Stone cursed himself for a fool. He’d utterly forgotten about the payments and reports his solicitor was receiving from Mr. Harrington. He’d meant to cancel the arrangement, but with all the accidents and falling in love with his wife, it had slipped his mind.

The purchase of her land would be easily explained away, but the reports and fees were by far a harder thing to address. Add to the mess the injured animal and yet another accident meant for him, and he struggled with the overwhelming desire to beat someone bloody. Of course, he was the prime candidate, but that wasn’t likely to happen, so he gathered his wits and went in search of his wife instead.

In the foyer, he headed upstairs but was stopped about halfway there when Parsons cleared his throat. “Excuse me, my lord.” The poor man looked stupendously uncomfortable. “If you are looking for Lady Stonemere, she left through the front door and made a left on the street, my lord.”

“I see. Thank you, Parsons.” Stone nodded and then stepped outside, but his wife was long gone in either direction. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Fool. He returned inside and found Parsons waiting for directions. “Please send runners to both the dowager countess’s and Lady Carlisle’s homes and request word of my wife’s whereabouts.”

“Yes, my lord.” Parsons bowed and quickly disappeared into the bowels of the house.

Stone headed back to his library to both lament his oversight and consider how best to keep his wife safe until he discovered who was trying to kill him and Odey.

Less than an hour later, Stone knew where his wife had hied off to. Under normal circumstances he would have stormed over to his mother’s and collected his wayward wife, but since he still had a target on his back, he grudgingly had to admit she might be safest where she was. And while he was grateful to have her out of harm’s way for the present, he worried about the new rift between them. How would he repair the damage he’d done?

A knock on the door interrupted his musings and drew his attention back to the issues at hand. Odey walked in, accompanied by Cooper.

“’Chilles, we’ve got news.” Cooper took a seat at the desk across from him.

“Good. Odey, we have another issue developing as well. Let me start with the most urgent item: Theo is currently holed up at Mother’s house.” Stone hoped Cooper wouldn’t ask too many questions.

“Having a row so soon, ’Chilles? I thought you a more dedicated husband than that.” Cooper looked at him pointedly.

“There was a misunderstanding which I plan to sort out, but the issue is that she is at Mother’s house, which means Mother now likely knows Odey is both alive and home.” Stone stabbed his fingers through his hair, frustrated by the whole situation.

“All is not lost. You should visit Mother immediately, check on your wife, and then enlist Mother’s support in staying quiet about my return. I fear she will be less surprised than you might expect to learn I am alive.”

“How’s that?” Stone knew what his brother would say next, but it didn’t hurt any less.

“She has known for nearly two years that I am not dead. After Father died, I didn’t have the heart to lie to her.” Odey wouldn’t look him in the eye.

“But you felt no compunction about lying to me?” Stone demanded.

“It was in your best interest. If I hadn’t lied, you never would have taken the title, and the whole purpose of the deceit would have been for naught.” Odey locked gazes with him and pleaded with his eyes the way he once had as a boy.

And damn it all to hell, Stone couldn’t ignore that look any more now than he could when he was young. “You’re probably right. But it still smarts that you left me in the dark.” He drew a steadying breath. “What news do you two bring?”

“Not so much news as a plan.” Cooper leaned forward and explained everything. “So, you need to visit your wife and let her know you will be away for a few days while we lure the culprit out into the open.”

“I’ve not told Theo about the accidents or the would-be killer. I’d prefer to leave her ignorant until all is resolved, for fear she will rush in and try to help. I’d kill the bastard, whoever he is, if he harmed my wife.” Stone tried to tamp down the ferocity rumbling beneath the surface, but his emotions rode high with all that had happened. He was a far cry from the man who had married Lady Theodora Lawton a few months earlier. The woman had wormed her way past all his defenses and burrowed into his heart. As a result, he felt things now he’d once had buried deep within, but it was more than acceptable in exchange for feeling her love as well.

Odey shrugged. “Then ask Mother to keep her there for a few days. You can have someone pack her a few things and send them over.”

“Fine. I suppose it’s the only way to keep her safe. I should head over to Mother’s town house and ensure her cooperation. If you two will gather the others, we can head out at first light.” Stone stood and nodded to both before heading off to tackle two of the most formidable women he knew.

---

Stone entered his mother’s sitting room and was almost relieved to find her alone. He needed to speak with her privately, but he was desperate to see his wife as well. “Mother.”

“Achilles. You really shot into the brown on this one.” His mother shook her head.

“I am well aware of the situation, and I am here to see my wife as soon as I have a word with you.” He watched her stiffen up as though she might fight him on seeing Theo.

“Your wife does not wish to see you at the moment. The poor child showed up on my doorstep a mess, and barely coherent. I don’t know exactly what you’ve done, but you hurt that child to the core. I was so worried, I sent for Doctor Sullivan to look her over.”

Stone wanted to kick himself all over again. “I know I’ve made a mess of things. And I shall make things right with her, but I need you to keep her here for a few days.”

“Theo is welcome here for as long as she deems necessary. Once you have made things right with her, I am sure she will return home. But in the meantime, you should have Mary come over with whatever she needs.”

“I’ve already made the arrangements, and if she is sleeping, I shall check in on her before I go. But first, you will need to explain how it is my brother is, in fact, alive and well. Perhaps you’d like to elaborate on why you’ve lied to me for two years?” He quirked a brow, as his mother was fond of doing, to drive his point home.

She had the grace to look abashed at being caught out. “I see. Is your brother finally come home?”

“Mother, do not think to avoid the question. Why the lies?” Stone wanted to throttle her, but he also knew the urge would pass, as it often did.

“I’m sure he told you why we thought you should be left in the dark,” she huffed, as though he asked a silly question.

“He did explain, but you bloody well owe me an explanation.” He had been working to control his fury since Odey had told him the truth, but now he was close to boiling over. The struggle continued even as his mother rose and calmly walked over to the secretary.

There, she sat down, bent to the last drawer on the left, and unlocked it. “Odey never wanted to be earl, but your father wouldn’t listen. Not until the only son he still had at home had run off. The real trouble was that your father was determined to make your brother the earl, when he should have requested a special remainder. Stubborn old goat.”

“Why?” Stone knew something big was coming, and he had a niggling of fear at what he might learn.

“You see, if he had insisted on making Odey the earl, it was very likely the truth of his birth would come out. His illegitimate birth.” She handed a stack of papers over to Stone.

“A bastard, you say?” Shock had him by the short hairs as he opened the top document. He read through it and realized it was Odey’s birth certificate, making him born just over a year before his parents’ marriage.

His mother looked off into nothing as she smiled. “Odey was my love child, my secret shame, until your father rescued both of us. And you, Achilles, you were the confirmation of my love story. I met your father at a house party not unlike the Hawksburys’ and fell in love instantly. And then into his bed right after. I was desperate and in love. My parents were going to make me marry a parson’s son who was so cold and pinch-faced. I cringed when he called, let alone if he touched me. As I expected, I managed to avoid an unwanted marriage. But instead of winning the man I wanted, I was banished to a convent in France for unwed girls.”

Stone dropped into the nearest seat, shocked to his very core by his parents’ unknown love story even as most of his fury drained away.

“It took your father almost two years to discover where my parents had hidden me. But once he found me, he rode up to the convent, rescued me from its walls, and whisked me off to Gretna Green, where we were married. We retreated to the abbey for a number of years, where fewer questions were asked. By the time we reentered Society, we had both of you boys and most people didn’t bother to do the arithmetic.”

Stone still couldn’t believe it. He looked at the next sheet he held and found it to be a special remainder that was signed shortly before his father had died.

“Once Odey left, your father knew he had to let go of the need to make things right for his firstborn. He still felt guilty it took him so long to find us. The problem was, by the time he had the special remainder signed and passed through Lords, we got word of the massacre at Cawnpore. The first missives through stated no survivors. He couldn’t bear the stress of failing his sons in his mind.”

“Damn it all to hell, it’s my fault he died. Why let me stay in India? Why didn’t you call me back from service?” Stone looked at the document that officially made him Earl of Stonemere, regardless of Odey’s existence.

His mother fidgeted with the rings on her fingers. “He wanted to, but I begged him not to. I convinced him to let you have a little adventure before you had to come home and settle into the staid life of a peer. It was my fault you were still in service when the massacre happened. My fault your father is dead.” Tears pooled in her hazel eyes as she groped for her handkerchief.

Stone rose and pulled his mother into his embrace. “It was fate that I was there. You cannot blame yourself for that, nor for Father’s death.”

She held him close and cried all over his coat and vest. “You are a good son, Achilles.” She sniffled a few times and pulled herself together. “I daresay we should have a proper welcome home for Odey. I would like to see my other son.”

Stone’s necktie suddenly felt overtight. “I need to request that you hold off on any fêtes for Odey. There is some strangeness afoot, and his relative nonexistence here in London works in our favor as we try to sort the business out. If you could give us a few days, I promise you will have ample time to show him off and celebrate.”

His mother looked mutinous.

“Our very lives could depend on it.” He’d not wanted to make it sound so dire, but she had a mulish expression, which meant she would insist on having her way.

She paled considerably. “What in heaven’s name?”

“As I said, odd things are afoot, and I need you to remain silent with regard to Odey’s return for the moment.”

“Of course, I would never intentionally put my sons in harm’s way. I shall remain silent. But you will explain why you believe your lives depend upon it.”

“There has been a series of what I thought were accidents. As it turns out, they are not.” Stone continued on to explain some of his mishaps, as well as the one that had hurt Theo.

“I hope you have a plan to catch this dastardly man.” His mother looked fierce enough that he worried for a moment she might adopt his wife’s methods and charge into the breach.

“All will be well. My friends and I have a plan, and we will sort this mess out soon.” He kissed his mother on the cheek. “Now, is my wife sleeping in the blue room over the garden?”

“She is, but I beg you, Achilles, leave her be.” His mother grabbed his arm and looked at him with earnest concern.

He let a bit of his guard down so his mother would know how important a mere glimpse of his wife was to him. “Just a moment, Mother. I must see she is well before I head off to deal with whoever is hunting me.”

“Very well. Go, my son, but do not wake her.” His mother shooed him off, and he went eagerly.

Years ago, as a young man, when he’d first seen a woman submit sexually to a man, he’d had no idea the power that could come with the submission of the right woman. His wife showed him the depth of that power, the heights of ecstasy, and the lows of despair that came with such control.

He found the door he sought and opened it with nary a squeak thanks to well-oiled hinges. There on the bed, curled on her side as though protecting something she held against her belly, his wife slept. Her hair, loose and spread over the pillows, drew him. Made him want to touch her to feel its silken skeins slide through his fingers as he sank into her once more.

But for now, he would content himself with seeing that she was cared for in his absence while he carried memories of making love to her with him into the fray that awaited him. But unlike his time in the army, he had too many reasons to live, and all of them lived within the woman lying on the bed. All his hopes and dreams, his love, and his future were contained in her. And he fully intended to come back and lay claim to all of it. Right after he ended the threat looming on the horizon.