His Wicked Seduction novel Chapter 60

Cedric stretched stiffly in his chair by Audrey's bedside and rubbed the tight muscles in his neck with a weary hand. His sister was curled up in her bed fast asleep. Her delicate features and troubled expression made her appear like a fairy queen whose woes had followed her deep into the sacred realm of dreams.

Holding her had brought back horrific memories of years long past. He couldn't protect her from this, couldn't save her from all the hurts in the world. In many ways, he'd been both father and mother to her and Horatia after losing their parents, and perhaps the greatest cost had been that there was no one to hold him as he silently grieved.

The memories of last evening struck him all over again and Cedric shut his eyes. He'd been fond of Muff. The cat had been one of the last connections he and his sisters had of their parents before the accident.

The accident. How many years would pass before the sting of his parents' deaths would subside? A man could only endure so much before it finally broke him.

Audrey shifted restlessly and awoke to find Cedric staring straight through her, his mind still far away.

"Cedric?" Her voice was a little hoarse. She'd cried herself to sleep last night after he'd made her eat dinner and collapsed with exhaustion. A weak smile revealed she was doing her best to come to terms with events. She'd taken the death hard but had already begun to move on. Good girl, he thought silently.

"What is it, sweetheart?" He sat up straighter in his chair. Audrey smiled at him, but it was sad and wistful.

"I'm sorry that I've been so much trouble for you lately." She pushed back her covers and sat up to face him.

"You're a woman, Audrey. Troublemaking is the forté of your gender, like convincing Charles to go along with your scheme and thinking it wouldn't anger me. I don't mind, except when I end up strangling my best friend over it. We ought to talk about that, you know." Cedric found himself smiling despite himself.

"I suppose we ought to," Audrey agreed.

"Why didn't you come to me? You could have told me that you wished to marry. I had no idea you were in such a state of desperation."

"It is different for women, Cedric. I think that because Mama is not here that it is harder for you to understand. I want to marry. I want a husband and a life beyond Curzon Street. I dread a future like Horatia's."

Cedric slid to the edge of his chair. "And what future is that?"

"She's almost one and twenty and yet she will never marry because she's-" Audrey clapped a hand over her mouth.

The suddenness of her move worried Cedric. "Because she's what?"

"Oh I mustn't say. She wouldn't want me to betray her confidence."

She cocked a brow, as though internally debating the matter. Finally with a heavy sigh, she relented.

"I suppose no more than any other brother might. But if I tell you, you mustn't overreact. She won't ever marry because she's still in love with Lucien. She's never loved or wanted anyone else."

Cedric's throat went uncomfortably dry. "Lucien?"

He'd known that long ago Horatia had developed a child's affection for Lucien, but he thought that had ended long ago. Now it all made sense. Horatia being upset every time Lucien was even mentioned, her odd behavior on the rare occasions when they'd been forced to be in the same room.

"You are sure she still loves him?"

"Yes and I believe that Lucien may be starting to return her feelings."

This was worse than he could have imagined. Lucien was like a brother, but if he was entertaining thoughts of an amorous nature towards Horatia... The League's rule existed for a reason. The last thing he or the others wanted was to fight over someone's sister, or pick up the pieces should the courtship sour. He could entertain thoughts of letting Audrey marry Jonathan because that man was young and didn't carry the weight of the sins the rest of the League did. But Horatia marrying Lucien was out of the question.

That man had a taste for wicked pleasures and Cedric would die before he let Horatia play a role in those dark fantasies. He could have any woman in the world, but not Horatia. Horatia deserved a gentleman who would care for and love her for the reserved and deeply loyal woman she was. She did not need to be burned in the wake of Lucien's fleeting passions.