Daring the Duke (18 page)

Maddox looked confused, but that was neither unusual nor unexpected.

"What?"

"Nothing. Listen, I want you to--"

"Sir, a message for you."

Travers looked at the boy who had run to their table. He took the note, and the boy hopped on one foot waiting for a reply He read the note, gripping it more tightly as he read each line. He didn’t usually shoot the messenger, but by God he was damn tempted. The boy seemed to sense his irritation and scooted back a few inches.

He turned to the boy. "Get me paper, pen, and wax."

The boy ran to the bar, and Travers traced a furrow in the tabletop with his finger. He had to stay focused—he couldn’t lose everything now. His partner would kill him.

The boy returned, and Travers grabbed the writing implements and scratched out a few lines.
Gather the new recruits and meet me in an
hour
. He sealed the wax with his ring and flipped a coin to the boy, who snatched it and the note and ran off.

Maddox raised his brow inquiringly, but on seeing the wrathful expression on Travers’s face, said nothing. Travers stretched his tight fingers, then curled them. Stretch, curl, stretch, curl.

When he felt calm enough to speak he said, "What can you tell me about Audrey’s dealings with Chalmers?"

Maddox snorted. "The bloke has been damn near courting her. Came by the other day to take her to the park, then the theater."

"What?" Travers’s rage built. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

Maddox shrugged. "You didn’t ask, did you? Besides, I ain’t your damn slave."

Travers reached across the table and grabbed Maddox by the lapels lifting him off his stool. He had to restrain himself from slamming his fist into the man’s nose.
Cap the anger for now
, he said to himself.
Funnel it later
.

"Well, you are now my slave. I want accurate nightly reports from you and those worthless servants I hired."

Maddox avoided his eyes. Ah, so he had thought he would get in trouble if he told. That explained things better. He could use Maddox’s fear to his advantage.

"Yeah, whatever." Maddox slugged down his drink, but Travers could see the panic building in the man’s body.

Good, he could forget about Maddox for a moment and concentrate on the more pressing problem. Travers jerked his knee up and down, a bad habit when he was in a rage. His toes absorbed the shock. A band of fear laced through his anger. By now Chalmers had to know about his involvement.

He had been surprised to hear that he was packing to go to the country, but the note made everything clear. And that was dangerous. Audrey was going to be very, very sorry that she had crossed him. He was done being patient with her.

"The two of them went to Newgate to free Faye today. And Chalmers is leaving for a trip to the country in the morning." Travers gripped his tankard tightly. "She has thrown her lot in with Chalmers, has she? We’ll see what Chalmers has to say when she is arrested for murdering his solicitor."

He laughed and began to focus his anger and fear. "Yes, poor little Audrey is about to be thrown into prison for real this time. And she’s going to be begging me to save her. "

Maddox looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "Thought you needed her to complete your tasks, or plans, or whatever it is you’re doing."

"Oh, she will complete the tasks." He would make certain of it. "lf she doesn’t—"

Another messenger appeared at their table and handed him a note. The boy took off without awaiting a reply as Travers opened the note. It was Audrey’s handwriting.

You will have your long-lost item soon.

He laughed, a bit of euphoria lacing through the rage and fear. The power of it was exhilarating. "She will complete her tasks indeed."

He laughed again, but the pitch was abnormally high. He cleared his throat. "Clever girl. She will complete them better now than she could have before. And Chalmers is going to be very sorry he got involved with her. Very sorry. I could not have asked for more."

But Audrey still needed to be punished for her insubordination at Newgate. Having her spend a little more time in prison would curb her independence before he graciously made it up to her afterward.

There was no need to inform his partner about these latest developments.

It was time for him to take charge. The fear left him. Audrey would steal back what rightfully belonged to him, then he would pin everything on her if need be.

Oh, how good this plan was starting to feel. Maddox looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Travers decided against sharing the latest bit of information. Having Maddox work on Audrey would be an amusing interlude while he waited for the finale to explode in Chalmers’s face.

Chalmers was the interloper who had taken everything of his. Just like his own brother had, the two of them thick as thieves, always the ones who had everything and everyone's attention. His mother and father had had no room left for anyone else. How he despised them all. How he would show them all.

It was late when Audrey returned to her town house. She had avoided it for most of the day. Walking around town, visiting Flanagan, and talking to some of the street informants had neither settled her nerves nor helped her solve any of her problems. Flanagan had people searching for Faye, which made her feel marginally better. lf she couldn’t find her, he probably would.

That Flanagan was assisting her was not as surprising as she would have found it a week ago. Some crazy happenstance was causing her to have more faith in people, and she couldn’t quell the urge to trust. That in itself was dangerous.

Ever since she had learned about the relationship between Travers and Chalmers, something had felt out of place. The piece of information she had unearthed earlier had been both interesting and daunting. If her suspicions were confirmed, then life would be getting more complicated soon.

Meanwhile, Maddox was out for the evening. Was probably gaming again and getting them in deeper trouble. Audrey was relieved he was gone. She pulled out a case to pack for the journey. Her riding habit and a few dresses should be sufficient for a few days. She and Stephen wouldn’t be gone long, and traveling gear was the most important.

Light feet padded down the hall, and her maid opened the door. She took one look at the case and narrowed her eyes. "Are we going somewhere?"

"No,
we're
not," she stressed. "But I’m leaving for a few days."

"Master Travers won’t be taking well to your leaving."

"No? Well, I’m sure he will recover."

The girl gave her a sour look and left, no doubt to pen a note to her master.

Audrey finished packing and realized how hungry she was. One dry scone was all she had eaten today. She foraged through the kitchen, finding cooked meat, bread, and cheese. As she ate, she thought about the plans for the next few days. She was juggling many loose ends. If any of them came crashing down, she was going to be in greater trouble.

The front door slammed, and a voice bellowed her name as she finished her last bite. She wanted to avoid Maddox if at all possible so she cleaned up and gingerly opened the door.

Maddox stood belligerently in the foyer, blocking her path. "The maid said you’re going to the country tomorrow. What for? Everything you need is here in London."

Audrey tapped her toe in irritation. "No, I have some things to take care of in the country."

"Travers is not going to like it. He’s already in a fit about you and that duke fellow."

"Travers is perpetually piqued. He’ll recover."

"Not this time, he won't. Never seen the man so angry before. Got something against that duke. You’d better mind yourself, gal. And if you can’t mind yourself, well, then, I’m to do it for you."

She narrowed her eyes. "I heard you are in trouble again. Been gambling with other people’s money? You should watch who you mark, you never were any good at staying away from the big boys' tables. And when you play with the big boys, you’re bound to lose."

Maddox looked angry, but his eyes were wild. They focused on her with a wheedling smile. "You’ll give me the notes to pay them back. I’m in charge of this operation after all. I need some blunt to keep it running."

"I’m not giving you a pence, you weasel."

"Why are you such a grouchy wench? One would think you’d have gotten over yourself by now. That thief fellow didn’t cuff you enough."

Her nails dug into her palms. She had avoided this conversation since setting eyes on her stepfather again. Anger shoved past her carefully constructed dispassion.

"Our 'schoolmaster' cuffed us plenty. Isn’t that what you told all our family friends? That Faye and I were at school? And how was that trip to Italy that you took while we were at
school
? Did you manage to pay off the men who were after you then?"

"Audrey, I was just trying to keep the two of you safe. I came back for you, didn’t I?"

"Yes, three years later you returned. Interested in the money we could make you again. I never did ask whether you intended to use us as your personal thieves, or if you’d planned to sell us once again to the highest bidder." She was breathing hard. "Which was it?" She bit out.

"It’s not like life was rough for you. Damn, girl, you’d think I was some two-bit pimp. I didn’t sell you to the madam, did I? I sold you to a fellow that would keep both of you in line."

"You’re not supposed to sell people!" She shrieked. She had held it all in for so long. "You left us in hell."

He shrugged. "I was sold as a child. I turned out just fine. That’s the way of things. And you’re free now, so quit complaining."

"It shouldn’t
be
the way of things, you ass. What the hell is wrong with you? Did
you
like being sold?"

"That’s what happens to children on the street."

"We weren’t on the street." She ground each word. "And we had money and friends. Two things you know nothing about."

He shrugged, and she felt like throttling him. He had wagered all their money, and when he had sold them it had effectively cut them off from any friends. Buyers didn’t just let their acquisitions run off to find a new family.

"What did you intend, Maddox, when you came back three years later?

We were no longer children. What were you going to do with us?"

All traces of pleasantness disappeared from his eyes. They were dark and a bit wild again. "I hadn’t quite decided that. Would have had to see how much you were worth."

Cold rage settled in her gut. Audrey drew a long finger down her right forearm. "Too bad you never had the chance."

Maddox unwittingly grabbed his scarred arm. "You bitch! It’s time I taught you a lesson." He lunged toward her. She stepped aside and put her foot in his path. He tripped headfirst into the bookcase, fell to the floor, and was still.

Her hands were shaking as she walked over to make sure he was breathing. He was. She couldn’t stay in the house and wait for Maddox to recover—she might do him more harm, and she had promised her mother on her deathbed to protect their family. And even though Audrey didn’t consider Maddox part of the family her mother had, and for that reason alone Audrey wouldn’t harm him. She looked at his crumpled form. Well, she wouldn’t harm him any more than necessary.

Audrey walked to her room. Protect him? No, that part of the promise had been completely negated the day he had sold them to the streets. So what if he had been sold as a child. As if that somehow made it acceptable. He had made a choice and had chosen greed over right. She knew that no matter what position she found herself in, she would never make the choice he had. Once she found Faye, Maddox would be permanently out of their lives.

Her hands shook as she placed the last of her items in her case. She was ready to juggle the biggest and most dangerous of the men in her life.

Stephen gently stroked her long supple limbs and caressed her burgeoning buds. "Gorgeous."

He sank his hands deeper into her mass of curls. Slow and steady.

He arched her back and pushed in deeper.

"Almost there," he whispered.

He was so close. Sweat was beading on his forehead. She was a handful—young, beautiful, willful, if a bit clingy.

The fit was tight, and he made cooing noises as he thrust in a few inches, making small circles to allow more.

So close now. Just a bit more . . .

"Your Grace?" Grimmond called from the other side of the door.

"Please, not now, Grimmond," he snapped. He had told his butler he did not wish to be disturbed.

"You said to let you know if Miss Kendrick arrived. She is waiting in the library."

Desire to see Audrey warred with his need to finish. He looked down. He had been wooing this one for the last few days. She had just started showing signs of acceptance, and he almost had her.

He sighed. He needed to see Audrey. This could wait.

He patted the soil around her roots and sprinkled water on top. Hopefully she would stay strong for a few hours. Who knew, maybe Audrey was waiting to shoot him, and the meeting would take but minutes. In any event his blood was already heating in anticipation.

Roth was concerned Stephen would get a knife in the back. Even St. John, who was the most carefree individual in the service, had said something before Liddendock’s party when they had been setting up the papers Audrey had stolen. His friends weren’t mad to think so. In fact, Stephen acknowledged he was the mad one to go along with this scheme. He simply couldn’t resist. He wanted the truth. He needed to know what Audrey and Travers were up to.