Enticing Eve: Scandalous Secrets, Book 2 (28 page)

Eve flattened her palm against his jaw, leaning against him. “Please tell me.”

“That man and his wife were more like my parents to me than my own,” he placed his hands on her waist. “What you just did meant the world to him.”

“Well then, we’re even, for his gift was just as important to me,” Eve raised the bouquet with her free hand, lifting it to her nose, inhaling the heady fragrance.

“Have I told you how much I love you?” he asked.

“Not nearly as much as you ought,” Eve teased as Colin rested his forehead against hers. “Well then, I’ll have to make up for it this evening.”

Colin noted the blush accentuating her high cheekbones, at his reference to their first night together. He assumed she didn’t know what to expect, that no one had explained the act of lovemaking to her and the fact that he’d be the man to teach her filled him with pride.

He kissed her then gently tracing her lips with his tongue before nipping her bottom lip. Eve leaned into him, settling against his length as she granted him entry, her tongue seeking his with unchecked desire. She clutched him tighter, pulling him towards her as she offered her heart and soul in this kiss.
 

God how he wanted this woman.
 

Colin’s breath shuddered as their lips parted. “This must wait a little longer. We must first make our union official.”

Taking her hand in his, Colin led her out into the hallway until they reached the French doors leading out to the gardens. He then escorted her down the granite steps to the lush green lawns before scanning the landscape before him.
 

He had hired a crew to prepare the gardens for this special occasion. It was to be a surprise for Eve; however, as it turned out, even he hadn’t yet seen the final results, not until now, and he was quite satisfied.
 

It was just as he had planned.

A dozen sandstone birdbaths stood in two rows of six, overflowing with pink and white roses and ivy cascading over the sides. They formed an aisle at the end of which was a trellis, overflowing with more pink and white roses and climbing ivy leaves.

Eve halted mid-step and tugged at Colin’s hand. Their guests had already reached the trellis, where the minister stood waiting.

Turning to face her, Colin spoke in a gentle tone. “I know it’s not a grand ceremony like the one you must have hoped for, but I wanted it to be as special as possible.”

She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, her bouquet of roses tickling his earlobe.
 

“Colin,” her tone had a somewhat dreamy quality. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

She released him, returning her attention to the magnificent view before them. Colin placed his palm against the small of her back and Eve leaned into him, whispering, “This is the most romantic thing you could have ever done for me.”

“Even more so than erecting a statue of Athena with your resemblance?” he quipped.

“This far surpasses Athena.”

“Don’t let Athena hear you say that.” In front of their closest family, Colin cared not for propriety as he wrapped his arms around her waist then pressed his lips against her forehead. His voice had become rough with emotion. “It’s only the beginning.”

Eve stepped forward before turning on her heel. She then reached for his hand. “Will you marry me, at last?”

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he couldn’t conceal the raw emotion bubbling to the surface.
 

In truth, he chose not to.

Although it wasn’t planned, Colin walked his bride down the lush green aisle he’d created for her. When they stood under the floral trellis, in front of the minister, Colin took her hands in his.
 

The afternoon sun was aglow, positioned high in the bright blue sky; however, it paled in comparison to Eve’s glorious smile. She looked like an angel, her blonde hair coiled atop her head like a halo, glowing in the warm sunshine.

Colin realized that she was an angel … his very own. Heaven sent Eve to him for the sole purpose of saving him from his horrid past, stupid mistakes, and the many sordid secrets that had defined his life for too long.

Colin had gotten everything he wanted in one afternoon, yet beneath his underlying happiness lay a great fear, knotting within his chest, constricting until he thought his heart might burst.
 

Because he didn’t deserve such bliss.
 

Not after the acts he had committed and how many he had wounded.

For the first time in his entire existence, Colin was truly and completely happy. It was unexpected and rare. It was also unlike anything he had ever before known. Any other man would have thanked God for such contentment, such fortune.
 

But not Colin.
 

He knew from experience that a penance must be paid and his instinct told him such bliss would be short lived.

* * *

Unadulterated rage filled the heart of the trespasser lurking on the hill, standing high above the scene. Though out of sight, he was still able to witness the proceedings.
 

Yes, he knew how to choose the most perfect of places. After all, he knew this estate and its inhabitants like the back of his hand. They never took the time to know him or what he was capable of, did they?

 
No, they underestimated him, and it would work to his advantage.

His gaze raked the Duke and Duchess of Davenport. “I see you,” the intruder prodded in a singsong voice tinged with insanity. He then performed a mock bow before inhaling his cheroot. As he slowly exhaled the smoke, he watched as the vapor hovered in the air before dissipating.
 

The interloper’s attention then returned to the groom.
 

The prodigal son had returned at last, and now he has received his prize. Doesn’t he know that men like Colin MacAlistair aren’t rewarded for their sins?
 

Colin has indeed forgotten his place.
 

It would be the intruder’s pleasure to remind him of it.

Yes,
the bastard thinks he is safe
, the intruder thought as he surveyed the scene.
 

Colin isn’t safe.
 

Neither is his prize.
 

His stare raked the pretty little blonde, jealousy having filled his blackened heart to the brim years before.
 

She would be one more item to take from Colin MacAlistair. He all but laughed with glee.

“I know something she doesn’t know,” he sang again, his eerie voice slicing into the balmy breeze that whipped around him.

The trespasser watched as the couple exchanged vows. How ironic that Colin returned home after all this time running from his sins only to allow his desire for his brother’s betrothed to weaken him.
 

Oh, how this latest turn of events would make the intruder’s plan of revenge far sweeter than he could have ever imagined.

Extinguishing his cheroot beneath his boot beside a leafy tree, the interloper watched as the groom kissed his bride.
 

“How sweet,” he mocked aloud, certain no one could hear him.

MacAlistair was making revenge far too easy. His prize was now his biggest vulnerability. One the interloper planned to exploit.

Yes, he would hunt them both and hurt the one person who mattered most to Colin – his wife.

He clenched his fists tighter until his fingernails bit into his flesh, the pain stifling his urge to laugh out loud.

Colin will pay for what he has taken from me. The bastard will wish he had never been born!

He turned, his vile plan already taking shape as he proceeded towards his horse and then down the hill in the opposite direction of the proceedings.

Colin MacAlistair knew nothing of him or his plan. No, the intruder knew how to hide. He had watched and waited, lurking ever since the man’s return to England. He would continue to do so. Then, when the bride and groom least expected it, he would strike.

Colin MacAlistair would finally get the punishment he so richly deserved. Pity that the doting little blonde must suffer, but she made her choice.
 

She chose the wrong brother.

This one was cursed.

It was ordained years ago.

The intruder would relish in the revenge he had sought for so many years, and Colin MacAlistair would finally get what he deserved.
 

Complete destruction.

The intruder would settle upon nothing less.

Chapter 14

“I adore champagne,” Eve decreed as she took another sip from her crystal flute, rendering it empty.

“Who would have guessed?” Colin teased. “Is that your second glass?”

“No, I do believe it is my third, but who’s counting?” Eve surveyed the room, her eyes wide with delight. “We have much to celebrate. Like this room. Colin, it is spectacular.”

In the days leading up to the wedding, Colin had spent a small fortune refurbishing Ainsley’s master suite. There was now no trace of the former resident for he refused to spend one more night in a bedchamber that once belonged to his father.
 

His mother’s adjoining suite now belonged to Eve, and he wanted her to have a suite fit for a queen, so she did. The walls and the bedding were a dusty rose color with a gold fleur-de-lis pattern while her furnishings were made of rosewood as was her four-poster bed.

Vases brimming with dozens of pink and yellow roses filled the room, their heady fragrance masking the scent of fresh paint that had overcome the room hours before. The room, like Eve, was pure and vastly unlike its former mistress.

Colin cringed every time he thought of his mother. Even today, after years of sorting through her lies and deceptions, he still failed to understand how she could have knowingly hurt her own child. It was as if Katherine MacAlistair had reached from beyond the grave and all but destroyed her eldest son.

Thank God, Eve was the complete opposite of his mother. Colin believed it and was grateful beyond words for it.

“I think it’s time for another glass,” Eve interrupted his private contemplation. “This is a celebration!”

She reached for the champagne bottle and gasped.
 

“What?” Colin’s hand stilled in the process of turning down her fluffy dusty rose and gold striped comforter.
 

Eve held her left hand in front of her. “This is such an exquisite ring!” she exclaimed before making a running leap onto the bed. “The band is so unique. Look at the way the gold is carved. Where on earth did you find it?”

“India,” he answered reaching for her empty glass.

“India! Is that where you were? India?”

He nodded as he silently placed her empty glass on the table beside her bed.
 

Eve knelt on the bed, looking like a serene goddess bathed in the dim light of the wall sconces. “That explains why I couldn’t find you,” she tipped her head to the side, tracing her ring with her fingertip.

Her words registered in mere seconds. Eve attempted to find him?
 

Surely that couldn’t be true.

Eve appeared unaware of Colin’s confusion as she continued explaining, “I never told the investigator about India,” she paused, meeting his gaze with a shrug. “It never even occurred to me.”

Investigator?
 

Colin suspected he’d gone stark raving mad. Tipping her chin towards him, he asked, “What investigator?”

“I hired an investigator to find you not long after you left. He was quite expensive, claimed he was the best in London and provided excellent references.” She glanced down at her ring again.
 

“The best,” she said with a sarcastic laugh. “He never considered India, did he?”

“Eve, how did you pay for such an investigator?” Colin’s pulse pounded, the tempo along with his own screaming conscience reaching an ear-piercing cacophony. If she borrowed such funds from her father or, worse yet, her grandmother … “Did you receive the funds from your family?”

Her expression softened. “Of course not. By the time I hired the investigator, my father had depleted our family’s funds, so I paid for his services myself by selling some jewelry … a string of pearls my grandfather had given me, a diamond ring that once belonged to my great-grandmother along with other items. By the time the money ran out, the investigator had convinced me that you didn’t wish to be found.”

Colin swayed slightly, feeling unbalanced as if his footing had been pulled out from underneath him.
 

Eve had bartered family heirlooms for what?
 

For him? He wasn’t worth it.
 

“Eve, to whom did you sell your jewelry?” He raked his hands through his hair, praying she would remember.

“Some shop in London. I don’t remember which one as it was years ago, and I visited several in search of the best price.”