He forced the unwanted thoughts away, where they belonged. “I have perused them, yes.”
She quirked a brow, looking distinctly unimpressed. “And what do you make of the threats against the railway system?”
Her question stole his breath, but this time, it had nothing to do with him mooning over her beauty, and everything to do with what she had just asked.
“Against the railway?”
Her brow hiked an inch upward. “Yes, precisely as I said, Arden.”
Still not a mister. Simply Arden. And damned if he didn’t enjoy the sound of his name in her sweet, syrupy drawl. Apparently, he had earned himself enough redemption to carry him over for now.
“I failed to read that portion,” he told her honestly.
“Perhaps we ought to begin at the beginning.” Her tone was steeped in disapproval.
Was she already attempting to wrest the reins from his more-than-capable hands? Surely not. He would remind her which of them was the leader of the League, and which of them was the new partner dredged up from the bowels of New York.
Lucien pinned her with a glare. “Perhaps you ought to allow me to decide where and how we begin, Miss Montgomery.”
“This is not a matter of which of us possesses more power than the other, Arden,” she said coolly. “This is a matter of your country’s safety. You do realize that, do you not?”
He bristled at her implication he did not take this assignment seriously. The safety of England’s men, women, and children had been his sole concern for years. Plucking the evil roots of the Fenian desire for destruction was his daily goal.
“Of course I realize how grave the danger is,” he snapped. “Already, there have been innocent lives lost, among them a child and a leading political figure. I am doing my damnedest to make certain not one more drop of blood is shed, that there is not one more death.”
“If you were doing your damnedest, then you would have read my notes,” she returned, with equal vigor.
So much for the bloody cherry tartlets. Their sweetness had not lasted long.
“When was I to have possessed the time to read your voluminous scribble, Miss Montgomery?” he demanded, not caring if his voice dripped with acid. “I only received word I was being suddenly forced to accept a partner in leading the League a few days prior to your arrival.”
She frowned at that. “Do you mean to suggest you did not know about my arrival until recently?”
He inclined his head, a rush of outrage bubbling to the surface with him at the reminder. “Yes.”
“I see.” She paused, seeming to contemplate his revelation, as if it had somehow given her a setback. “How much notice did you have when you received your previous partner, Arden?”
Here, too, was another source of indignation. “I had no partner.”
Her full lips parted in surprise. “I am the first?”
“The first,” he confirmed bitterly.But rest assured, you will not last long, if I have anything to say about it.
“Is that why your dislike for me is so strong?” she asked. “You resent me for the Home Office’s decision to make you share your power with me?”
“I do not dislike you, and nor do I resent you.” That was a half-truth. Part of him disliked and resented her very much. The other part of him wanted to peel her out of those indecent trousers, settle her before him on the desk, and feast upon her.
But most importantly, he wouldnevershare his power with her. Not ever.
“You do not fool me, Arden.” She gave him a look laden with meaning. “Not when there is no port about for you to drown me in, anyway. You have a way of looking at me as if I am a fly you’ve found in your soup.”
He almost laughed at her unexpected analogy.Almost.By God, the woman was strange. “You are a great deal larger than a fly, Miss Montgomery, and I should never wish to find you in my soup.”
Her lips pursed in displeasure, her eyes narrowing upon him. “You misunderstand me deliberately, but I will not be swayed from my course. I want answers from you, Arden, and I want them now. If this partnership is to be successful, and I do not see any reason why it cannot—aside from your arrogant, condescending, obdurate nature—we must be honest with each other.”
There was honesty. Ugly and altogether unwanted. Drat the female.
“You think me arrogant, condescending and obdurate, madam?” he asked tightly, offended in spite of himself.
