Seducing the Ruthless Rogue (39 page)

Cassie was once again lying on her stomach, as she was wont to do.
 
Mack leaned over and brushed a kiss on her shoulder blade. He was going to miss this.
 
Miss her.
 
Dammit man, pull yourself together.
 
She’ll be here tonight when you get home
, he chastised himself.

“Mmmm,” a feminine voice moaned from the wrinkled bed.
 
“What time is it?”

“Time for me to be getting to work.”

Cassie rolled over, wrapping herself in the sheet as she she went.
 
“You’re dressed and shaved,” she observed.

“Aye.”

“You really are going to work,” she said.

“Aye.”

“Are you certain I can’t entice you to stay?” she asked, stretching, allowing her bosom to slowly slip free of the sheet.

“I believe I have made you insatiable,” he groaned, feeling himself harden.

“I’ll tell you what you’ve made me,” she pulled him down and whispered naughty things in his ear.

“I have to go,” he croaked.

“Truly?” She cupped his manhood through his trousers.
 

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he groaned.

“What a way to go,” she said, a wicked smile spread across her face.

Fifteen minutes later, Mack left his wife slumbering in their bed.
 
Deciding that he was already late, he began walking to the Horseguards instead of taking a carriage.
 
He would have to take a hack at some point, but he needed to be out and in what little fresh air London provided.
 
Cassie was a fast and eager learner when it came to bed sport.
 
He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face when he thought about how they had spent the last two days.
 
She had found his copy of the
Kama Sutra
.
 
It had been one of his prized possessions that he had purchased in the Navy.
 
He remembered how he and some of the other men had gathered around curiously looking at the book.
 
Cassie had insisted they do much the same thing, and so they had studied each page.
 
Even though they did not understand the words, the pictures said plenty.
 
Some poses she had giggled over, while others she had dismissed as being totally impossible.
 
But then there had been some she had eagerly begged him to try.
 
That had been fun
, he mused to himself.
 
And they were by no means finished with the book.

His mind drifted to the threatening note that they found.
 
It currently lay safely tucked away with the maps and other documents beneath the loose floorboard.
 
After he had revealed his past to her, he had shown her the hiding spot.

“I would never have found the maps,” she said.

“That is the plan.
 
I need them to be secure.
 
You and Bartlett are the only people that know where I keep them.”

“Not even your brother?”

“Not even Gabe.”

“Why me?”

“I trust you.”

“Do you not trust Gabe?”

“I do.
 
It’s just, well…”

“Yes?” she asked, refusing to let him get away with not answering.

“I still feel like I am always competing against Gabe.
 
He joined the Navy after completing his studies.
 
There were several times we met up in our service.
 
Never once did we acknowledge one another.
 
Our relationship, until recently, has been strange and strained to say the least, and a secret.
 
Perhaps I keep some secrets from him so that I can remain one step ahead of him.
 
He’s a Duke.”

“You are the Director of the War Office.”

“See, somehow we are equal but not.”

“I’m honored that you trust me.”

Cassie was intelligent and capable.
 
She was strong and resilient.
 
She made him want to protect her, to care for her, to leave this crazy life behind and live quietly somewhere, just her and him.
 
There would be no wars he had to fight.
 
No crazy people would be threatening their lives.
 
There would be no injustices she felt she had to write about, placing herself in constant danger.
 
Bloody hell
, he thought,
this is exactly why I did not need to get involved with anyone.
 
She is distracting me from my job
.

He looked up and down the street before stepping down to cross it.
 
His mind was in turmoil, thinking about everything when the shouts finally penetrated his thoughts.
 
Mack stood in the middle of the street and quickly looked about to see what was wrong.
 
That was when he saw the carriage barreling down on him.
 
When he looked the other direction, he saw another team pulling a wagon almost upon him.
 
There was no way he could reach the other side.
 

Mack sent up a prayer and dove between the slow moving wheels of the wagon.
 
He twisted, but not quickly enough.
 
The left back wheel of the wagon rolled over his foot, causing him to grunt in pain.
 
When the wagon passed over him he found himself staring at the underbelly of a horse that was pawing at the air.
 
Upon seeing a man on the ground where his horses’ hooves should be, the rider had pulled the horse up short.
 
Mack rolled again toward the walk and out of the way of the deadly hooves.

“Go home and sleep it off,” the rider yelled down at Mack.

Mack looked up and down the street, but the carriage had disappeared.
 
The wagon lumbered on, the driver having no idea what had just unfolded beneath his conveyance.
 
Under his own power, Mack got to his feet.
 
The one that the dray had run over was sore, but thankfully nothing felt broken.
 
If the dray had not been empty, his foot could have very well been crushed.
 
Mack straightened his coat.
 
He waved down a hack and climbed inside after giving the jarvie directions to take him to the Horseguards.
 
There were two things he knew.
 
That carriage had intentionally tried to run him over, and he was going to be incredibly sore.

***

When Mack limped into his outer office, Preston greeted him with an exclamation of dismay.
 

“Look that good, do I?” Mack asked, trying to sound rakish and casual.

“What happened, Director?
 
That is, if I might ask?”

“I was nearly run down by a carriage.
 
My foot was rolled over by an empty dray wagon, and I was almost trampled by a horse.”

“Well, you look good considering,” Preston said.

“I echo that sentiment,” Gabe said from the doorway.
 
“You need to change your coat.
 
It has several tears in it.”

“I keep an extra set of clothes here just on the off chance I should ever need them.
 
I guess that day has finally arrived.”

“I’ll help you.”
 

Mack led Gabe into the office.
 
He limped over to a small wardrobe nestled in the corner and removed a coat to replace the damaged one.
 
He dropped it over his desk.

“Should you have someone look at your foot?”

“No.
 
It isn’t broken, just sore.
 
The dray was empty.
 
Otherwise it could have been crushed.”

“What happened?”
 
Mack repeated the story while Gabe pulled off the form fitting coat.
 
“Another assassination attempt?”

“Yes and no.”

“That makes no sense, whatsoever.”

“I need to talk something out with someone besides Cassie.”

“How is my favorite sister-in-law.”

“She wanted to do bodily harm to you yesterday.”

“What did I do?”

“Eton.”

“We were boys.”

“That’s what I told her.
 
Just don’t be surprised if she treats you somewhat coldly for a while.”

“So you love each other after all.”

“Not in the least.
 
We are making the best of a bad situation.”

“You tell yourself whatever you have to, Brother.
 
Now, what is it you need to discuss?”

“I really hate it when you make me feel like I’m younger than you, when just the opposite is true.”

“Years of practice being a duke,” Gabe negligently said.

“Cassie received a threat the evening of our wedding.”

“A threat?”

“Yes.”
 
Mack quickly explained what they had found and what the note had said.

“Who would want to hurt her?”

“Gabe, Cassie writes the articles by C.E. Jones in
The Times
.”

Gabe thought about that for a moment and the implications that went along with it.
 
“What did the note say again?”

Mack told him.

“The person wants to take Cassie’s happiness?”
 

“Yes.”

“Mack, I don’t think they are after Cassie.
 
At least not at this point.
 
I think they are going to target those that she cares about most, or that they believe she cares about.”

“How do you explain the carriage?”

“Brother, you are dense sometimes.
 
Whoever it is more than likely does not know that you and Cassie were forced into marriage.
 
They probably think that you are in love.”

“But we’re not.”

“They don’t know that.”

“What do we do?
 
I can’t announce it to the world.
 
Cassie would be embarrassed.”

“You’re going to have to figure out who this person is before they strike again.”

“I’m going to have to put guards on Chang and Sir Graham.
 
Bartlett will be able to watch over Cassie during the day.”

“Who’s going to watch over you?”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Says the man who limped in here wearing a torn coat because he was almost trampled to death by a coach and four.”
 
Gabe held up his hands when Mack looked at him sourly.
 
“Just look after yourself.”

“I will.
 
Now, what brought you by here?”
 

“Thought I would check on the newlyweds.
 
I came by yesterday, but there was no sign of you.”

“We’re fine,” Mack said, looking down at his desk and reaching for some papers.

“So it appears.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to get caught up on your work.”

“I appreciate that.”

“If you and your bride aren’t too busy, Mikala asked if you would join us for a family supper the day after next.”

“We’ll be there.”

“Excellent.”

Gabe stood and crossed to the door.
 
“Mack, I meant it when I said be careful.
 
I am no longer that bitter young man.
 
I’ve grown rather fond of having you as a brother.”

“I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

“Good.”

“Preston,” Mack bellowed.

“Yes, sir?” The secretary stuck his head inside the door.

“See if you can find any coffee, and then come in and debrief me on everything that has happened the past few days.”

“Right away, sir.”

Mack leaned back in his chair, wincing.
 
He picked up a letter and broke the seal.

Your bride is lovely.
 
Enjoy her while you can.
 
I’ll try to make your death as painless as possible.
 
It is Mrs. McKenzie, alone, who should suffer.

“Bloody hell!” Mack roared.

“I found coffee, sir.
 
It is going to take some time to make, though,” Preston nervously wrung his hands at the sound of Mack’s yell.

“When did this letter come, Preston?”

“Yesterday, sir.”

“Who delivered it?”

“It came in with everything else.
 
Is there something wrong?”

“Yes.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Do you have a crystal ball?”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing.
 
Get Hanks in here right away.”