Page 9 of Exiled Duke

He straightened, his forehead creasing. “You’re still with that family?”

“I have never been out of Belize Town, save for the one trip to the Port of Veracruz.”

“You never left them?”

“No.”

“So you’re still with the Flagtons?”

She nodded. “Mrs. Flagton has insisted I remain as her companion.”

That explained the dress. If he had to guess, it was the same one he’d seen on her twelve years ago. His head cocked to the side. “So what are you doing here?”

Her hands were still clasped in front of her and they lifted in unison. “I need your help, Strider. And you’re the only one that can help me.”

“You find me, after twelve years, and then demand my help? You do recall what happened the last time I saw you?”

Her green eyes darkened for a long second, her voice dipping into a whisper. “I remember.”

“Then why do you think I would help you with anything?” Harsh, but she needed to know who she was dealing with.

Her lips parted and she visibly inhaled. A forced smile quickly appeared on her face. “I had hopes. Please. My family. I hoped you would help me find them.”

“Your family?”

“Yes. My real family. My mother’s family.”

He shook his head, taking a step backward. “You don’t want my help.”

Her strained smile went wider and she took a step forward. “I do, because you’re the only one that can help me, that can remember enough about what we were told of my mother to find them.”

His lips twisted into a near snarl. “No.”

Confusion flooded her eyes again. “You don’t have connections? I asked the collier, the baker, the fishmonger. Everyone knows of you, Strider—all of them. All of them looked like the devil crossed their path, but they all knew of you. And their voices would drop, almost to a whisper if I could even get them to speak of you at all. You’re a man everyone knows. And a man like that can find my family. You can help me.”

“No.”

“But—”

“But what, Pen? Why do you even want to find them?”

The smile slid from her face, but her stare didn’t slip off his eyes. “There’s got to be more for me. More for me in life. This is the first time that I’ve even had a chance at that thought, and this could be the way. If I can find them—if you can help me find them—it could be the way. The way out for me.”

“Why do you need to get out?”

“I just do.” Her exhaled words were tinged with desperation.

He shook his head, setting his jaw hard. He wasn’t about to let their lives intertwine again, no matter how desperate she was. “I can’t help you.”

“Why not?”

“There’s nothing in it for me.”

Her eyes went wide. “You are that cold?”

“I’m that practical.”

He waited for her to turn away. For her shoulders to slump, defeated. Then he could leave.

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