Page 89 of The Duke's Mysterious Lover
Her husband shook his head. “Nay, lass, that’s enticing enough, trust me. Just that first word alone will make him spit out his tea, I’ll wager.”
Kit’s hold on her teacup was so strong she worried she would break the delicate porcelain. Forcing herself to sit forward and place the saucer carefully on the table, she bought herself a few moments to control her emotions. “Tell him I’ll meet with him. I’ll findhim. That way he’ll be off-center, not certain how to control the situation.”
“Brilliant,” Griffin muttered, glancing at Thorne. “Terrifying, but brilliant. She’s right.”
“I ken,” Thorne announced, smiling at Kit. “She’s her father’s daughter, and he’s terrifyingly brilliant as well.”
“But she’s on our side, aye?” Demon pressed.
Kit still held Thorne’s gaze. At the question, he raised a brow in challenge, and she grinned softly, feeling herself relax.Trying to pour her feelings into her words, Kit nodded and said, “Yes, I’m all yours.”
It was the truth.
No matterwhat the future brought, no matter how long or short their time together, Kit was and always would be, Thorne’s.
“So where does she meet him?” Griffin asked.
“The Stallings assembly,” Bull muttered around a mouthful of cakes. When everyone turned to him, he shot his father a wary glance and swallowed, lowering his plate. “Look, the cakes dinnae stop my brain, just my mouth! The Earl is throwing a party of his own—or rather, I assume his wife is—to celebrate Lady Emma’s betrothal. Apparently Blackrose didnae invite enough oftheirfriends. They’ve already had one ball this season—to try to get Emma matched, remember? So this one is just an assembly.”
“Uncle William willhaveto attend,” Georgia murmured, nodding.
Her sister bent back over her notebook, narrating as she wrote. “I am prepared to discuss the information I have which you need next week at the Stallings assembly. I will be wearing…”She trailed off, then glanced up. “We will have to claim something unique, to throw Blackrose off.”
“Orange!” Bull declared, sitting straighter. When his father scowled at him, he shrugged. “Nae debutante would wear that color, and we want Kit to stand out.”
Demon snorted softly. “Orange, with that hair color?”
His wife groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh, gooey shitenuggets, Demon,tryto be on better behavior!”
Bull merely grinned. “I can make hershine.”
Thorne was nodding as he stepped up behind Kit. “I believe ye can, laddie.” He placed his hand on Kit’s shoulder. “Add it, Danielle.”
Kit reached up to brush her fingers against his, and he caught them and held, as Ellie finished her scribbling.
“I will be wearing orange. Signed, Katherine.” Ellie glanced up to catch Kit’s eyes. “Is that acceptable?”
Kit’s smile felt a little wobbly. Not from fear, just… What was coming would change everything, she knew it. And there would be no turning back. Still, she’d come to London to find out what kind of man her father was, and now she had, she had to bring him to justice.
So she nodded. “That’s perfect.”
And it was. Itwouldwork. She just needed to be strong enough to control the situation.
“What are ye going to tell him to convince him to show up at Thorne’s home?” Fawkes asked her, his dislike of the plan evident from the way his brows were drawn in.
Kit glanced up at Thorne. “I have some ideas about that.” She hadn’t shared them yet, but sheknewit would work. “Can we use the name of the Crown representative you know?”
Wincing, Thorne shook his head. “Nay, no’ until I’m given permission. We cannae afford to run afoul of the Crown, lass.”
She nodded, turning back to the room. “Just the knowledge Her Majesty is interested should be enough to scare him into showing up.”
Georgia hummed. “You need it to be a public setting, but one which you control. An event, hosted here.”
Her husband snorted, and when the bairn in his arms began to stir, muttered a curse under his breath and began to rock back and forth. “Blackrose is a bastard,” he sang in a surprisingly light tone, “so he’ll suspect a traaaaap.” When everyone looked at him in surprise, he continued to sing with a scowl, “Rosie doesnae caaaaaare what I say, as long as I siiiiiing it.”
Kit pressed her lips together to hide a smirk, but the others weren’t as polite.
Ellie, however, ignored her singing brother-in-law andtapped her pencil against her lower lip. “Hewillsuspect a trap, so we make the invitation one he cannot refuse, not without being judged by Society.”
