Page 39 of Is This Real or Just Pretend?

Lucien cracked one bleary eye open and groaned.

Everything seemed to hurt to varying degrees: his head, his chest, his entire face .

He gingerly rolled onto his back as memories came to him in scattered bursts: that awful man landing a solid punch to his jaw, Alex calmly threatening the man with a gun, then, confusingly, Lucien being carried up a staircase.

But by whom? Worst of all was the image of Alex crying beside him.

Lucien remembered wanting to comfort her so desperately, but the words hadn’t come before he passed out once again.

He hadn’t felt this out of sorts since the morning after the first—and last—time he let his cousins take him out drinking.

He tried to open his other eye, but it was too swollen to be of use. God only knew what he looked like. He groaned again. This time because he felt so pathetic.

A rustling came from just out of his line of vision but Lucien didn’t have the strength to turn over again. Then he heard someone yawn. A female someone.

“Hello?” Lord, he sounded nearly as bad as he felt.

“You’re awake!” Freddie then leaned over the side of the bed, flashing him a sunny smile that immediately fell. “Oh, Lucien, you look awful.”

He briefly closed his good eye. “Yes, I imagine so, given I feel awful.”

“Let’s get you up,” Freddie said as she helped him into something resembling a seated position. Then she handed him a full glass of murky liquid. “Here. You’re supposed to drink this as soon as you wake. Dr. Mosley’s orders.”

Lucien eyed it warily. “And he is?”

“Our family physician. Another doctor looked you over back at the office, but Alex wanted a second opinion. All right. Drink up. It’s to help the pain.”

Well, in that case…

Lucien accepted the glass and obeyed. It tasted awful, but he would endure much worse if it made him feel even a little better. When he finished, Freddie took the glass and set it on a tray.

“Would you like anything to eat?”

Lucien nodded and Freddie tugged on the bellpull.

She was dressed in a plain white muslin day gown with her hair pulled back in a simple knot.

He wasn’t used to seeing this side of her and it wasn’t very long ago that such a discovery would have been mesmerizing.

But now… now he felt nothing more than a sense of comfort.

The kind one enjoyed when in the company of old friends.

“How long have you been here?” he asked.

Freddie shrugged and sat back down in the bedside chair.

“Only a few hours. I was reading but dozed off. Alex was up with you for half the night until Mother forced her to go to bed, which she only agreed to do if someone else would watch over you. The doctor was concerned you might be concussed,” she added.

Lucien vaguely recalled an elderly man prodding him. “I thought I was dreaming,” he said with a frown.

Freddie smiled. “You cried out a few times. Apparently you bruised some ribs as well.”

Lucien skimmed his fingers along his injured side and winced.

“The doctor said they would be quite tender for at least a week. The only thing you can do is rest.”

“How—how is Alex?”

Freddie hesitated. “Badly shaken up,” she murmured. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her cry. Not even when we were children. She blames herself for what happened.”

Lucien was stunned. “But why ?”

“I’m not sure. She wouldn’t say much to any of us.” Then Freddie frowned in confusion. “What were you even doing there? Alex said you had both decided to call things off.”

Not both.

But it was hardly the time to mince words.

“I wanted to speak to her about my business proposal,” Lucien admitted. “When I arrived, a man slipped inside just ahead of me. And I remembered seeing him hanging about in a couple of other places before. I think he’s been following her for some time now, waiting for the right moment.”

To do what remained unknown.

Freddie hugged her shoulders and shuddered. “Well, it was very brave of you to confront him like that.”

Lucien shook his head. “It was stupid.”

“That too,” Freddie said with a smile.

“But I couldn’t just leave her alone,” he explained. “Of course, that was before I knew she had a pistol on her.”

“Alex is full of surprises.” Freddie chuckled before her expression turned curious. “So. You went to speak to her about a business proposal at eight o’clock at night?”

Lucien glanced away. “I was hoping she would… that we might…”

Freddie leaned forward a little. “Yes?”

He sighed and sank farther down against the pillows. “Has anyone ever been able to convince Alex to do, well, anything?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Freddie said dryly. “She is quite sure of herself. I suppose that’s what has made her so successful. But it can have its drawbacks.” Lucien grunted in response.

“Don’t give up on her,” she suddenly urged. “Not yet. We Atkinson women can be a stubborn bunch, I’ll admit. But we have our good qualities too. Even Alex.”

Lucien turned toward her. His eyelids had started to feel heavy. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

Nor did it feel like much of a choice at the moment. He needed to try to get through to her, at least once. Or he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Freddie nodded with relief and sat back in her chair.

Lucien’s languid gaze landed on her hands.

He frowned and tried to focus. Whatever had been in that liquid was damned powerful.

It was becoming a struggle to keep his eyes open.

Then he realized what had caught his attention: Freddie was wearing a massive, sparkling diamond ring.

“When did you get that?”

She followed his gaze and quickly folded her hands together. “Oh. A few days ago. It’s nothing,” she added.

Even in his grossly impaired state, Lucien could tell she was acting strangely. “Why ever would you say that?” he slurred. “Don’t you like it?”

If Lucien had the means to put a jewel of that size on a girl’s finger, he would certainly expect her to be happy about the blasted thing.

She bit her lip. “Can you keep a secret?”

Lucien nodded. “Of course.” Then he tried to mime locking his mouth with a key, but it looked more like an aborted wave.

Freddie glanced toward the door, then leaned closer. “Last night I went to…”

But the rest of her confession was lost as Lucien closed his eyes and floated away into a deep, heavy slumber.

Alex sat up with a start. She had only intended to sleep for an hour—two at the very most—but based on the light streaming through the sides of the curtains it was far later. She let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes.

I knew I shouldn’t have accepted that cup of tea from Mother.

It must have been laced with a sleeping draught, though Alex did acknowledge that she felt significantly more refreshed. Her body clearly needed the rest, but it was preferable to not be drugged by one’s mother.

Alex let out an idle yawn as she turned to the small clock on the nightstand and squinted at the face. Then she let out a gasp.

It was nearly noon.

Alex leaped out of bed and quickly washed up. She was still in her clothes from the night before, but didn’t bother to change. There wasn’t any more time to waste. She stepped into the hallway just as Freddie was closing the door to Lucien’s room.

Alex charged straight toward her. “What are you doing?”

Freddie held a finger up to her lips. “He just fell asleep.”

“Oh.” She came to a halt. “How—how is he?”

“He’ll be fine, but he needs to rest.” Freddie hooked her arm through Alex’s and began to lead her down the hall. “Come downstairs with me. You should eat. Doctor’s orders.”

“All right.” She must still be feeling the effects of the draught given that she didn’t have the energy to resist.

“Don’t worry,” Freddie soothed as she patted her hand. “We’ll check on him in an hour.”

“All right,” Alex repeated, though she did cast a mournful look at the closed door.

Suddenly a memory of a very small Freddie leading her along in much the same manner came to her—along with a similar feeling of surrender. Only then it was so they could go build a castle or play with her dolls.

Freddie could be quite persuasive under the right circumstances.

“Is anyone else at home?”

“Mother is napping and Father is at the office. But I am under strict orders to keep you away.”

Alex let out a huff. “That is the absolute last place I want to be right now.”

“Hmm,” Freddie replied as they entered the parlor.

Alex broke away to take her usual seat closest to the door while Freddie rang the bell for tea.

“I don’t suppose you and Lucien had the chance to talk before he was pummeled,” she asked as she took the chair across from Alex.

“No. I didn’t even know he was in the building until I—”

Heard him calling to me.

Her heart clenched. Lucien had engaged a man twice his size to give her the chance to escape. Alex wasn’t certain he would be alive right now if she had left him behind. She cleared her throat in a bid to keep her emotions at bay and looked down. “He was very brave.”

Alex could feel her sister’s eyes on her, but she had already broken down in front of her once today. A second time would be excessive.

“You both were,” Freddie murmured just as a maid entered with the tea cart followed by Mrs. Drummond, their London housekeeper and Mrs. Holloway’s older sister.

“Hello, ladies. How are you feeling, Miss Alexandra?”

Alex managed a weary smile. “I’m fine, thank you.”

“I’m very glad to hear it. You gave us all a good scare last night.”

“I’m sure,” Alex replied and moved to pour the tea, if only to give her hands something to do. And somewhere else to look other than in Mrs. Drummond’s concerned face. “Does Mr. Taylor know about Lucien?”

Mrs. Drummond sighed. “No. I was hoping poor Lucien’s condition would improve a little before I sent word to my sister.”

“He seemed better when I spoke to him,” Freddie offered. “He’s still very sore, poor thing, but nothing a good long rest won’t fix. The doctor said he should be able to return home in about a week.”