Page 69 of Four Promises to Love

Finn leveled a cool stare at Caleb. “What about him?”

“How can we trust that you won’t go soft over him and betray us?”

“Because I am a Hawk.”

She and Caleb locked gazes. Neither looked away. It was a silent contest of wills, and if she wanted to stay the leader, she couldn’t back down.

Tansy broke the tension. “Hawks hunt.”

“And no Hawk flies alone,” Nell said decisively. “All in favor of Finn’s plan?”

Ayes came from everyone but Caleb.

“Well?” Finn asked.

“Fine.” He dropped his gaze, muttering, “Don’t make me regret this.”

“I won’t,” she promised.

Even if it destroys me.

Twenty

“Are you certain you are up to a séance?” Owen asked quietly.

“Yes.” Seated in the chair beside him, Finn replied, “This is what I do.”

Her smile looked forced. She seemed tense in general and far from the carefree lover she’d been mere hours ago. The memory of her warmth and laughter—not to mention her wanton mouth—heated his blood. He wanted more of that Finn. He wanted to explore the feelings between them, which should have terrified him but didn’t.

Finn unraveled him with her beauty and anchored him with her strength. When they were together, he felt free in his own skin. He wanted to play with her. To trade confidences with her. To debauch her until neither of them had the strength to move.

Yet he understood she had a job to do. Yesterday’s episode had erased his doubts about her talent, and even his brothers seemed less skeptical. At present, his family sat in the circle of chairs arranged at Finn’s request. The curtains of the library had been drawn to block out the light. Despite Finn’s lovely green dress, she was once again the somber and enigmatic medium.

“Yesterday, I experienced a parting of the veil here in this chamber,” she said. “The energy of the spiritual realm crackles even now. I can feel it—stirring my nape, causing my skin to tingle.”

Owen saw his brothers shift in their chairs. Grantley rubbed the back of his neck.

“The spirit of Rose is near,” Finn said. “She desires to communicate something to us. Something important that I will try to discover during today’s session.”

“Does she want to tell us how to end the curse?” Gigi breathed.

Looking far less enthused, Grantley put an arm around her. Similarly, Ethan and James stayed close to their own wives. Owen didn’t blame them; he felt the same urge to shield Finn—more so, since her gift placed her squarely in danger’s path. His gut clenching, he recalled when another had looked at him through Finn’s eyes. For those agonizing moments, she had been lost to him, and he’d been powerless to bring her back.

At the same time, he knew Finn would bridle at his interference. She would also lecture him on discretion; he wondered how much longer she would insist upon keeping their relationship a secret. Now that he was certain his attraction ran deeper than lust, he wanted to court her in the open. Moreover, he didn’t think they were fooling anyone. His family knew. Judging from Caleb’s daggered looks, Owen guessed her assistants suspected as well.

“I believe Rose has secrets to share,” Finn said. “Secrets she wants us to uncover.”

“We will do anything we can to help,” Gigi declared.

Grantley cleared his throat. “Perhaps not anything, duchess.”

“For nearly a century, Rose and Thomas’s love story has been tarnished by lies. We must help free their souls so that they can find their happy ending. Don’t you want them to be as blissful as we are?”

Just like that, Gigi reduced the cocky duke to putty in her hands.

He tenderly kissed her knuckles. “Of course I do, my love.”

Trading glances with his brothers, Owen knew they were all storing up ammunition for future battles with Grantley.