“No,” she replied evenly, even as her mind whirled at a dizzying speed to formulate a reply that would assist her in slipping out of the snare Mr.Sinclaire seemed to have laid for her.Though the question burned in her mind:Whywas he setting a trap?
“I had hoped to,” she continued, “but I have not.”
There.Simple and truthful, something Ethan could corroborate if need be.As long as Mr.Sinclaire did not continue to question her, of course.Which he looked about to do.She steeled herself for whatever was to come; by the looks of it, she would need to not only keep her balance like those long-ago tightrope walkers but have the dexterity of the acrobats as well.Before he could open his mouth again, however, a hulking figure came up behind him, a shadow in the stairwell.By instinct she reached up, fingers finding with practiced ease the thin blade in her collar, gripping tight the grooves in the hilt, ready to pull it free…
Until the second figure stepped into the hallway, and the light pouring in through the windows revealed a very familiar, very dear face.
“Ethan,” she breathed quite without meaning to, hand dropping to her side.
“Heloise?”He frowned in confusion before the expression melted away, to be replaced with something warm that had her insides melting as well.“I didn’t expect you until this evening.”
“I wished to see you,” she replied, shocked to realize how very true it was.And not only because the threat of Mr.Isaac Sinclaire was well and truly neutralized.No, she wanted to see him just because it washim.
His eyes, those dark, hard eyes, softened considerably.Without taking his gaze from her, he reached out and clapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder.“Don’t you havesomewhere you need to be?”
In an instant the Isaac Sinclaire she had come to know was back.He grinned, a lopsided thing that set his eyes to sparkling.“Say no more,” he quipped.“I know when I’m not wanted.”
“That you are not,” Ethan murmured.
Mr.Sinclaire laughed.Then, sketching a bow, he took his leave.Equal parts relieved that she had escaped his too-knowing gaze and shaken that the encounter had happened at all, Heloise looked to Ethan, prepared to school her features into a look of pleasant unconcern.That plan, however, quickly flew out the window as, with the click of the hallway door signaling they were quite alone, he wasted no time in striding toward her, pulling her against him, taking her lips with his.And she did not recall what she was supposed to be doing for a very, very long time.
“Heloise.Heloise!”
Heloise started so violently that the papers in her lap slid off and fell to the ground.Flushing furiously—after the interlude with Ethan that afternoon, the last thing on her mind was this latest meeting with the Widows—she dropped to the floor and gathered the pages into a messy pile.“I’m sorry, what was that?”
Sylvia gave her a long look.The woman had to know something was amiss with her.She had, with increasing frequency lately, been giving Heloise that very same look, one that asked far too many questions for Heloise to be at all comfortable with.She half expected Sylvia to interrogate her about what was distracting her.Instead, she pasted a patient smile on her face as Heloise resumed her seat.“I asked how your search of the office spaces went thismorning.”
“Ah.”Heloise cleared her throat, praying the heat that suddenly flooded her face did not translate to a blush.“I managed to search just about every room in that wing of the club.There was not a jewel to be found.”
“I see.”There was another long look from Sylvia, so long that Heloise squirmed under the woman’s seemingly all-seeing gaze.
Finally she broke the contact, peering into her teacup as if attempting to read the future there.“It’s as I suspected, of course.They are not stupid men, and would not leave something so valuable easily accessible.”
Euphemia’s eyes narrowed in concern.“I know you’ve already stated the jewels have not been sold off.But are you still certain that isn’t the case?”
“I am,” Sylvia replied firmly.“I have had my informants scouring London for the slightest whisper about those jewels, and not a peep has been heard.And with such well-known gems, they could not have been sold off without some trail of breadcrumbs being left behind.No,” she continued, nodding with certainty, “those jewels are still in the possession of Dionysus.I have no doubt.”
She sat up straighter.“With Heloise searching Dionysus, we can narrow down where the more valuable of the club’s assets are kept.”
“But wouldn’t that be the main vault?”Iris asked.“The one behind the floor manager’s seat?Surely Heloise needn’t go through all this trouble to verify something so obvious.”She cast a quick glance Heloise’s way, though she could not mask the emotions in her eyes, her concern almost a palpable thing in the air.Something that made Heloise squirm.
But Sylvia shook her head.“That is exactly why we cannot focus on it.It’s much too obvious.”
“I agree,” Laney chimed in.“The ground-floor vault will be the place for the money needed for the nightly play.The long-term earnings, the surplus, the property and deeds and miscellaneous winnings they take in that cannot be used on the casino floor will be kept elsewhere, far from the general populace.”
“Which is why we must secure everyone’s position for the night of the masquerade.”Sylvia leaned forward, peering at the rough map laid out on the low table before them.“For anyplace secured to such a degree will need a distraction to access.And not just any distraction, but an unprecedented one, something they could not begin to guess they need to protect themselves from.Heloise will soon find the location of whatever safe we need to access.Until then, we will continue our plans for the upcoming event, so we might know our places when the time comes.”
She sat back, a small smile curving her formerly tightly pinched lips.“But I have received an interesting bit of news.”She looked about at them all, a spark in her eyes.“It seems someone is quietly searching for anyone who might have been cheated by Dionysus.”
The change in the atmosphere was immediate, the air fairly snapping with electricity.The papers slid from Heloise’s lap again, but she didn’t notice them for how focused she was on Sylvia.The news was validating.Julia had been right all along about Dionysus.And yet…
And yet it caused a lump to form in her chest that she could not dislodge.She realized in that moment just how desperately she had begun to hope she was mistaken about Dionysus.Or, rather, Ethan.For something so heinous could not be going on under his roof without his knowledge.
Bitterness filled her mouth until she thought she would choke on it.Resolutely swallowing it down as best shecould, she said, “So there truly are others as we suspected.”
“There are indeed.I’ve let it be known—discreetly, of course—that I am willing to meet whoever might be inquiring and have already received a reply.I am waiting for confirmation of the time and place of the meeting.”
“But that could be dangerous.”Iris began scratching at the skin of her wrist, a sure sign of her distress.
