She cried for a long while, while Kell watched helplessly until she began to quieten. Her body was still racked by convulsive shudders, but at least she didn’t protest when he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Immediately he picked her up and settled in a chair with Raven on his lap.
Even when he kissed her trembling mouth, though, she wouldn’t look at him. Her cheeks were stained with tears, the dark crescent of her lashes squeezed tight against the horror. “I can’t believe O’Malley is actually dead. He was like a father to me. He set me on my first horse and taught me to swim… Oh, God, I can’t bear it…”
Fresh tears ran hotly down her cheeks as she hid her face in the curve of Kell’s shoulder.
He encircled her with his arms, his voice soft against her hair. “I’m sorry,” he breathed.
“It is my fault. He died protecting me.”
Her grief made his eyes burn and his heart hurt. He held her more tightly, feeling an anguished tenderness for her-and a fierce, despairing anger at his brother.
It was a long moment before she drew a shuddering breath. “How…how was he killed?”
“A stab wound to the chest, I think.”
He felt her stiffen before she drew back. “Emma said that was how your uncle was killed.”
Kell flinched, hearing her put into words the dreaded conclusion he had already made. He’d assumed-prayed-all along that his uncle’s killing was an accident, for Sean had claimed self-defense all those years ago. Now he wasn’t so certain. The similarities between the two deaths were too close to be coincidence.
Raven was staring at him with dawning understanding, her tearstained cheeks pale. “You weren’t the one who killed your uncle, were you? It was Sean.”
Kell squeezed his eyes shut, unable to reply.
“You took the blame for him.”
“I didn’t want Sean to suffer further,” he finally answered. “I was strong enough to withstand the rumors, the accusations, but Sean would have been broken.”
“All this time…you have let people think you a murderer. But Sean is the real murderer.”
“Raven-”
“No!” She pushed against Kell’s chest, struggling to be free. When he released her, she leapt to her feet, looking heartbroken and outraged at the same time. “He will not get away with it! I swear I will hunt him down and see him punished!”
“I will see my brother punished,” Kell said past the raw ache in his throat.
“How, Kell? How can I trust you to deal with him? You mean to protect him, just as you’ve always done.”
Her chin rose as she fiercely dashed tears from her eyes. “Sean is a grown man, Kell! He is responsible for his own actions!”
Kell nodded, torn between love for his volatile younger brother and the necessity of facing the truth. It was hard to believe Sean could be so evil, that he had become a monster. Yet if he was indeed a killer, he was beyond saving.
And Raven was right. Sean couldn’t be allowed to get away with murder.
Without answering, Kell rose to his feet and turned toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Raven demanded.
“To find Sean.”
“I intend to go with you.”
“No, I don’t want you within a mile of him. I want you safe. I’ll have Belker see you home.” Kell’s grim gaze met hers. “I promise you, I will deal with my brother.”
Raven felt ravaged to the heart as she numbly climbed the front steps of Kell’s house. When the butler admitted her with a polite greeting, she merely nodded. She would have to inform him and the other servants about O’Malley’s death, but not now. She couldn’t bring herself to talk about it.
She went up to her bedchamber to grieve alone. A fire burned low in the grate, and she sank into a chair, staring blindly at the flickering flames. She felt bruised, hollow inside.
God, if only this were a terrible nightmare. She would awaken at any moment…
She felt tears slip down her cheeks as memories of O’Malley crowded into her mind. His strength and comfort had sustained her over the years, from the first moment her supposed father had repudiated her as a bastard. O’Malley had taught her about life, how to bear the pain and meet her fate with fortitude…
The ashes of her grief filled her throat and choked her.
Bowing her head, she wept again wordlessly, her sobs muted gasps in the dark.
She had no notion of the passage of time, but it was probably no more than a handful of minutes later when she heard soft laughter behind her.
Raven froze, ice forming in her veins.
“I told you I would make you pay.”
Her tears arrested, her heart pounding in her throat, she glanced over her shoulder. Sean stood at the dressing room door, a pistol trained on her chest.
“I wouldn’t scream if I were you,” he said mildly. “You wouldn’t want to force me to use this on your other servants.”
Her fingers dug into the arms of her chair. “What do you want?”
“Why, I mean to take you hostage, my dear. I have a carriage waiting on the next street.” He gestured with the pistol toward the door. “We will leave by the front entrance, if you please.”
She rose and turned to face her nemesis, casting him a glance full of scorn. “You expect me to meekly obey you?”
“Oh, I think you will. Otherwise I will kill anyone who interferes.”
“You won’t get away with this,” Raven declared with scathing bravado. “Kell will stop you.”
Sean’s smile chilled her very blood. “Perhaps. I truly hope he tries. You see, I mean to make my dear brother pay as well, for choosing you over me.”
Chapter Twenty
She had never been so cold in her life, Raven thought as she sat huddled in the chair where Sean had kept her tied for the past hour. After driving through the night in a jolting, swaying coach, they’d arrived at a country estate that Sean said belonged to him. Immediately he had dismissed the caretakers with a brusque command and installed Raven in an unheated bedchamber, without giving her even her cloak for warmth.
At least he hadn’t drugged her this time or rendered her unconscious, but her limbs were so numb, she could barely feel any sensation.
Sean had left her alone only once, to allow her to relieve herself, untying all but her hands and locking the door behind him. One look at the frozen landscape, however, made Raven reconsider attempting an escape, for snow was coming down in swirling gusts. Even if she somehow managed to elude Sean and flee the house, in these near-blizzard conditions she would likely freeze to death before she got half a mile.
And so she didn’t fight him when Sean returned to retie her to the chair. And she kept her counsel as he stood watch at the window, her emotions swinging wildly between blazing fury and despair. When he deigned to give her an occasional glance, she tried not to meet his eyes, fearing that showing her outrage would only earn her more pain.
He would not balk at hurting her further, she had no doubt. Since their arrival, Sean had sunk into an icy calm devoid of any emotion whatever. His passionless detachment frightened her more than any ranting could have done. His eyes seemed soulless, almost dead.
She gave a start when he finally broke the silence. “Kell should not be too much longer,” he murmured tonelessly, gazing out through the snow. “I left a trail even a blind man could follow.”
It was the first time in nearly an hour he had spoken to her.
“What will you do when he arrives?” Raven ventured to ask.
He shot her a cool glance. “That is no concern of yours.”
“You would not really harm him, would you? Your own brother?”
The sharp twist of his mouth sent a fresh chill through her. “How touching-you pretend to care for him. But I know your heart is made of ice.”
“I do care what happens to him. He is my husband.”
When Sean’s eyes narrowed, she realized her mistake. Whatever her feelings for Kell, she shouldn’t declare them for fear of provoking Sean further. “Kell doesn’t care much for me, however,” she murmured. “We have a marriage of convenience, nothing more.”