Page 4 of Seduced by a Scoundrel (Tales from the Brotherhood #1)
Four
I t was a calculated risk for Derrek to eschew his responsibilities toward the Metropolitan Police so that he could make a trip out to Windsor the day after being thrown together with Jeremy Wilkes. He was certain his supervisor wouldn’t be pleased, but as he fully intended to leave the Met to go into business for himself at some point, he felt it was worth the inevitable censure.
Wilkes was far more important, as far as he was concerned. Spending just a short amount of time with the man the day before had been a lesson in loveliness. Even when skittish and threatened, Wilkes was the epitome of grace and charm. He’d tried so hard to make Derrek feel at home in his rooms, even though it could be argued that Derrek had pushed his way in like a bull.
Derrek wasn’t too hoity toity to admit that he wanted to push his way in like a bull in other ways where Wilkes was concerned. He was a red-blooded male with an appreciation for other men like him, after all. He didn’t think his hunger for sweet, masculine company was greater than others like him, but he did appreciate a good tupping when he could get it. It had been a while as well. The earliest days of spring had always reminded him of Joseph, as it was the end of February when Joseph had died, so he’d been too melancholy to find himself a companion for the night for a while.
Wilkes made him reconsider all of that. He had Joseph’s gentle nature, so perhaps a night of bedsport with the beleaguered tailor would be more like a tribute to Joseph than a betrayal of him. Then again, Derrek had no desire to mix affections in his mind. Joseph was Joseph and Wilkes was Wilkes.
And besides, he had a mission of dire importance to carry out.
There was nothing untoward at Windsor Castle, as far as he could determine. He had a few friends among the castle’s servants, fellow members of The Brotherhood in particular, who were able to tell him everything he needed to know. He’d even managed to wait in hiding near one of the family dining rooms so that he could observe the king at luncheon. The man was old and infirm, but he didn’t appear in any danger of dying in his soup.
“Everyone here is unceasingly loyal to the king,” Derrek’s informant had told him as they’d parted ways. “There is no chance at all the he could be poisoned as long as he is at home.”
Derrek believed those words. He believed that King William was as protected as could be from Conroy’s, or rather, the Duchess of Kent’s, machinations. He headed back into London with confidence that the king would live as long as he could without nefarious interference, which still might not be long enough to save England from another regency.
That, however, did not mean that Wilkes was no longer in danger.
Once back in London, Derrek chose a coffee shop close to Wilkes’s Jermyn Street shop, then sent word for Wilkes to join him as soon as he could. It made him grin that Wilkes came rushing into the pub less than twenty minutes later.
“Over here,” Derrek called to him, standing from the quiet table in the corner that he’d secured and waving.
The smile that Wilkes sent him in answer warmed Derrek from the inside out. It also made it necessary for him to sit down again, lest the two of them raise suspicions of their natures.
“I came as soon as I could,” Wilkes said, out of breath, as he took the seat opposite Derrek. He had his back to the rest of the shop, but that was as things should be. Derrek was the one who needed the seat that would allow him to watch everything going on in the room around them, everyone who entered and exited, and anyone who glanced suspiciously in their direction. “Have you discovered anything new?” Wilkes went on.
“I took a trip to Windsor today,” Derrek said, keeping his voice low as he caught the eye of the serving girl and called her over. “The king is about as well as could be expected.”
“That is good news,” Wilkes said. “I suppose.”
He leaned back with a start of surprise when the serving girl came over to see what Derrek wanted.
“Two coffees, please,” he told the girl.
“It’s about time,” the girl muttered, then smiled at Wilkes. “Alright, Mr. Wilkes?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
“I’m quite well, Minnie, thank you,” Wilkes smiled graciously back at her.
“I’ll fetch your coffee at once,” she said, then sent Derrek a look as if to tell him that was how a gentleman behaved.
“What did you do to offend her?” Wilkes asked, leaning over the table so he could whisper his question.
“Nothing,” Derrek said with a nod. “I’ve just been sitting here waiting for you and assessing the place.”
Wilkes fell back into his chair with a sigh and shook his head. “How many of her customers have you frightened away with your terrifying expression?”
“I am not terrifying,” Derrek said, frowning even though he was amused.
Wilkes sent him a doubtful look. “You are an absolute terror, Detective Talboys.”
“I am as gentle as a lamb,” Derrek argued. “And call me Derrek.”
Wilkes froze and blinked at him. “You are a scoundrel. I…I could not possibly,” he said, face flushing hot.
Derrek knew the look of a man who was flustered by his own attraction when he saw it. It made him want to puff out his chest and preen. “How are we to appear as friends if you will not address me as a friend, Jeremy ?” He added Wilkes’s given name as a tease and to prove his point.
“I…I suppose you are correct,” Wilkes, or rather, Jeremy, said, turning even redder. “I would not want to assume.”
“You may assume anything you’d like, dove,” Derrek said, letting his hunger show clearly in his eyes, even though he knew it was a risk. “I do not mind.”
“I…er…that is to say….” Jeremy was delightfully flustered.
Derrek chuckled low in his throat, making the sound almost like a growl. Jeremy was perfection to play with. Once the man gained a bit more confidence in himself and comfort with him, they might have a delightful time.
The coffee shop’s door opened, letting in a few more patrons and a blast of cold air. Two of the men who had come in took a table that the serving girl had just finished clearing, and the other followed Minnie back to the counter as she swapped out her tray of used cups and saucers for another with fresh drinks that someone in the back had prepared.
“So the king is as well as could be expected,” Jeremy said, moving their conversation on and bringing Derrek’s eyes back to him. “What should we do now?”
“There’s not much that can be done until and unless Conroy makes a move against the king,” Derrek said. “Or against you.”
“I pray that yesterday was all a coincidence and that I have been forgotten entirely,” Jeremy said with a sigh, rubbing a hand over his face.
Derrek watched the gesture with a pulse of longing. He would have liked his to be the hand that smoothed over the beautiful tailor’s face. Jeremy was either quite adept at shaving or didn’t have the need to shave that often. His skin was unblemished and his angular jaw didn’t look as though it needed grooming.
“I would pray with you,” Derrek said, “but firstly, I am not on the best of terms with the Divine, and secondly, men who would attempt to run someone down with a carriage and poison a king rarely give up if they are not immediately successful.”
As soon as the words were out of Derrek’s mouth, he regretted speaking them. Jeremy swallowed hard, looking like he might be sick. He sunk in on himself a little too much for Derrek’s liking. A man like Jeremy should be brimming with life and confidence, particularly given how successful he was, not cowering with fear and suspicion.
“You are protected,” he insisted, reaching across the table to rest a hand over Jeremy’s. “I swear that I will not let any harm come to you.”
Jeremy stared at Derrek’s hand over his for a moment then glanced up at Derrek with deep gratitude in the warm, brown pools of his eyes. “You have no idea how much this means to me,” he said softly. “I have spent my entire life working for what I have, and given my nature, I have felt alone for too much of that time.”
Dammit, Derrek’s inclinations were to flirt with the man and have a bit of fun with him. He was not supposed to let Jeremy’s sweetness penetrate through to his heart. His cock, yes, but his heart would do well to stay out of things.
He was spared from the precious awkwardness of the moment by a rattle of plates and saucers as Minnie nearly tripped while making her way over to them.
“Sorry,” one of the men who had just taken the table she’d cleared said. “I am so terribly sorry. I did not mean to stick my foot out like that.”
“No harm done,” Minnie said as if she’d had a fright.
“Allow me,” the other gentleman at the table said, taking her tray and setting it on their table as the first one stood and helped Minnie by brushing what looked like crumbs from crushed biscuits off her apron.
Jeremy twisted to see what was going on, but since everything with Minnie seemed to be in order, he turned back to Derrek. “What I mean to say,” he continued where they’d left off, “is that I am grateful for your friendship and the lengths you are going to for me.”
“Not at all,” Derrek said with a smile, one eye on the fuss involving Minnie, but most of his attention on Jeremy. “Believe me, it is my pleasure.”
He stroked the back of Jeremy’s hand a bit before pulling away.
Jeremy flushed all over again. The man truly was charming. Derrek considered that perhaps the two of them could meet for coffee, or something stronger, at The Chameleon Club someday soon. Then he wouldn’t have to hide his flirting. The two of them might even be able to make use of one of the upstairs rooms at the club to become much better acquainted with each other.
“Excuse me.”
Derrek turned to frown at the man from the other table for interrupting the lovely moment between him and Jeremy.
“I thought I would bring these over to you, since the girl there seems to be a bit preoccupied,” the man went on, setting down two cups of coffee in front of Derrek and Jeremy.
“Thank you kindly,” Jeremy said, moving his hands off the table entirely, like the man might see the impression of Derrek’s fingers on the back of his hand.
The man from the other table nodded, then hurried back to his companion.
“What do we do next?” Jeremy restated his earlier question, clearly flustered at the interruption. “I am grateful for the men you sent to guard my shop, but I also worry they might dissuade business.”
“Have they interfered with your customers in any way?” Derrek asked, reaching for his cup.
“Not precisely,” Jeremy said, merely staring at his cup. “They are rather large, though.”
Derrek laughed instead of taking a sip of coffee. He ended up setting his cup down again as he said, “They are supposed to be large. They are protectors.”
“I’m not certain my clientele is used to protectors,” Jeremy said with a knowing look, reaching for his cup at last.
They were interrupted once again as Minnie came toward them with her now empty tray. “I am terribly sorry,” she apologized.
Before either Derrek or Jeremy could say anything, one of the men sitting at the table nearest theirs spoke up with, “I beg your pardon, miss, but why were those men served before us? We were here first.”
Derrek set his cup down and rolled his eyes. He’d seen too many men like them before. “Here,” he said, reaching for both his cup and Jeremy’s and handing them to the impatient gentlemen. “They’re all yours.”
The impatient gentlemen looked grudgingly grateful as they took the cups and started drinking.
“Deary me,” Minnie said as if she would have preferred to curse. “I’ll fetch the two of you fresh cups.”
She turned to go. As she went, Derrek noticed the two men who had been at the other table get up suddenly and race for the door, as if they’d just remembered a pressing engagement.
“I have never seen half this much confusion and fuss at the coffee shop,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “This used to be such a peaceful part of the city.”
“This is London,” Derrek said with a half-laugh. “It is never peaceful.”
Jeremy laughed with him, but before he could say something more, the men at the table nearest theirs began to cough.
“London’s lack of peace is part of its advantage when it comes to keeping you out of harm’s way,” Derrek went on, sending the impatient men, now the coughing men, a sideways look. “Despite what Conroy and his accomplice might think, it will be difficult for them to steer another carriage into your path again or to?—”
Derrek’s words dried up on his lips. He immediately realized how horribly wrong he was as the coughing beside them continued and shifted into choking.
Eyes wide, Derrek glanced from them to the empty table where the two other men had been to the doorway. The pieces fell together with sudden gravity.
“Jeremy, get up,” he said, standing quickly himself. He looked around the room, then called out, “Is there a physician of any sort in the shop? I have reason to believe these men have just been poisoned.”
“They were never!” Minnie shouted back in offense. She seemed to see the truth of the matter in front of her once she got past her dislike of Derrek. “Oh, lord!”
Derrek stepped forward, grabbing Jeremy’s hand and pulling him through the confused and curious patrons of the shop as they rose from their chairs to see what was the matter. “Come on,” he said. “We need to get you out of here.”
“Those coffees were meant for us,” Jeremy said under his breath as they pushed their way to the front door. “The man who delivered them to us must have poisoned them.” He gasped, then added, “Conroy’s accomplice said he had acquired deadly poison.”
Derrek didn’t need to stop to tell Jeremy he was thinking the same thing. He needed to get Jeremy to safety, get him away from the men he was now certain were attempting to kill him.
He pulled Jeremy out into the street, checked to see if there was any sign of the two men who had distracted Minnie and likely poisoned the coffee, then marched on in the direction of Jermyn Street. He could only pray that the amount of poison the two innocent men had ingested would not be enough to kill them.
“You’re not safe here,” he said as he walked. “I think we’ve just had proof that Conroy is, indeed, serious about dispatching the king. Enough so that he would murder the man who overheard him plotting.”
“I barely heard anything,” Jeremy protested, though he kept up by Derrek’s side as they walked swiftly around the corner and along the street toward the shop. “I barely had a look at the accomplice. I do not know who he is.”
“And yet, he and Conroy know who you are,” Derrek said. “You are not safe in London. You need to leave at once.”
“Leave?” Jeremy sounded stricken. “I am not leaving London. London is my home. It’s all I’ve ever known.”
“If you stay here, I’m not sure how long I can protect you,” Derrek replied. He began to run through the places in the surrounding countryside where he believed Jeremy might be safe.
“I’m not leaving London,” Jeremy insisted again as they approached his shop. “I need to be protected, yes, but I will not be chased out of my?—”
They stopped abruptly in front of Jeremy’s tailoring shop. Though Jeremy could only have been gone from the place for half an hour at most, the windows were smashed and cloth, notions, and debris were scattered in the street, suggesting the window had been broken from the inside.
“No!” Jeremy called out, rushing into his shop. “No, this cannot be happening.”
Inside, the shop was a mess. Someone must have come in like a whirlwind and upset shelving, smashed the window, and knocked over tables. The curtain that separated the front of the shop from the back was torn, and when Derrek marched through, he saw a similar situation in the back.
“They barged in with clubs, six of them,” one of the young men in Jeremy’s employ, who had a black eye that was swollen nearly all the way shut, reported. “Before we could even ask what they wanted, they started smashing the place up.”
“Timothy? Are you well?” Jeremy asked, ignoring the debris and going straight to the young man to see to his health. “Artie? Are you well?”
“Right as rain,” the young man who had been so enamored of Derrek replied. “Timmy is right, though. They bashed in only ten minutes ago, smashed everything up, then left as quickly as they came.”
“They were looking for you, sir,” the boy with the black eye, Timmy, said. “They wanted to bash your head in is my guess, though God only knows why.”
Derrek saw Jeremy wobble before his strength gave out and he leaned into one of the worktables for support. “They’re trying to kill me and they aren’t going to stop until they do,” he whispered.
The third boy, who had been busy picking up scattered fabric and notions, dropped everything to run to Jeremy. Derrek was impressed by the care he showed but believed he should be the one to comfort his dove.
“Sir?” Artie asked, looking half defiant and half as if he wanted his mother. “What should we do?”
Derrek provided the answer to that question. “I’m taking him out to the country, where he’ll be safe,” he said.
When Jeremy straightened and stared at him in defiance, Derrek merely shook his head.
“You’ll be safer in the country until this matter is resolved,” he said.
“But my shop,” Jeremy protested.
“We’ll have The Brotherhood look after it. I’m sure any number of them would be willing to help. They can spread the word that this was all an attempted robbery and that your shop will be closed while repairs are made.”
“We can finish the work in progress,” the third young man said, rubbing Jeremy’s back as though he were a younger brother and not an employee. “Artie, Timmy, and I are good enough at stitching to finish the work we have and deliver it.”
“Thank you, Jonty,” Jeremy said. He glanced to Derrek, and though Derrek could see how loath he was to leave his business, his life, and everything he knew, he said, “I put my life in your hands. Please keep me safe.”
“I will,” Derrek replied with a nod. He didn’t think he’d ever undertaken a more precious mission in his life.