An Unexpected Earl (Lords of the Armory #2) - Anna Harrington Page 0,40

would do exactly as she’d asked of him—

“If the trust is causing so much tension between you and your brother, then let him have the property and build your school elsewhere.”

Her shoulders sank in equal measure disappointment and exasperation. Was he going to help her at all? Had she completely misread the man he’d become? Desperation scratched her voice. “Bradenhill is all I have.”

“But your father was wealthy. Surely, he left you other property that—”

“Gordon Howard was a mean and spiteful old man who caused trouble right up to the end, even from the grave.” She turned to face him and steeled herself against showing any unease at finding herself less than six inches from his chest, his hips even closer. And his mouth…sweet heavens. “Instead of leaving his fortune to Frederick and an allowance to me, he left the fortune to me and gave Frederick the allowance.”

Surprise crossed his face. “Your father left you everything?”

“Except for the land, which was divided between us.” Which was why she was now in this mess. “Papa believed that a man needs land in order to be a proper gentleman, so he gave part to Freddie, and that I would need it to find an aristocratic husband, so he gave Bradenhill to me.”

“Then you have enough money to buy more land and put your charity wherever you’d like.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Why not?”

Not wanting to answer that, she tried to politely move him aside, so she could step away and clear her head. But the man didn’t budge. “Pearce, please—”

“Amelia.” He took her chin and gently lifted her head, making her look directly at him. “Tell me.”

She blew out an exasperated breath and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “I found myself in a spot of trouble,” she admitted, hoping he would accept that whopper of an understatement. Because she’d never tell him the truth. He looked at her now as if he longed to kiss her, as much as she longed for him to do just that.

But if she told him about Aaron, how would he look at her then?

A frown of concern wrinkled his brow. “What kind of trouble?”

“Financial,” she answered vaguely. In the end, though, wasn’t that what it had been? The ramifications of losing her fortune had certainly lasted longer than her marriage. “It happened right before I turned twenty-one, when Freddie was still acting as my guardian and in control of my money.”

“Being passed over in his inheritance for his younger sister, then having to manage it all for her,” he mumbled, his eyes gleaming with amusement at Frederick’s expense. “Your brother must have hated that.”

“He resented it. Quite a bit, for a while. But then—then there was an unexpected problem.” She refused to give specifics and prayed that Pearce was too much of a gentleman to press. “I lost everything except for Bradenhill.”

Concern darkened his face. “Did Howard do something foolish and cost you your fortune?”

“No.” Her voice lowered to a whisper as she dared to put this small part of her trust in him. “It was all my doing. But Freddie stepped in after to take care of me. The town house is his. He lets me stay there, employs my maid, and grants me an allowance. He even helped me start my charity shop. I couldn’t have done it without him.” Guilt clawed at her belly. He had done so much to help her… “I owe him everything.”

“So you would now do anything to help him.”

“No.” She fixed her eyes directly on his. “I won’t give up Bradenhill.” Not to Freddie, not to a trust… She pulled in a deep breath. “Not to anyone.”

A frown creased his brow as he stared down at her, but an inexplicable sensation sparked through her that he admired her for her resolve. Nothing he said told her that, no change in his expression…but it resonated through that connection they’d shared since they were children, like a ribbon that wound around them and joined them even now.

“At least tell me this,” he conceded, letting her keep her privacy. “Are you all right now?”

She warmed at his concern. “I will be, once I know that Freddie won’t build his turnpike.”

He stood close. Far too close. Needing space and air, she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed to make him step back.

But he didn’t move, except for a flexing of his muscles beneath her fingertips. Electric tingles raced up her arms and landed heavily in her breasts. As a young man, he’d