Page 55 of The Lady's Last Mistake
“When is the next fight?” Cassie asked, her eagerness worrisome.
“There’s one tonight,” Sir answered. She brightened, and Grant could easily guess what she was thinking.
“You arenotgoing to Duke’s.”
She set her jaw and whipped toward him. “No, I’m not. Not alone at least. You can take me.”
Grant fixed a sarcastic grin into place. “I’m not offering.”
Cassie fumed and parted her lips to give a retort, but Hugh cleared his throat. “Cassie, on this, I must agree with Thornton. Duke’s is in a rough part of Limehouse. It’s not suitable for you—or fifteen-year-old boys,” he added, tossing a harsh look at Sir. The boy rolled his eyes. “I’ll come around later, Thornton. We’ll discuss a plan.”
After a bow toward Cassie, he gathered Audrey and Sir to leave. Audrey sent her an apologetic glance before getting into the carriage. Once Carrigan began to drive away, Cassie broke from Grant’s side and started for her own conveyance.
“Wait,” he said, catching her arm. “We need to talk.”
“I’ve nothing to say.”
“Cassie.Stop.” The command was a bark, and much too loudly done. Heads turned in their direction. Cassie did stop her retreat but looked as if she’d have liked to rip out his tongue.
“Take my arm,” he said more softly. Pink flushed her cheeks.
“No.”
The stubborn, mule-headed woman!
“Fine. If you won’t trust me, then at least trust Hugh. Duke’s is no place for you.”
“Just as Crispin Street is no place for me?” He recalled what he’d said before—that she didn’t belong there. It had hurt her.
“I am only thinking of your safety,” he said, his temper rising.
“I do not need you for that.”
His jaw locked with the sudden urge to take her over his knee. The image both stoked his temper and stirred his loins wide awake.
“I think our stroll has reached its end,” Cassie said, still holding his hard stare. “Unless you still wish to take that exhibitive ride in your carriage?”
He flashed his teeth, the grin more of a snarl. He snatched her hand before she could pull it away. Grant raised it to his lips and took a protracted amount of time—several moments at the least—to drop kisses along her gloved knuckles. Long enough for some passersby to see the display. “No need, Lady Cassandra. I’ve rather lost my interest in it. I’ll take Tris with me to tend to his injuries. Good afternoon.”
Grant lowered her hand, released it, and walked away from her, toward his carriage.
The bloody woman was going to drive him straight into Bedlam.
Chapter
Sixteen
“I’m not sure about this, milady.” By the light of the carriage’s interior lantern, Cassie’s lady’s maid appeared wan. Even more so than she’d been when Cassie first informed her of the plan for the evening. Ruth squirmed. “Limehouse isn’t the finest part of Town, and we’ve only Patrick in the box for protection.”
“We aren’t going to need protection,” Cassie said. She was beginning to regret bringing Ruth. It had been an attempt to show some propriety, but her maid’s complaints were growing tiresome.
Cassie drew in a breath to calm herself. Her frayed nerves weren’t entirely Ruth’s fault. No, her true annoyance was with Grant. And Hugh if she was being honest. The two of them had shut her out, deciding what wasn’t appropriate for her, when Isabel was her responsibility. Not theirs.
Once Grant had left with Tris in his carriage, her face still hot from his ardent show of kissing her hand, Cassie had fled back to Grosvenor Square, where she’d told Patrick to planfor an outing to Limehouse that night. He had not been pleased. Her assurance that they would simply wait outside the club and see what they could see had not been enough to put him at ease. Since she could not enter the club alone, watching from the carriage window would have to suffice. Staying in at home and twiddling her thumbs while Isabel was out there, in danger, was not an option.
Duke’s was located in a repurposed warehouse near the river, and several minutes after Patrick had parked the carriage on the street outside, Cassie’s spirits lifted. Men in fashionable suits and top hats were entering the club, and women were in the mix as well. By all appearances, the attendees were not lower class. While a few women were unaccompanied, most were on the arms of men.
Cassie slid forward on her seat. “I say we go in.”
