Page 23 of Scandalous: Family Ties and Spies

“Then be outside the drawing room at ten in the morning,” Amalie’s father said in a voice tight with anger.

Without waiting for Valeran’s reply, the tall Scotsman turned around and stalked out of the room. The moment he was gone, the energy charging the air around Valeran became nothing more than an uncomfortable prickly sensation against his skin. Eager to be free of censorious eyes for sins he’d not committed, Valeran swept his gaze across the shadows filling the room.

“Gentleman, unless we have further business to discuss, I would like to get some sleep,” he drawled with a nonchalance he didn’t feel at all.

Sleep. The word was so ironic he almost laughed out loud. There would be no sleep for him tonight. What he really wanted was a good stiff drink, but he’d given Jasper the night off, and he wasn’t about to rouse the man at this hour to fetch him a bottle of whisky. Valeran held himself rigid as he watched the shadows around him beginning to make their way out the door. A tall shadow he recognized as the figure that had stopped the Crianlarich from assaulting Valeran walked forward.

“Val, you must understand how stunned all of us are by what has happened,” Sebastian Rockwood, the Earl of Melton, said quietly.

“No one is more stunned than I, my lord. For two years, I have considered the Rockwoods to be my staunchest allies and friends.” Valeran didn’t bother to hide the bitterness in his voice as he adjusted his eyes so they were pinned directly on the dark gray facial contours of the Rockwood family’s patriarch.

“I—” The earl didn’t have a chance to continue as Valeran sneered at the man.

“Until now, I never believe the men I considered close friends capable of surrounding me like a pack of wolves arbitrarily condemning me without once considering the fact that my honor would never allow me to compromise any unmarried woman, let alone your niece. I was wrong.”

Valeran saw Melton’s shadow go rigid at his icy denunciation. The man didn’t move for a moment before he exhaled a quiet breath of exasperation.

“You’re right, Val. You’ve never done anything to make us question your honor. We have gravely wronged you, and I’m sorry. However Amalie came to be—”

“I am through discussing the matter of how, Melton. I will offer Miss Rockwood my name in the morning. We will not speak of this again.”

Valeran’s jaw ached as if he’d taken a blow to his face by an overzealous sparring partner. The earl muttered something beneath his breath Val couldn’t interpret before he nodded sharply.

“As you wish,” Sebastian said quietly. “Goodnight, Val.”

“I believe Sommerville would be more appropriate, don’t you, my lord?”

Valeran didn’t hide his resentment as he made it clear, the two of them were no longer the friends he’d believed them to be. The older man released a sound that might have been one of pain. Valeran didn’t give a damn as he stared at the man with cynical derision. With another sharp bob of his head, the Earl of Melton left the room. Dragging in a deep breath, the tension holding his body rigid ebbed, only to return the moment Valeran realized someone was still in the room.

“Val, I’m sorry.” The deep note of regret in Jamie’s voice made Valeran turn his head toward his friend.

“For what? Thinking I fucked your cousin under your family’s roof without giving a damn about the consequences?” Valeran snarled. “Go to hell, Westbury.”

“Goddamnit, Valeran. That’s not what I thought.” The other man raised his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. “All right, maybe just for a moment, but in all honesty, I didn’t know what to think. I heard Uncle Julian roaring like a mad boar from down the hallway, and when I walk through the door, you’re standing next to Amalie in your robe as if we were at a garden party at Marlborough House.”

“Of course, you thought it, Westbury. After all, everyone knows the Earl of Sommerville has a reputation for debauchery where women are concerned,” Valeran ground out between clenched teeth.

“Damn it, Val, I know the gossip is a lie. I know you’re an honorable man. Even if I didn’t already know that, it would have been clear the moment you stated your intent to propose to Amalie.”

“Really? Did you think me an honorable man when you entered my bed chamber and dared to ask me if I’d bedded your cousin? Don’t answer that question, Westbury. We both already know the answer,” Valeran snarled.

“For Christ’s sake, Val, are you going to stand there and tell me you wouldn’t have asked me the same question if you’d been in my place?” Jamie exclaimed fiercely.

“And yet, for a man who’s known for his quick thinking, not once did you even think to raise the question that I might be the victim here?”

Valeran saw his friend’s shadow jerk as if he’d slugged the man, something he wanted to do badly. He ignored the voice in his head. Coming to blows with the man would accomplish nothing, and he was tired of defending himself.

“Get out, Westbury, before I do something we’ll both regret.”

“Go ahead, drop me like you would some criminal you’re fighting in the field,” Jamie snapped viciously. “But I’m not going anywhere until you answer my question. What would you have done if you’d caught me and your sister under the same circumstances?”

“My sister died almost twenty years ago,” Valeran said bitterly.

“Answer the goddamn question, man. What would you have done?”

Valeran inhaled a deep breath as he struggled to rein in his anger. If Jamie refused to leave until he answered the question, by God, he wanted to be as clear-headed possible to verbally destroy the man for his betrayal. Closing his eyes, Valeran slowly exhaled, then inhaled another deep breath to bring his mind into focus.

“Think about it, Val. You’re like a brother to me,” Jamie said with a fierce intensity that punctured Valeran’s anger to the rational part of him demanding to be heard. “But do you honestly believe you wouldn’t have questioned my honor? We’re both known for breaking hearts, but we’ve always drawn the line at unmarried women. We both know it’s a dishonorable thing to do, but there’s always a first time.”