Vanity & Humility

Summer, 1866

London, England

Detective Chief Inspector Ethan Brant walked through Covent Garden and toward the Lamb and Flag pub. Very aware of the many eyes watching him, his steps quickened. He knew what happened to people in his profession who walked alone in this area of town, but he was desperate. He needed some information that could help with his current case, and this was the best area of London to try to find that.

Several men had been murdered over the last few months, each of them found in their study, diamonds stolen from their safe. He was certain whoever was responsible for killing these men was also responsible for the robbery, but as yet, he’d been able to prove very little. At best, he’d been able to figure the guilty party was known to these men, and female, or so he assumed, as the method of death—poisoning—was usually preferred by the fairer sex. His superiors were asking for more than just his beliefs though, and so far, he had nothing to give them. That was why he was here.

He walked into the premises, deciding to sit at the bar for a while and have a drink while listening in on the many conversations there that night. Surely, there had to be someone here who could tell him about the stolen diamonds belonging to the victims he was investigating. He just needed one tangible lead that would give him the connection he needed.

Sitting on a barstool, he raised his hand in the air, trying to get the bartender’s attention.

“He’s been run off his feet these last few hours,” a sickly-sweet feminine voice purred beside him.

He turned to see a blonde-haired woman, her gown far more expensive than any he’d seen before. “I was hoping for a few drinks before I returned home. Maybe I should try somewhere else.”

Her hand went to his forearm. “Please stay. I’ll go talk to the bartender and have him bring us some drinks.”

He watched as she slid from her stool and walked over to the bartender.

After a few minutes, she returned and sat back beside him. “He’ll bring our drinks over shortly.”

Ethan smiled at her. “I guess it really is true that most men will do anything for a pretty woman.”

Though he passed the compliment so easily, it was far from genuine. This woman was nearly as tall as he was, her slim figure almost gaunt. She was not what he found attractive in a woman.

Nor was she anything like the women he usually came across in this part of London. Most here in Covent Garden were street workers, or gamblers looking to win some money on the bare-knuckle fights that took place in some of the rooms upstairs. This woman wore layers of makeup and carried herself as if she were the next in line to the throne.

He was just about to ask what a woman like her was doing slumming in this area of town when their drinks arrived. Turning to pay the bartender, he stopped when she laid her hand on his.

She winked at the man behind the bar. “Just put it on my account.”

“I didn’t come here looking for charity,” Ethan stated.

She chuckled. “Nor did you come here for a few drinks before you returned home.” She sipped her drink and placed it back on the bar before turning to face him. “So, why are you really here?”

He paused for a moment, his fingers shifting the glass around on the wooden counter in front of him. He didn’t want anyone here to know he worked for the police department, fearful such knowledge would affect any possible information, or maybe even endanger his life. But the determined look on this woman’s face convinced him she wouldn’t let the matter of his identity rest until he answered her. He had to tell her something she would believe. But what?

As he sat there studying her, he wondered why she was behaving so familiar with him. “I know you from somewhere, don’t I?” His question was intended to redirect the attention away from his profession, but there really was something about her that reminded him of someone from his past. When she flicked her fringe back from her forehead, he suddenly remembered. “Carmen?”

She smiled and nodded. “We were at school for a short time together when we were little children. You’re Ethan Brant.”

He nodded, sipping his drink. “You left after a couple of years.”

“Family issues made that unavoidable.” She lifted the glass to her lips, taking a sip. “I heard you did quite well for yourself after school, what with your family’s money and all, so what brings you to a place like this?”

Though he remembered this woman’s identity, he couldn’t be sure how trustworthy she was. “I heard there were diamonds stolen from some murdered men a few weeks ago. I was wondering if anyone here might know anything about them?”

She took another drink and placed her glass back on the counter. “Why would you want to know about some stolen gems?”

“I’m trying to help one of the grieving families. They’re in desperate need of having the stones returned.”

She held her hand in the air, signalling the bartender to refill their glasses. No sooner did the man come and do her bidding, a fight broke out behind Ethan. He turned to see what was going on. When he turned back to Carmen, she was pushing his glass toward him. Taking it from her, he gulped the liquid, feeling it warm him.

“What if I was to tell you I knew something about the diamonds you’re asking about?” Her foot stretched out, rubbing along his leg.

He downed his drink, waving for his glass to be refilled. Listening as the liquid was poured into the glass, he couldn’t help but notice the warmth of this woman’s skin as she caressed his leg. This wasn’t why he’d come here, but he couldn’t ignore the stark reminder it gave him of how long it had been since he’d been with a woman.

“What’s this information you have?” he asked, trying to drag his mind back to the reason he’d come here.

She stood from her seat, her purse dropping to the floor. “How clumsy of me,” she muttered.

Jumping to his feet, he bent down and retrieved her purse and handed it to her. “You’re leaving?”

She shook her head. “If you want to hear what I have to tell you, you’ll have to follow me upstairs. There are people here who would kill for those diamonds.”

His gaze narrowed on her. “There is one person who already has.”

She handed him his brandy. “Finish your drink, and I’ll take you somewhere quieter so we can talk.” Her hand reached out to him, sliding suggestively across his chest, her fingers pulling lightly at the buttons. “My room is upstairs, and we won’t be disturbed there.”

Obeying her order, he gulped down the liquid in his glass, a strange feeling overcoming him. Was this stronger than the brandy he usually drank? The effects of the alcohol took control of him, stripping him of any apprehensions he’d had about Carmen.

She took his hand, her soft fingers stroking his skin, and he couldn’t help wondering what the rest of her felt like. He shook his head, needing to clear his mind. He was a member of the police department; he couldn’t risk being seen following some random woman up to her room in a pub as shady as this.

“Follow me, Ethan,” Carmen said in a sultry tone, pulling him behind her.

As he followed her, he wondered if this woman genuinely had some information for him, or was she using that as an excuse to get him upstairs. As they reached the second floor and walked down the hall, he began caring less and less about what information she may or may not have. She stalled in front of one of the doors and opened it. He followed her inside, listening as she closed the door behind them.

He watched her walking toward him, her fingers unbuttoning her blouse.

“Did you really have some information to tell me?” he asked.

“Only that a young woman killed those men.” Her blouse fell to the floor, her hands moving to unfasten her skirt.

“Did she steal the diamonds to sell them?” he asked, his gaze never leaving the slender woman being revealed before him.

Carmen stepped out of her skirt, standing there in just her chemise. “Those diamonds belonged to her. She was merely taking them back.”

Stopping in front of him, her fingers pulled at the fastening of his trousers. He should stop her, but the fire suddenly burning inside him wouldn’t allow it. “What are you doing?” he asked, his mind very foggy, though energized. What was happening to him?

She unfastened his trousers, her hands pushing them down his legs, revealing his throbbing erection. “I gave you your information, now I want to be paid.”

Her hand engulfed his shaft, stroking him until he could no longer ignore how long it had been since he’d been with a woman. Pulling her to him, he kissed her lips, not really hungering for her, but also unable to refuse her.

He walked her back to the bed and laid her down, thrusting inside of her again and again until her nails pierced his back and her sheath clenched around him. Her moans of pleasure near his ear forced him to thrust inside of her a few more times before he pulled himself free of her, spilling his seed on the mattress.

Hearing her sickly-sweet voice moaning his name, he pulled away from her and looked around as if realizing where he was and what had just happened. He needed to get out of there and clear his mind.

His hand went to his head. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he’d been drugged, but what substance could cause the carefree, ravenous, sexual hunger that had coursed through him moments before?

Ethan stood and pulled his trousers up, fastening them as his back was turned to the woman on the bed behind him. He felt sick at what he’d just allowed to happen between him and this woman. In his profession, he’d learned that many of the fairer sex thought carnal favours could get the law to turn a blind eye to them and their actions. He had become victim to this shady lifestyle once, women throwing themselves at him, feeding his vanity while he allowed criminal activity to go unharnessed. That wasn’t something he wanted to become involved in again, but he feared he just had.

“You can come and meet me here again later if you’re free,” she offered. “I’d be more than happy to see you again.”

He didn’t turn around, her words repulsing him. “I don’t want to be seen frequenting this place or the rooms here,” he said sternly, tucking his shirt into his trousers. “The people I work for won’t be happy if they find out I’ve allowed myself to be taken advantage of by one of the women who live here.”

As he was about to make his excuses and leave, there was a knock on the door. Carmen leapt from the bed, her hands on his arms pushing him toward the wardrobe.

“You best hide in here until the coast is clear for you to leave,” she said as she shut the door on him.

He didn’t argue, not wanting to be seen in this woman’s room. As he listened to her walking toward the door, he couldn’t help but be suspicious of her actions and need to hide him. If she were just one of the women who lived and worked here, why would she not want to be seen with a paying customer?

Listening as the door opened, he heard Carmen’s sickly-sweet greeting, followed by a familiar voice. Not wanting to believe what he was hearing, he opened the wardrobe door a crack and looked out at the older man whose hands were busily ripping the sheet from Carmen’s body and laying her on the bed Ethan had just vacated.

As Ethan closed the door, he shut his eyes, his gut churning with every groan he heard coming from the old man rutting away on the bed. When finally the sounds of passion ceased, Ethan opened the door again to see his father stroking Carmen’s naked body as they lay on the bed together.

“You are the most beautiful woman,” the old man said. “I can’t wait any longer to make you my wife.”

Wife? Ethan couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“What are you saying?” Carmen asked, reaching for a sheet and wrapping it around her and standing from the bed.

Ethan’s father also left the bed, fastening and straightening his clothing. “I’ve spoken to the priest, and he’ll marry us in the morning if you’re ready.”

There was a moment of silence before she threw herself at the old man and kissed him passionately. Finally, she pulled away from him, her hands resting on his chest. “Go tell the priest I’ll be there. Now you must leave so I can get my gown ready.”

The old man kissed her one last time before leaving the room. No sooner did his father leave, Ethan stormed out of the cupboard, even more horrified that he’d allowed himself to be seduced by this woman.

“You’re the worst kind of whore any man could ever be burdened with,” he spat at her as he stepped toward the door.

Carmen pulled at him. “You need to let me explain.”

He pushed her away. “Even with your talented tongue, I doubt you could explain how I listened to my own father rutting away on you moments after I was foolish enough to do the same thing.”

“It’s not what you think,” she tried again.

Again he avoided her. “How can you live with yourself knowing that...” His words drifted off. “My father deserves to know the truth about the woman he’s about to become enslaved to.”

She smiled smugly. “But you can’t tell him, not without also telling him about us.”

She was right, and he hated himself for it. “You are mistaken, madam. I assure you there is no us, nor shall there ever be.”

He was about to turn the door handle when her hand settled on top of his, stopping him. “How can you say that? I thought after what happened between us...”

“If I wanted to fuck a woman who could think, I would have bedded an educated woman.” His words were cruel, but he couldn’t speak to her any other way, not after he knew exactly the kind of woman she was.

“You bastard!” she spat at him, slapping his back. “How dare you push me aside as if I was a common whore!”

He turned back to face her, his brow raised, astonished by her claim of offence. “A fuck is a fuck, madam. You’d do best not to read more into it than what little it was.”

Her hand came up and swiftly slapped him across the cheek. “How dare you! I only invited you here because I thought you’d offer me protection when I needed it.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “You were wrong, especially if you thought I’d carry on an affair with you after you’d married my father. If I’d known what you were when I met you at the bar downstairs, I would never have lowered myself to share a bed with you in the first place. I can assure you, it isn’t a mistake I shall make again.”

“But we shared—”

He held up his hand, stopping her words. “I was lonely, and you were available. That’s all there was to it. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“If all you wanted was a whore, why did you not hire one?”

Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a wad of money and threw it at her. “I just did.”

“I’ll call the police and tell them you raped me.”

He eyed her with contempt, seeing this woman for all the ugliness she really was. “I am the police.”

Ethan opened the door and hurried from her room. He needed to get as far from this woman and this place as he could. He had been so foolish to ever consider reuniting himself with Carmen again after all these years. At school, she had always been the one who swindled money from the children in the classroom before crying to the teacher that it was she who was the real victim. She had been a liar then, and it appeared not much had changed over the years.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and went quickly to the bar, needing to ask the bartender if he had drugged him under Carmen’s instructions.

“Ethan?” he heard his father ask, and he turned to see the old man sitting at the bar where he’d been himself earlier that evening. “What the devil are you doing here?”

He didn’t want to tell his father the truth about why he was there, but he had to tell him something. “I came here hoping to find some information to help me with a case I’m working on,” he explained in a partial truth. “Which leads me to ask if you still need to see me in the morning? It’s just, I have a lot of work to do.”

The old man sipped his drink. “You work too hard for someone who stands to inherit my entire fortune.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for your condescending chat all because I chose a noble profession to follow instead of sponging off you.”

His father grumbled under his breath for a few moments before swallowing the entire contents of his glass. “You’re released from our little meeting in the morning. I have other plans.”

Ethan raised his brow. “What plans?”

“I’m getting married.”

“You have to be joking,” Ethan exclaimed. “Another wife?”

The old man held up his hand, stopping his son’s tirade. “You needn’t carry on so. I assure you that your inheritance will stay protected. I’m doing this for me. A man of my age gets lonely at night, and who am I to refuse a young woman who’s willing to share my bed?”

“Are you sure you can trust this woman? How do you know a ‘young woman’ isn’t just marrying you for your money?”

His father stood. “You’d do well to remember your righteous lifestyle doesn’t give you the right to criticize how I choose to live mine. You are still my son and heir, and you should remember that and give me the respect I deserve.”

Ethan didn’t like upsetting him, but he needed the old man to realize how foolish he was being. “At least let me do a background check on this woman before you welcome her into your life. After all, what do you actually know about her?”

The old man waved his hand in the air as if uninterested. “There’s no time for that nonsense. There’s already passage booked for me and my bride to leave for Australia as soon as our nuptials are done.”

“You can’t be serious,” Ethan said, horrified, envisioning the dangers that could befall the old man so far away from his protection.

“Maybe if you were to ever learn how to treat a woman with anything more than the smallest amount of tolerance, you’d understand a man isn’t designed to live alone. He needs companionship and a woman’s tender emotions.”

He stared at his father, realizing the old man’s vanity had turned him into a blind fool. Even after the actions of his previous wives, his father still believed Carmen was different and genuinely cared for him...and now he wished Ethan to find the same kind of relationship. But Ethan wouldn’t allow such a thing...ever.

Even before the display he’d witnessed from Carmen, the only thing Ethan had seen women capable of were shallow pretenses of affection. They would do what was necessary to suck whatever they could from the man they chose as their victim. That wasn’t a life he wanted. Nor would he simply stand by and watch as his father dived straight into that kind of life again.

The old man reached out to him, his hand resting on his shoulder. “You’re my only son, and as proud as I am of the selfless profession you’ve chosen, this isn’t where you belong.”

Ethan raised his brow. “Are you suggesting I belong back in your fold, and that I should follow you and your bride to Australia?”

His father nodded. “I would like your help building my empire across the oceans—the very empire you’ll inherit one day. After all, how much longer do you have to play at being a hero?”

He stared at his father, weighing his offer over his sense of obligation to the police department. He didn’t want to leave England, but nor could he stand back and watch his only remaining family sail across the oceans, and possibly to his death. At least if he accepted the old man’s invitation and traveled with him to Australia, he could keep an eye on him and be certain he didn’t come to any harm.

Slowly, he nodded. “I’ll organize a transfer through the department and see how soon I can get passage to Australia.”

The old man removed a ticket from his pocket and held it out to Ethan. “If you must stay in this profession, they’ll have to work quickly if they want to keep you, because I already bought a ticket for you to sail with us tomorrow. I was hoping I could convince you that leaving England would be the better option. I also hoped to surprise my new bride by introducing her to you on the boat.”

Ethan took the ticket. “Oh, I can guarantee, she will be surprised.”

As his father walked away, Ethan knew he’d have to get to the station immediately and talk to the commissioner about a transfer. While he was at the station, he’d pull every file he could to try and find out what there was on Carmen, including her background. He would work all night if he had to, but he needed something to show his father when he met him on the boat tomorrow.

But even if he did find something, he doubted the old man would believe him. He would have to keep whatever information he found to himself, until his father was in the right mood to listen to the truth that Carmen had married him for everything he owned and not everything he was.

Walking from the pub, Ethan hurried to the police station, his mind focused on what he needed to do by morning. There was the vaguest chance his assumptions were misguided, but he was certain they weren’t. His gut told him whatever Carmen was up to would be of no benefit to his father.