Free Wicked Deception by Karolyn Cairns Page B

house, but knowing he
had a wife and five children to house, he could hardly refuse. “Is
there room for all of us?”
    “ I’ll solve the matter by
taking my wards with me for now if Catherine doesn’t
object?”Gabriel offered as he saw his expression and knew it was
only his wife’s comfort that made him accept. “I’ll send Maggie and
the others over to make it ready for you.”
    Nicholas nodded and Gabriel walked out
of his study to seek out his housekeeper to do just that, glad to
help them in light of how destroyed their home was.
    ~ ~ ~
    Nicholas was writing out a lengthy note
when he returned, Gabriel saw. He busied himself walking about to
inspect the damage. He spied Brionne right away. She was up to her
adorable backside into something.
    He approached the child and snatched
her up, making her squeal with such giggling he felt himself
smiling. He looked down at the child, seeing her blue eyes so like
her father’s and stiffened. The little girl reached up and touched
his hair, speaking to him with jumbled words, her face a miniature
of Nicholas’s.
    He was furious but didn’t let the child
know as he balanced her on his arm. He fought the desire to go
after Nicholas and demand to know how he could foist one of his
obvious bastards off on Catherine.
    He glared as he looked about, knowing
it wasn’t his place to disclose such obvious deceit. Nicholas was
no saint. It was obvious the child they adopted six months before
was from one of his other liaisons. His eyes filled with pained
regret as she struggled to get down. He put her down after he
ruffled her silky ebony curls and watched her toddle off to find
some other mischief.
    The chaos in the house allowed him to
get himself under control before he said things he would regret.
Clearly Catherine had no knowledge of Nicholas’s deceit. She took
the child in unknowing of her background, he was told. Clearly she
didn’t have eyes in her head to avoid seeing the child was
Nicholas’s mirror image.
    He wanted to take her aside and explain
the obvious when she appeared a short time later, looking sheepish
and obviously looking for her missing daughter. He smiled stiffly
as he approached. The sudden coolness in his gaze hadn’t escaped
her. Before she could question him, he departed with
excuses.
    She heard a crash somewhere in the
salon, sighing with relief as she found her daughter amidst the
throw pillows on the floor. She bit her lip wondering how long she
dare hide the child’s paternity from Gabriel.
    Nicholas left the handling of telling
Gabriel about Giles sister to her. Out of fear, she’d not seen fit
to address it. Guilt ate at her for it, but she still wept over
being separated from their son. He was being stubborn by keeping
the boy, even if it was his right.
    She picked the three year-old up and
lectured her sternly as she came around the corner, spying her
husband writing intently. In this mess, he was probably drawing a
map to find anything.
    ~ ~ ~
    Gabriel was angry as his driver moved
away from the house. Discovering Nicholas’s bastard under
Catherine’s nose was a blow. He dared not stay a moment longer or
he would have ruined what little peace he had with his best friend.
His jaw tightened as he thought of the adorable moppet, near his
son’s same age. He paused in his anger to reflect he had no right
to interfere.
    Whatever secrets Nicholas kept from
Catherine now were not his business. He refused to use such
information to his own benefit. It was beneath him. He lost her and
had to concede that defeat or it would eat him alive.
    It had no place in what they did now.
Nicholas needed him to get to the Duke and the others. He had to
try and focus upon that, not how her green eyes lit up at the sight
of him when he arrived.
    Had he just wanted to imagine how the
flush that filled her face was for him? He cursed his weakness for
her. Never in his life had he ever loved another as much as he did
her. He would endure seeing her so happy