Page 54 of My Rogue, My Ruin
The heart of the matter was that she was in his blood, damn it.
He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “She knows.”
Brandt hesitated, rolling onto the balls of his feet and plunging his hands in his pockets. He was not pleased, Archer could tell.
“And?” Brandt asked.
“I will take care of it.”
“How?” Brandt prodded. “If she is to be the new duchess, then her loyalty will be with her husband, the duke, not you. How can you trust that she won’t reveal what you—what we—have been doing? Do not forget my neck is on the line, too.”
“I would never forget it.”
Brandt stared at him for a long moment, and when Archer met his look, his friend was shaking his head, understanding dawning in his eyes. “Hawk, say it is not so.”
“Say what?”
“Say that you haven’t gone and lost your head for your poorly neighbor!” He glanced upward, trying to peer through the windows. “Where is this girl? I haven’t seen her for years, but she must be surely some beauty if she can bring a duke and a marquess to their collective knees.”
The only words that could fall from Archer’s mouth were, “I told you she’s not poorly.”
“Of all the women,” Brandt said in an exasperated voice. “I can find you a woman, if that is what you need. I know the perfect one. Her name is Eden, and she’s everything a man could want…for one night.”
“That’s not what I want.”
“Then whatdoyou want?”
“Not that, damn it.”
Spending one night with a skilled courtesan would have been a satisfactory proposition before. Not now. Archer wanted to have his fill of one woman in particular, and the idea of any other left a bleak, empty feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Brandt’s voice sobered as he rested a hand on Archer’s sleeve. “Hawk, you are playing with fire. Not everyone thinks as you do, and while you may believe this girl is different, you know as well as I that everyone in thetonis the same. She is just like the rest of them, and she will turn you in.”
Though Archer knew his friend meant no insult, his words left a mark.
“Lie to her if you must, tell her it was a joke. I can pay people to act as your alibis. No woman is worth stretching your neck over. And if she is meant for the duke, we both know that your father would disown you without so much as blinking, especially if he has found a woman to bear him a new heir.”
Brandt’s supposition made Archer’s entire body feel like it was being swallowed into a hole of despair. The thought of his father lying with Brynn in the efforts of procuring an heir was too much to even think about. He stifled his jealousy, clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles ached.
“I said that I will deal with it, and I will.” He turned glacial eyes to Brandt, shrugging off his hand and changing the subject. “What news of the imposter?” His clipped tone indicated the matter of his father’s upcoming nuptials and his chosen bride was now closed. Brandt stared at him, his lips a white line, but he knew better than to confront Archer when he was in such a foul mood.
“No leads,” Brandt said quietly. “So far it’s none of the runners we used.”
“Look harder. One of the runners must have confided in someone else. There are too many similarities for this to be a coincidence. I am more worried about this bastard than I am about anyone else revealing who I am.”
“Understood.”
Brandt turned to leave when a loud, terrified scream came from the house. It sounded like someone was hurt.A woman.Archer had already sprinted away in full stride toward the front door when Brandt caught up to him.
“Who was that?” Brandt said.
“I’ll find out. Stay here,” Archer said over his shoulder and raced up the steps.
He could barely see past the crowd of bodies blocking his view and crowding the foyer. He was looking for only one person. His eyes threaded through, desperate, until the folds of a yellow gown sifted into his vision at the top of the stair. The breath came back to his body in full force, his eyes dragging over her from crown to feet to ensure she was unharmed. She was fine, but when Brynn met his gaze, the emotion he saw there nearly rocked him to his knees. Tears glistened in them. Something terrible had certainly happened.
“Make way,” he commanded, and the crowd parted at once. His eyes surged upward to the top of the landing where Lady Rochester stood in hysterics near Lady Dinsmore and her husband, clutching a handkerchief to her eyes and sobbing uncontrollably. At his glare, the servants scurried back to their posts, and he made his way up the stairs three at a time.
“What happened?” he demanded of her, but the woman couldn’t stop blubbering long enough to speak.
