LoveBetrayed by Samantha Kane Page A

great deal of time in London and
Kent, at school.”
    He was hiding something. Daniel was very good at recognizing
lies and deceit. “What are you not telling me, Harry?”
    “I—”
    “Hello, Daniel.” A figure materialized out of the woods to
Harry’s right and Daniel immediately stepped in front of Harry, crowding him
back against a tree. It was Wolf Tarrant, one of James’ lackeys. Tarrant was a
bit off. He hated what they did, but he was very good at it, particularly the
killing part. He kept to himself and grew more morose and frightening every
day.
    “Good evening, Tarrant,” he said calmly.
    “You should be careful,” Tarrant said, looking around.
“These woods are dark and dangerous. You should be careful,” he repeated, “you
and your…friend.” He cocked his head as he looked at Harry. “Lieutenant.”
    Harry bowed his head, discreetly shoving at Daniel, trying
to get out from behind him. “Good evening,” Harry said congenially. “Have we
met before?”
    Tarrant just kept looking at him oddly. Finally he shook his
head. “No. James told me who you were. He wanted me to watch you.”
    Daniel went very still. He didn’t consider Tarrant a friend,
not like LaRoche had been. And yet he’d killed LaRoche tonight. He was loath to
have to kill Tarrant, too. But he would without a second thought if he made a
move toward Harry.
    “Why?” Harry asked curiously, no sign in his voice of the
tension now filling the air.
    Tarrant shrugged. “I don’t know. I think he wants you.”
    Harry stopped shoving. “For what?”
    “To work for him.”
    “I told him I didn’t want to.”
    “You don’t get to say no.”
    They were standing very still, all of them, about twenty
feet apart. Daniel was tense, waiting for Tarrant to make his move. But Tarrant
just stood there watching them, looking at Harry’s hand clutching Daniel’s arm.
His gaze met Daniel’s. “Remember what I said. Be careful. Good night.” He faded
back into the trees and was gone. Daniel could feel his absence.
    Behind him Harry shivered. “What’s wrong with him?”
    Daniel shook his head. “He’s been with James too long, I
think.” He pulled Harry after him as he hurried back to camp. “Don’t go
anywhere alone until I get to the bottom of this.”
    “What do you mean?” Harry wasn’t arguing. Good. That meant
he’d do as he was told. He was clearly no fool. Perhaps he’d finally realized
how dangerous Sir Barnabas James was.
    “I’m going to see James and make it clear you are not going
to join his service.”

Chapter Eight
     
    “What the devil do you think you’re doing?” Daniel demanded
as he stormed into James’ tent. The sentries outside had merely watched as he
angrily approached and barged in. They were fools to trust him. Then again,
several people angry enough to kill him probably stormed into James’ tent on a
daily basis. And yet the bastard still lived.
    “My correspondence,” James replied smoothly, setting his pen
down on the table. “While it is annoying, I hardly think it warrants such
theatrics.”
    “Why do you have Tarrant following Lieutenant Ashbury?”
    “Why do you care?” James countered. At Daniel’s silence, he
smiled. With his dark hair and eyes, olive complexion and perfect teeth he was
a gorgeous snake, and he knew it. That smile had long ago lost the ability to
fool Daniel. “Isn’t this what you want?”
    His comment threw Daniel into confusion. “What I want? What
do you mean?”
    James rose from his chair and walked over to Daniel,
stopping just in front of him. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back
and simply regarded Daniel for a long moment. If he was hoping to unnerve him
he failed. Daniel had known him too long. “I assumed you’d want to work closely
with Ashbury.”
    “What? Why?” His observation unnerved Daniel far more than
his predatory stare had. Daniel knew it was foolish to feel panic over James’
knowledge of his and Harry’s