Chapter 309: Last warning [1]
After waiting around for Eloise to fall back asleep, Damien left the estate with Gage and Silas at his side.
Damien headed into town, hoping he would cross paths with Hayden. This had gone far beyond searching for whatever secrets Hayden had buried around the town. The new lies now circulating pushed the matter further than it ever needed to go, and Damien could feel his patience thinning with every mile the carriage covered.
Gage and Silas sat on one side of the carriage, watching Damien, whose gaze never once left the view outside the window. Neither dared disturb him, wary of his anger turning towards them instead.
The carriage ride was uncomfortably silent.
Gage sighed, relieved when the carriage finally rolled to a stop before a pub frequented by many of the town’s elite. He moved first to open the door for Damien, then stood outside, keeping watch over the surroundings.
Damien stepped out, followed closely by Silas. He wasn’t certain Hayden would be present, but he could either wait it out or find out where Hayden had gone.
Damien led the way to the front door, and the moment he stepped inside, he drew the attention of a few patrons since he was no longer a regular face here, and it showed in the way conversation dipped as he passed.
He searched for Hayden but found no sign of him. Still, he wasn’t ready to give up, not with private rooms tucked further inside for men who preferred to conduct their business out of sight.
"Pay for a room, Silas," Damien said, moving to a table to wait until one was ready.
"Lord Hawthorne. I see him," Gage said, his gaze following Hayden as the man rose and moved towards the private rooms with others following him. "He’s heading towards the rooms. Should I stop him?"
"Patience," Damien said, unwilling to chase after Hayden like some eager errand boy. "We’ll catch him shortly."
Damien sat and waited for Silas to return. Once the room was ready, he rose to leave. On his way there, a door opened to his right, and inside sat Hayden, drinking alone.
"I get the feeling you might be stalking me, Damien," Hayden said, pouring himself a glass as he spoke, entirely unbothered. "If you wanted to see me, why did you take so long to come to me? Let’s not pretend you aren’t here for me."
"I am here for you," Damien admitted. "But we shall speak in the room I paid for."
He knew better than to step into a room Hayden had prepared since there was no telling what traps might be waiting.
Hayden smiled as he watched Damien and his entourage walk away, entirely unsurprised. He rose from his seat and followed with his glass still in hand.
Regardless of who Damien had brought along, Hayden felt perfectly safe since he was far closer to the pub’s owner than Damien could ever hope to be, and he did enough business here to know he wouldn’t be touched.
Gage and Silas remained posted by the door while Damien took the only seat inside.
Hayden entered wearing a smile that got on Damien’s nerves almost instantly.
"Had I known you’d be here, I wouldn’t have wasted money on my own room. Care to enlighten me as to why you’ve been searching for me?" Hayden asked, settling into the seat across the table. "I should be the one searching for you, given you tried to kill my wife and did it while my children were home."
"I don’t know what you speak of," Damien replied, denying the claim flatly. "You shouldn’t invent these stories to taint someone’s name. Just as your wife shouldn’t do the same concerning my marriage and my life."
"You shouldn’t speak without proof, and my wife doesn’t have time to sit around gossiping about your marriage. What I’d like addressed is your attack on my wife. How you tried to kill her, despite your own family being in the wrong."
Damien smiled, having already guessed what Hayden was attempting. "Again, I don’t know what you speak of. You must tell my dear aunt to stop drinking so much. If I wanted her dead, she would be dead. A disagreement doesn’t always mean I want someone’s blood."
Hayden stared at Damien, visibly annoyed that he wouldn’t simply admit to what had happened. His fingers tightened slightly around his glass.
"Aren’t you tired of going in circles? I won’t hand you an excuse to stay away from your wife by dragging this out," said Damien.
"I see now where Jane got all those assumptions about our marriage. Now that you’re married yourself, you’d do well to be careful what you say. I don’t appreciate you commenting on my marriage," Hayden said, more serious now with the earlier amusement fading from his face.
"There’s plenty I could say about the woman you chose to marry. I’ve heard her father was once your family’s groundsman, and I’d hate to think that’s true," Hayden said with a low chuckle, clearly enjoying himself. "A wealthy man like you, chasing after the daughter of a servant. You must have taken ill."
Damien glanced at the wine glass on the table. It was far too good a drink to waste smashing over Hayden’s head, though the thought lingered a moment longer than it should have.
"Tell me," Hayden said, leaning forward slightly. "Why didn’t you simply take her as your mistress? You were well within your position to do so. Is there something about this Eloise that makes her so special? As men, we can speak plainly of it. It might help me understand."
"While you might encourage other men to speak of your wife as they please, I am not the same," Damien said, his voice dropping low and cold. "You’d do well to be careful not to let my wife’s name slip past your lips. Not unless you’d like me to wet them with your blood instead."
Hayden chuckled, waving off the threat as though it were nothing. "I know you like to think yourself untouchable, but not every man in this town fears you. I still see you as the boy who used to trail after his aunt. Nothing you do or say will ever change how I look at you."
"Forget whatever rumours you’ve heard and assumed came from my wife. We can’t get past the fact that you tried to kill her, and you only attempted it because I wasn’t there to stop you. You wouldn’t have dared if I had been."
"Again, I don’t know what you speak of," Damien answered, feigning ignorance. "You must stop repeating this."
Hayden slammed his hand against the table. "Like hell you don’t know."
The door burst open, and Gage shoved a man inside, the stranger stumbling forward with a startled grunt.
"He’s been listening in," Gage informed Damien.
Hayden’s eyes met those of the man from the court. The very one he’d been speaking with before Damien’s arrival.