Tempting Fate by Kerrigan Byrne (best free ereader .TXT) 📕

Emmaline nodded, sipping some hot tea splashed with brandy. “He is— was— a monster. He consistently threatened my brother. Our brother, who is a kind and tender soul. He dragged me this morning from the hospital with threats against not only him but Rosaline, as well. You see, he had… unnatural affections toward her. And Father did nothing.”

“He was not a man who cared for the comfort or happiness of his children,” Honoria said around a tight swallow, remembering, no doubt, that he’d callously married her off to a violent, criminal viscount.

Emmaline nodded her head in agreement, lips pinched against both physical and emotional pain. “Our father provided us extraordinarily little upkeep after he found out about Emmett’s… proclivities. He left instructions for us to find people to marry and care for us. Uncle Reginald had been leaching off Mother ever since she’d fallen ill with the cancer, pretending to the world that he was the one helping us.”

“Why did he decide to call you Mrs. Winterton?” Honoria placed an idle hand on her round belly, her ebony brows drawn together. “Are you married?”

“No, but I am ruined,” she answered honestly, her pale cheeks regaining some color in the semblance of a blush. “There was a… proposal— it doesn’t matter— Father decided that if I was Mrs. Winterton, it lent me respectability and people who even noticed me would be too polite to inquire whether I was a widow or estranged.” She let out a beleaguered sigh.

“It is such an injustice that we are slaves to the whims of such men as these,” Mercy said vehemently, glaring at everyone in the room guilty of claiming the opposite sex. “I’m glad you are rid of this Reginald. And our father, all told, he treated you most abominably.”

Emmaline shook her head with an incredulous expression while she self-consciously did her best to tuck her unruly hair back into the knot it wanted to escape. “I can’t apologize enough to you all. I wish I could fix the damage I’ve done. Especially to you, Felicity, for the danger I brought to your door.”

Setting her teacup down with a clatter, she grasped Felicity’s hands and held her gaze with one comprised of tears and trepidation. “Thank you for being kind. I understand if you want to throw me out with the rest of the rubbish, but I wanted you to know that you are one of the best people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing, and I will always be grateful for the times we shared.”

When she would have pulled her hands away, Felicity gripped them tighter. “You’re not rubbish. You’re family.”

Everyone made gentle noises of agreement, which caused the tears gathered in Emmaline’s auburn lashes to spill over onto her cheeks. “I suppose I need to return to Fairhaven and inform Rose and Emmett that they are free… finally free.” The word produced a watery smile.

“Tell them you are all part of the Goode family now,” Felicity said, a decision firmly solidifying in her mind. “And bring Emmett here, of course, so that he might take his seat as the Master of Cresthaven and the proprietor of father’s shipping empire.”

At that, everyone started talking at once.

“Let’s not be hasty—”

“We’ve never even met—”

“What are you going to do if you give away everything—”

“Felicity, perhaps we should discuss this before you—”

Putting up a hand, she waited until they’d fell into an astounded silence. “There’s nothing to discuss, I am quite resolved. If I failed to marry into nobility, Father made unerringly clear that I get nothing and the next in line gets everything. However, if Reginald did one thing, it was to bring to this house evidence of an heir. A true heir. All this should have been his in the first place.”

“It does not seem right that you end up with nothing to your name,” Raphael noted, playing his role as the devil’s advocate. “I think we are well aware that evidence can disappear.”

“Yes, but the truth does not,” Felicity stated firmly. “And I don’t have nothing, I have all of you.” She squeezed Emmaline’s hand. “And more, besides.”

“You can stay with us, of course,” Titus offered. “Nora would be so glad of the company, especially once the child arrives.”

“Or she lives around the corner with us,” Prudence interjected. “Caro and Lottie already adore her, and there’s decidedly less blood at our estate than in the hospital. And room for a garden out back.”

Mercy snorted. “If you are not taken in by our sisters’ obvious ploys to turn you into the spinster aunt who helps them wrangle their unruly children, you are welcome aboard the yacht with Rafe and me. We can have the adventures we always planned.” Smiling brilliantly, her twin twinkled mischievous eyes at her sisters, confident she’d won Felicity’s favor.

“Or you can stay in your home,” Emmaline murmured, with her heart shining in her eyes. “I think you would love being here with family… If Emmett is to be the patriarch, I assure you there is no brother dearer than he is. He will revel in his duty to dote on and care for you.”

“No.” The one deep, cutting syllable sliced through the swell of love and sentiment in the room as Gabriel stepped from the shadows, his features set as if ready to do battle.

“She is mine. I will care for her.”

Chapter 17

Gabriel’s teeth slammed shut after inadvertently speaking the words that his heart had shoved into his throat and out of his mouth.

Peace erupted into chaos again as three men surged to their feet, and as if with one mind, created a line of muscle and masculine challenge between where Gabriel stood and Felicity’s chaise.

Even his brother took an uneasy stance against him, scrutinizing him with the eyes of someone who knew all of his sins.

He couldn’t blame any of them, they’d just cleaned up the corpses he’d left strewn about the house.

For her.

Their shoulders blocked