“Och, that’s what she meant about him being snobbish. So he’d no’ give me the time of day, since he’s a marquess.”
“Yes, but—” Another turn, taken too sharply, and Rosie knocked against the wall of the carriage with anoof.
Without saying a word Bull released her hand and, before she had a chance to be disappointed, wrapped that arm around her shoulder, tucking her up against his side. Anchoring her. Keeping her safe.
Oh my.
Rosie swallowed, trying to remember how to breathe. Because here and now? In the darkness of this coach? They might be in disguise, but they weren’t playing their roles any longer. There was no need for him to pretend solicitousness.
Was there?
“But,” Bull took over the explanation with a defeated sigh, “a daughter of a duke, especially if the lass has a knowledge of and interest in art history and can flatter the man, might be allowed entry?”
Rosie slowly and carefully released her breath, not wanting to sound as if she were sighing in relief. Of course Bull would have realized the implication. “This time I do not need to persuadeyouto bring me along.Iam going to be your ticket in.”
The rumble of the wheels seemed unnaturally loud, and when the carriage jolted again, Bull tightened his hold on her and didn’t reply.
Oh dear, she was holding her breath again, waiting for him to acknowledge her truth. He didn’t.
After a while, Rosie began to count the seconds, which turned into minutes. Three of them—the minutes, not the seconds—went by before she lost her struggle with herself, and blurted,“Justwhyis that so difficult, Bull?”
He started. Perhaps the hack’s wheel hit a cobblestone she hadn’t felt. “What?”
Irritated at herself for prodding him, instead of being a calm and unruffled co-conspirator mermaid, Rosie wriggled from under his hold, pushing her shoulders against the wall of the carriage so she could face him, even if she couldn’t see more than the shape of his profile in the passing lights.
“Why will you not accept my help? You employ Merida, and she is only a few years older than me! Gabby and Hunter?—”
“Were good at their jobs,” Bull growled, warning in his tone she didn’t want to heed. “The agency gave them a place for their skills to?—”
“Yes, of course you did!” Her fingers twisted in her lap. “Hunter in particular, before his marriage. But Marcia was a duke’s daughter, and you employed her.”
“For fook’s sake, Rosie, ye’re speaking of things ye dinnae ken.”
“Then explain them!” Gooey shitenuggets, she sounded like a whiney child, didn’t she? “I mean…” She forced herself to breathe evenly. “You will not employ the others in the family, although we have all thought Lochlan and Keenan would do well?—”
“Lock is a future earl, and Key will be aduke.” Bull’s hat began to beat a tempo against his knee, and she knew he wasn’t looking at her. “They dinnae need a place. I’m no’employing ye,Rosie.”
“Because I have a place? Where?”
When his gaze swung on her, she winced, feeling its sharpness.
“Ye’re the daughter of a duke, Rosie.”
Oh, didn’t she just know it. “So is Marcia.”
“Marcia isdifferent,” he growled.
Again, she prodded. “Why?”
And was promptly rewarded when he exploded. “Because she’s my sister!” His hat slammed into his knee. “Is that what ye wanted to hear? She’s my sister, my best friend, one of the few people who ever believed in me—and she helped found the Lindsay Detective Group! I wouldnae be shite without her!”
But now Marcia had married Hawk—Allie’s uncle—and retired from the detective business. So had Hunter and Gabby. One by one, they’d all made places for themselves in other families, other lives.
Leaving Bull all alone.
And in that moment, Rosie understood. Understood more than she thought he might understand himself.
“Oh, Bull,” she whispered, and reached across the space to scoop up his free hand with both of hers. “I am sorry. You gave them all a place, and now they have found somewhere else. But…” She took a deep breath. “But being born into a title does not guarantee aplace,as you call it. Merida is illegitimate, and she has more certainty of her place in this world than I do. I…”
