A Warriner To Protect Her. Virginia Heath

he would be useful to have around. Especially if the Earl of Bainbridge’s men decided to follow them. ‘All right then. It’s settled.’ He pointed at Joe and Jacob. ‘You two can stay here and convince those scoundrels all the Warriners are where they should be, in case they come calling. Layton has nothing to link us to the girl as yet—I would prefer to keep it that way. Jamie and I will escort her back to London.’

      ‘You most certainly will not!’

      Letty had become increasingly anxious waiting for Jack Warriner to return to her room and appraise her of her fate, so she had wrapped herself in a blanket, hobbled down the creaky wooden staircase and followed the sound of male voices. Now, it seemed, she had timed her arrival to perfection. ‘I cannot go to London until the fourth of January!’

      Jack stood and glared at her. ‘Your family will know how best to keep you safe.’

      ‘To the best of my knowledge, my entire family only consists of one treacherous uncle. To return me to him is tantamount to signing my death warrant! I am too well known and there are too many people who would sell me down the river for a reward.’

      ‘Surely there must be someone else you can go to?’ He was looking at her as if she was clearly stupid and his patronising tone rankled.

      ‘I believe, sir, I would remember if I possessed any other living relations. Do you think I have mislaid them somewhere?’ Her head had started to spin, but she ignored it. ‘For the time being, I would prefer to hide, just for a few days while I decide what to do next. Perhaps I could remain hidden here?’ Without thinking she cast her eyes around the shabby room and smiled kindly. ‘I can pay you, if it’s money you require.’

      The three younger Warriners all exchanged a telling look. Joe winced. Jamie shook his head and Jacob simply closed his eyes.

      ‘I don’t need your damn money, woman!’ Jack stalked towards her in outrage. ‘We are not paupers, Miss Dunston, and I resent the implication. Whilst you are here, you will remain as our guest and that is that. Taking you safely home as soon as possible is the right thing to do. I find it hard to believe there is nobody in London who is worried as to your whereabouts and would be a more suitable guardian for you than myself. There must be somebody—a cousin, a close friend, perhaps?’

      She had to make him understand. ‘The Earl of Bainbridge and my uncle will find a way to silence me if they have any inkling I am alive. I know of their nefarious plan, remember? They will be in fear for their own lives now. Don’t you see? Desperate men like that will resort to desperate measures. Travelling anywhere, even in the dead of night, will put my life in danger.’ The toll of the last few days had made her body weak. Her knees threatened to buckle so Letty locked them to stand proudly in front of this domineering man who thought he knew best. ‘You have witnessed already the lengths they are prepared to go to. Not only will my life be in danger, yours will be too.’

      ‘Then that settles it. You will remain here for the entire month,’ Jack decreed.

      An entire month! Here? ‘Once I am fully recovered I will seek sanctuary with the local authorities of my own accord. I will not be held responsible for putting you and your brothers at risk.’

      ‘I do not hold the authorities in Nottingham in particularly high esteem. Once they know you have been here, with the Warriner family, I doubt they will act with the necessary diligence your circumstances demand. I believe I am quite capable of protecting you and my brothers against any threat for a month, Miss Dunston.’ Letty went to interrupt and he stayed her with his hand. ‘It is settled. My decision has been made. Until I can return you to London and alert the proper authorities there as to what danger you are in, you are now my responsibility and will abide by my rules.’

      ‘But you are four men, Mr Warriner! Four men and I am a woman alone.’ Letty had intended to sound reasonable, but the words came out in a screech. She had only thought to stay here for a few days, not several weeks. If she were ever to be discovered here her good reputation would be in tatters.

      ‘Yet you are safer here than you would be out there!’

      A very valid point. She remembered the huge gates and walls. The isolation. Nobody knew she was there. The idea had merit, but she had to be in control. ‘Only on the condition that I recompense you for your services.’ Surely her money would give her the upper hand against this domineering man she hardly knew?

      Jack’s thunderous expression said it all. ‘Out of the question.’

      Letty shook her head stubbornly, a movement which brought about a wave of dizziness so intense she had to grab the doorframe for support. ‘I will not be in your debt, sir. You have already done so much and I can well afford it.’

      The three seated Warriners all stared at their feet in silence. Clearly she had said the wrong thing again, because Jack was looming over her now.

      ‘I do not require money for doing a good deed, madam. As the master of this house, it is my responsibility to keep you safe, and after what you have told me, I honestly believe the best way to do that is to hide you here. You will not return back to London until I deem it safe to do so. It is decided.’

      It took a great deal of pride not to burst into frustrated tears at his dictatorial tone. ‘Decided? Am I to have no say in my own future?’ Such a concept was beyond ridiculous. Letty always got what she wanted. He stared back, his steely blue glare unmoved. ‘I am not a child or a chattel, Mr Warriner. I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. You have no authority over me!’

      As parting shots went, she was quite proud of it. His intense blue eyes narrowed as he digested her words and Letty decided now would be the opportune moment to make a well-timed exit. The walls of the room had begun to sway and tilt quite ferociously as she turned smartly to storm back upstairs. Letty took two steps forward, then the floor began to list too. Her grand gesture of defiant independence collapsed the moment her knees did and she found herself crumpling woozily to the floor. Most irritatingly, it was Jack’s strong, capable arms that caught her. He lifted her into them as if she weighed practically nothing, with a distinctly paternalistic, put-upon expression on his face.

      ‘Joe?’

      ‘She’s still weak from her ordeal—she shouldn’t be out of bed. No wonder she swooned.’

      Jack did not even bother responding to his brother, he merely turned with Letty still in his arms and began to walk briskly towards the staircase. It was disconcerting being held so close by him—yet bizarrely not in a bad way. She felt safe, protected and stupidly impressed by his strength and undeniably manly physique. And he smelled positively sinful. Some sort of spicy, fresh, male smell which Letty wanted to inhale deeply while she burrowed her face into his neck. His overbearing, single-minded, irritating neck. ‘You can put me down. I can manage.’ There would be absolutely no burrowing. Not while he was being so...domineering and non-compliant.

      His irritatingly beautiful, blue eyes flicked to hers for a second. ‘We can’t have you swooning now, Letty. Can we?’ The very idea of it seemed to amuse him, which of course, seriously rankled.

      ‘I am not a woman known for swooning, Mr Warriner. Anybody who knows me will tell you that.’ Not that there was anyone left alive who truly knew her. Her parents had. Everybody else saw what they wanted to see and Letty found it easier to hide behind that convenient façade than allow anyone to see she was lonely and unhappy. ‘Had I not been forced to wander in a freezing forest for hours in the rain, after being bound, gagged and abducted, it would not have happened today.’

      He stared ahead, apparently bored. The dark stubble on his chin tempted her fingers to touch it, so she clasped them ineffectually across her middle as he started up the stairs.

      ‘Are you too proud to let me pay for your services?’

      Silence.

      Clearly it was time to become the confident Violet Dunston. Whenever she met a brick wall, and Jack Warriner was definitely a big, thick, brick wall, Violet’s charm had never failed to quietly knock it down. Men, especially, were particularly responsive in her experience.