Kane, Samantha - Brothers In Arms 4 (17 page)

82

At Love’s Command

Derek had to look away as he felt tears in his eyes—goddamn fucking tears.

Suddenly he saw how he’d been acting the last several months in a decidedly negative light. What a fucking selfish bastard he’d been. He was mortally ashamed of how hard he’d made things for Ian, and Sophie too. He got himself under control and turned back to find most of the room staring at him. He crossed his arms defensively and glared at Stephen Matthews, the minister. Stephen quickly turned around.

During the presentation of the ring, Derek was disgusted with himself. He hadn’t even bothered to look at the wedding ring Ian had bought for Sophie. Ian had asked him to come with him to help choose it, but Derek refused. For what? So he could stand here at Ian’s wedding, an outsider? Well, it was his own damn fault. His determination to find a way to live with Sophie solidified. He did not want to feel this way again.

He watched as Stephen declared them man and wife. Sophie looked at him before

she turned to accept Ian’s kiss. Derek’s stomach lurched again, and with a sinking heart he recognized that this marriage would irrevocably change his future.

* * * * *

Sophie was in a daze. Immediately after the ceremony Ian ushered her into the

study with the minister, a Mr. Matthews whom Ian had known since they’d been on the Peninsula together. Her father joined them and they all signed the appropriate papers.

Her father had been unforgivably rude, as usual, and as soon as she’d written her name Lord Randall had appeared and whisked her back to the drawing room to accept

congratulations and meet all of Ian’s friends. Ian had yet to appear, and Sophie hoped with all her might that her father would make good on his promise to leave.

Lord Randall, Kate, Kitty, Very, Mr. Richards, Lord Kensington and Mr. Tarrant

were guarding her like a pack of dogs surrounding a sheep. They moved everyone

along quickly and kept shoving glasses of champagne in her hand. They really needn’t bother anymore, she was quite tipsy already and inured to the stares and whispers.

Actually everyone was being quite solicitous, clearly having a genuine affection for Ian and honestly wishing them well. She couldn’t blame them for their curiosity about her, not if they were his friends in truth.

She could only smile wryly at their efforts to block her view of a rather morose Derek in the corner on the opposite side of the room. What would they all think, she wondered, if they knew she completely sympathized with him? She didn’t begrudge him his misery at all. She just wished she’d had a chance to talk to him before the wedding, to set his mind at ease. As much as she’d like to do it now, it was not the appropriate time or place. Poor Derek, she did wish her efforts to escape her family had not meant his unhappiness.

The thought made her a little sad, so she drank another glass of champagne,

cheerfully supplied by the dashing Lord Kensington. It had been intriguing to meet Very’s Lord Kensington and her Mr. Tarrant. They seemed totally captivated by Very, who accepted their adoration as her due. How very, well, Very, Sophie thought with an 83

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inner giggle that made her smile. She looked over and saw Kate watching her with a worried frown. Sophie sighed and gave Kate a pointed look meant to convey her

exasperation. Clearly it conveyed something else, as Lord Randall plucked the

champagne glass from her hand and Kate rushed over to put an arm around her.

“Oh dear,” Kate said, fretting, “you’re not going to be sick, are you, Sophie

darling?”

“What?” Sophie asked with a frown. It took a great deal of concentration to make the frown, and somehow that seemed wrong, but Sophie shrugged it off. She felt

amazingly carefree, actually. Why was everyone looking at her like that? She looked down at herself and noticed nothing amiss. Oh God, what had she done now? All the old fears came roaring back, and she retreated a step, her arms hugging herself as they kept staring. “Have I done something wrong?” she whispered to Kate.

Mr. Tarrant came to her rescue. He was a quiet one, so Sophie was a little surprised by his support. “Not at all, my dear. Kate and Lord Randall are merely worried that you’ve had too much to drink and may be feeling ill as a result. But clearly you are not.”

Sophie took a deeply relieved breath. “No, no, I feel fine, Kate, honestly. I feel wonderful, as a matter of fact.” She accompanied the reassurance with a huge smile, and it did feel wonderful. Sophie couldn’t remember the last time she’d smiled like that.

Kate visibly relaxed.

“Oh, Aunt Kate, leave her alone. If a girl can’t get foxed at her own wedding I don’t know when she can.” Very put her arm around Sophie from the opposite side. “But you ought to refrain from here on out, Sophie dear. You wouldn’t want to be too far gone to enjoy your wedding night.” She accompanied the remark with a lascivious grin and suddenly Sophie did feel ill. She felt the color drain from her face.

“Oh yes, that was just the thing, Very,” Lord Kensington said dryly. “Nothing like terrifying the drunk bride.”

Kate dragged Sophie behind her out of the room. They adjourned to the retiring

room and Kate checked to make sure no one else was about before confronting Sophie.

“Have you talked to Ian yet, Sophie?”

Sophie closed her eyes and struggled to swallow her bile. She shook her head,

incapable of speech.

“Oh, Sophie,” Kate said with a weary sigh, sitting down next to her on the small fainting couch. She took Sophie’s hands. “Would you like me to talk to him?”

Sophie stood up so fast her head spun, and she had to place a hand on the wall.

“No! No, Kate. Everything will be fine. Ian is a gentleman, and I’m sure he will act appropriately. This has nothing to do with what may have happened in my past. It is completely different. You and Kitty said so. I have nothing to fear, remember? And of course there’s Derek, so really, I needn’t worry at all, really. Right?” Somehow her speech had made more sense in her head. Kate was looking at her with a great deal of concern. “You must promise not to say anything to Ian, Kate, you or Kitty. Promise me.

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Promise!” Sophie grabbed Kate’s hands and only realized how tight she was holding them when Kate winced.

“All right, Sophie. All right, I promise.” She pulled Sophie down next to her again and pressed Sophie’s head to her shoulder. “I promise that neither Kitty nor I will say anything to Ian about it. Now take a few deep breaths and we’ll relax here for a few minutes.” She frowned down at Sophie. “Very is right, my dear. No more champagne.

You’ve had quite enough.”

* * * * *

Ian walked back into the drawing room with a sigh. He’d had to have Mr.

Middleton forcibly removed from the house, via the servants’ entrance. The man had actually had the audacity to try to blackmail him, threatening to expose his affair with Derek and Sophie’s apparent past indiscretions unless Ian paid him a rather handsome sum. Ian had refused to even comment, instead summoning two burly footmen to

escort him off the premises. Mr. Middleton had railed and cursed, but they were far enough from the party that no one heard.

He scanned the crowd. Sophie was holding court in the far left corner, surrounded by Very and her two gallants, as well as several others. She was shaking Dr. Thomas Peters’ hand and holding a glass of champagne in her other hand, smiling happily. She seemed a bit unsteady on her feet. When she saw him, she frowned at the other corner with a nod of her head. He turned to look. Derek was there doing his best to be sociable, which was not very good on the best of days. He was listening to Freddy, the Duke of Ashland, and he was smiling and nodding absently. Freddy’s constant companion, Mr.

Brett Haversham, was standing beside Derek with a hand on his arm. Ian was glad someone was comforting him, because he simply didn’t have the patience today.

Oh
happy day
, Ian thought with an inner grimace.
I
’
ve just booted my blackmailing new
father
-
in
-
law out of the house
,
I think my bride is drunk
,
and my lover looks like his dog just
died
.
Ring the bells
,
it
’
s my wedding day
. He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose at the feeling of a headache coming on. He looked around yet again and noticed Kate and Kitty huddled in another corner, whispering furiously to Jason and Tony.

What the devil was that about? The two men looked as if they wanted to bash

someone’s head in, and Kate kept wiping her eyes and blowing her nose, crying again.

Had Derek done something?

Ian was at a loss as to which corner to go to. He thought about simply retreating to his study to get as drunk as Sophie. Before he had to make a decision, Jason and Tony walked over to him.

“May we have a moment of your time, Ian?” Jason asked rather formally. His tone did not bode well.

“Whatever he’s done, it can’t be that bad,” Ian said with a sigh.

Jason looked perplexed. “Who?”

“What are you talking about?” Tony asked. “Has something happened?”

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It was Ian’s turn to be confused. “I don’t know. Hasn’t it? I thought Derek had done something.”

Tony turned to scan the room. “No,” he pointed to Derek, “Derek’s right there.”

“What are you talking about then?” Ian was completely at sea in the conversation.

Jason lightly grabbed hold of his arm and steered him to the door. “Let’s talk in your study.”

When they reached Ian’s study, Ian walked right over to the bottles of spirits and poured three drinks. He gave one to each of the other men and then raised his in a toast.

“To Dolores,” he said and drank the entire glass in one gulp. Jason and Tony

repeated the toast and followed suit.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “That’s an odd toast on your wedding day, Ian. Not that Dolores wasn’t a beautiful girl, but what made you think of her?”

Ian stared at his empty glass as he spun it in his hand. He turned to pour himself another one. “I’ve been thinking a lot about Dolores in the last few days.” He turned back to Tony. “She taught me how to love a woman, and in her own way, how to love Derek. But more importantly, she taught me how to love a woman with Derek. I think all of those lessons, particularly the last, will come in handy in the ensuing weeks.” He took a sedate sip of his whiskey, his desire to get drunk slowly fading.

“He’ll come around, Ian.” Jason sounded so sure and Ian turned to him in surprise.

“What makes you so sure?”

Jason sat down in Derek’s big chair. “Derek needs two things desperately. He needs to be loved and he needs you. Both of those will bring him to you and Sophie. Give him time.” Jason held up his empty glass for more whiskey. He looked a little ill, and Ian’s trepidation about their little talk increased.

“What’s going on, Jason?” he asked suspiciously.

Jason sighed and Tony took the bottle from Ian’s hand, filling everyone’s glass.

Then he pushed Ian down into the chair opposite Jason. “Those lessons of Dolores’? I think you’re going to need them more than you anticipated, Ian.”

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At Love’s Command

Ian walked back into the drawing room and didn’t know what to do. He felt numb.

He’d been so worried about tonight with Sophie. Now he felt sick about it. How was he to make love to her when all she knew of sex was violence and violation? He looked at his beautiful bride and wanted to rage and scream and hit someone. The idea that someone had done that to her after everything else she’d had to endure made him sick to his stomach. She looked at him then, her smile turning to a frown.

He smiled weakly at her, determined not to ruin her wedding day. She frowned

harder and made a small, furtive gesture to the far corner. He turned and saw Derek looking at him. Ian turned back to Sophie, sure for once that Derek could take care of himself, but Sophie would have none of it. She kept making shooing motions with her hands and rolling her eyes and nodding her head in Derek’s direction. Kensington and Wolf were watching the exchange avidly, fascinated. Ian sighed and gave in, turning to walk over to Derek. All eyes in the room, of course, were on him, but he tried to ignore them. He couldn’t believe he’d been married less than a day and already he was

henpecked about his lover. Only he was henpecked to go to his lover, not leave him. He didn’t think Derek would enjoy the irony.

As he approached the corner, Brett came over to meet him.

“Congratulations on your wedding, Ian,” Brett said with his usual solemnity,

although he accompanied his comment with a genuine smile. “She’s a beautiful girl, and rather unusual.”

Ian looked at him questioningly, cocking his head to the side.

Brett laughed softly. “Very introduced Freddy and me in her usual dramatic way

and made some comment about how we loved to mother hen you all. Mrs. Witherspoon very seriously took my hand and asked sweetly if we wouldn’t mind mother henning Derek a little today, as he might be in need of it.” Brett looked over at Sophie wistfully.

“I rather wish I’d met her before you.”

Ian closed his eyes at the guilt that stabbed him. “God, Brett, so do I,” he whispered.

“What?” Brett sounded distressed. “What are you saying, Ian? Surely it’s not that way.”

Ian opened his eyes and looked at Brett in confusion and then realized how his

comment had sounded. “No, no, I didn’t mean it that way. Just that if you had met her, then she wouldn’t have been—” He stopped, aware of what he’d almost said. He had to get himself under control. Brett misunderstood, although what he assumed was also true.

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“You mean her father? Yes, we heard him before the wedding. Poor girl, what an

awful childhood she must have had. It’s a wonder she turned out as she did, I think.”