“I wish I were,” he said, and leaned closer. “Who are you?”
“I’m—”
“Who are you?” he repeated, slowly and succinctly.
She swallowed. He was too clever to lie to, too clever to believe whatever she said to put him off. Oh, she had failed herself, drawn in too much by a man who put her off-kilter. Jane had warned her and she hadn’t listened.
Why hadn’t she listened?
“Who are you?” he said again, this time more gently as he reached out and drew his fingers along the bottom of her mask.
“Leave it alone, Finn,” she whispered, but it was a plea, not an order. There was no stopping this now and she knew it.
He pinched the mask edge between his thumb and forefinger and gently lifted it, pulling it over her head and tossing it away. She prayed he wouldn’t recognize her, but she knew those prayers couldn’t be answered as he stared, mouth slightly agape, eyes wide.
His voice trembled as he cupped her cheek and said, “Charlotte?”
CHAPTER 7
There had not been many people in Finn’s youth who had given him support and friendship. There was Ramsbury, of course, and his sister. But his father had been abysmal and his mother constantly troubled by her relationship with the late earl, rather than present with the one she might have with her children.
It had left him looking for a mentor and he had found that in the Marquess of Chilton. The man had taken Finn under his wing, indulged him in philosophical conversation and practical knowledge about taking a title and holding it with honor. He’d been kind, gentle. And Finn had loved him like the father he’d never truly had.
He hadn’t known the man’s daughter, Charlotte, well. He and Chilton often met at the marquess’s club and if they returned to his home, it was long after the young woman had gone to sleep. Out of respect for his friend, Finn hadn’t sought her out at balls or parties, even though hehadnoticed her. It was impossible not to notice her, as she was a beauty.
When Chilton had died, suddenly and unexpectedly, Finn’s heart had been broken. And not long after Lady Charlotte had vanished. It was one of Society’s great mysteries, explained awayby the new marquess—her cousin, who wasn’t half the man as her father had been—that she had taken her saved pin money and fled to the continent to go wild.
But shewasn’ton the continent. She was sitting on a bed next to Finn, her green eyes bright with unshed tears as her hands trembled in her lap.
“I don’t go by Charlotte,” she said at last, turning her face away from his hand, which still pressed to her cheek. “It’s Esme, just as I told you.”
He blinked, still trying to process this utter shock. “Why?”
There was a long pause and she drew a few long breaths, as if speaking the truth were a challenge. “My middle name is Esmerelda,” she explained at last. “I hated the name Charlotte anyway, so I chose that instead.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Not why Esme. Why…why this? Why run away from your life? Why come to places like this?”
She folded her arms. “You didn’t mind it so much when you thought I was just some girl from the slums. Now that you know I was raised a lady it’s not good enough?”
He let out his breath in frustration and pushed from the bed. This conversation could not be held when he was naked with her body still brushing his. It was entirely too distracting and he needed to not be distracted so he could understand the unfathomable.
“It’s not about good enough or not good enough, Char—” She glared at him and he inclined his head as he shoved into his trousers and fastened them. “Esme. You’ve been missing for two years.”
“You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t know the exact day, hour, moment since I last saw the home I grew up in or the friends I once adored?” she snapped, her eyes flashingnow as she, too, exited the bed. Naked. Gloriously naked before she grabbed her dress and struggled to put it on.
“I only want to understand,” he said.
She stopped fighting with her buttons and sighed heavily. “Why? Why does it matter, Finn? I’m Esme, the Hellion, Miss X. Nothing has changed just because you once knew me by yet another name. This was a lark, a brief moment of pleasure. Why do you need to dig into anything else?”
“Because I loved your father,” he said. “Like he was my own. And since he isn’t here to protect you, I feel I…I must try.”
“You mean because you feel guilty over your sister, you somehow need to transfer that attempt at control to me,” she said.
He flinched at the charge. Perhaps she wasn’t so wrong that he wanted to solve a problem and now he would take on hers. But he still said, “No.”
She rolled her eyes like she didn’t believe him, like she could see into his soul. “I don’t need your protection, Finn. I think you saw in the ring that I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. And whatever happened to me in the past, it’s…it’s none of your business. I’m Esme, I’m the Hellion. Forget you know anything different.”
She had managed to get her dress buttoned and she smoothed her hair before she caught up the mask he had removed. When she settled it over her gorgeous face, he could almost do as she demanded and pretend he didn’t know who she truly was.
