Ada was well aware that she shouldn’t be here, but she had never been able to let something go when she felt strongly about it.
And she had warned him not to mess with her friends.
Instead, Jonny had made promises that he hadn’t kept, and even if he wasn’t going to be loyal to the people who treated him like family, she would be.
Which was why she was here — to tell him exactly what she thought and to make sure he didn’t do this again. That, if he insisted on remaining in this life, it would be best that he do them all a favor and stay as far from the team and her friends as was possible.
Ada pulled her hood up over her head, hiding the burnished red hair she knew would cause people to remember her as she weaved her way through the shadows, around the crates piled high for shipping and in front of the buildings, some abandoned for the evening, others bustling with activity.
In a way, she hoped that she wouldn’t find him here, for then it would mean that she was wrong, that he didn’t have anything to do with this life he’d claimed to have left behind.
But oh, how easy it was to hide things.
She ducked through the entrance of the tavern that she knew most of the dock workers favored, where it was said one could learn more in an evening than from any scandal sheet, where anyone connected to Blackwood often gathered.
It was the same pub that had put Minnie’s marriage into motion, where Tommy had overheard Minnie’s father and Blackwood wagering her hand, and Ada knew instinctively that Jonny had somehow been involved that night.
Tonight, she kept to the wall, moving in and out of people, hoping no one would notice her — no one, that was, who would have any idea of who she was.
But then, her family had been trying to find their way back to respectability for enough years now that she shouldn’t be recognized.
Her father had done the unthinkable, managing to extricate himself from Blackwood’s clutches — but he was still suffering from the fallout of having once had their names associated together.
The crowd was restless, the ale flowing, but Ada ignored most of it, along with any curious glances sent her way.
She swivelled her head back and forth, on the look out for Jonny, when a strong arm suddenly encircled her waist and pulled her back against a broad chest. She kept her cry of surprise within, as she set her panic to the side and instead focused on how to extricate herself.
She wriggled, trying to escape the grip, but her captor was strong, and when she lifted her foot to stomp on his foot, he seemed to already guess her next action as his leg wrapped around hers, stilling her movement and causing her to cry out in frustration.
“Is that any way to treat a man who’s trying to protect you?” came a growl in her ear, and Ada stilled as she recognized that voice.
It made her both relieved and angry in the same breath.
“Jonny Tate, you?—”
She tried to force her elbow back, but he grabbed it and only chuckled, his breath warm and strangely provocative on her neck.
“Turn around and pretend you are with me.”
“What?”
“I said turn around and pretend you are with me. Hide your face in my neck.”
“I absolutely will not?—”
“Do it now. Quickly. Someone is following you, and I don’t like the looks of him.”
Ada had no idea whether to believe him or not, but she had seen enough in her time to know there was a good enough chance he was telling the truth.
She hated going along with his demands, but she preferred it to putting herself at risk of an unknown threat. At least with Jonny, she knew what she was in for.
Jonny’s hand began stroking her back as his other held her firmly against him, their bodies pressed together. He wasn’t the tallest of men, and her chin rested just above his shoulder.
If he wasn’t who he was, she would have said they fit together perfectly.
“Now, Ada Jones, do you care to tell me just what you are doing here, in one of Manchester’s most notorious taverns, completely alone?”
“I came to speak to you,” she said, her voice muffled into his neck. His scent, one of spice and salty sea air, caused her to shiver and only want to burrow her nose in closer.
