The Redemption of a Rogue, стр. 56

She lost herself in the flames for a moment, trying to settle her mind. It was only a sound from the door that shocked her from her troubled reverie. She pivoted toward it and her knees went weak.

Aurora was standing at the door beside a handsome gentleman holding a cane. Her friend met her eyes, lifting her shaking hands.

“Imogen!” she cried out as she released her companion and rushed across the room. They launched themselves toward each other at the same time, and Imogen clung to her in the tightest hug she’d ever shared with her friend.

They parted, and she looked Aurora up and down. She had always been exquisitely beautiful. She had honey hair and green eyes, high cheekbones and a full, curvaceous figure. She was the kind of woman men turned to look at on the street. But she had never looked more beautiful than she did in that moment and Imogen recognized, with instant power and clarity, that it was because Aurora was in love.

Out of nowhere, everything became so overwhelming. She glanced at Oscar, who was still standing at the sideboard, hand clenched against the tabletop, not looking at her. Putting up the wall that always came between them. She buried her head into Aurora’s shoulder and burst into humiliating tears.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I frightened you,” she murmured as Aurora stroked her hair gently, offering the comfort Imogen needed, but perhaps didn’t fully deserve.

“What the fuck are all of you doing here?”

She jerked her face toward Oscar and followed his gaze toward the door. Now it wasn’t just Aurora’s companion, the one Imogen was certain she was in love with, in the doorway. No, the room was now filling with people. Two white couples and a tall, handsome Black man had all filled the room and stood silently.

And Oscar stared at them, all the color draining from his face, even as he glared in that commanding, almost menacing way he could sometimes muster. He looked truly troubled and she realized he knew some of Aurora’s friends.

If his anger was any indication, he knew them very well.

His attention broke from them and pivoted to her. The betrayal was lit in his eyes. “Imogen, this was not our arrangement.”

As Oscar stared at her, Imogen caught her breath. He still couldn’t tell if she’d known about this ambush all along, or if it was a surprise. Still, when she stepped away from Lady Lovell and toward him, her hands shaking as she lifted them in silent entreaty, he wanted so much to reach for her. He had to fight that desire with all his might, fight to keep his gaze on hers, but not soften it.

“I didn’t know,” Imogen said, softly but firmly. She was all but willing him to see it was true. He could read it on every line of her face.

But he still wasn’t certain. After all, this roomful of people weren’t just some random collection of individuals. The man Aurora had come into the room with at first was Oscar’s half-brother, Nicholas Gillingham. One of the other women at the doorway was his half-sister, Selina Oliver…Huntington, he thought her married name was.

And the other couple with them was the Duke and Duchess of Willowby. Old friends of his brother, the newest Duke of Roseford. In fact, Robert was the only one missing from this merry band of intruders.

This connection between Lady Lovell and Imogen, that she’d brought his family, the one he’d banned from his life, along with her…

That couldn’t be coincidence. And the only one he’d told any version of that story to was Imogen. So how could she not be involved?

“She didn’t know,” Lady Lovell said firmly as she crossed to stand beside Imogen. She really was lovely, though her beauty dimmed a fraction when next to Imogen’s light.

He also had no idea if she could be trusted. But she certainly surprised him when she examined him closely for a fraction of a moment, then held out a hand to Oscar.

“Mr. Fitzhugh, you have no idea how much I owe you for helping my friend,” Lady Lovell continued. “I could never repay you.”

Oscar took her outstretched hand at last, shaking it gently. “There is no repayment necessary. It was my pleasure.”

His gaze moved to Imogen, and now she blushed. He had gone too far, revealed too much before this audience and embarrassed her. He had no idea why he’d done it. Why he’d felt a need to reconnect with her when he didn’t even know her intentions.

Lady Lovell squeezed Imogen’s elbow gently, and he saw Imogen straighten a little, as if she had been buoyed up by her friend’s support. That made him like the viscountess even more.

Lady Lovell cleared her throat and said, “But I swear to you that Imogen had no idea I was bringing this small army with me.” Oscar met Imogen’s eyes and she nodded slightly. Lady Lovell continued, “I thought you might not see us if I told you I was bringing help. But that is what this group is. Everyone here wishes to assist with this investigation. Help Imogen.”

Oscar jolted. Could that be true? Was none of this sudden arrival of his family about him after all, but…her? And if so, how could he refuse that assistance if it might save her life?

“I suppose I understand that,” he said reluctantly. He faced the gathered crowd. “I think most of us need no introduction.”

“Yes, you wrote us off long ago, didn’t you?” Selina said as she glared at him and folded her arms. She looked so much like their late father in that moment that he nearly flinched. “So why waste time on pleasantries now?”

“Selina,” the man beside her said softly, his hand coming to the small of her back. Then he nodded toward Oscar. “I am Derrick Huntington, Mr. Fitzhugh. Selina’s husband.”

“Selina is my sister, Imogen,” he said.

Imogen caught her breath and stepped forward, her hand fluttering out like she wanted