Page 50 of The Devil's Pawn

What I’d rather do is leave this ball and lick my wounds in private, but I accept his offer, sliding my handthrough the crook of his elbow. He leads me to the bar. Once I’ve taken several sips of a delicious cocktail Tobias had the bartender make especially for me, the pain from Alexander’s hurtful dismissal has dulled somewhat.

“If that’s the best he can do, I guess he must have swallowed his tongue after all.” Rejection is a bitter pill to swallow, even from him.

“Don’t let him get to you,” Tobias says. “The best way to even the score is to enjoy yourself. That’ll annoy him more than anything.” He leads me to the edge of the dance floor. “Now, let me brief you on all the salacious gossip. Who shall I dish the dirt on first?” He taps his bottom lip. “Ah, here we are. Do you see the woman over there in the rather daring red dress?” He waits for me to nod. “That’s Lady Chatsworth. She’s married to Lord Chatsworth.” He points his chin at a gray-haired gentleman a good forty years older than his wife. “And you thought Alexander was an old sod.” He chuckles, and I laugh along with him.

“I adore you, Tobias. You’ve been nothing but kind to me since I arrived.” Not that we’ve spent much time together, but every interaction has been a positive one. Unlike my interactions with my husband, whose angle of attack changes course so frequently he makes my head spin.

“I am rather lovable. Sometimes I’m convinced I was adopted.” Another chuckle rumbles through his chest. “Of course, Lady Chatsworth has certain needs her husband finds, shall we say, challenging, given his advancing years.” He leans closer and waggles his pinky at me. “And not only because he can’t get it up.”

I laugh. “I think it’s you who’s salacious, Tobias.”

“Dearest girl, you don’t know the half of it.” He gestures to a young man in his mid to late twenties. “That’s LadyChatsworth’s bodyguard. She keeps him around for his gigantic schlong.”

I cover my mouth, giggling. “How would you know?”

He winks at me and leans in as though he’s about to impart a gigantic secret. “I like to watch, dear Imogen.”

I blink a few times in succession. Watch. Does he mean…?

“Watch? You mean them…?” I make a weird hand gesture. “You know?”

“Fucking. Yes. I get my kicks from watching other people fuck.”

I’m not sure what to say, so I don’t say anything. Tobias fills in the gaps without me having to ask, anyway.

“I own a sex club close to here called The Lair. It’s… a side project, shall we say. Lady Chatsworth and a fair number of other guests in this room are members.” He grins and does this overexaggerated shiver. “The things I know.”

I hold up a hand. “Keep them to yourself.”

He laughs. “Don’t knock it until you try it, Imogen.”

“And what about when your turn to marry comes along? Will you still… do what you do?”

“Yes. It’s who I am, and anyone I marry will have to accept that. Besides, I’m counting on my father having given up by then. There’s three ahead of me to spawn the next generation of devils. That’s enough for anyone, surely.”

“Don’t you mean De Vils?”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

God, I adore him. He’s so different from his brothers. I stand on tiptoes and kiss his warm cheek. “Thank you for saving me, Tobias.”

“Oh, stop. You’ll have me blushing in a second.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention, andI glance behind me. Alexander is hovering by the entrance, alone, a menacing gleam in his eyes. I’m still smarting from his dismissive attitude earlier. I’d tried so hard to fit in, to… if not impress him, then at least have him appreciate the effort I’ve gone to tonight, and he’s barely given me a second look. And now, because I’m chatting to his youngest brother and, I admit, flirting a little, he’s pissed? Well, too bad. He can take his angry glare and shove it.

I move closer to Tobias. “Who are they?”

Tobias follows my gaze to a scary-looking tattooed man, with dark hair swept back from his face, and piercing blue eyes. He’s talking to another man, who must be six foot six at least, with a fifty-inch chest. Neither of them looks as though they fit in here, which is why they catch my attention.

“The slightly smaller one with the murderous glint in his eye is Patrick Mahoney, head of the Irish Mafia. Trust me, you do not want to get on the wrong side of him. He’s someone we call upon from time to time when we need a certain… type of person to get the job done.”

I think he means having someone killed. It doesn’t surprise me that the De Vils are involved in some shadier activities.

A shiver runs from my head to my toes. “When I first arrived, I thought you might be the mafia.”

Tobias chuckles. “Darling girl, we’re so far above the mafia, they’d get a nosebleed if they came all the way up here. No, they’re… let’s say contractors.”

I’m not sure if that makes me feel any better. “And the other one?”

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