“What if somebody sees me?”
“They won’t. We’ll enter through the back and keep you out of sight.”
Which was precisely what they did a few minutes later, approaching the rear rather than the front entrance.
Unfortunately, the back area reeked of stale liquor, feces, and urine.
Two guards stood at the door, either stunning her into silence or reassuring her, Jasper wasn’t sure which. But she didn’t question him further.
“Does he know you’re coming?” Blake, one of the newer guards, eyed Lady Gardenia suspiciously. Jasper was well acquainted with most of Malum’s staff. Not as a customer, but an… associate.
“No, but he’ll want to meet with me,” Jasper responded.
“He will.” Twitch had worked at the Emporium for years now. “Go on in.” He too eyed Lady Gardenia, but refrained from demanding any explanations.
Jasper tied Bard off, knowing he’d be well looked after, and then offered his arm.
“My lady.”
“Nia,” she answered softly. “Probably best you don’t address me formally.”
“Nia?”
“The nickname my sister gave me when she was little. Gardenia is something of a mouthful.” Which, of course, had Jasper’s gaze straying to her mouth again.
“My friends call me West,” he reminded her. “But you,” he winked, “can call me Jasper.”
She shook her head but allowed him to lead her inside, through a myriad of corridors and up two flights of stairs. Outside of Malum’s office, Jasper pointed to a chair. “Wait for me here.” Much of the discussion he’d have with the duke would be confidential—information she needn’t be privy to.
Without hesitation, she lowered herself and folded her hands in her lap.
“I won’t be long,” he added. And after two short knocks, Jasper pushed the door open to Malum’s office—a room that intimidated all who crossed the duke.
Malum, who wasn’t alone, leaned to the side, his silver eyes snagging on Nia before Jasper closed the door behind him.
“So it’s true, then,” the duke drawled. “You’re aiding and abetting Dewberry’s intended.”
“Under duress and against my better judgment.” Jasper twisted his mouth while taking the seat across from his friend. “But yes, I am.”
He then turned to the other man seated and nodded a greeting.
Leopold Beckworth grunted in response. Beckworth had grown up on the docks and begun his small financial empire with seed money he’d earned after fighting at Waterloo by selling teeth he’d removed from dead soldiers. Tall but built like a bull, Beckworth wasn’t the sort of man Jasper ever wished to come up against.
Luckily, they worked toward the same cause.
Mostly.
“Crossings has an abundance of tea,” Jasper said, moving the meeting along. “And has some havey-cavey dealings with Dewberry.”
“The Neptune is rumored to have been owned by aristocrats,” Beckworth pointed out.
“I received confirmation of its demise,” Jasper said.
“But that is not why you are dragging the duke’s daughter around with you.” Malum returned to the original subject.
“No, but something is off there.” Jasper frowned. “Even after jilting Dewberry in front of a full church, he was willing to marry her. And despite his daughter’s unwillingness to go through with the marriage, he was insisting it take place. She escaped not once, but twice. If I had been unwilling to help her, she’d suffer on the streets or end up married to Dewberry. I’m not sure which would be worse.”
Malum’s enigmatic stare remained pinned on Jasper.
