He guided her to the right and down to the corner.The night air was cool, compared to the heat of the crowded club, and Elizabeth gulped in long breaths as she tried to calm herself.Seaton easily kept pace with her angry strides.At the corner, he gripped her elbow when she would have blindly stepped into the street.
“This way.”They went right again.In just a few moments, they stood outside the mews.“I will go in and get the barouche.Stay here.”
Elizabeth blinked at his commanding tone, but she nodded, and he walked into the stable.
What was Matthew doing running a gaming hell if he was an aristocrat?Why did he use a fake name?Why was Stella not supposed to say who she really was?How could he have not told her who he really was last night?Instead, he let her take him upstairs and… Lord, the things they did.The way he made her body reawaken.She covered her face with her hands.How could she have been so stupid to be fooled by a Perrin?
Theclip-clopof horse’s hooves made her raise her head.Matthew’s curricle pulled to a stop in front of her.Seaton stretched a hand down.“Come on, Elizabeth.”
She automatically put her hand in his and let him help her settle into the carriage.The back hood was raised, and she was happy for the privacy it provided.Sighing, she leaned back against the squabs.Seaton flicked the reins, and they moved through the streets in silence for a while.
Then Seaton spoke.“I assume he told you about his family connection?”
“He didn’t tell me,” she said bitterly.“I overheard him and Stella discussing their…brother.”She twisted to face him.“Do you know?”
He nodded.“Reeves and I have been friends a long time.There isn’t much we don’t know about each other.”
She examined Mr.Seaton’s profile.Physically, the two friends were opposites.In contrast to Matthew’s dark messy curls, Seaton’s blond hair was always neatly trimmed short.He was clean-shaven; she had never seen him otherwise, and the scar that ran down his cheek gleamed white in the moonlight.“You have been friends since you were in the same gang, right?”
He nodded.“Matthew joined the Newgate boys when he was fifteen.”
That didn’t make any sense.Why would he be running with a street gang if he was the son of a viscount?“And?”
“And Matthew’s past is his to explain.Perhaps you should give him a chance to.”Seaton’s gaze slid over to her.“Unless you were only interested in a good fuck.Then don’t worry about it and simply move on.”
