Enticing Eve: Scandalous Secrets, Book 2 (12 page)

“God, I have missed you,” he confessed, his words rough with unshed emotion.

“I’ve missed you, too, brother dear,” Tristan drawled, his husky voice dripping with sarcasm.

Eve’s hand stilled as her wide eyes met Colin’s. The expression on her face – one of absolute panic – turned his blood to ice.
 

Squinting in the semi-darkness, Colin turned to find his younger brother standing not five feet away. Even in the faint light of the gas lamp burning beside him, Tristan’s expression was discernible. Shock, pain, anger … all etched in his familiar features, distorting them into a mask of torment.

“Tristan, I’m sorry,” Colin managed in a throaty whisper before realizing that his arms still encircled Eve. After giving her a reassuring squeeze he released her.

When she turned to face Tristan at last, Eve was visibly shaking. “It’s not what you think, Tristan,” her tone was laced with desperation as she bridged the distance between them. Tristan backed away from her as if repelled by her very presence.

“Tristan, please,” she pleaded with him, reaching for his arms, which were crossed in a defensive posture. “I swear it isn’t what you think.”

“Not what I think?” Tristan’s incensed voice reverberated through the still night air as he again stepped mere inches beyond her reach.
 

Eve’s hand stilled in the process of reaching for him again, her fear unmistakable.

A muscle in Tristan’s jaw pulsated, visible even with the poor lighting. When he spoke, his timbre was controlled, though still low and dangerous. “I witnessed you kissing him, Eve. That leaves little room for interpretation.”

“It meant nothing—”
 

Tristan laughed an eerie, hollow sound that would chill anyone within hearing distance. “If you believe that passionate encounter I just witnessed was meaningless then you are a fool.”
 

He turned on his heel, his boots reverberating against the stone like an ominous clock, tolling the minutes until impending doom. When Tristan entered what Colin recognized to be a vacant study, Eve followed close behind, still pleading.

“Tristan, please believe me!” She was frantic, that much was obvious.

Colin entered the room just as Eve grabbed Tristan’s arm and stood in front of him, blocking his path. “Please forgive me,” she sobbed.

“Forgive you?” Tristan jerked away from her.

“I swear to you, it’s not what you think!”

“Get out of my way, Eve,” Tristan growled.

Eve stood her ground, “I was acquainted with Colin a long time ago. What you witnessed were residual feelings – nothing more. It’s you I want to marry, not him.”

“Ah, you were acquainted with him? My, how innocent that sounds. Until one realizes that you knew the man well enough to share a passionate kiss with him.” Tristan paused as if attempting to assimilate her admission. “You were intimate enough to kiss him, and yet you withheld this information from me?”
 

“Please believe me when I say that it is you I wish to marry.” Eve grabbed his sleeve, a torrent of tears brimming in eyes over-bright with anguish.

Tristan stiffened, his tone dripping with disdain. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

“I know what I feel for you,” Eve wiped her tear-stained cheek with her free hand.

“What could you possibly feel for me when you kissed my brother with such reckless abandon? Add to that transgression the fact that you then allowed him to explore your neck with his tongue. Yes, I’m certain you felt something though I factored nowhere in the equation. Good God,” Tristan raked his hands through his hair before adding through gritted teeth, “You knew him and said nothing to me even though you had every opportunity. How many times did we discuss what my investigators had unearthed in their search to find my brother?”

Tristan’s lips curled into a scornful grin. “You used me to garner information about Colin.”

“No,” Eve shook her head. “I swear I didn’t.”

Colin’s senses were on full alert as he studied Eve’s reaction to Tristan’s accusation. Was it true? If so, Colin never could have prophesized this sudden turn of events. He searched for a sign that his brother was correct.

“Seeing Colin again confused me. It was a momentary lapse of judgment that will never happen again.” Eve insisted.

“What I witnessed was more than a mere lapse in judgment,” Tristan’s rage reverberated through the wood-paneled room. “So was the fact that you withheld information about your relationship from me. With every conversation you and I had about him, about my investigation into his whereabouts, you lied to me by omission.”

“I never meant to deceive you nor did I intend to kiss him,” Eve asserted, shaking him now. “What you witnessed was impulsive and will never happen again. Colin, please tell him!”

It was the first time Eve addressed him since Tristan had discovered them. Her eyes, now the color of dewy leaves on a crisp spring morning, were brimming with tears as she beseeched him to agree with her. He remained silent, choosing instead not to insult his brother’s intelligence.

Colin knew she was lying.
 

As it appeared, so did his brother.

“Are you listening to me, Eve?” Tristan peeled her fingers from his arm, one by one. “This extends far beyond your indiscretion this evening. You omitted details of your relationship. You lied to me. You used me.”

“But—”

“Stop it this instant!” Tristan roared, causing Eve to jump.
 

Tristan paused, crossing his arms over his chest as he inhaled. He was clearly utilizing every ounce of self-control to keep his temper in check.

When Tristan continued at last, his tone contained a steely edge. “I have no tolerance for deception, Eve. There have been too many secrets in my family, and I will not tolerate any more.” Tristan swallowed hard, and Colin wondered if the mere mention of their family’s artifices left a bitter taste in his brother’s mouth as it did in his own.

“For every action, there is a consequence, Eve. Make no mistake – I will never marry you after what I just witnessed.”
 

The hitch in Eve’s breathing betrayed her surprise at Tristan’s statement. Leaning against the cherry paneling behind her for support, her shoulders shook with sobs. The sight sliced through Colin’s heart like hundreds of steely edged blades.

Turning his attention towards his brother, Tristan’s calm, matter-of-fact tone contradicted the anger and torment etched in his strong features. “Our betrothal has been announced,” he spoke like the barrister he was, detached from the proceedings, a neutral observer arguing the facts. “Once word spreads that it has been broken, rumors will follow and her reputation will suffer especially if the reason ever becomes public knowledge.”

Eve buried her face in her hands, her sobs now muffled. Colin longed to reach out to her, to assure her that he would protect her, but he couldn’t yet do so. Instead, he returned his attention towards his brother, nodding his understanding.

Tristan’s fierce stare was unwavering as he issued his challenge, “here’s where you get to prove how unlike your father you are.”

Colin knew which father Tristan referred to. It was none other than the eighth Duke of Davenport – seducer and adulterer.

“Marry Eve and save her from scandal or ruin her forever,” Tristan continued. “It is in your hands, Colin.”

“I am sorry, Tristan.” They were the first words Colin had spoken since entering the cozy room yet he was certain that they weren’t enough.

Tristan narrowed his gaze. “Did you know of our betrothal before you kissed her?”

“Yes.” To date, it had been the most difficult admission that Colin had ever divulged, but his brother deserved the truth.
 

Hell, Tristan deserved so much more.

“I don’t know if I will ever be able to forgive you for this, brother.” He spoke his last word with quiet emphasis as if attempting to shame Colin even further. It was unnecessary since Colin understood the scale of his betrayal, causing regret to root deep within his already tortured soul.

This would be yet another sin for him to carry.

Colin nodded, unable to find the words that would bring his brother comfort. In response, Tristan marched out of the room and slammed the door behind him with such force that a painting rattled against the wall.

Eve slid to the floor, slumping onto the Aubusson carpet before Colin could catch her. When he did reach her, Eve was sitting in the midst of a sea of gold skirts. She resembled a wilted daffodil with her green ribbons and jonquil silk.
 

Why did he always think of spring when he saw her? Could it be because spring was a season of renewal and much like Eve was full of hope? At least she had been until tonight – until Colin allowed his desires to overpower him.
 

Kneeling before her, Colin pried her hands from her face. The sight of her scarlet, tear-stained cheeks shattered his heart into thousands of sharp shards.
 

He wanted the truth. Insisted upon it in fact, and now stared at the ruins remaining in the wake of his selfishness.
 

The sight caused him to feel every bit like the monster he knew he’d become.

“I’m so sorry, Eve.” He’d lost count as to how many times he’d apologized in one day and to whom. It seemed like the right thing to say – the only thing he could say.

“This is your fault!” Eve glared at him.

She was correct. Colin had initiated their kiss for the sole purpose of discovering her true feelings for him, consequences be damned. He now possessed proof that she cared for him, but Eve’s future plans, as well as Tristan’s, had fragmented from his intrusion.

“Why did you return?” Eve demanded. “Was it to ruin me? Humiliate me? Or was it because I survived you?”
 

He returned because, after learning of her betrothal, he wanted nothing more than to halt her impending marriage and reclaim the woman he loved. Colin feared not scandal. He vowed upon his return to ensure that Eve belonged to him and him alone by whatever means necessary.
 

Despite the best of intentions earlier today, he had done just that.

It was now time to protect her.

“I returned for you,” he admitted, offering her a sliver of truth.

Eve grabbed his arm, clutching it in a death-grip. “You have destroyed everything with no explanation of where you’ve been or why. You just return out of nowhere expecting to pick up where you left off. What gives you the right?”

With each word, she clutched him tighter, her nails digging through the delicate fabric of his shirt into his flesh. “What gives you the right to …” Eve swallowed hard, choking back sobs. “What gives you the right to destroy my future a second time?”

Eve’s shoulders began to shake with violent sobs as Colin embraced her, pulling her in a tight, protective cocoon.
 

Resting her cheek against his cravat, Eve wept harder as Colin held her tighter. Each gut-wrenching tear that she shed strengthened his resolve.

He would marry her.
 

Yes, Colin MacAlistair would do what he vowed upon his return to England – he would marry Eve, and in doing so, he would claim the life his brother had planned. The realization stung Colin, making him feel like the most selfish, immoral bastard who ever breathed.
 

Colin was certain he would rot in hell for all he’d done on this day. Then there were the days before this …
 

With every solid beat of his heart, his resolve strengthened. He would marry Eve and would protect her.
 

Because Colin hadn’t regained her trust, he would convince Eve to marry him under the guise of saving her reputation. Yes, such would be his reasoning. Eve wouldn’t be able to refuse him without inciting rumor and innuendo. Polite society loves scandals, after all, and a man seducing his brother’s betrothed – a popular barrister’s betrothed at that – would be far too titillating for society to ignore.

Marrying Eve would save her reputation.

Little would she ever know that Colin would marry Eve because he loved her and always would; because he had learned that a life without Eve wasn’t a life worth living.
 

He couldn’t be completely honest with her though, couldn’t yet admit that he loved her. Somehow, Colin had convinced himself that if he didn’t use the word
love
, it wouldn’t hurt as much if Eve didn’t return the sentiment.
 

Every time Colin came close to believing that Eve could love him, the daemon in the back of his mind screamed that she did not. Worse yet, the monster taunted him with his worst fears – that Eve never would once she uncovered the man he had become.

Regardless, with God as his witness, Colin silently vowed to love her and protect her with every breath he took. Well aware of how angry she was with him, Colin would be patient and hope that Eve would be able to forgive him.

“We’ll marry at once before the gossip reaches the
ton.
” His voice was a husky whisper.

Eve stiffened in his arms. “W-what?”