“How charming. The perfidious bride playing lady of the manor.”
Alarmed, Raven leapt to her feet, scattering invitations everywhere.
“Beg pardon, madam,” the Lasseter butler exclaimed at Sean’s shoulder, “but Mr. Lasseter insisted upon seeing you.”
“I came to call on my new sister,” Sean drawled, sauntering into the room.
Reflexively Raven’s hand went to her throat, where she could feel her pulse pounding. “What are you doing here?”
“Calling, as I said. I have a key to my brother’s house, of course. And you haven’t the authority to deny me admittance.”
Perhaps she did have no right to order him to leave, but neither did she have any desire to be alone with the man who had used her so harshly.
“Knowles,” Raven managed to say to the butler, “will you please send O’Malley to me?”
“Hiding behind your groom’s skirts again?” Sean said when the servant had gone.
“What do you want, Mr. Lasseter?” Raven demanded, ashamed of the way her voice trembled. Yet the pain and humiliation he’d caused her during her abduction was still a stark memory. She had every reason to harbor a healthy fear of him.
“I told you, I came to pay a courtesy call. I thought it only polite form to welcome you into the family.”
She gazed at him skeptically as Sean settled in a chair, casually crossing one leg over the other. He was impeccably dressed in a bottle green coat that brought out the deep color of his eyes. She would have considered him a strikingly handsome man but for the savage look of dislike he was directing at her.
“Somehow I doubt you consider me welcome,” she returned. “Or that you are even capable of common courtesy.”
“Call it curiosity, then. Tell me, what clever tricks did you employ to dupe Kell into wedding you?”
Gathering her control, Raven attempted to respond calmly. “I did not dupe him. He understood my plight and responded as a gentleman might, by proposing.”
His mouth curled. “Kell is hardly a gentleman.”
“At least he did not abduct me and drug me and ruin me in the eyes of society.”
“But you know nothing of the sins he has committed.” Sean’s look turned almost sly. “He is suspected of murder; were you aware?”
She lifted her chin scornfully, unwilling to believe anything Sean said. “I refuse to listen to such ugly rumors.”
“Are you certain they are rumors?”
Raven stared at him. “Are you claiming they are not? Kell said…He led me to believe he didn’t kill your uncle.”
“Would you expect him to do otherwise? He would hardly admit to murder, now would he?” Sean made a scoffing sound. “My brother is not the paragon you think him. You should take warning.”
Raven shook her head, suspicious of Sean’s motives. He was doubtless trying to make trouble between her and his brother. Surely there was not any real substance behind his innuendo. But whatever his aim, she only wanted to be rid of him.
She drew a deep breath. “What will it take to persuade you to leave me alone, Mr. Lasseter? Money? If so, I can give it to you. I have a modest fortune. You can have it if that will stop you from hounding me.”
“You cannot bribe me,” Sean returned with scorn. “No amount of money can make up for the hell you put me through.”
“I am sorry for the pain you suffered. But you have had your revenge. I would call us even.”
“Not even. Never even.” His voice dropped to a chilling whisper. “Not until you pay in blood.”
Rising, he moved toward her, his very stance menacing. If he deliberately meant to frighten her, he was succeeding. Raven took a defensive step backward, glancing behind her at the bellpull, wondering if she could reach it in time and summon a servant. If not, she could scream…
When he reached out and grasped her wrist, she winced in pain. The bruises he had inflicted upon her the night of her abduction had only recently faded.
Just then O’Malley appeared. Raven gasped in relief as he grabbed Sean by the collar and yanked him away from her.
When Sean started to struggle, O’Malley drew back his meaty fist, holding it poised threateningly. “ ’Tis clear you didn’t learn the lesson I taught you last time.”
“Unhand me, you bloody cur!” Sean demanded, his face black with rage.
When the groom contemptuously released him, Sean staggered back, running a finger beneath his cravat as if it were too tight. “You will regret that, O’Malley.”
“Not as much as you’ll regret it if you dare to touch her again. Wring your neck, I will, I promise you. You’ll not see your next dawn.”
His scowl returning, Sean took a step forward. But then he stopped, as if considering the wisdom of fighting a man so much brawnier than he.
His fists clenched at his sides, he lowered his voice to a savage whisper. “I would watch your back, if I were you.” Still bristling, Sean brushed past the groom and stalked from the room.
Raven sank into the nearest chair, trembling.
“Are you all right?” O’Malley asked in concern.
“Yes…I think so.”
“ ’Tis sorry I am that I let that bastard slip away the last time. Killed him, I should have.”
She drew a slow breath. “Killing him might have been extreme. And the cost too high. You could have landed in prison or worse.”
“But had I killed the blighter, he wouldn’t be here to accost you now. And you would never have been forced to wed his brother.”
Raven pressed her lips together, refusing to let herself sink into self-pity. “Well, it is done now. I will have to find some way to live with it.”
“I don’t like it, him being free to target you.”
“I don’t care much for the way he threatened you, either,” she responded, remembering Sean’s warning to O’Malley to watch his back.
“I can take care of myself, Miss Raven. ’Tis you who should beware, I’m thinking. You should keep a knife or a pistol close at hand.”
Raven grimaced. She had already shot his brother. She didn’t like to think of having to defend herself by violent means, and yet it might be necessary. “Perhaps I should.”
“Well, I’ll be near if you should need me.”
“Thank you, O’Malley.”
After the groom was gone, she hugged her arms around herself, feeling unclean and afraid. It was a long moment before her shivers began to subside.
Her gaze dropped to the invitations that had fallen to the carpet. She might have made some progress in reducing the scandal, but it was clear she still hadn’t removed the threat.
She still had a dangerous enemy in Sean Lasseter. And so did O’Malley.
When Raven’s groom was shown in, Kell was seated at his desk in his private study, reviewing account books. He looked up in surprise as O’Malley stalked across the carpet.
“A word with you it is I’m wanting, Mr. Lasseter,” the groom said grimly, coming to a halt before the desk. He stood with hat in hand, like any correct servant, but there was nothing humble about his demeanor. Rather, anger etched his craggy features, perhaps even belligerence.
Kell set down his pen. “Is this about my wife?”
“Aye, and your brother.”
He felt his stomach knot.
“I’m not usually one to bear tales,” O’Malley ground out, “but your brother…he came to your house this afternoon to threaten Miss Raven. He nearly struck her.”
“Did he hurt her?” Kell demanded in a sharp voice.
“No, but he would have had I not been there to stop him. I had to show him my fives to make him leave.”
Digesting the groom’s information in silence, Kell felt anger spear through him. Before he could respond, however, O’Malley continued in a voice that was half-furious, half-pleading.
“That won’t be the end of it, I’m thinking. Your brother said he wants revenge for the hell he suffered. But Miss Raven isn’t to blame for what the navy did to him. If anyone is at fault, ’tis myself. When he attacked Miss Raven in the park, I darkened his daylights and left him there to come to his senses. But I swear, I never thought he would be taken up by the impressment gang.”