Rivers’ boot tapped against the wooden floor as he held Ellis’s stare evenly. “What are you going to do, Handsome?”
Ellis shook his head. “What I should have done in the beginning.”
“Maitland,” Rivers said, his tone a warning and a worry at once.
Ellis shrugged. “It’s better if you don’t know. You’re almost respectable, friend. You’ll need deniability.”
“Fuck.” Rivers stared up at the ceiling for a moment, drawing a few breaths to calm himself. “So you want me to let him back in my club.”
Ellis nodded. “If you can.”
“Icando anything—it’s my bloody club.” Marcus sat down at his desk and stared at the papers. Then he grabbed for a ledger at the corner of the desk and flipped through it. He scanned the lines before him and glanced up. “He still has money on his books for membership. When I kicked him out, he demanded it back but was refused.”
“Well, he’s a greedy prick,” Ellis said as he stepped to the window Rivers had abandoned and looked over the kingdom of seduction his friend had built for himself. “I suppose moneymightbring him around.”
“It isn’t the money. It’s winning over me,” Marcus said with a long sigh. “I’ll have my man Abbott send word to his people that the remaining membership will be honored if he can control himself. I don’t know if it will bring him out, but you’re welcome to him if it does. Whatever you plan to do, though, I hope you won’t do it here.”
“I owe you too much to do that. I just need to get him out of whatever hole he’s been hiding in.”
Marcus shrugged. “I’ll keep you apprised.” He leaned back in his chair. “I saw you with a lady tonight.”
Ellis groaned. “Christ, were you spying on me, you degenerate?”
“You didn’t pick a room where Icouldspy on you, even if I wanted to do such a thing,” Marcus laughed, though there was a glint in his eyes when he referred to the rooms where lovers could be watched. “But I saw you circling her from up here. Saw you go into the back rooms. Didn’t seem like you were back there long enough for much fun.”
“No,” Ellis agreed, picturing Juliana’s face when she’d lifted the mask away and glared at him. God, but she was beautiful. “The lady, I’m afraid, hates me.”
“After so short an acquaintance?” Marcus said with another chuckle. “Smart woman, figuring you out so swiftly.”
“She is that,” Ellis agreed. “No, she knew me before tonight. She doesn’t belong here.”
“Half the ladies who attend don’t belong here,” Marcus said. “That’s the fun for them. They love to come somewhere so low and find what they can’t get up high.”
“This one might hurt herself in the process,” Ellis sighed.
“You care?” Rivers couldn’t cover the surprise in his tone. “I thought you lived for the love games.”
“I livedonthem. But I never picked innocents.” Ellis flinched as he thought of the lie in that. “Well, Itriedto avoid them unless it was absolutely necessary. Tried to pick women who wanted what I offered and didn’t care about the price. Or deserved the price they’d pay. But this one…she’s neither of those things.”
“Do you want me to let you know about her, too?” Rivers asked.
Ellis pivoted to face him. “How would you know her?”
“I can figure out what name she gave at the door. If she returns, I’ll send for you. And have her protected if she requires it.”
Ellis considered the offer. He ought not to take it. Juliana Shelley wasn’t his responsibility, after all. She didn’twanthim to take care of her. She claimed she didn’t want him at all. Except that he’d seen the flare of desire in her eyes, and not just when she thought he was a stranger.
Want and need were different things.
“Yes,” he said. “Tell me if she returns.”
Rivers stood up and extended his hand again. “Be careful.”
Ellis shook the offered hand, then turned to the door with a burst of humorless laughter. “I never am.”
Chapter 3
Juliana stared out the parlor window, down at the Earl of Harcourt’s garden. Normally she would enjoy the view, for she’d always loved a peaceful garden. Today, her mind wasn’t on the beautiful flowers or the finely shaped bushes. Nor was it on the conversation going on between the members of her family behind her.
