Seducing the Ruthless Rogue (48 page)

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“That’s what I am, aren’t I?
 
I can’t have the coach or horse readied.
 
I can’t have a hack called for.
 
If I step foot outside the house I have not one, but two shadows.
 
What did you do, Mack, threaten their jobs?”

“Aye.”

“Damn you.”

“It’s for your own bloody protection.”

“My protection?
 
I’m not the one being threatened!
 
Don’t you understand?
 
You can strategize for an entire war, but you can’t seem to understand the nuances of this insane person who has interfered in my life.
 
They don’t care about me, they are after you.
 
You, Chang, Bartlett, Gabe, Mikala, and Diana are the ones in danger.
 
You all are the ones that need the bloody protection!”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Great.
 
And what of everyone else?
 
I’ve already watched one person that I lo…that I care about die at the hands of this mad man.
 
I’ll be damned if I stay around to watch the same thing happen to you or any of the others.”

“You owe me that party.
 
Besides, every member of this staff has their eyes on you.
 
You’re not going anywhere, and if you do get past them, I will fire every last one of them, including Chang and Bartlett.
 
Then, Cassie darlin’, I will find you, and you will rue the day you ever met me.”

“You’re just ruthless enough, I believe you would.”

“Test me.”

“And to think I thought I—”

“Save it,” he ordered.

“I hate you, Stuart McKenzie,” she seethed.
 
“You are a heartless arse,” tears of anger filled her eyes, threatening to spill.

“Good, let’s keep it that way, and I believe the term you are looking for is bastard.”
 
The word rolled off his tongue like a gentle caress, reminding both of them of who he was and where he came from, and that he believed he would never be good enough for the likes of the woman standing across from him.

“Go to Hell!” Cassie rushed past him and raced up the stairs to the room she had occupied last night.
 

She missed his tortured response to her edict, “I am already there.”

Chapter 26

Cassie remained in her room all night and all the next day.
 
Before he left for work, Mack knocked on the connecting door, but found it locked.

“Cassie.”
 
Silence.
 
“Be ready when I get home, or I swear right now that I will dress you myself.
 
Do you ken?”
 
More silence.
 
“I’ll break down this bloody door right now—”

“Fine,” she bit out, angrily.
 
She found she could hardly eat, her nerves were so rattled and her stomach churned.
 
Late in the afternoon she called for a maid to help her dress her hair and put on her gown.
 

“The master left these for you to wear this evening.”
 

Cassie opened the box to find a pair of sapphire and diamond earrings as well as a necklace that matched her wedding ring.
 

“Oh, my, they’re gorgeous, ma’am.”

“I can’t wear them.”
 
She snapped the lid closed.

“Oh, but you must.
 
You’ll be the envy of all the women there.
 
Here, let me help you.”
 

Cassie found she lacked the strength of will to fight the bubbly maid.
 
When she looked in the mirror, she felt awed.
 
Despite the somber color of the dress, she still felt beautiful.
 
Damn him
, she thought as she tugged on her white gloves.
 
Only a bit of the puckered skin from her bullet wound showed.

A knock sounded on the hall door of her bedroom and when the maid answered, Mack stood on the other side dressed in his finery.
 
She felt his gaze taking in every aspect of her, from the slippers that peeked out from beneath the dress, to the jewels, and finally to her hair.

“Sweet Cassie, you’re truly breathtaking.”

“Let’s just get this over with, shall we?” she asked caustically.

“Of course,” he replied stiltedly.

She led the way downstairs and waited while the butler retrieved her light cloak.
 
Fall teased them, allowing some warm days still, but heralding in chilly nights.
 
Mack placed the cloak on her shoulders, and she stiffened at his touch.
 
They stepped outside and entered their new carriage.
 
If they were not fighting, Cassie would have told Mack how well he had done choosing the coach and horseflesh.
 
She had ridden quite often along the sandy beaches of her home before moving to London and missed that feeling of being free.
 
The equipage was also very well sprung, not rough like rented hacks tended to be, but she refused to tell him any of this because they were warden and inmate at the moment.
 
Admitting that he had done anything well at this point would be a monumental mistake.
 
Instead, she played with the gloves on her hands, fiddling with buttons, smoothing invisible wrinkles, anything to not meet the eyes that she could feel perusing her body.
 

“Are we going to spend the rest of our lives avoiding one another?”

“I believe that is a question you need to answer,” she said before the carriage jarred to a halt.
 
“It looks as if we have arrived.”

“So it does.
 
Shall we?”
 
Mack emerged from the carriage and held out his arm to Cassie.
 
It looked as if this would be a large gathering from the flow of carriages and the throng of people waiting to be admitted.
 
Mack could feel Cassie’s tenseness through her grip on his arm.

“Relax, Cassie darlin’.”

“I’m fine,” she gritted between her teeth, keeping a smile pasted on her face.
 

They entered the large, brightly lit house and joined the line of people.
 
It seemed forever before they reached the head of the line in order to greet their hosts.
 
Cassie curtsied respectfully in the presence of Lord and Lady Bathurst, while Mack bowed.

“Georgiana, this is Director Stuart McKenzie.
 
He oversees the War Office for me and does a bloody fine job of it, if I may say so.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Mack said.

Cassie could not help but feel pride at what Lord Bathurst had said about her husband.
 
She knew he was a highly intelligent man who did not deserve what had happened to him in his early life simply because of the circumstances of his conception.

“May I present my wife, Mrs. Cassie McKenzie,” Mack said, pulling her closer to him.

“Lord and Lady Bathurst, it is my great pleasure,” Cassie said.
 
“Mack speaks highly of you, Lord Bathurst.”

“Thank you, young lady.
 
Allow me to extend my condolences.
 
Your father was a good man.
 
He will be greatly missed.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Cassie replied, her voice husky.
 

“Mack, you have done well for yourself.
 
Your wife is lovely,” Lord Bathurst addressed Mack.

“Thank you, my lord.
 
We should not hold up the line anymore.
 
Once again, thank you for the invitation.”

“Yes, thank you,” Cassie echoed.

“We’ll chat later,” Lady Bathurst said, taking one of Cassie’s hand and patting the back of it.

“I look forward to it,” Cassie agreed.
 
Mack pulled her away from the couple and led her down a hall where they could hear people laughing and talking.
 
They entered a large room to see dozens of people gathered.
 
Cassie felt as if all eyes were on them.
 
“I can’t do this,” she said, panic overwhelming her all of a sudden.

“Of course you can.
 
Bathurst and Liverpool both expect me…us to host parties like this now that I have a hostess.”

“You expect me to host a party like this?
 
You must be mad,” she whispered.

“Smile.
 
Remember, never let them believe that anything is wrong.”

This party was not the huge ball that Mikala and Gabe had given, but one could dance, play card games or billiards, or just chat.
 
There were separate rooms for the men and women to sit and gossip, as well.
 
When she had freed herself from the receiving line, Lady Bathurst sought Cassie out and took her about the room introducing her to many ladies.
 
Mack knew a great many male members of the
beau monde
, and had seemed to gladly pass her over to Lady Bathurst.
 
She watched, irritated, as he disappeared into a room where when the door opened, cigar smoke rolled out.
 
As the evening passed, Cassie’s mind spun with all the names of the people that she met.

After several dances with gentlemen that seemed to not care one whit that she was married, she moved around the perimeter of the dance floor to slip to the retiring room to refresh herself.
 
She passed several women in the hall that seemed to quit talking once they got close to her.
 
Cassie entered the room, sighing with relief when she found it empty.
 
She found a corner hidden by a screen and gladly slumped on the chair.
 
Her head had begun to pound with all the noise, and she just needed some moments of quiet solitude.

Those moments were destroyed when a group of giggling girls entered her temporary sanctuary.
 
Their chatter and giggling intensified the pounding in her head, which caused her stomach to churn.
 
Please, just go away,
she silently pleaded.
 
But they showed no signs of leaving as they entered into a discussion on the latest social
on dit
, which she soon discovered involved her.

“Did you see that new little upstart?”
 

“Which one?”

“Do you mean the blonde with the big bosom?”

“Sally!” one of them exclaimed before they all broke into giggles.

“That’s the one.
 
Rumor is she married ‘The Scottish Bastard’.”

“There goes another possible husband to someone who has no business being a part of us.”

“Alice, would you have really considered marrying him?”

“His father is a laird and his real father was a duke.
 
Why not?”

“Because he’s a
bastard
,” one of the girl’s whispered the last word.

“Yes, but he
is
a scrumptious bastard.
 
I wonder what he’s like in bed.”
 

“Meredith, you shouldn’t be thinking of such things.”

“Oh, Sally, you are so naïve.”

“You mean you would marry him, Meredith, if he were available, that is?” the girl named Sally asked.

“Father wouldn’t let me be seen within ten feet of him, let alone marry him.
 
But what Father doesn’t know will not hurt him.”
 

Cassie could feel her face turn red with anger the longer she sat there listening to their conversation.
 
Her head pounded almost to the point where she could not think.
 
Should she stay hidden, or should she confront them?
 

“Yes,” the girl went on.
 
“I’d ride ‘The Scottish Bastard’ until I tired of him and laugh when he cried because I sent him away.”
 
The girls broke into a fit of giggles.

That did it.
 
She did not care if these girls were His Majesty’s own daughters.
 
No one, but no one, spoke of her husband that way in front of her.
 
She stood and carefully smoothed out her dress.
 
Cassie tugged her gloves up and raised her head.
 
She took a step, but dizziness swamped her.
 
Cassie paused a moment until it cleared then stepped from behind the divider just as the door opened to reveal Mikala and Tessa.
 

“Ah, ladies, you have impeccable timing.
 
Please make certain no one enters.
 
I have a few thoughts I would like to share with these…creatures.”
 
She finished like it was distasteful to even speak the word.
 
Her eyes sparkled with anger as she turned and stared down the girls.
 
She supposed they could be classified as beauties, but their crudeness left them severely wanting.

“It would be our pleasure,” Mikala said.
 
The two stood against the door so no one could enter.