Page 47 of A Duchess to Reclaim

Tally rose from his chair only to go down to his knees, his hands coming together in a prayer.

“Your Grace,please,do not tell anyone of this. If my wife found out- if my family did-”

“You’d what?” Dominic snapped, “Be burned just as you have tried to burn me? We are finished here.”

“Your Grace I misspoke,” Tally said hurriedly, reaching for Dominic’s coat tails. “I was foolish to believe such gossip, please, let me remedy this.”

Dominiccravedthe ability to reach down and throw Tally out of his office himself, but in the business district he was situated in, it would not do be seen doing such things by those on the street.

Instead he called for Trayton, one of the Irish thugs he paid for assistance, and had him drag Tally to his feet and out the door.

“Ye have a choice, me lord,” Trayton’s deep Irish brogue said as Tally attempted to find his footing. “Ye can walk out or I can toss ye. And trust me if I be doin’ that, there’ll be more t’an t’at ink marrin’ ye noble face.”

“I’m going, I’m going!” Dominic heard Tally cry from beyond his office door.

Turning away from the door, Dominic went to washstand in the corner of his office and began washing his hands. He’d just started to towel them dry when Trayton returned.

“Did he walk himself out?” Dominic asked.

“His legs be like jelly they did, but he managed to leave on his own,” Trayton replied.

Dominic gave a terse nod. He hated losing out on deals; especially those regarding trade. He might have been able to save this one with a calmer approach, but he was absolutely out of tranquility.

“What’s the news on the man from the garden party?” He asked, bracing himself on the edge of his desk. “Have we found him yet?”

Trayton nodded.

“We tink so. We’ll need ye eyes to confirm it, though. He be at te’ gamblin’ hell as we speak. Te’ one ran be ye friends.”

Dominic raised a curious brow.

“In the middle of the day?” He asked.

“If it be him,” Trayton said with a shrug. “My guess is he be a second or third born son; nothin’ to do but spend his daddy’s money.”

“Let us go gambling then,” Dominic said, pushing away from his desk.

As he did so his office door opened, and Hugo walked in. He raised his brow as he looked from Trayton to Dominic, and leaned in the doorway.

“I just saw Tally hustling down the street with wild eyes and a black handprint on his face,” he said casually, looking Dominic up and down. “Something told me you might have had something to do with it.”

“Bastard pushed me out of a deal,” Dominic barked defensively.

Hugo gave a careless shrug.

“He should have known better then,” his friend replied.

Dominic smirked. Of the three of his friends, Hugo was most like him. While he didn’t share the utterly horrific traumatic childhood Hugo had, the two of them more feared than Everett or Tristan. Hugo by his reputation of being a literal beast, and Dominic’s by his seeming ability to know everything about anyone at any given time.

“If you are finished here come have lunch with me,” Hugo urged.

“I would,” Dominic replied, once more the gnawing sensation in his gut. It wasn’t for food, but he wasn’t going to tell Hugo that, “But I am heading to Ezra’s. It seems my little spies might have found the man from the garden party.”

Hugo brandished a devilish smile and stood straight.

“Let us be off then,” he answered readily.

“You don’t have to,” Dominic replied, “I can handle it.”

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