The Spy Who Loved Her: Once Upon an Accident, Book 3 (2 page)

The rustle of silk was the first thing Daniel heard as he slowly returned to consciousness. Since he was in his family townhouse, he knew without a doubt it wasn’t anyone but the one person he wanted to avoid today.

“Mother?”

“It is almost four in the afternoon.”

Her voice told him that he had breached some rule she had put in place. Lately, she had been getting overly concerned with his comings and goings.

“Yes, and being that I got in this morning just as the sun was coming up, I definitely am not ready to get up.”

Another rustle of silk, then a wave of flowery perfume. It was at that moment, he remembered he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. He scrambled, turning over and grabbing his bed linens. He pulled them up to his chest. The fast actions left his body throbbing in pain.

“Really, Daniel. It is not as if I have not seen you naked before.” Humor threaded her voice.

He grimaced as he rose to sit against his headboard. His ribs were still sore from the fight last night.

“Oh, darling boy, what have you done to yourself?” The concern in her voice was genuine, and as he watched her settle on the bed next to him, he could see it there plain in her gaze. For all her faults, his mother truly loved all her children.

“I did nothing to myself.” He pulled himself to sit against the pillows against his headboard. “But a nasty Russian caught us unawares last night. I think he bruised my ribs.”

She frowned. “You are getting too old for this.”

He chuckled. “I am just over thirty. Father was working well into his fifties.”

She sighed. “First, your father still worked for the state department. He did not go out running around picking fights with Russian spies. Secondly, your father had already married by that point and we had started a family.”

He groaned. “Please, not this again, Mother.”

“I thought once Sebastian was married you would follow suit.”

His usual response to these discussions was to leave. The problem was that she had him trapped. That was, unless he wanted to traipse around nude in front of her. Even he wasn’t brave enough to do that. And from the shrewd look in her hazel eyes, she knew she had him.

“I have told you that I will not marry until there is someone to take my place.”

“Hmph. That is not going to happen if you do not marry and set up a nursery. Unless…”

Her gaze grew unfocused as something bubbled in her dangerous mind. His father said he had never known a man who could out plot his mother.

“What about your cousin? Simon was being trained by your uncle…well, before. He is five and twenty, definitely old enough to handle overseeing things while you do this.”

He should have known she would latch onto Simon. “His father died less than six months ago.”

She nodded acknowledging his comment. A flash of pain came and went so fast most would have missed it. Harold had actually been his father’s uncle, but they had been as close as if they were brothers. His death was still raw for the entire family.

“Have you been able to find who poisoned him?”

He shook his head. “No. Joanna seems to have a lead on a Russian, but that is it. She can barely go out into society, and most see her as a pariah.”

His mother smiled. “And knowing Jo, she enjoys that. She was never one for ball and musicales.”

“My only worry is that she is becoming obsessed with finding the spy. Being cut off from society has allowed her to turn all her attention to the task.”

Her smile faded. “I will talk to her. She still blames herself for it.”

He nodded but said nothing.

“You will attend the Ethinghams’ ball tonight.”

He wanted to groan but knew better not to. He might be a man and an earl, but she was his mother. Lady Adelaide would not hesitate to box his ears if he refused her demand. And, dammit to all, he was in too much pain to deal with that tonight. Trussing up in his evening clothes was going to be painful enough as it was.

“I don’t know if Sebastian would forgive you if you missed it.”

Sebastian didn’t care if he showed up or not, but apparently his mother did.

“Is there a particular reason?”

She sighed. “Lady Victoria asked.”

And that sealed it. With Sebastian’s mother pairing up with his, there was no way to win.

“I understand my duties, Mother.”

She brushed a lock of hair away from his forehead. “Even when you were a little boy you did.” She cupped his cheek, a familiar move she had used when he was a lad. “Just know that filling your father’s shoes is not everything there is in life, dear boy. You need some outside activities.”

“I do other things.”

She dropped her hand. “I am not talking about your mistresses or paramours.”

Heat filled his face. He should be accustomed to his mother’s plain talk, but he did not know a man who was. There was something so…wrong, discussing your love life with your mother—especially while naked.

“I am talking about the future. Take time to make one for yourself.”

He nodded as she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

As she walked toward the door, she said, “And you will accompany me to the ball. No escaping to your club.”

He chuckled as he threw off his bed covers. He pulled on his robe and tied the sash. A knock sounded at the door.

“Come.”

His valet opened the door and stepped inside.

“Really, my lord. These late nights are not good for you.”

He chuckled. “Are you telling me that I am past my salad days?”

“Oh, you passed those days years ago. Now it is getting embarrassing.”

Daniel frowned. “Embarrassing?”

“Roving all over kingdom come, for what? Spy games? It is well past time you set up a nursery.”

Daniel groaned. “Not you too.”

“I see that your mother has talked to you about it.”

“It is her favorite subject of discussion. You would think she would busy herself with my sisters.”

“With Lady Portia married, she is content for now with your sisters.”

“But not with me.”

Jenkins opened his mouth, but Daniel lifted a hand. “No more. It is bad enough I have to rearrange a meeting meant for tonight for later this week. I have agreed to go to the ball. Leave it be.”

With a sniff, Jenkins moved to his wardrobe and seemingly got down to work. It figured his mother would enlist Jenkins in her plot. He had been with them for years and knew much about the Bridgertons…being a former spy himself. And knowing his mother, she had convinced Jenkins that it was imperative he do everything he could to make sure Daniel did his duty.

His mother knew him better than anyone should. The two of them had weathered some very tough storms together. When his father had been murdered, Daniel had only been thirteen. His mother had married young, and at the age of one and thirty found herself a widow with a horde of children to raise and spy ring to run. Not your average life.

As the bath water was being brought up and poured into the tub, Daniel looked out upon Mayfair. He knew his mother wanted him to marry, and for that reason he had not told her of his decision. Marriage and children was something he would never have. He could not do what he needed to do and have a life outside of that. His mother was the strongest woman he knew and the loss of her husband had almost killed her. Watching her struggle had a profound effect on him. He had promised himself he would never marry.

A man who lived life waiting to see who wanted to kill him next could not have that luxury.

Chapter Two

“Do smile, Anna. It cannot be all that dire.”

She glanced up at her cousin by marriage as he twirled her around the dance floor. From the moment she’d arrived both cousins had ensured she felt comfortable, and Douglas had even insisted on a waltz with her. It was the only dance she had accepted, even with the warning looks her mother kept tossing her way.

“You cannot complain, my lord. This is your ball. There was a time you avoided these activities as if it were the plague. Now you are having one in your own home.”

Douglas smiled. “Yes, but it makes my wife happy. I am ever ready to do that.” He glanced at his wife who was presently dancing with an earl. “Even if I have to share her with everyone else.”

The disgruntled expression on his face made her laugh. It was a joy to see a man who loved his wife so much. Especially Cicely. No one deserved loving attention more than her cousin. “I daresay she could care less about everyone else.”

His cheeks reddened and she laughed again.

“Oh, my. I made you blush.”

He cleared his throat and looked over her shoulder. “What I want to know is why you have refused so many dances, but you accepted mine?”

“You are family.”

He cocked his head and brought his gaze back to meet hers. “I have been warned by your mother not to discuss this, but I truly wish you would not allow what happened to affect you in this way.”

Her face flamed and she looked around. Sebastian, and not to mention Douglas, had made sure that not a whiff of scandal touched her. Still, she could not help the feeling that people knew. She swallowed a lump in her throat that threatened to choke her. She concentrated on his chest. “I thank you for your understanding.”

“Anna.” His voice was stern and not like the Douglas she knew. It was the one Cicely hated the most…his ducal voice. She forced herself to meet his gaze.

“I do not want you to waste your life because you feel you are responsible for what happened.”

“Working with orphans is wasting my life?”

He studied her for a moment. “No. That is a worthy cause. But caring for another woman’s child is not the same as having one of your own.”

Pain and irritation entwined as it thrummed through her blood. She knew he felt he had the right to comment, but it was going too far. Some of what she was thinking must have shown in her face.

“I do apologize for being so forward, but I do not want you to suffer because of that mess. You were not at fault any more than Cicely was.”

She nodded.

He smiled. “Now, I wanted to tell you that we expect another bundle of joy to be presented to us in several months.”

And with that, he whirled her away and Anna forced herself to concentrate.

“What are you doing here on the sidelines?” Daniel asked his best friend. “You are usually out on the floor with your wife.”

Sebastian smiled as he glanced in the direction of Colleen who was sitting between both of their mothers. “She is feeling a little under the weather at the moment.”

“Nothing serious.”

A small smile curved Sebastian’s lips. “No. She will be fine.”

“Your sister looks as if she hates every minute of that waltz,” Daniel said as he watched the duke expertly steer her around the floor.

Sebastian grimaced. “She is not presenting herself very well tonight, is she?”

Daniel could not disagree with that. Anyone who knew Anna could tell from the set of her shoulders that she was not happy with the circumstances. She often pulled her shoulders back when she was irritated. And the smile she offered the duke was not one of genuine smiles. This one curved her lips but did not meet her eyes. There had been a time when every smile showed the exuberant joy she felt inside. Those smiles were a rare occurrence these days.

“Daniel?”

He shook himself free of the thoughts. “You know she didn’t want to be here. She is doing her duty. It is all you can expect.”

Sebastian grunted. “I thought if she were to attend—”

“You got it in your head she would find a man and fall madly in love? How many of these soirees have you taken her to in the last few months?”

“I just don’t want her wasting her time working at that orphanage. She could have her pick of men, but she pays them no heed.”

True to Sebastian’s comments, the waltz ended and Douglas walked her back to her mother. As he did, men’s heads turned, watching. The available gentlemen followed. They surrounded her, each trying to gain her attention, but she barely noticed. If he didn’t know better, he would think she would rather meet the guillotine than speak to one of them.

“You need to ask her to dance. A waltz.”

His heart leapt at the idea of holding Anna in his arms, touching her. It would be heaven and hell combined.

“No.”

He said it loud enough for a few people to turn to Daniel and stare at him as if he had grown horns in his head.

“Excuse me?”

He opened his mouth, but then closed it again. He had avoided this situation for years. The one waltz he had shared with her the first year she had been out had been painful. The moment she had stepped into his arms, his body had reacted. For the first time since his youth, he found his palms sweating and his mind completely blank. The lust encased in a thick layer of guilt had been enough to cause any man to go mad.

He glanced at Sebastian who continued to watch his sister with a frown. How did one tell his best friend he was lusting after his younger sister? It was a rule that you did not even think of your friend’s sister that way. You just did not do it.

Sebastian turned his attention back to Daniel. “If you do not dance with her, people will wonder. Douglas is family and she dances with no one else?”

“He is the host. Besides, it will probably make her that much more popular.”

Not that she needed help in that quarter. With her soft blue eyes, perfect skin and petite, rounded body, most men drew to her. There was a way she looked at a man, focusing her entire attention on him, that made most lose their heads. He knew. He had been given that sort of attention one time, long ago. It was one of the reasons he had to stay away from her. Very far away.

“There will be talk. I know you understand.”

Daniel knew what he meant. Douglas had had a reputation for being a rake of the first order before meeting Cicely, and gossip, no matter how far from the truth, could wound.

“Please, Daniel.”

Daniel felt the hatchet lower. Sebastian did not ask much of him, and he rarely said please. Daniel shot him a look and wanted nothing more than to smack the self-satisfied smile curving his friend’s lips.