''How old is this child?" Aiden asked, hoping to move
matters along now that they'd dispensed with her general
family and employment history.
She didn't look at him-not that he'd expected her to and
said to Barrett, "He's now ten."
Again Barrett nodded. "And why do you believe him to
be in danger?"
''I've noticed that we're being followed when we move
about town, Mr. Stanbridge. I'd like to think that it's nothing
more than a cutpurse surveying a possible victim, but, given
our circumstances, I can't afford to assume that it's anything
so benign."
She considered a cutpurse a benign threat? Jesus. "If
this ... " Aiden knit his brows. "What did you say his name
is?"
"I didn't," she replied coolly. "It's Mohan."
With a nod, he went on. "If Mohan's father is so concerned
about his son's safety, why didn't he send an army
with you for protection? Why are you in a position to have to
seek it from us?"
She set the cup and saucer on the desk and turned slightly
in her chair to face him squarely. She was at a disadvantage
in having to look up at him, but she compensated for it well.
As though speaking to a dullard, she said with careful measure,
"An army would draw attention, Mr. Terrell. Drawing
attention to yourself also draws the danger you're seeking to
avoid. Mohan's father chose a safer course and sent two of
his most trusted men with us, posing as household servants.
"One died of illness while we were at sea. Rather than
risk betraying our whereabouts by sending for a replacement,
I decided to make a go of it with the one remaining
guard. And, as I expected, his protection proved to be quite
sufficient. Unfortunately, four months ago he was an innocent
bystander caught up in a street altercation. While he
survived the assault, he sustained an injury to his head that
left him partially paralyzed and with the mind of a child.
The doctors said there was nothing to be done to improve his
condition and so, three weeks ago, I regretfully sent him
back to India and his family. At the time I did so, I also sent
word of our situation to Mohan's father and asked that he
send replacements. Until they arrive, I'd like to employ
Mr. Stanbridge's services to ensure that Mohan is kept safe."
Barrett, not him, Aiden noted. There was a God and He
was indeed benevolent. But as long as he had her attention,
there was no point in wasting it since-for some odd, unknown
reason-he enjoyed the fact that his mere presence
seemed to irritate her. It certainly wasn't very gentlemanly
to goad her, but then, he'd given up being a gentleman quite
some time ago.
"Why didn't you send word to Mohan's father when the
guard was injured?" Aiden asked. "Why did you wait until
you were in a desperate situation?"
He saw her jaw tighten, heard her draw a long, slow breath.
Her eyes bright with anger, she said with far more calm than
he expected, "I had hoped that he would recover, Mr. Terrell.
That sending word of any sort wouldn't be necessary. There
are people who will be watching for it and attempt to trace it
back here to Mohan. Contact is always risky and to be
avoided if at all possible."
"If these people were to find the boy," Barrett asked
quickly, “What would they do to him?"
"They will initially hold · him and make a ransom demand,"
she supplied, turning away from Aiden. "In the end,
though ... They will brutally kill him."
And you couldn't have guessed that for yourself, Barrett?
"It could take months for Mohan's father's guards to arrive,"
his friend offered in what Aiden recognized as the
opening gambit in the fee-negotiating phase of the meeting.
"I understand that, Mr. Stanbridge." She slipped her right
hand into the folds of her silk skirt as she continued. ''And
I'm prepared to pay whatever your charges will be for the
duration."
''They will be considerable," Barrett countered in a soothing,
clearly preparatory tone. '
"Mohan's father is a generous man who cares deeply for
his son," she replied, extracting her hand from her skirt In it
was a black silk bag, drawn closed by a golden cord. Handing
it across the desk, she added, "He provided me with the resources
to properly care for his son under any circumstances."
Aiden watched over his shoulder as Barrett untied the
knot in the cord, pulled open the top of the bag, and poured
the contents into the palm of his other hand. It took every bit
of Aiden's self-control to keep his jaw from dropping at the
sight of the diamond-and-ruby necklace. The setting was
gorgeous, the stones brilliant and clear. It was small and delicate,
but that didn't mean that London's elite wouldn't kill for the chance to own it.
"If you would prefer cash," she offered as Barrett dropped
it back into the bag, "I can see to the conversion of the piece
myself."
Barrett shook his head, stood, and slipped the bag into his
coat pocket. ''That won't be necessary, Miss Radford."
Aiden expelled the breath he'd been holding and considered
the creature sitting in front of the desk. In their brief acquaintance
he'd learned a few important things about her'
one of which was that she didn't provide full answers until
she was backed into a comer and forced to do so. There were
just a few things he wanted to know before Barrett put the
necklace in the wall safe and committed one or the other of
them to the case.
"Just out .of curiosity," he began. ''Are the Indians going
to be knocking on our door, asking for the return of their
crown jewels?"
"Not at all," she assured him, rising to her feet. ''That
piece has been in Mohan's family for centuries."
Ah, she hadn't disappointed him; she'd given him a truth
but not a full one. "Is Mohan's father the king?" he asked
bluntly.
She hesitated before answering. "India has many kings,
Mr. Terrell."
"As I'm aware," he countered. "Is Mohan's father one of
them?"
Barrett, coming around the comer of his desk intervened
in their contest of wills. "I must say, Miss Radford, that while
I deplore Aiden's rather brusque approach, I'm afraid that he
has a valid.reason for the inquiry. If we're to adequately protest
the child, we need to know precisely how much consequence
he represents. It makes a difference in what men are
willing to do to reach him."
She looked back and forth between them, clearly trying
to decide just how honest she was compelled to be. Finally,
she said softly, "Mohan's father is a raja."
"And Mohan is the heir to the throne, isn't he?" Aiden
guessed.
"Yes."
"And where is Mohan at this moment?" Barrett asked.
"With Emmaline Fuller."
She'd left the boy with an old woman? Good God. "I hope
she's considerably
rougher around the edges than Sawyer
is," Aiden observed. "If she's not, then the only thing standing
between the boy and abduction is a firm commitment to
protocol."
With an arched brow, she retorted, 'Tm not a fool, Mr.
Terrell. I hired two men to stand guard outside her shop until
I return. They are suitably armed and are rumored to have
the necessary grit to use their weapons if called upon to do
so."
In other words, Aiden silently summarized, she'd hired a
couple of street thugs. "Why not keep them around until
Papa Raja can send his own guards?" he asked. ''They
wouldn't cost you nearly what we will. Why hire us?"
''There are certain standards to be maintained," she explained
crisply. ''The two men on duty this morning are not
the caliber of men with whom Mohan should be associated
for any length of time. They will do, however, for the moment."
"I'm sure they will," Barrett agreed smoothly. "Just as
I'm sure that you'll find Aiden eminently suitable. He may
have his faults, but he's a very resourceful man when he puts
his mind to it."
"Mr. Terrell is to see to the arrangement for and the scheduling
of guards?"
''No,'' Barrett corrected. 'That's my responsibility. And
I've decided that Aiden is to be Mohan's protector. From
dawn to dawn until the raja's man arrives. You and your
charge will be in very capable hands."
Aiden could practically hear her mental wheels clicking
and whirring. What, precisely, she was thinking, he couldn't
be sure. But he could see that her eyes had darkened and that
she was chewing on the inside of her lower lip. All in all, the
signs indicated that she wasn't the font of gushing feminine
gratitude Barrett had envisioned.
"Mr. Terrell will be residing with us?" she said after a
long moment and with a smile that bordered on actually being
tremulous.
"It's the best way to ensure the child's safety," Barrett assured
her. "Unless, of course, such an arrangement gives you
a significant cause for concern."
Would she plead her reputation to avoid having to spend
the next few weeks with him? Clearly, she was mulling over
some dire vision; she was frowning and worrying the inside
of her lip again. Aiden decided to give her a bit of a nudge.
"Having second thoughts, Miss Radford?"
''No:' she answered·too qUickly and with a little shudder.
She recovered her poise and lifted her chin to the haughty
angle she'd borne when she'd first come into the office. "I
assume that you will return to your residence for your personal
items before joining Mohan and myself."
If she thought he was going to play the dutiful minion for
her, she was in for a rather rude awakening on the matter.
''I'll send for what belongings I'll need," he said, knowing
that they had a long list of issues to resolve before the hour
was out. "Where should my man bring them?"
''The Blue Elephant Shop in Bloomsbury," she provided,
rising with a soft rustle of silk.
Aiden instantly closed his thoughts, afraid that they'd inadvertently
give him away. Barrett, however, didn't think quickly
enough to hide his surprise, but covered it well, moving to
escort her toward the door and saying, "My mother's spoken
of that shop frequently and quite highly. Apparently it is the
place for her circle of friends to shop for silver and Far Eastern
bric-a-brac."
The rest of their conversation was so softly spoken that
Aiden couldn't hear it. Not that be cared what they said. he
silently admitted as he watched them move into the anteroom.
If he had a gram of brains, he'd slip open one of the
windows and make his escape while he could. Of course if
he did. Barrett would come looking for him again, determined
to fulfill his obligations as a surrogate brother.
Better, Aiden supposed, to go through the motions and
appear to be cooperative. It was the easiest way to avoid living
on Barrett's time schedule for a while. If the duchess had
any ideas of imposing one of her own in its place, he'd disabuse
her of that notion along with all the others.
"Quincy's seeing to her wrap and the hailing of a cab,"
Barrett announced. coming back into the room and making
straight for the wall safe. ''I'll send word to Sawyer for you,
Aiden. If you need anything else, let me know."
"So tell me," Aiden said. rising from the comer of his
friend's desk, "am I working on the silver case, as well?"
storing away the precious payment. He closed the door of
the safe and then turned toward Aiden. "Be careful," he added
quietly. "Our Miss Radford could very well be more than she
appears to be."
"Really?" Aiden drawled, heading for the door. "I hadn't
noticed."
Chapter 2
Alex took her seat in the cab, folded her hands in her lap,
and sincerely regretted that she hadn't had the courage t~
throw something of a dignified tantrum. Barrett Stanbridge
was everything that Emmaline had said he was; urbane, gentlemanly,
the epitome of a professional. His associate, however,
was another matter entirely: John Aiden Terrell was a
man barely civilized.
His hair was too long and too sun-bleached to even approximate
fashionable. And it was unruly, too. Most men
combed their locks into a deliberate style of one sort or another.
But not Terrell; he simply let it tumble wherever it
wanted. Which happened, she silently groused, to somehow
perfectly accentuate the most beautiful, intensely green eyes
she'd ever seen. In the first moments they'd quite simply taken
her breath away. And then she'd noticed the sardonic, knowing
glint in them. Combined with his easy, graceful movements
and his massive shoulders ... She'd thought of tigers,
of the danger that lurked beneath the indolent manner, and it
had taken every bit of her self-discipline to suppress the gasp.
It hadn't been easy, but she'd studiously ignored him and
eventually recovered some measure of her composure.
He, of course, seemed to have spent the rest of the inter-
view trying his best to ruffle it. Positioning himself so that he
half reclined against the desk with his well-muscled thighs
within casual glance! It was patently obvious that he had
abandoned the major tenets that ruled the public conduct
of gentlemen. The man was a rake at best At worst, an unabashed
hedonist
Yes, she should have spoken up when asked if she had any
concerns about or objections to the arrangements Mr. Stanbridge
had made. She should have said that she preferred to
avoid being in the presence of John Aiden Terrell if at all
possible, that he made her feel really quite ...
Well, frightened wasn't entirely accurate. He was so very
different from all the other gentlemen she'd ever met that
she couldn't help but be
a bit intrigued by him. Her heart
skittered when she met his gaze and she held her breath every
time he opened his mouth to speak. And the way he moved ...
Good God, the man was nothing short of a feast for brazen
eyes. It was all most unsettling. Yes, Alex decided, "unsettled"
was the proper word. John Aiden Terrell made her feel
horribly unsettled. She should have said that when Mr. Stanbridge
had asked for any objections.
But she hadn't said anything of the sort Terrell had goaded
her until stubborn pride and dignity had seized control of her
better judgment Now she was stuck with him for the immediate
future. The only recourse was to make the best of the
situation, to remember that protecting Mohan came before all
other considerations. H Terrell proved himself to be anything
short of stellar at the task. she wouldn't hesitate to send him
packing back to his employer. With any luck at all, he'd be
on his way before sunset
The door of the rented carriage opened and Terrell, his
sun-burnished head uncovered, bounded in and dropped unceremoniously
onto the opposite seat. "I presume," he said,
stuffing his hands into the pockets of his greatcoat, "that
you've instructed the driver as to your address?"
The vehicle began to roll even as be asked and so she refused
to dignify the question with an answer. Instead, having
decided that there was no time like the present to finally establish