"Caught him alongside the road. Old goat caused quite a bit o' trouble for me, and I planned to teach 'im a lesson." Black shrugged. "But if you want 'im, 'e's yours."
Percy felt the quivering tension pass through Gavin. She didn't fool herself about the world her husband-to-be came from and wouldn't blame him for whatever choice he made. He had suffered so much because of Magnus.
Yet would more bloodshed bring him peace?
Gavin exhaled slowly. "I'll take him. Over to the magistrates."
"Charleys, eh? Well, 'tis your business." Snorting, Black started back toward his carriage, his voice drifting back. "Off we go, boys—an' to all a good night."
"What about your revenge, Hunt?" Nicholas asked.
"The past has been laid to rest—all of it." Clearing his throat, Gavin looked up at Nick and extended his hand. Nick took it. Percy thought her heart couldn't get any fuller, yet it did to see two of the men she loved most find peace with their past... and one another.
The moment passed, and both men coughed and looked away.
"Well, I suppose that's for the best," Nicholas said, "as it appears we are to be family."
"I have your permission, then?" Percy said brightly.
Nick gave her a wry look. "Would it matter?"
"Not at all. But I was hoping you might help persuade Mama," she admitted.
"Don't worry about your mother, love," Gavin said, pulling her close. "I'll speak for myself. In fact, I already have a speech planned."
"You do? Whatever will you say?"
His tender smile sent joy skipping through her. "I'll tell her that I don't begrudge a moment of my past because all of it led me to you. That I thought I wanted revenge, but all I've ever needed is your love." He paused, and that wicked gleam she loved entered his eyes. "And I'll thank her for giving me permission to wed you in a proper ceremony. To spare me the inconvenience of having to cart you off like your namesake."
Percy choked back a laugh at the none-too-subtle threat. "You wouldn't really do that, would you?"
"I'll do anything to have you, buttercup," he said solemnly. "Mine, remember?"
"Mine, too," she said and, still smiling, pulled him close for a kiss.
40
The next threemonths passed in a blur—though to Gavin's accounting, still not fast enough. To him, waiting twelve weeks to have Percy was nothing short of torture. Yet according to Mrs. Fines and Lady Harteford, that was the absolute minimum time necessary to prepare for a wedding, and given their tenuous acceptance of him, he'd grudgingly acquiesced. In truth, he needed the time for his leg to heal—a fracture, as it turned out—for he'd be damned if he hobbled down the aisle toward his bride-to-be.
There were other matters to attend to as well.
John Magnus had been sentenced to life imprisonment. From the looks of him at the trial—which both Gavin and Morgan had attended—the old bastard wasn't for long anyway. It nonetheless brought Gavin a measure of peace to see justice finally served. Afterward, he and Morgan had gone to a coffeehouse and discussed the future.
To Gavin's shock, Morgan had offered him a partnership in Fines & Co.You can't stay in the gaming business forever, the marquess had said.Think of Percy and the children you may have one day. Do you want them exposed to that sort of life?
He... didn't.
He hadn't given Morgan an answer as of yet, but the fact that he was now considering joining forces with the man he'd once hated spoke to how much his life had changed. Freed from the past, from his own anger, he was beginning to feel like a different man. More like the one he'd promised Percy he'd one day be. At times, 'twas disconcerting, but mostly it felt... right.
Though every moment he spent with Percy was under his future mama-in-law's eagle eye, Gavin relished their cozy talks in the Fines' parlor or garden. Percy wanted to know everything about his past, and he told her, holding nothing back. One Sunday afternoon, she accompanied him to the cemetery where he'd buried Stewart. She held his hand as he said his final farewell to his old friend.
The love shining in Percy's eyes had made their long engagement bearable. Almost.
Now, on the night of his wedding, Gavin paced the length of his suite in his dressing gown. Determined to give Percy the kind of life she deserved, he'd purchased a fashionable townhouse close to the Harteford residence. They'd come here after the wedding brunch hosted by the marquess and marchioness; after meeting the line of servants, Percy had excused herself to get ready for bed.
Bed. His eyes shot to the door of the adjoining bedchamber. The only barrier that separated him from his new bride. Even as elation and lust rushed through him, he felt unaccountably... nervous. 'Twas the damnedest thing. For so long he'd been intent upon seducing her; now that she finally belonged to him, a twinge of apprehension mingled with his desire.
He scowled, thinking that he had Paul Fines to thank for the bridegroom jitters. His new relation had thrown him a party last week, a silly tribute to Gavin's last moments of freedom. As if Gavin could give a damn about his bachelorhood—given the choice, he'd have thrown it over for Percy in a heartbeat. But he knew a white flag when it was being flown. And now that Fines was staying away from the cards and appeared sober most of the time, Gavin didn't mind the cull so much. So he'd gone.
