the children, make sure it is honored.”
“Excellent.” Ian clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “I trust three days is enough time for you to accomplish all of that?”
Blake looked like he would argue, but Niall answered, “Yes,” for both of them.
“Good.” Ian said. Niall gestured for Blake to leave with him, but before they could so much as turn around, Ian said, “Oh, there is one other thing I want from you as part of this deal.”
Dread pooled in Niall’s stomach. He should have known. “What?” he snapped, turning back to Ian.
“I want the two of you to make your affair public.”
Niall’s chest constricted. He glanced to Blake, who looked equally gob-smacked. “We’ll be arrested,” he said, seething.
Ian grinned as though that were his point. “You might be,” he said. “Blake is a duke. I’m sure he can figure out a way for his title to protect him.”
“I won’t put Niall in danger that way,” Blake growled.
Ian shrugged. “Then Annamarie and I will just have to pack up our things and sail on the next ship headed for New York.”
All color left Blake’s face. Niall boiled with rage. Somehow, Ian had them up against a wall. He knew Ian detested Blake, but he hadn’t thought Ian hated him that much. Then again, if his intent was to wreak revenge on Blake, ensuring that he would forever be kept apart from his lover while also exposing him to the worst sort of scandal would be an effective way of doing that.
The one glimmer of hope was that Ian had no idea how many options for protection men like him and Blake actually had.
“Fine,” Niall answered on both his and Blake’s behalf. “We’ll do whatever it takes as long as you stick to your end of the agreement and return Blake’s children to him in three days’ time.”
“I’ll uphold my end of the bargain as long as I have proof you’ll uphold yours,” Ian said.
Niall nodded to him, then grabbed Blake’s hand and marched away.
“What are you doing?” Blake hissed, trying to yank his hand out of Niall’s. “This whole thing is madness. He’s going to try to trick us.”
“Of course, he is,” Niall said, gripping Blake’s hand more firmly. “Hold my hand so that he thinks it’s a sign we’re willing to expose ourselves.”
“But we can’t. I won’t put you in that sort of danger,” Blake insisted.
Niall laughed grimly. “First of all, I’m far smarter than Ian ever was, and so are you,” he said. “Secondly, there’s nothing that says we can’t trick him the same way he’s trying to trick us.”
Blake paused to glance anxiously at him as they reached the garden gate.
“Trust me, Blake,” Niall said. “We will win in the end. I promise.”
Chapter 18
Blake was numb for the entire journey back to Leeds from Blackpool. His heart told him that he was a horrible father for leaving his children without trying harder to extract them. But his head argued that Annamarie would remain true to her word and keep them safe, so he wasn’t an utter failure after all. His head also argued that Ian couldn’t be trusted and that Annamarie was blind when it came to anyone who flattered her the way she wanted to be flattered. And on top of that argument, his heart told him to trust Niall with his life, that Niall would ensure that everything worked out in the end.
“Are you quite all right?” Niall asked them when they finally stepped down from the carriage they’d hired in Leeds to bring him home to Selby Manor. “You’ve been uncharacteristically withdrawn since we left Shell Cottage.”
Blake sent him a wry, exhausted look. “I suppose I’ve run out of things to say at this point.”
“You? Running out of things to say?” Niall ribbed him as they mounted the stairs and entered the house.
Blake noted that Charles, his first footman, held the door for them, not Dobson. He responded to Niall’s teasing with a weak laugh, then asked Charles, “Did Dobson hand in his notice?”
Charles looked both startled and anxious, “Um, yes, your grace.”
Blake nodded and pursed his lips, both disappointed and wary. “Did he say why?”
“No, your grace, he just left.” Charles shrugged and shook his head, gesturing for one of the younger footmen who loitered in the hall to hurry out to the carriage to fetch Blake’s and Niall’s bags. “Unless he told Mrs. Crocker, that is.”
“Thanks. Tell Mrs. Crocker I’ll speak to her in my office as soon as I’ve cleaned up