“Laney will be happy to hear it.But I had best take myself off.Good day then.”
Ethan listened with bated breath as her footsteps beganto recede.Just as he was about to exhale and slip from his hiding spot, however, she spoke again.
“Forgive me, but I’ve heard something altogether interesting about your club and was hoping you could help me.”
“Of course,” Isaac replied.“Anything at all.”
She cleared her throat delicately, the rustle of her skirts reaching Ethan as she seemed to move closer.“I have heard,” she went on, voice lowered in an intimate way that affected Ethan in places he would rather not think about, “that you hold private games for females?”
“We do indeed,” Isaac replied, amusement lacing his voice as he lowered his tone to match Mrs.Marlow’s.“Are you thinking you would like to join?”
“I would, as would Mrs.Finch, I daresay.But it is more for Mrs.Finch’s partner, Lady Vastkern.She is quite keen on games of chance, you see.I don’t suppose you could secure her a spot at one of your tables.The viscountess would be most appreciative.”
It was an innocuous enough request.They received dozens of them a day from women wishing to join in those private games, all hoping to get a taste of what their husbands and sons and fathers could indulge in freely anytime they wished.
Why, then, did the hair at the nape of his neck stand on end, telling him that there was something decidedly suspicious about Mrs.Marlow’s inquiry?
“Oh, certainly,” Isaac responded.“Anything for Mrs.Finch and her partner.Anything at all.When were you all thinking of joining in?”
“Tonight, if at all possible.”
Tonight?He frowned.There was something too eager in the request.Not for the first time, he wondered what the hell Mrs.Marlow was up to.
But Isaac was apparently free from Ethan’s suspicions ashe proceeded to explain just what the women had to do to gain access that evening.When they were done and Mrs.Marlow finally took her leave, Ethan was not so quick in attempting to leave his hiding spot, and not only because he feared the woman might turn around once again.Could she simply wish to secure a coveted spot for this Lady Vastkern?Certainly.But as he had distrusted her motives from the very beginning, his suspicions could not help but be roused now.He growled in frustration.What he wouldn’t give to get in Mrs.Marlow’s head and see just what she was up to.
Which, unfortunately, led to wondering what it would be like to get into other parts of her.Which, in turn, made him desperately happy for the cover of the drapery.
Of course, that was when Isaac yanked back the heavy velvet and stood staring at him with no little confusion.
“Why the hell did you wish to hide from Mrs.Marlow?”he demanded.
Before Ethan could come up with a plausible response—truly, he was drawing a complete blank for a reason that would satisfy his brother without revealing his suspicions regarding the woman and Dionysus in general—Teagan sauntered up.
“You’re hiding from Mrs.Marlow?”He snorted.“I’ve never known you to shy away from a seduction before.”
Which was not anything he had expected.He frowned at his partner, certain he must have heard him wrong.“Seduction?What the devil are you talking about?”
To which Teagan rolled his eyes so violently Ethan was surprised they didn’t roll out of his head.“Don’t play stupid, man.It’s obvious to everyone that the woman is trying to get you in her bed.”
Ethan could only stare.Teagan was known for his sarcasm; the man could write a book on the fine art of underhanded ridicule.Yet this time there was nothing but thering of truth to his words.And suddenly everything regarding Mrs.Marlow—or, at least, everything regarding her baffling actions toward him the last few days—clicked into place.She was trying to seduce him.
Holy hell.
A soft breath escaped him.He had been so focused on his suspicions, as well as on controlling his body’s unwelcome reactions, that he had not seen her attentions for what they were.Now, however, thinking back on every touch, every glance, he saw it with a clarity that struck him like a brick to the head.She truly had been trying to seduce him in her own awkward, strange way.
Teagan, watching him the whole while, laughed outright.“And I thought you were smart.”
“Wait,” Isaac said, holding up a hand, his eyes wide in surprise.“Mrs.Marlow wishes to sleep with Ethan?”
“Hard to understand, I know,” Teagan drawled, giving Ethan an amused sideways glance.“Of course, the question is: What is Sinclaire here going to do about it?”
A very good question, Ethan thought as the two men sauntered off, laughing at his expense.He looked to the large double doors of the casino, now firmly closed after Mrs.Marlow’s departure.And one that did not take a great deal of thought to come up with an answer to.While she might simply wish to have him in her bed, she could also be looking for an opportunity to harm the club.He narrowed his eyes as he considered how allowing Mrs.Marlow to seduce him could provide him with the opportunity to keep a close eye on her and thwart whatever scheme she might have in mind—determinedly ignoring the flare of hot excitement that trailed over his skin at the thought of the intimate details that affair would entail.He smiled slowly.If the young widow wished to take him to her bed, who was he to refuse her?
11
Despite its being nearly summer, the night was brisk as Heloise, along with Laney and Sylvia, made their way down the narrow alley that backed Dionysus.Behind them the streets were busy with bodies desperately trying to hang on to the last bit of the London Season before they had to return to the quiet boredom of their ancestral homes.All was gaudy, the street lit up with bright flames to stave off the night, the people almost manic.
The alley in front of them, however, was silent, light shining at intervals in a muted gold, flames flickering behind amber stained-glass lamp covers, the only people the two hulking guards that flanked a single door.
