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Lily realized he was distancing himself from the events, turning off his emotions so he could analyze the situation. She recognized it within him because it was something she so often did herself.
Harker nodded. “Most are shocked Devil would have thrown Sebastian… but they do not know…” Harker’s voice trailed off, the anger rising over his grief again, the two emotions seeming to choke him. He cleared his throat. “I did not tell anyone. I did not know who to trust. Which is why I came myself.”
By her side, Nathan had gone utterly cold. Whereas Harker’s rage was hot, Nathan’s was cold and calculating. She could practically feel him working through the ramifications.
“Nathan, did your brother know anything about…” Now it was Elijah’s turn to let his voice trail off because of the number of people in the room who had no idea about their self-appointed mission. Indeed, other than Uncle Oliver’s injuries, she did not think Nathan had told any of his staff about the multitude of attacks on all of them.
“No.” Nathan shook his head sharply. “He had enough duties to attend to, and I did not want to distract him with other matters.” A muscle in Nathan’s jaw worked. That seemed to make it less a possibility that his brother had been targeted because of the traitor, though the timing was still far too close. “Harker, you need to rest. We will pack up the household and return to Talbot immediately. I will ride on ahead of everyone—”
“I will go with you,” Lily interrupted and sat up straighter. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harker jerk, then his gaze came to rest where her and Nathan’s hands were still connected, his mouth dropping open in shock. Well, that answered her question of whether or not the man knew about Nathan’s marriage. “I… I should go with you.” Meeting Nathan’s gaze head-on, she lifted her chin.
“I will think on it,” he said, then pressed his lips together
He would do more than that. Lily did not need to ask to know he wanted to investigate his brother’s death. However, he should not do it on his own, especially with a household full of suspects. More than that, he would need to attend to the duties of his earldom, which would not leave much time for investigating his brother’s death on his own, much less any connection to the events here in London.
Nothing this week was going as planned, but Lily was determined to rise to the challenge.
* * *
Nathan
If the events of the past few days had not felt real, that effect was now doubled. Nathan sat heavily in his thinking chair, aware of the others still in his house. Lily was overseeing the packing of their things, along with her friends. Harker had gone to rest. Elijah, Rex, and Anthony were still in the dining room, having some kind of discussion.
Another time, he would have been right there with them, offering his opinion, but he was having trouble caring.
Sebastian is dead. I am the earl.
Though he’d known he was his brother’s heir, it had never occurred to him that he might actually one day inherit. Sebastian had not wanted to marry immediately, but he had wanted to marry. He’d wanted children. It had been his duty but also his desire.
Now, somehow, Nathan was living the life Sebastian was supposed to have.
Married.
The earldom.
One day children.
Hell, the way his life was going, a child could already be on the way.
And Lily wanted to accompany him home.
Out of the question.
There was a murderer there.
There are murderers in London. The reason you are married is she was kidnapped.
If he left her in London, Elijah and the others would watch over her. He could insist she went to stay at Camden House.
Ah, yes, because Lily and her friends have shown an abundance of obedience.
Nathan gritted his teeth as his jaw clenched and unclenched. If he left Lily here, the likelihood was she would continue searching for the traitor with her friends. With Elijah chomping at the bit to avenge his father’s injuries, he would hardly be able to corral both his wife and Nathan’s. Rex was useless on this matter—he let Mary lead the way as long as she kept him by her side for safety. His focus would always be on her safety first, not Lily’s, and Nathan could hardly blame him.
Another time, he would have asked Anthony without hesitation, but right now, Anthony was distracted by Miss Stuart to the point, Nathan was unsure how reliable he would be.
Besides, if she stays in London, you will be wracked with nerves, waiting to hear if something has happened to her.
Perhaps she truly would be safest at his side—away from the hunt for the traitor, away from the organized assassins and kidnappers. There was only a murderer to contend with at Brentwood Manor. The thought made him sick, though he supposed it was marginally better than a traitor intent on kidnapping or killing her. All the staff had been there for a long time, and it was unlikely anyone else had been able to get close enough to his brother’s tack to put in something sharp that would cause Devil to rear and throw Sebastian.
