Chapter 1
“For the last time, did you kill my brother?”
Four pairs of eyes looked up from their cards to stare at Adrian Mason. His piercing blue eyes were focused only on one person, though. The man right across from him. The man who had been with Adrian’s brother, the rightful Duke of Redgrave, the night he had died a year ago.
“Mr. Mason—” Mr. Harleigh Quinten began.
“Iam the Duke of Redgrave now, and I believe you should address me asYour Grace,” Adrian cut the man off. His hands tightened around the cards he was holding, curling their edges as he gave the sharp reprimand.
Mr. Quinten’s brown eyes widened in alarm. “My apologies, Your Grace! But as I said—”
“Tell me the truth, and I may spare you your losses,” Adrian invited coldly.
Rage radiated from his broad shoulders, ebbing toward the other men who sat at the card table. His chiseled jaw tightenedpainfully as he gnashed his teeth together and felt the nostrils of his Romanesque nose flare on their own volition.
“I believe it is time for us to acquire another drink,” Lord Jefferson Torley muttered, placing his cards on the green felt table.
“Agreed,” Lord Thomas Bentley murmured, rising from his chair. Standing beside him was Lord Richard Upton. The three well-dressed nobles left the card table without another word and made their way through the crowded gaming hell, heading anywhere but back to the awkward interrogation that had so suddenly sprung from the depths of polite conversation.
Quinten eyed his compatriots longingly as they left him alone with Adrian, and Adrianalmostsmirked as he watched the man squirm.
“I am still waiting, and as you know, I have waited for a very long time,” Adrian stated, starting to feel his sanity come apart at the seams. “I will not rest until Evander’s murderer has been found and punished for what he has done, so you had better tell me everything you know!”
It was not a threat, but a promise. A promise he had made to his brother the day Adrian and the rest of their family had buried the rightful Duke. Evander would not be alone in his death. Adrian was determined to ensure that. As soon as he found the killer, the man would pay in blood.
Quinten flinched as the color drained from his face and his hands began to shake. He looked back at Adrian with wide eyes and shook his head.
“Your Grace, please. I did not kill your brother,” Quinten answered in a serious tone. “I would have no reason to do such athing. I would even go so far as to call His Grace and me friendly acquaintances, if not friends.”
“Forgive me if I doubt that, but even so, according to my investigation, it was while he was withfriends that my brother was killed,” Adrian answered with a curt tone. “Found dead in a ditch.”
“It cannot be true of me,” Quinten insisted, his tone becoming desperate. “The last I saw of His Grace, he was alive and well!”
“And coming out of this very gaming hell with you!” Adrian growled, standing up. “So tell me. Where did he go? What happened that night?”
“You expect me to remember that from a year ago?” Quinten asked, his frightened expression shifting to one of annoyance.
“Perhaps a reminder of your losses and debt to me might freshen up your memory.”
“Your Grace, I cannot imagine the loss you feel,” Quinten went on, tossing his cards onto the table. “And for that, you have my sincerest apologies. However, I will not allow such vile accusations against myself, nor will I allow your threats.”
The man rose to his feet, looking as if he was about to storm off in a fit of offense, when two large hands pressed down on both of Quinten’s shoulders. Adrian raised his eyes from Quinten and smirked devilishly when he saw his friend, Damien Winterborne, Duke of Ravenshaw, staring down at the top of Quinten’s renewed expression of terror.
“Where do you think you are off to, Quinty?” Damien’s deep voice held a hint of condescension, his dark gray eyes glistening with a quiet threat.
His devilish smirk and dominating presence quieted Adrian’s rage almost immediately as he was reminded that he was not alone in searching for his brother’s killer.
“I… Mr. Winterborne… I mean, Your Grace—” Quinten began to stammer.
“None of that,” Damien’s quiet, commanding tone stated. “You will tell us all that you know, and you will do so now. Otherwise, the Duke of Redgrave and I shall be forced to speak of your daughters’ scandal to theton, and your wife would never forgive you for that, would she?”
Adrian tsked his tongue and shook his head as Quinten’s wide eyes slowly came back to him.
“Pity that you keep gambling away their dowries,”Adrian goaded. “They are such lovely creatures. To think that they will find no husbands because of your poor card playing is an utter tragedy.”
“How did you know about that?” Quinten rasped.
“As I stated earlier, I have been investigating my brother’s murder for months. It is amazing what details you discover when you start paying attention to others instead of participating in the games they play,” Adrian replied.
