Page 19 of Black Widow

Gideon didn’t bother to hide his surprise. “That much? I know your father was an expert investor, but I wasn’t aware you had followed in hisfootsteps.”

Her father had left her a fortune. Naturally, he assumed she was living off that money. He had underestimated her. But had she grown the fortune or lost some ofit?

“I find a little gambling on the ‘Change keeps thingsinteresting.”

The stock exchange? Even he didn’t invest there. The market could be capricious, and he was still unused to possessing a fortune. True, he’d spent some time in the hells in the last few years, but only when he needed to fleece certain gentlemen for information. Hells, or rather the men who ran them, were excellent sources ofgossip.

“Can I ask how you managed that?” he asked after a moment. Most traders wouldn’t take bids from awoman.

She knew exactly what he meant. “My father’s solicitor, Callaghan, makes most of my bids for me. We meet once a week. I enjoy it for the most part. It keeps my mindoccupied.”

This was unexpected news. “Would that be TolbertCallaghan?”

Amelia brightened, no longer appearing so tired. “Yes. He was a close associate of Papa, as well as his attorney. Do you knowhim?”

“Only byreputation.”

Tolbert Callaghan was one of the nation’s top solicitors—one often consulted on legal matters by the crown. He was wealthy in his own right. The fact such a renowned man spent an hour every week with Amelia gave Gideon an excellent idea of just how skilled she was at choosinginvestments.

Or they were having an affair, his cynical side said.Except Callaghan was in his sixties and happily married by all accounts. Gideon needed to stop assuming the worst and gather actualevidence.

“I take it you do well in theseendeavors?”

“Quite well, thank you,” Amelia said, adorablysmug.

The brilliance of her smile shot warmth through him. “What—”

His next words were drowned out as multiple reports sounded behind him. A sudden howling wind swept the ballroom. More than half of the tapers were extinguished in the blast, plunging his portion of the room intodarkness.

In a split second, he had shoved Amelia behind him before turning to face the enemy. The sound had come from the left. Despite the darkness, he could see every door to the garden patio had been thrownopen.

But the doorways were empty. There were a few guests near them but none close enough to have opened them. Napkins fluttered wildly and the sound of broken glass could be heard as people stumbled and stepped over champagne glasses they haddropped.

The startled screams of the women didn’t even register until one long shrill cry filled his ears, nearly stopping hisheart.

“Amelia!” He turned around, groping for her in the darkness. She wasn’t behind himanymore.

Adrenaline flooded him as he shouted her name once more. The panic in his voice did nothing to quell the pandemonium breaking out around them. Cursing under his breath, he tried to calm himself so he wouldn’t feed thehysteria.

Amelia was only a few feet away. He could not see her features, but her arm was clear enough. She pointed up behind him at the darkened balcony that overlooked the ballroom. That part of the room was pitch black. He couldn’t see anything upthere.

He’d only taken his eyes off Amelia for a second, but when he turned back to her, she was on thefloor.

“Bloody hell!” He ran to her side, swinging her into hisarms.

“Did you see them?” she whispered, her head lolling against hischest.

“Seewhat?”

“The eyes that killed him.” Amelia swooned, going lax in his arms. He shook her, but she didn’tmove.

“Give her to me,” someone called. Gideon looked up to Worthing struggling toward him. The viscount stepped over a fallen man a few feet away and held out hisarms.

“Not on your life,” Gideon growled, pulling Amelia’s unconscious form closer to hischest.

Worthing scowled at him. “I don’t know how to help them,” he yelled, gesturing to the people in disarray behindthem.

Footmen were rushing in with lit candlesticks, illuminating thescene.

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