“I insist you call me Daria,” his wife offered. “I do not care for Duchess.”
Kilburn shot Argyll a look that spoke volumes.
“I’ll join you shortly, Daria,” Argyll said, already reading the tension in his partners’ faces.
She lingered a moment longer, sensing it too. Then she left, casting him one last troubled glance.
The moment the door closed behind her, Kilburn shoved open the butler’s office with such force it struck the far wall and rebounded. “Is this how you intend to spend your time?”
DuMond shut the door behind them, slower, more deliberately.
Unease scraped his spine; Argyll turned right off. “Mysisters?”
“They are fine,” DuMond said. “For now.”
Kilburn cut in. “There has been a development. You were instructed to seek us out upon your return.”
Argyll’s stomach pitched. “Diggory.”
Kilburn’s mouth thinned. He said nothing.
That was answer enough.
“And yet,” Kilburn added coolly, “you were otherwise occupied with a woman you’ve but m—”
Argyll moved before the words fully left the man’s mouth. He fisted Kilburn’s jacket and slammed him back against the door, the impact rattling the hinges.
“You will not speak of my wife as if she is someone common,” Fury pounded in his veins. “If you do, I’ll make a widow of my sister,” he said low and lethal, with an illusion of calm.
For a heartbeat, Kilburn did not respond.
Then—slowly—he lifted his hands. Not in surrender. In acknowledgment. Something like approval flickered in Kilburn’s cynical gaze. “Very well,” his brother-in-law said evenly. “But do not mistake my restraint for indulgence.”
DuMond reached into his jacket and produced a folded note.
Argyll read it once. Then again.
Deals are made with the Devil, Duke.
You are less than Job—and you will fare no better than he.
Satan does not punish in Hell. He acts upon the earth.
Your reputation is not that of a praying man.
You would be wise to become one. Soon.
Signed,
The Devil
His fingers crushed the paper.
“Given the timing,” DuMond said carefully, “we believe it best our wives be moved soon.”
Argyll’s agreement was automatic. “Of course.”
“Kilburn is seeing to the security adjustments and details. Until the threat is gone, the wives will reside at Kilburn’s house in London.”
