She gaped at him; her cheeks flamed hot with embarrassment at his crude words.Glad for the darkness, she pulled her wrap tighter around her and stared straight ahead.She would not be ashamed of having a liaison.The attraction between her and Matthew had burned hot from the very beginning.Maybe Seaton was right.She barely knew Matthew.Their night together had been wonderful, but perhaps she should cut and run.It was dangerous to want someone this much.Why did the prospect of not seeing him anymore make her feel so desperately sad?She had to think about her son.She needed to be careful about who she let into their lives.
Chapter Nineteen
Matthew stared, unseeingly,at the front door where Seaton had just escorted Lizzie out into the night.God dammit!That couldn’t have gone any worse.He gripped the railing tight, his knuckles going white.The look of betrayal on her face had been like a knife to his chest.Why hadn’t he just told her last night?Hell, she had been a thorn in his side about these murders for weeks.He didn’t owe her anything, certainly not his secrets.He had reasons to keep his identity hidden, but if he was honest with himself, he hadn’t expected how spending the night with her would shift something within him.How fucking far his heart would fall.
A hand landed on his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.“I’m sorry, Matthew.I didn’t mean to tell her about Jonas.Why was she so upset?”
“It’s a long story.”He turned to face his sister.“Actually, it has to do in part with you.”
Stella tilted her head.“It does?”
“Yes.I will tell you about it in the morning.But now you need to get into the theater room.The show is starting soon.”
She nodded.“Matthew, will you go after her?Women always want you to go after them when you fight.”
His lips twitched in amusement at her advice.“I think not tonight.I will let her temper cool off.She will have questions; she can’t help wanting to know all the answers.”It was one of the things he loved about her—the way she must figure out all the angles.“Go on now, or Mrs.Langley will be angry that you are tardy.”
Stella gripped his arm again.“Will you be all right?”
“Of course.I’m fine.”He patted her hand.
“We will talk in the morning?I won’t forget.”
He nodded.Her part in the tragic events was blameless, but she deserved to know what their father had done.She needed to understand how important it was to keep her identity a secret.He turned back to the railing.Looking down at the full house, he should have felt pleased to see so many patrons.All his plans and hard work were paying off.But the scene blurred, the sounds of conversation fading as his thoughts drifted back to Lizzie, as she had been earlier, spread out on top of his billiards table, her skirts bunched up and her sex glistening with arousal.He ran a hand across his mouth.Fuck, she had tasted divine.And the sounds of pleasure that fell from those gorgeous lips had him addicted.
He hadn’t been able to concentrate all day, numbers in the ledgers meaningless as he recalled every detail of their night of passion.Their chemistry was incendiary, but afterward, having her in his arms, her leg draped over his thigh and his nose buried in her hair, had felt so good.She was right; she was complicated.He certainly didn’t need complicated.And yet, he did need her.
*
The next morning,he sat across the breakfast table from Stella and gave her the short version of the events that had led to the murder of Lizzie’s fiancé.
“That’s so sad.”She set down her teacup.“I did know that I was betrothed.Father and Mother were endlessly telling me to behave, to watch my manners, because one day I was to be a duchess.”She slumped back into her seat.“I was not happy about any of it.I hated my lessons and the way they treated me like some doll.Pretty, but empty-headed.I wanted no part of being married to some damn duke.”
Matthew chuckled.Her language was definitely being influenced for the worse.“Well, you are free to marry whomever you want now.I won’t let Jonas sell you off to some stuffy aristocrat.”
Stella sighed.“I can’t believe Father would kill his best friend like that.”
“Me either.But I do know he was capable of cruelty,” he said bitterly.“He simply got rid of me when I was ten.Protecting his precious heir was far more important.”
Stella pursed her lips together, and her eyebrows lowered in confusion.“Is that really what you think?”
“It’s what I know.”He stabbed a piece of bacon with his fork and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Matthew, did it ever occur to you that they sent you to Uncle Harry because they were trying to protect you from Jonas?Mother always told me that if anything happened to her and I was afraid for my safety, I should come find you at Uncle Harry’s.That I would be safe there.”
The piece of bacon he had been chewing suddenly got stuck as he tried to swallow.He reached for his coffee and took a gulp.This alternate truth tilted his world on its axis.To keep him safe?But they never visited, never interacted at all with him after he was sent to Harry.Well, his mother had written to him on his birthday and at Christmas.But increasingly, during those five years he had been with Harry, he had grown more hurt with every passing year at being discarded so easily.And each year, angrier.
But now, being faced with another possibility, perhaps he could see that they had, in their misguided way, wanted to protect him from further harm.Still, they had chosen to keep and coddle his disturbed brother.His father had always thought he could control Jonas’s impulses, to fix him.He sighed and took a more measured sip of his coffee.
“How did you find me?If Mother told you to go to Uncle Harry?”
Stella reached for a scone.She shrugged.“The actors at the Seven Stars were very nice.The house manager there told me about the Blue Angel.”
Frank still ran the backstage at the Seven Stars.He had been far too valuable for the new owners to replace when the theater was sold after Harry’s death.Now, the Seven Stars was under new management once again.This time, it was purchased by a man who already owned two other theaters in London.Declan Howell appeared to be building an empire.Not that Matthew begrudged him the success.Declan had been Uncle Harry’s star actor back when Matthew first came to London almost twenty years ago.His public persona had been brash and intimidating, but in reality, he had been kind and tolerant of a kid who had been largely at loose ends around the theater.
Matthew attempted to change the topic.“Wednesday afternoon should be fun.I’m interested to see what improvements Mr.Howell has made to the old place.”
Stella wouldn’t be deterred.She eyed him over the rim of her teacup as she took a sip.“And Miss Harper?When will you go and explain things to her?”
