Sexual Hunger (27 page)

“J
ude! How on earth did
you
get here?” Lady Darington sputtered. “I’ve talked myself blue in the face for two days, informing these
obstinate
partners that you are
not
the pirate who pillaged three Darington ships!”

Jason stood in his father’s American office—or in the partners’ sanctum, anyway—and merely smiled. It was a telling moment: his own mother didn’t know which twin he was. It was precisely the point he’d hoped to make by entering alone, and a devilish inspiration told him to see what else transpired before he revealed his true identity. “Good morning, Mum. How lovely you look in that shade of scarlet.”

When his mother exhaled in exasperation, the red feather in her hat fluttered. “Have you heard
nothing
I’ve said? These men still believe you raided your own ships! Cannot get it through their thick skulls that you just crossed the Atlantic to
find
your brother! To
cooperate
with them!”

Jason glanced quickly around the room, which was much larger and more nicely appointed than his father’s dockside London headquarters. The four men in black looked better suited to the clergy or the classroom than to running a shipping enterprise. And who was the man beside Mother? His blue eyes widened as he sidestepped slightly. Jemma sat behind one of the massive desks, spinning in the chair, bored with this entire situation.

A telling moment, indeed.

“Cooperation is precisely what’s required in this…tricky predicament,” he replied. “The future of this Charleston office—of our entire shipping enterprise—rides on what transpires here.”

One of the men put a monocle to his eye and came forward, squinting. “How the deuce
did
you get out of jail? I instructed Sergeant MacTavish that you should remain incarcerated until we had absolute
proof
you were not Johnny Conn!”

Again Jason smiled, biting back a laugh. “I’m sorry, sir, it’s been years since we’ve met. Jason, Lord Darington, at your service.”

“And you bloody well ought to
know
that I’m Theodore Dreyfus, the director of your Charleston—” He adjusted his eyepiece and began to wheeze. “What did you just say? Who the hell
are
you?”

Jason smiled, for this scenario was unfolding just as Maria, Rubio, and O’Keefe had predicted. “Jason, Lord Darington, at your service,” he repeated. “And how long have you been with us, Mr. Dreyfus?”

The older man coughed. “That seems of no concern, when something smells
fishy
—” Dreyfus turned to the other partners, appealing for their assistance. “Did you hear what he said? And do you believe it? Explanations are definitely in order before anyone threatens the future of Darington Shipping—”

“Jason! Jason, it
is
you!” His sister bolted from the chair, her arms outstretched.

He closed his eyes and hiked her off the floor in a hug. Jemma squealed, as she’d always done, and the familiarity of this exchange gave him the confidence to proceed. His sister seemed so oblivious most of the time, yet she’d caught on first. As Jason bussed her temple, he glanced at his mother and the four men in their dark suits, letting his gaze linger on Dreyfus. Father had described the old coot perfectly: he’d been invited into the partnership more for financial backing than his managerial skills.

A door behind them closed quietly: the steely-haired man who’d stood beside his mother had made his exit. Another telling moment, was it? He would save that for later. Jason hugged his sister again. “It’s good to see you, sweetheart. I—”

“You are in
deep
trouble with Maria for leaving her at the altar!” she blurted. “And things have only gone downhill since then! Why, Father—”

“Jemma! Let’s remember where we are and what we’re doing!” Their mother watched them closely, her expression guarded. “You know how your brothers love to switch places, to fool you. We’ve more important matters than airing the family’s…dirty linens right now.”

Well, his mother’s tongue hadn’t lost its edge in his absence: the Bitch of Swords was charging forth in her effort to control every situation. And by the looks on the men’s faces, she’d worn out her welcome and they tolerated her only because she was Father’s widow. He released his sister and turned toward the front door. “Maria! O’Keefe!” he called out. “It’s time to come in!”

All eyes turned toward those he’d invited: his beautiful fiancée, the chief officer of the
Fortune’s Opportunity
, and another burly, uniformed man he hadn’t met. He reached out and Maria grasped his hand.

“Captain MacLeod caught up to us at the pier!” she said. “Captain, may I present Jason, Lord Darington—the man we’ve just retrieved from Ocracoke Island. Jason, this is Captain Moses MacLeod, who brought us to America.”

“This is the gentleman who justified my taking the ship without your permission, Captain,” O’Keefe clarified. “When you hear our entire story, you’ll agree we were right to follow Palladino’s guidance.”

The chief officer then addressed the dour quartet of partners. Was that a sparkle in his eye when he smiled at Jemma? “Johnny Conn, the pirate you’ve been pursuing, is only a figment of your imaginations! He existed mostly on that
WANTED
poster you circulated,” O’Keefe declared. “After thorough examination of the wreckage in the Outer Banks, I must report that it was pilot error—outright foolishness of our crewmen!—that lost us those three ships, rather than the shenanigans of a man posing as a pirate.”

Dreyfus and the others scowled at each other. “What sort of imbeciles and idiots do you take us for—”

“Oh, pish! You’re the same imbeciles and idiots who hauled Jude to jail without listening to
me!
” Lady Darington spouted. She still stared at Jason as though she didn’t believe what was happening, but she also followed his lead, knowing which side her bread was buttered on. “So! If you’re Jason, where’s Jude?”

“One must assume he’s still in jail, Mother.” Jason tucked Maria’s hand in the crook of his elbow. It felt good to hang on to the one solid rock of his existence, here among these men who’d jumped to such an erroneous conclusion. “I came here first, and I’ve made my point. If
you,
my own dear mother, didn’t know which twin stood before you a few moments ago, I rest my case: my brother is being held by mistake.”

His gaze encompassed the four partners and the captain, who vaguely resembled the charioteer on Palladino’s cards, driving him on to victory. “I suggest you dispatch a cargo steamer to recover every last crate of cacao, sugar, and coffee beans from the three wrecked ships—items I stashed in caves before the water ruined them. I see no reason for anyone to be detained, or tried before the magistrate. Is that how
you
see it, Captain MacLeod?”

The man in the white beard had followed this conversation closely. He took his curved pipe from his mouth, nodding. “I have more than once entrusted my life to Officer O’Keefe,” he affirmed. “And after this report of the situation in the Outer Banks, we should be questioning those pilots involved in destroying three Darington ships, rather than detaining the new Lord Darington, owner of our enterprise, and his twin brother.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Jason gripped the man’s hand and shook it. “Your decisive actions have earned you a promotion and a raise in pay. And as your man, O’Keefe, has proven invaluable in this investigation—reporting firsthand and confirming my assertions about how those ships came to be destroyed—I am promoting him into partnership.” He gazed pointedly at the men in the dark suits. “I value the service of seasoned officers who’ve come up through the ranks of this company, and I trust their opinions. Any objections, gentlemen?”

Dreyfus and his three cronies seemed to shrink a size as they looked at each other. “I—we bow to your opinion and your judgment, Lord Darington,” the old goat finally said.

“Good. You’ll be seeing a lot more of me than you did of my father. He’d be greatly disappointed about your performance in this matter.” Jason stood tall and straight, facing them all down even as he felt like an impostor, a man assuming duties for which he wasn’t prepared. Yet it felt right, what he’d just done. And Maria’s bright smile was all the confirmation he needed. “Shall we fetch Jude from jail, then? He’s served his purpose there, I believe.”

“Exactly what I’ve been saying all along!” his mother clucked. She motioned for Jemma to walk beside her. “Thank you, son—Lord Darington, indeed—for stepping in to remedy this disgraceful, disgusting farce. We’ve not a moment more to waste!”

As they entered the small, smelly building that housed the jail, Jason’s confidence soared. It might be the place where they detained seamen who’d downed too many pints and the whores who serviced them, but here he would establish himself in the minds of his father’s partners, give them a foretaste of their future. What he’d seen of Dreyfus and the other magpies didn’t impress him. Gone were the days when these figureheads could make decisions from across the sea without closer supervision and increased accountability.

The man behind the messy desk bristled to attention as they entered. When he saw the suits and uniforms, he quickly stashed a copy of
The Pearl
in his desk drawer. “What’s the meaning of this? Have I not been informed of something important, Theodore, that you bring these people into my—”

“Take us to the man you’ve been watching so carefully, MacTavish,” Dreyfus said with a raise of his eyebrow. “It seems we’ve had a…misunderstanding about his identity.”

The police sergeant frowned—and then gaped at Jason. “How the hell did
you
get out?” His face flushed as he implored the rest of them to believe him. “I swear to God I haven’t left my post, not once in these past two days—”

“Save it,” Dreyfus warned. “We’ve more important fish to fry.”

The sergeant glowered but motioned them down a hallway. When Jason caught sight of his twin, he felt a weight lifted—a bond reconnected—and again he realized how oblivious he’d been after he’d gotten shanghaied. “I say, it must be the pirate, Johnny Conn!” he teased as he extended his hands between the cell’s bars. “What a pleasure it is to meet you at last, sir! I’ve heard so much about your escapades!”

“Jason! You damn—Jesus, but it’s good to see you!” As Jude gripped his hands, joy and relief radiated from his face.

“Holy mother of God,” MacTavish muttered. “Wouldn’t believe it if I weren’t seeing it with my own eyes.”

Jason turned, to nail the sergeant with his gaze. “So tell me, officer—which of us
is
the notorious Johnny Conn? If your life depended on it, could you choose?”

MacTavish smirked. “Don’t get smart with me! Just because you look enough like—”

“May I introduce Jason, Lord Darington,” Dreyfus interrupted with a purposeful gaze. “Which means, now that Phillip has passed, we’re dealing with the heir and new owner of Darington Shipping. Do I make myself clear?”

The policeman looked unimpressed, but he kept his mouth shut.

“Or could it be that
I
am Jason, Lord Darington?” Jude demanded in a voice that matched his twin’s. “And if I am, imagine what the magistrate will say if you take me—or both of us!—to trial for plundering three ships.”

“A crime that has been proven false,” Captain MacLeod added triumpantly. “While you and Dreyfus sat as snug as bugs in a rug, thinking you’d restored order along the coast, my chief officer actually
investigated
those shipwrecks. We shall interrogate the captains and pilots of those vessels,” he added, studying the reactions of the four suited partners. “But in the meantime, we owe the Darington family our apologies for this grievous miscarriage of justice.
Do we not?
”

The hallway rang with silence. Jason couldn’t quit grinning at his twin, who looked a little frazzled but pretty damn fine, all the same.

“Unlock the cell,” Dreyfus muttered. “I’ve had my fill of this two-sided tomfoolery, trying to distinguish between twins after—”

“Then I’ll be pleased to dissolve your partnership, sir.” Jason remained calm. It felt absolutely right to sever such a stuffy old autocrat whose blindness went far beyond what he couldn’t see with that silly monocle. “My father’s attorney will attend to it as I review the estate with him. We’re on the cusp of a new century, and it’s time for
change.
A fresh viewpoint.”

Without another word, MacTavish swung open the barred door. Jude smiled tiredly at Jason and Maria. “We’ve got a lot to catch up on, brother,” he murmured as he preceded them down the hall. “Be ready for some surprises. We’ll need a huge broom for all the clean sweeps we need to make—and I, for one, am damn glad you’re here to make them!”

“All right…tell me about this man who’s kissing Mother.”

Jason lowered the spyglass, scowling. The afternoon had been a total triumph, springing his twin from jail, dispatching a cargo ship to fetch the crates from his caches, and then boarding the
Fortune’s Opportunity
for the voyage home. It had given him a particular thrill to announce his homecoming, as the new Lord Darington, in a telegram to Quentin, so he and Mrs. Booth would know when to expect them.

Now, however, his pulse pounded. His gut told him there was far more to this flirtation than his mother taking comfort after his father’s passing.

Jude cleared his throat. “That’s one of the surprises I mentioned. And you should—”

“Be aware that your mother knows about
us,
too,” Maria remarked. “As in, the
three
of us.”

“And how the hell did
that
happen?” Jason frowned at them, but then put the spyglass to his eye again. “She didn’t learn it from
me,
because I’ve been the soul of discretion since before we became engaged.”

“She’s a mother. She knows things,” Maria said with a sigh.

“Eyes in the back of her head. Or maybe Jemma’s been tattling,” Jude remarked sourly. “You know how she turns that damn ferret loose, just to follow him places she isn’t supposed to go. Not that she ever needed an excuse for being nosy.”