She rolled her eyes. “It is when no one knows where to look.”
“You have what…a secret drawer in your jewelry box? Trust me people in my line of work know where to look.”
Silence struck again. Then Lavinia whispered, stubborn even now, “They won’t look where I have hidden it.”
Dash stared at her. His brandy was forgotten as his heart hammered with a fury that was equal parts fear and something far worse. Because he prayed, she was right and could retrieve that list. Otherwise, he might not be able to stop this threat. He needed more information to uncover who was behind all of this.
Whoever it was had noticed Wren watching and had sent them a message—broken and bleeding—onto a garden path at their very feet. Dash leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping into ruthless calm. “You are going to tell me everything,” he said. “Every word of that note. Every name you recognized. Every question you have asked. And you are going to do it now—before you get yourself killed.”
He stepped away from her and stared at his brandy glass. He lifted it to his lips and downed the contents before returning his attention back to her. Lavinia’s eyes glittered with outrage and fear. But she did not look away and in that moment, Dash knew with grim certainty that keeping her safe would be his most difficult mission yet. She owned his heart and he could not afford to lose. Because if he did, she would be lost to him, and in turn he would be lost forever.
Seven
The house was quiet enough that it made her nervous. There were no footsteps echoing in the corridors and not one door slammed shut. Even the fire in the grate seemed to crackle with discretion. Vivy stood in Ravenwood’s study with her hands clasped before her and stared at him uncertain what to do next. The room smelled faintly of leather and brandy and the clean bite of ink. It was the sort of room a man might retreat to when he wished to be alone with his thoughts. It was not the sort of room for whatever it was that was happening between them.
She could not imagine Ravenwood would have ever wished to be alone with her like this. He stood opposite her with his shoulders squared. His gaze had gone hard with contained emotion. She was not certain what he was trying to hold back and that made her even more curious. He poured himself another brandy and sipped it as he continued to stare at her.
“I am waiting,” he said in a low tone. “For you to tell me what was in the note and what names you recall.”
Vivy drew a breath. Her heart still beat too quickly from the carriage ride and from Phillip Wren’s pale face. She had had kept secrets and for a good reason. She had not lied to him. Vivy hadn’t known who to trust. She had not meant to cause anyone harm, but her actions had led to that man’s injuries. She didn’t know how, but she knew it with a certainty that she could not ignore. The consequences of her decisions stood in front of Vivy, frustrated with her.
“I will,” she said. “All of it.”
His gaze sharpened, as if he had not expected compliance so quickly.
Vivy swallowed. “But you must…” She stopped, annoyed at her own tremor. “You must stop looking at me as if I am a fool.”
A flicker passed through his eyes—something like reluctant understanding. He set the glass down and leaned back against the edge of the desk as if he were giving her space without surrendering authority.
“I will not make you promises I do not know if I can keep,” he said, finally. “But I will try to always treat you with the courtesy you deserve. There may be times I will be curt and it may seem as if your feelings do not matter. That cannot be further from the truth. In the moments I seem dismissive or even rude it isn’t about you at all. It is about your safety or the safety of others. My actions are meant to keep you alive and well.”
Vivy took another breath, nodded, and then began. “A note was slipped into my reticule,” she told him again. “It had plain wax, no crest, and no signature.” Her fingers tightened around one another as she recalled the coldness that had crept over her skin when she first read it. “It said…Some secrets should never be discovered, and you, my dear, have uncovered the wrong truth. Stay silent if you know what is good for you, or you’ll regret ever snooping through your father’s study.”
His jaw tightened. “And you told no one.”
“Only you,” Vivy replied, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “The note said to keep silent.”
His eyes narrowed, but then he nodded. “Continue,” he said.
“So, I… I went into my father’s study. I looked for whatever I might have disturbed without realizing it. I admit that I am often too curious for my own good, but before that night I never saw anything that would have warranted that note.” Her cheeks warmed, but she refused to look away. “I found a hidden compartment in my father’s desk and a packet bound with twine.”
“That is where you found the list,” Ravenwood said.
Vivy nodded. “Yes, with all the names and the notes next to them. Words like discharged. removed, compromised, and awaiting orders.” Her voice caught slightly at the memory of seeing certain names in ink. Her heart had stilled when she had read Ravenwood’s. “I recognized some of them.”
His expression tightened further, as if each word she spoke confirmed an idea he had not wanted. “I did not take the entire packet,” Vivy continued. “Only the list. I told myself I needed it to make sense of what I’d found, and I would put it back once I understood it all.”
“That is when,” he murmured, “you began making inquiries.”
Vivy lifted her chin. “I was careful.”
He made a sound that might have been a laugh in another man. “Of course you were...”
“I did not ask anyone outright if they were spies,” Vivy said sharply. “I am not an imbecile.”
His gaze flickered in surprise and then turned into something that looked dangerously like amusement. It vanished almost at once. She wanted to do something to remove his amusement. How irritating… Vivy pressed on before he could speak. “I began with the gentlemen I was acquainted with and I thought…safe.”
“Safe,” he echoed, and she heard the edge beneath it.
