“This is no place for ladies,” Alex snarled, waving Sean away, “Take her home, Sean.”
With that, he picked himself up off his chair and started to clear up the mess he had made. The anger was quite gone from him, extinguished by confusion. The mere mention of the lady he had danced with at the Beaufort Ball did things to his insides he would rather not experience. Not because they were painful or discomforting but because they were quite the opposite and anything that caused him to feel like that was always short-lived.
“I will try, Your Grace, but I fear she will not go,” Sean said, dipping his head. Leaving the door, he disappeared down the hall and not a minute later Alex heard the sound of raised voices.
“Please, My Lady, you are instructed to come with me,” Sean said loudly, “I am to escort you home.”
“You do not understand, sir, I must speak with your master on a very important matter!”
That voice was like music to Alex’s ears.
Against his better judgment, he stood with his things in hand and yelled, “Sean, bring her in!”
He could hear the determination even in the clicking of her shoes on the hardwood floor as she was guided down the hall to his office.
When Sean silently gestured her into the room, she dipped her head quite aggressively and said in a most terse manner, “Thank you, sir.”
She then stepped into the room, curtseyed and said, “I thank you wholeheartedly for seeing me, my lord.”
When she raised her head to look at him, Alex watched the color drain from her beautiful face.
“You!” she exclaimed, her striking green eyes sparking with the shock of seeing him.
“You,” he said back much quieter, placing his things on his desk without taking his gaze off hers.
“You… you know the devil lord?” the lady asked, blinking away the surprise in her eyes. She straightened up and added, “I must speak with him.”
Alex's stomach twisted. How was he to tell this beautiful firecracker of a woman that he was the monster she was looking for?
“Sean, leave us,” Alex instructed. “Leave the door ajar and stand outside.”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
Once Sean had done just that, Alex took a step toward Lady Moreau.
“My Lady, what were you thinking coming to a place like this entirely unchaperoned? Hasn't your mother ever taught you better?”
He saw the way she swallowed hard. Her face mirrored just how he was feeling, and he suspected there was a lump in her windpipe as there was his.
“I… I came on a whim, Your Grace,” she admitted, meeting his gaze unflinchingly. “And I did not wish for a servant to hear of my father's personal matters.”
Alex's raised a brow. “You came to the devil’s lair on a whim to discuss your father's personal matters?”
The lady was either very brave or very stupid. Looking at her, he suspected the former. And he had to admit, it was most admirable indeed. Sean's expression earlier had been correct.
The lady gave a small, agitated moan and produced a piece of paper from her reticle. “I come regarding this. I must speak with your devil lord.”
Alex took the paper from her. The moment he laid eyes on the contents, he knew what it was. It was an overdue notice for the money he had loaned Lord Monrith for his investment in the India shipment. They had both lost a significant amount in that shipment going down but Alex most of all.
He had not only lost his own investment but also the loan he had given Richard in order to make his own investment too. It was not moral nor right, but it was the devil in him, the one who needed overpaid loans and blackmail and extortion in order to keep his reputation and his business afloat.
How could he treat Lord Monrith with the same heartlessness and contempt he showed the other men who owed him money knowing he was the sire of the radiant creature standing before him?
In an attempt to look disinterested, Alex handed the paper back to the lady, keeping his distance. “I am afraid the devil lord is not in residence at this time.”
He hated lying though it wasn't entirely untrue. The devil lord was a character, one he most definitely didn't have the energy to play right now.
“Is there perhaps a way you might send him a message that I must speak with him?” Lady Moreau asked, and Alex raised a brow.
